Speed Blogging

The Lily of the Valley is in bloom now.

 My timer is set to 13 minutes, so I'll see where my typing fingers take me. I need to do this quickly because we are leaving soon to visit my father-in-law. We have to go through some major traffic to get there, so we try to time our trips carefully.

6 yo Ward

Today is Ward's birthday. We're going to do a family celebration next week when everyone can come. I was lucky to find Ward. He is a good, hardworking, kind, responsible person. I am even more fortunate that we have become closer and closer over the years. We were young when we got married, 24, but it seemed old at the time. As we matured, we could have easily grown apart, but we were able to work through our differences and become closer and happier throughout the years. The biggest thing we had to do was learn how to disagree/fight. We have very different styles of handling disagreements, and it took us a while to learn a compromise. And yes, even after decades of marriage, we are still learning about each other. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Ward!

I have been setting weekly goals for myself for a couple of months now. I mentioned before that they are things in the background and don't always get the attention they need. I try to include some things in the house (usually cleaning), some things outside, 2 blog posts, a letter or card to someone, and a social contact with someone I haven't seen in a while. So far, I am meeting all of my goals, but it's a struggle to get them all in at times. I'm on track for this week after I get the downstairs toilet cleaned. That bathroom is seldom used, and scum from the water builds up in it. 

I have to work Saturday and Sunday, so today is my day to finish the list, which I think I can do after we return from our trip.

We've had a couple of days in the high 80s, which was unseasonably warm. Our last frost day is coming soon, so I think I can start putting out some warm-weather plants. Tomatoes are the first things that come to mind. Yesterday, I put up some sticks and string for the pea plants to vine onto. They look pretty wonky, but I think they should work. However, I know Ward will have the urge to make something more substantial when he sees them. :) I have been transplanting more plants from a bed that I hope to redo. Nothing does very well there, so I want to do some soil amendments and start over, except for a couple of irises I planted there a few years ago and have finally bloomed. 

Ward is calling, telling me it's time to go. 

So, until next time...

A Walk with Wally

The plan was to take advantage of our first warm, dry day in a while and work in the yard. That was the plan, but then Wally called and suggested that he could come over, and we could go to lunch. I'm not gonna lie - spending time with my kids almost always wins out over most things, especially chores. So we went to Wally and Ward's new favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch. 

Afterward, Wally suggested that we go for a walk. So we went to a park with a trail into the old part of town. 

The trail was along the Old Main Line of the B & O Railroad. It was hot in the sun, but most of the trail was shaded. (Ward and Wally in the distance.)

Lining the trail were colorful wildflowers.

Near the end of the trail, we discovered a world of miniatures with little figurines
 placed in many of the nooks and crannies of an outcropping of rock. It was a fun surprise.

The trail ended at the old train depot, which now houses a museum.
We enjoyed the little museum, and while we were there,
 the staff told us about another part
of the rail trail that had recently been completed.

We walked through town to get to the other trail. Along the path,
we saw this tree carving that a local artist was doing with a chainsaw. 

The day was getting hotter, so we retraced our steps back to our car and went home. Wally left soon thereafter, and Ward and I settled in for some reading. And you know what? The world didn't fall apart because we didn't do our yard work that afternoon. Or, in the words of Miss Scarlet, "Tomorrow is another day." 

Until next time...

Blog Files, Part 2

Here are more ideas from a folder I used to keep of things I might blog about. I last looked at it a few years ago, but it resurfaced as we were cleaning out our files. I found it curious to see what I might write about. You may or may not be interested, but here is Part 2 of things I saved in case you are. :)

Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian National Zoo

--Notes about our trip to the zoo to see behind the scenes in the primate area. I wrote about it here.

--A list of historic road sign photos and back roads Miss Landers and I took during a trip to West Virginia. I wonder if I could still find those photos and do a post about them.

--Notes about the new neighborhood we moved to during our last move. One was comparing porch sitting in the suburbs and rural West Virginia. This could still be an interesting post.

--A note on the education my parents received. Not sure where I was going to go with that.

--Several paragraphs on my personal life, including my birth, transition to high school, my wedding day, and meeting Ward. I have mentioned many of these in one post or another. Also, were my preferences for color, food, books, and TV shows when I was 7 and then at 50 years old.

Age 7: Any color but red, milkshakes, Box Car Children, Gilligan's Island

Age 50: Green, cottage cheese and fresh tomatoes, Glass Castle, Andy Griffith reruns

This rock ad says something about Brown's Pills.

--Pictures of an old advertisement carved into a rock on the family farm. Unfortunately, I've never found enough information to write a post. However, I am still very curious about it.

-Information about washing clothes during my grandparents' time. This is interesting, and I will write a post about it sometime.

--A chart summarizing my results from measuring vampire electricity around my house. I posted it about it here. That was 10 years ago, so it might be time to repeat the experiment.

This poodle is in the race every year.

--Flyers from the Kinetic Sculpture Race. I have written about it in 2019 and 2016.

--Research on tattoos became this post.

Now I can cross "sort blog folder" off my To Do list. Thanks for sorting with me. :)

Until next time...

Out and About

The other day, I was feeling a sense of uneasiness and restlessness. That's what happens when you contemplate the meaning of life and your place in it. Nothing bad is happening here. In fact, life is good, but a wandering, anxious mind can forget that sometimes. We didn't have anything on the schedule except chores, so I told Ward I needed a change of pace and that we should go exploring. After a bit of a discussion about weather and traffic, we chose to go to a nearby town we had never been to, just to see what it was about. 

We set out on a cloudy day and drove back roads through the rolling countryside of farms and trees. The roadsides were filled with white dogwoods and pink redbuds in bloom. And beneath them, we saw patches of bright yellow bittercress. The variety and brightness of the landscape brightened my mood, even though the sun stayed stubbornly behind the clouds.

The street corners in the first town were flanked with these heavy iron bells. 

We stopped in the first town we came to, even though it was not our destination. We drove around a bit and then parked and took a walk through town. The town was small, and many houses looked to be of the Civil War era or older. Several showed decades of neglect, but we found them interesting. The wind kicked up, and I was cold, so we returned to the car. Ward noticed a town park on the map, so that was our next destination.

The park consisted of ballfields, a tennis court, and a path winding around a spent cornfield. After amusingly watching a school group playing on the ballfield, we set out on another walk, hoping the wind had died down. Our path was mowed through grass and weeds around the cornfield. The other side of the path had a small swath of trees next to a road. And when I say weeds, what I really meant this day was wildflowers. Once again, bright yellow and white blooms distracted me from my busy thoughts.

Following the walk, we drove on to our destination of the day. This town had many of the same elements as the last one we left but seemed a little larger and better off. My stomach was rumbling, so every diner we passed on Main Street seemed like a good place to stop for lunch. We chose the one we could park right in front of and wandered in. After listening to the locals' conversations while eating, we headed out to take a walk around town. However, the clouds had another idea. Large raindrops were falling and coming faster and faster. It seemed like a good time to head home.

We arrived home, happy with our outing, and began some of the morning's neglected chores.

I have been reflecting on our little jaunt. It didn't look great on paper. We didn't go far. We didn't see fancy architecture, houses, or museums. We didn't hike beautiful paths through the woods. But it was an enjoyable excursion all the same, and it reminded me that everywhere has something to offer if you just take the time to look for it.

Here are more pictures from our outing.

Honeysuckle

Garlic mustard

Bittercress

Dandelions

Buttercups

Fleabane daisy

Vertebrae

Deer hoof print

Until next time...

And They Just Keep Coming

Spring is such a beautiful time of year. The grass is lush green, and new flowers are blooming every day. Soon enough, the weather will be hot, the ground scorched, and all but the heartiest flowers will be long gone. But for now, it's spring, and the yard is happy. So here are more pictures of the flowers that just keep coming. 

Dogwood. Dogwood is one of the last spring trees to bloom and my favorite.

Tulips. There are yellow ones in this bed, too,
but they always bloom later than the red ones.

The azaleas in the front are starting to bloom.

Another one of our large apple trees. It has lost several major limbs,
but last year, we finally got a decent amount of apples from it.

Lilac. Even though there are not as many blooms on the lilac bushes this spring
 because of pruning, I can smell them when I step out onto my back porch. 

Our little apple tree is also in full bloom now.

More blooms on the wallflower.

Bluebells

We have two crabapples in bloom, but both have been limbed up for easy mowing under them. This lone bloom on a lower limb was the only picture I could easily get.

Viburnum

And here's another picture of the phlox. Well, because...just look at it!

That's the flower parade for now. I'm sure I'll be back soon with more.

Until next time...