Color-coordinated.
This might be one of my favorite photos. I took it a week or so ago and forgot to post it here.
It’s a rainy day today. We’re both tired as we did a lot of chores outside yesterday. And Don took care of some things I couldn’t handle because of my sprained hand. Very satisfying! But allergies are sure to follow at this time of year, so today I’m feeling stuffed up and my eyes are irritated.
I managed to wash the bedding and then make up the bed with one hand. Don had offered to help but I wanted to see if I could do it. I did! It’s the little things.
We have only a few things left to do outside, besides ongoing maintenance. We have to clear a couple of beds so we can sow some zinnia seeds. I’m going to try some morning glories again, but they haven’t done too well the last couple of years. And we have to grab the porch cushions from under the stairs, which involves moving the egg cup cubby.
I’m looking out the window towards the shed and, suddenly, there’s a dense and green forest out there! It’s amazing how quickly all the trees are filling out. What we long for over the long winter months is finally here.
So, because I’m feeling slightly irritable – a small gratitude list:
Green leaves, green grass, daffodils, wild mustard, newly planted pots in the secret garden, a gentle rain, a husband who has been a gem during this hand adventure, old movies to watch in the evenings, great spy thrillers to read, bunnies hopping around the property, birds singing every morning when I wake up, eagles, gardens, spring, and the apple pie Don is going to make this afternoon.
Stay safe.
Happy Friday.
sweet photo. i love those colors and the planter.
does your hand seem to be improving any bit? i hope so and that it gets all the way better soon!
same here with the greenery … beautiful. we’ve had a breezy spring (weeks of it) and to watch the branches of the big swamp oak off my parents’ deck sway and sway is mesmerizing.
love the gratitude and the list and that it includes some apple pie for you and don today. thanks for sharing and inspiring. my list includes God, my family, friends (including you here), being able to walk outside, recent rain, after a years-long drought of concentration now being back to reading and having plenty of books to read, going for rides (and seeing lots of very sweet baby animals), seeing pearl more often getting food with other squirrels and the birds, having a couple very big things taken care of (off my to-do list doesn’t always mean off my mind, but in this case it thankfully does), having a couple more ideas for the children’s books i’ve been slowly working on, having (40, i think) wool hats knitted and ready for people this fall, soon getting to release a couple bags of old papers at an upcoming free paper-shredding event in town … :)
happy. safe friday to everyone!
kathy
Glad you’re having some rain, Kathy!
Stay safe.
Apple pie makes ever better. I hope your hand improves soon.
Apologies. I meant to say it makes everything better!
xoxo
Thank you, Fiona.
Stay safe.
I haven’t commented for a while but I’m still here.
I’m getting concerned about your hand. I hope it’s improving and you didn’t break something.
Enjoy the apple pie!
Thanks for your concern. All is well.
Stay safe.
It sounds like you deserve a day of rest after all you did yesterday. After all….that is what rainy days this time of year are best for I think. We’ve had quite a bit of rain lately….and I’m definitely not complaining. One just has to learn to work around it. I still have all my annuals to plant in the containers. Hopefully I can get a start on it today. I’ve waited many months for this enjoyment, so I intend to take my time and really enjoy it.
Hope your wrist improves. But, that’s quite the feat to make a bed with one hand. I have trouble using two lol!
Cute pic! Enjoy the Apple pie! ;)
Good idea! Take your time and enjoy the process!
Stay safe, Donnamae.
Gratitude ! Thanks for the reminder.xo
You’re welcome, Annette.
Stay safe.
I hope every day is better with your hand. I love your gratitude list — it’s important for us all to remember those things. I’m headed to the nursery to get some starter plants and a few seeds to get planted before lifting is off limits again. (It’s sort of off limits now, but I think I can come up with a way to do it.) You’re right about how everything is leafing out. It’s beautiful and so fast!
Slow but sure the weeds are getting cleaned out (at least somewhat). Now the mulch. It’s always something. The good news is that my copies of my book arrived yesterday and as of this morning are on the way to family members! What a journey that has been!
I’m not up to date on this – what book, Jeanie?
Stay safe.
This is the book I wrote on our family genealogy on my mom’s side. It goes from the 1700s (actually, once ancestor is earlier but that’s just mostly name/date info) up through the next generations. I included information about key events and occupations during some of those periods (for example, farming in Michigan in the 1880s, the candy/confectionary industry in Buffalo at that time; the British cholera epidemic in 1850, World War II in our community, that sort of thing. I wanted to make the stories real — and how would people know what our great grandfather experienced in the Traverse City Insane Asylum if I didn’t research and write about it? I wanted to make their lives richer and the stories more alive by context. I started the research in 2015, both online (census data and other) and personal (letters, journals, photos, interviewing my remaining aunt and mom’s best friend, memories of cousins of their experiences and of their parents, etc.) I did much of the writing by 2021, but then got more info and stories (and research because I don’t know how to stop); lots of rewriting, editing, and now it’s a “real book.” I just printed enough for family (no one else would be interested and it also included some fairly private info, especially for those under 18. I may post excerpts on my genealogy blog but edit out the info that could jeopardize identity theft like birthdates, etc. It’s 309 pages, 8 1/2 x 11 with loads of photos, color and b/w. I am over the moon.
Aren’t you sorry you asked?!
It sounds fascinating and your family members must be thrilled to have a copy. A lot of work and research for you, Jeanie,
Congratulations!
Claudia, I really appreciated seeing your gratitude list! Too many things we often take for granted, but they really are important! We’re having warm weather…70s and 80s through the weekend. Just saw a beautiful picture on the news of the beach at Santa Cruz. Happy Friday!
I do miss the beaches of California, Barrie!
Stay safe.
Sounds like you’re in good shape with the spring chores. Isn’t it amazing how fast the trees leaf out and all the good stuff (like our peony bush and bleeding hearts) magically grows by leaps and bounds seemingly overnight?
Because Dean has been so busy painting doors, trim, and our bedroom up where our bath reno is ongoing, we are far behind outside. I couldn’t even bring out the porch rockers this week because the tiler had his grout making operation set up there. But he did stellar work this week on the shower and floor so there’s that. My tiny gratitude list :-)
Hope you can feel your hand getting incrementally better every day.
Take care,
Kay
Well, the good news is that your tile is in!
Stay safe, Kay.
Your gratitude list sure made me feel better!!!
Thank you, Jenny!
Stay safe.
Morning Claudia,
It’s a nice day – no smoke it seems like. There are fires in Northern BC and my friend is there right now. One day it was sunny, the next day they couldn’t see across the road. Fire season is too early. I’m glad I breathe easily.
Mike has another blood test today. The cancer is in his right kidney, there is a mass on his liver, his gall bladder doesn’t look great. This coming from a healthy person is just awful. I have chronic fatigue – I’m not planting in my veg garden this year (have had a garden for about 30 years) and only some flowers. I slept all day almost yesterday, but it’s good to hear that there can be a remission stage with fibro. I’m going to read this summer, play a little music, get that one painting started. I’ve enjoyed all the art classes I’ve taken. This one is pastels. I’d So like an oil painting class, if I could only get Loretta to teach one. I’ll work on that.
I liked your poem. I’ll put it one when I can remember the poet’s name. She’s Canadian and writes the smallest but right on poems.
Morning Claudia,
It’s a nice day – no smoke it seems like. There are fires in Northern BC and my friend is there right now. One day it was sunny, the next day they couldn’t see across the road. Fire season is too early. I’m glad I breathe easily.
Ooh, I know for myself that a sprain is worse than a brake.
Mike has another blood test today. The cancer is in his right kidney, there is a mass on his liver, his gall bladder doesn’t look great. This coming from a healthy person is just awful. I have chronic fatigue – I’m not planting in my veg garden this year (have had a garden for about 30 years) and only some flowers. I slept all day almost yesterday, but it’s good to hear that there can be a remission stage with fibro. I’m going to read this summer, play a little music, get that one painting started. I’ve enjoyed all the art classes I’ve taken. This one is pastels. I’d So like an oil painting class, if I could only get Loretta to teach one. I’ll work on that.
I liked your poem. I’ll put it one when I can remember the poet’s name. She’s Canadian and writes the smallest but right on poems.
I’m so sorry to hear this news about Mike, Irene. I am praying for him, and for you, as well. Take care.
Love,
Claudia