My Life's Little Things

I'm sitting here waiting for Hubster to get home from running hither and yon. He'd called earlier to say there were multiple events at this one place and not enough parking. I guess he had to watch and follow people exiting to find a place to park. Just makes it that much longer before he gets back. And he's bringing lunch!

Meanwhile, Pepper is asleep after spending the morning laying in the sun with Riley; and Riley is camped out at the front window watching for his person to get back. Our little hoarder house rescue is on a calming chew so he's been pretty mellow all day. We let him off the leash last night for a few minutes. He'd lost all privileges after he ran to the road and stopped traffic the 2nd time. We've been researching about hoarded dogs and there's a whole different side of things we never could have imagined. So it's like we have a special needs kind of guy. Just something simple like spending 5 minutes with eye contact when we first wake up makes a difference. 

We've begun making three gates for our deck stairs. I've been advocating for these for years. It would be nice to be able to go outside and read without having to get up every 5 minutes to see where the dog went. Only one of the three indoor residents was cool about staying with me when I wanted to just sit and rest outdoors. The other two were (are) travelers.

I'm ready to put my houseplants outside, but everytime I think we're good to go the temperature drops again. It's crazy! I've already determined that we're not having a big garden this year. I thought that was our plan last year, but you-know-who just had to have 12 tomatoes instead of 3.

Earlier we extended the patio blocks between the greenhouse and garden boxes to make room for flower pots. But with all those tomatoes and peppers and chives and okra and all the rest of the crap there still wasn't enough room. So a month ago we extended the patio again by adding pebbles with paver walkway. We knew that matching the blocks would not be possible. (Why do they quit making things the same? Who needs an extra inch this way or that? It's just enough to make everything look wonky if you try to marry the old with new blocks).

We have a spot in the yard near the parking lot where we've tried to plant things over the years and everything has died. Trees, shrubs, flowers, you name it. Well, I'm pleased to say that we finally got something to grow there and not die. The antique roses that were in a big pot on the deck have established themselves nicely and are in full bloom as I write. This should grow up into a fountain shape and I can't wait to see how things progress through the summer.

We're still waiting to get some cedars removed. I had hoped it would be before the wisteria bloomed, but no such luck. There's hardly any tree left having been choked out by said wisteria. Before I had all these surgeries I was able to keep control of my beautiful wisteria plant and lovingly pruned it and took care of it, making sure it never reached other plants to tangle in. Since it wasn' high on Hubster's priority list the care of my flowering jewel was neglected and it went wild. Now it's killed my row of cedars. I can't wait to see how everything will look when the cedars are removed!

I lost my sweet elderly friend this week. It's been hard getting through this because she was always so strong and feisty and I loved her so much. Up until a couple of months ago I was at her house sometimes multiple times a week. She was always full of good advise and we'd discovered early on that we had an awful lot in common. We had such good times together and I will truly miss her bright bubbly smile and cheerful "Hey Linda!" when she'd see me.

The nursing home music is going very well and our group seems to be growing. Laurie and I meet every other week to plan things and go to the facility on opposite weeks. Last week we finally reached the point where we shared a lot of hugs with people as they were leaving after our event. We also were requested to stay behind to listen to a resident who had a need to vent some issues she was having. It's about being accepted and trusted. It's also fun to be with each of them and sing songs from the past and hear what memories are being triggered.

I'm almost finished with another genealogy search for a friend. After all these years I still love doing that for people.

After I finished my last crochet blanket I decided to go through some boxes of scrap yarn to see what I could do on some hats. I'm working on a green one now made from yarn I'd used to macrame a plant hanger I never used. Just take out the knots and reuse.

Well, this is crazy... I just looked up to see a thing sticking to the side of a cabinet in my office. I guess the hibiscus flower stuck there after blooming. It looked like a hand and kinda creeped me out!

With that said, color me gone!