Cycles

I rose to the patter of rain this morning. A peaceful, calm start to the day. The ground was dry, so I'm sure all of the plants are happy. The gentle rain fits my reflective mood.

My uncle died on Tuesday and he was the last of my father's siblings to pass. That has me thinking a lot about the cycle of life and how it has been repeating itself forever. I saw my uncle just over a month ago when I attended his wife's funeral. He had been sick, but I think losing his partner of 63 years brought him to another place in his life where he was ready to move on to the next stage.

But all is not melancholy.  My sisters and I are traveling across the mountains to West Virginia to attend his services and will be gone for a couple of days. An adventure in the making and I better go finish getting ready. I have the important part done, the snacks. I have several little bags of cookies and some bags of trail mix ready to go. And to pretend that we're eating more than just junk food, Ward cut up some cucumbers for us.

Until next time...

Thankful Sunday, June 9, 2019

This morning, I wrote down things I'm thankful for as they popped into my head. There was no editing and there is no significance to order or importance. Just some things I'm thankful for at this minute.

I am thankful for ...

A quiet morning alone.
Ward is on a backpacking trip this weekend and Theo is at work so I have the house to myself to enjoy a quiet morning (except for the cats that are howling to be fed). I enjoy having others around, but some time all by myself is nice. So for a quiet morning alone, I am thankful.

I am thankful the pansies from last fall are still blooming.

Modern medicine.
I am very lucky to have good health but I do have a couple of things that are bothering me. There was some confusion with the timing of my allergy shots and I'm itching a lot these days, but things will get back on track soon. And even with this bout of itching, it's all much better than before I started the shots. Also, my trigeminal neuralgia is flaring up again. I have medicine that helps with the pain, and even though it makes me sleepy, it makes things bearable. Both of these conditions can be debilitating, but with current medical practices, they can be managed. So for modern medicine, I am thankful.

A Washing machine.
I have a clothes washer that works so I don't have to wash my clothes by hand or go to a laundromat. Hurray! So for the convenience of a washing machine, I am thankful.

I am thankful the cherries are ripe.

A Loving family, both close and far away. My family is normal. It isn't perfect and we don't always agree, but when push comes to shove, we are always there for each other. So for a loving, supportive family, I am thankful.

Leftovers in the fridge.
Friday night, I cooked enough food that I have been eating it all weekend. Cooking is not my thing, so for a fridge full of food, I am thankful.

I am thankful for the color this poppy gives to the mass of ground cover it's in.
Even from inside, we can see the bright red and it makes me smile.

Snuggly Cats.
We have two cats and both like to be with us. Laps and shoulders are their places to relax, purr, and sleep. When I'm tired or stressed, there is nothing like a cat on my lap to relax me. So for snuggly cats, I am thankful.

Friendly neighbors.
We are very lucky, to have friendly neighbors. You don't get to pick your neighbors and they aren't always friendly, but ours are. Some examples. Ward and a neighbor recently worked on a broken fence together.  Also, when my next door neighbor's husband died, neighbors were there to help her figure out how to move forward. Walkers stop and chat and the whole neighborhood has events such a Halloween cookout every year. So for my friendly neighbors, I am thankful.

I am thankful the previous owners planted these coral bells
 that return year after year.

My Library.
Not only is my library my place of employment, it is where we get much of our entertainment. And for free! So for my library and the many things it provides for us, I am thankful.

A Clear Morning.
Rain may be coming this afternoon, but right now, it is a beautiful morning without a cloud in sight. After I finish here, I plan to go out and enjoy it while working in the yard. So for a clear morning without rain, I am thankful.

I am thankful for the birds that visit our feeders.

So for these blessing and the many more that I have, I am thankful.

Thankful Sunday, June 2, 2019

I am thankful for the closeness of family.

When Ward and I finished college, we moved from the Mid Atlantic area to the Gulf Coast where we lived for 15 years. We enjoyed ourselves in New Orleans as young professionals and liked our life in the suburbs of Houston. However, we always missed our families. They were a several-day drive or airplane trip away, and we spent of all our vacation time visiting them.

Yesterday, we had a birthday gathering with Ward's family.
This is the newest member of the family with her grandpa.

 After Wally and Theo came along, we decided it was time to move closer to their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This was in the days before Facetiming and other such services, and the boys were mixed up about who all of their relatives were.

It was a scary move, because our salaries decreased and our cost of living increased.  But we did it. We moved within driving distance of all of our relatives and within an hour or two of many of them. And we have never regretted it. Our kids got to know their relatives and we have been able to be share weddings, graduations, and birthdays with our families. We have, also, been close when there have been hard times, illness, and deaths. Times when families really need to be together.

 So for the closeness of our families, I am thankful.

Thankful Sunday, May 26, 2019

I am thankful for Uncle Billy's Garden.

I love gardens. Vegetable, flower, tree, shrub, formal, informal. I like them all. Yesterday, I had a pleasant time visiting one when Ward and I visited Uncle Billy's and Aunt Martha's garden. Aunt Martha invited us to pick some of their bumper strawberry crop, a very lucky thing for us. While Ward picked strawberries, I took a look at other things that are growing in their garden right now. Here are pictures of a few of them.

Uncle Billy has raised beds for many of the things he grows. This is a new location for the strawberries this year and apparently they like it.

The broccoli is doing well and hasn't been besieged by worms yet. Aunt Martha will be freezing some today. The cauliflower (no pictures) is happy, too.

The potatoes are blooming. To the right of them, Uncle Billy has planted corn.
Notice the high deer fence in the background. It seems to be working.

Besides strawberries, we also picked lettuce. Aunt Martha plants a variety pack of seeds each year that makes a very pretty bed. There are onions planted behind the lettuce.

Along the back fence, they grow hops for their sons to use in beer brewing.

The raspberries have just started to get a couple of small green berries. There are also blueberries and figs growing in other beds.

The watermelon and cantaloupe have just sprouted. Uncle Billy has black plastic around them because those crops like heat. 

The tomato plants are looking big for this time of year. 

Red clover was Uncle Billy's cover crop.

Ward and Uncle Billy hard at work. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I may have done more eating of strawberries than just picking them. :)

So for Uncle Billy's garden that he and Aunt Martha shared with us, 

I am thankful.

This and That

In order to post more often, I'm going to be doing more brain dump posts because I'm sure all of you want to know what's going on my busy mind. I really should get into a meditation habit because my thinking needs to slow down every once in a while. Soon, maybe when...

I am not a person who thrives on a lot of activity. I like to be able to focus on a couple of things at a time and master them well. However, I've been trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and I've definitely succeeded. Here are some of things that are keeping me busy.

I decided to go for a new job and yesterday I found out that I actually got an interview.  EEK! It's been decades since I've been to a "real" interview and it's got me flustered. What to wear, what to say, etc. It will all work out, but until it does, my mind is pretty busy with thoughts of it.

Fun stuff. The robin's eggs are hatching.
After this picture was taken the third on hatched.

At the same time I'm thinking about a new job, Ward and I are reevaluating when we can retire. Or more precisely, can Ward retire early? We are in pretty good shape as far as retirement goes, but it's the details we're evaluating again with the help of a financial planner. We have been working extensively preparing materials about every aspect of our finances for the planner to work with. Thoughts of a big change in our lives has my mind pretty busy.

And as we're evaluating all of our finances, we're thinking about what needs to be done to the house and what we can afford or not if we lose Ward's salary. And as part of that we have been working with different contractors and architects to get ideas for both construction ideas and costs. Evaluating to see what might be possible with designs, use, and what we can afford has my mind pretty busy.

On a less serious note, I've invited the staff I work with over for a picnic this weekend. It's always fun and we enjoy doing it. However, details of that are still to be worked out. All doable, but my mind is still pretty busy figuring out weather contingencies, amount of food, etc.

And it's the time of year when a lot of yard work has to be done. I'm also trying to implement a couple of new beds and my mind is pretty busy trying to plan all of the work around the weather and my creaky knees and back.

So, in conclusion, my mind is pretty busy. Until next time...