The veggies are doing great, except that they really need to have the weeds around them taken out. As soon as I feel 100%, it’s on my list.
TOMATOES
The tomato plants seem to be doing fine, too. I’m scheduled to add the worm castings fertilizer to them Thursday (I’m doing this once a month) I just made it around the yard, taking quick pictures before my energy left, but I’ll look more carefully in the next day or two.
FLOWERS
ROSES
STELLA DE ORO LILIES
Husband’s PERIWINKLES by the shop door
You can’t tell it much in this picture, but the group on the left has a slight pink cast and the ones on the right are plain white.
I think I’ll be back to 100% by tomorrow, but I’m definitely feeling human again this morning. And to think I gripe when I’m a bit sore and creaky! I’ll try not to do that anymore. :0)
We have a beautiful, though cloudy day on tap today. The high is supposed to be 74. NO RAIN!!!!
We have front and back doors open, creating a nice breeze through the house. I’m continuing to rest today, gathering energy. This is the first day in three I’ve been at the computer, so I have a bunch to catch up on.
“When I grow up I want to be an old woman.” — Michelle Shocked
Pexels-Abhilash Mishra
“It is lovely to meet an old person whose face is deeply lined, a face that has been deeply inhabited, to look in the eyes and find light there.” — John O-Donohue
Pexels – Pixabay
“I’ve enjoyed every age I’ve been and each has had its own individual merit. Every laugh line, every scar, is a badge I wear to show I’ve been present, the inner rings of my personal tree trunk that I display proudly for all to see. Nowadays, I don’t want a “perfect” face and body; I want to wear the life I’ve lived.” — Pat Benatar
Pexels – Yulia Rozanova
“The older I get, the more I see there are these crevices in life where things fall in and you just can’t reach them to pull them back out. So you can sit next to them and weep or you can get up and move forward. You have to stop worrying about who’s not here and start worrying about who is.” — Alex Witchel
Pinterest
“As long as I am breathing, in my eyes, I am just beginning.” — Criss Jami
“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” ~Rajneesh
Love Nature – YouTube
“Grown don’t mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What’s that suppose to mean? In my heart it don’t mean a thing.” ~Toni Morrison
Mix 93.1
“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.” ~Linda Wooten
My Baba
“A mom reads you like a book, and wherever she goes, people read you like a glowing book review.” ~Robert Brault
National Geographic
“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” ~ Milton Berle
National Geographic
“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” ~ Sophia Loren
Being a mom is one of the toughest, most rewarding roles there is.
This drawing hangs on the wall in my computer area in my office. It was drawn as a present for Mother’s Day to my mom from one of our dearest friends, Hal Thomson. We used to have what we called, “The Thomson Wall” in my parents’ home, filled with wonderful drawings for all occasions from him. I was too young to fully appreciate him and his wife, MaryEllen, as ‘artists.’ They made their living as commercial artists, but he loved to draw and she did bronzes. I remember a rabbit she created. I simply loved them for the people they were.
I may, or may not, hear from our son today. My guys don’t make a big thing of commercial ‘holidays,’ birthdays, or other days when people are EXPECTED to do something nice. They are both of the opinion that it’s what they do EVERY day that counts. My husband sent me flowers at work too many times to count ‘just because,’ making my co-workers envious. Our son will stay up very late across the world from us to talk via our conference call program where we can see and hear each other, talking and laughing real time. They both make me feel special when I least expect it. :0)
Dubanci/Acorn Elves. Copyright 2021 Petr Vaclavek. More info and photos https://dubanci.czDubanci/Acorn Elves. Copyright 2017 Petr Vaclavek. More info and photos https://dubanci.cz
You probably won’t believe this, but it’s been raining here – AGAIN. It has stopped for a minute now, and the sun is out, but we’re due for thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. The exact quote is, “Off and on downpours.” Oh, GOOD!
IF the weather cooperates, I’m planning to do more weeding in my veggie garden and check my tomatoes this afternoon. I did some yesterday, but the weeds have sprung up while I was unable to get out there, so there is a lot to do to get things good out there again. I may also do more harvesting this weekend.
The rose bushes I cut WAAAAAAAAY back for the winter are blooming! I took these pics recently, and I’ll take more to share with you soon.
My next big project is to move the deck furniture from the back porch to the deck and then use the pressure hose on everything to make it nice to use outside. Then I’ll be able to wash the furniture on the back porch, plus the floor. That will probably take a couple of days or so, but we would like to get ready to cook outside, so this will be the first step if Mother Nature is smiling on us soon.
Lunch Bunch was a delight today. Instead of being stood up, as I thought we might be, Kay and Bud were there, along with their daughter, LaDonna, from Albuquerque. Also, Alice – a sometimes LunchBuncher – and her husband, and us. Right after we ordered, my good, long-time friend Nora came in the door! It had been a long time since I had seen her and I was thrilled. Linda wasn’t there because her daughter, Patty, and her husband are in Greece, celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.
Kay fell last week, face-surfing on some gravel. She didn’t break anything, thank goodness, but she really looked dramatic with the whole right side of her face bruised. She also broke her dentures – that will take a month to replace – so she is on liquids. She had some kind of a shake for lunch, was taking home a special dessert the owner made for her, and was going to pick up some protein drinks. She was feeling pretty well, otherwise. Our whole table was full and a great time was had by all.
We’ve just gotten finished putting away the groceries we got, also gas cans we filled for the mower. I’m going to plant some periwinkles in the pot right beside the shop door in a minute. My husband picked them out when we were in Walmart.
So a happy Friday for us. I hope that YOU are having a fun one, too.
Today is Lunch Bunch, but my husband and I will probably get stood up, due to various reasons. My husband said it didn’t matter, we’ll go anyway and then get stuff at the store on the way back. There is a 70% chance of rain this morning, this afternoon, and this evening. “Wet” is my natural state much of the day these days, though I try to use an umbrella.
I have one of those nice pop-up ones. That helps some, but it seems I can never get it up and over me before I’m pretty wet. We usually have gusty winds with our rain here, so that is challenging, too. I usually just say, “Okay” (bad words not supplied here), put the umbrella away, and just dry off when I get home.
It’s been so rainy lately that I haven’t been out to check the garden or the tomato plants. Hopefully, there will be a lull in the rain so I can get out and see what’s happening – with fingers crossed.
The above is much like my hair looked before I went for ‘healing’ at Tangles, the beauty salon owned and run by Michael Remillard in Greenwood Arkansas. 479-357-9305. My husband and I have been going to him for MANY years and would be lost without him.
He can’t do anything about the rest of me, but my hair now looks like a plan was involved, and I’ll be able to wash and blow it dry daily in a matter of a few minutes.
A woman’s home is an ego thing, much like a teenage or young man’s car when he’s dating. The guy spends hours vacuuming, washing and waxing his car, even cleaning the wheels before he picks up his date. His car is an extension of HIM – the best he can afford at the time, and he spends most of his time on that, and only secondarily on himself. The teenage or young girl spends hours getting ready for her date, washing and buffing every part of her, agonizing over what to wear, etc.
When a woman has a home, it reflects HER. Not only how it is decorated, but its cleanliness. If someone is coming, she either schedules it AFTER the cleaning people have done their thing, or dashes around like a mad thing, vacuuming, polishing, fluffing pillows, dusting, straightening things, scrubbing bathrooms.
I have finished vacuuming the tiled areas of the first floor (utility room, 2 half baths, the dining area, the kitchen, and the pantry, plus the carpeted living room. I’m resting a bit and then will finish the office and the foyer, and then move the vacuum to the 2nd floor. I don’t mind if my house isn’t ready for “House Beautiful” to come in and photograph when the pest control guy comes, but I really don’t want a hairball to grab him by the leg as he tries to move through a room, or for him to be grossed out by anything.
Once the vacuuming is done, anything more will be gravy. He’ll be able to do his job without flying hairballs and my ego will remain intact. :0)
We seem to be in a “40 days and 40 nights” situation here with rain every day. Now it’s not a question of IF, but only of WHEN it will be heavier. Here’s what the local weather station showed this morning –
KFSM Fort Smith
Roller coaster, anyone?
I’m leaving in about 10 minutes to get the mail and get my hair cut. I look like a dandelion-gone-to-seed right now. Anything will be an improvement, but I’m lucky to have a stylist who understands that my hair is thin, fine, and won’t do anything on its own, and cuts it so that it looks like someone had a plan. It’ll be nice to look more civilized again.
Home Advisor
The pest control guy is coming to spray tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll be doing lots of vacuuming today and tomorrow so he doesn’t realize what a slob I am. Amber is doing a magnificent job of covering every space in the house with her hair. She and our cat have obviously agreed to have a contest to see who can leave the most hair on the floor, carpet, furniture, etc. I refuse to vacuum every day, but it embarrasses me if there are tufts of hair moving around when we walk.
We have pretty much given up movie night here at the Lewises because our taste in movies is so different. My husband loves ACTION – action at any cost – VIOLENCE – the more violent, the better.
I want a plot, a story I can get my teeth into. I want characters I care about. I want real acting. I don’t mind a lot of action, but I don’t want that, and special effects, to be the most important part of the movie. I want to CARE who wins. I want to FEEL, not just cringe.
Amazingly, my husband found a movie we both loved last night, called, “The Adam Project.” It came out in 2022. It starred Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Zoe Saldana, Jennifer Garner, and Mark Ruffalo, among others. It has a science fiction theme, featuring time travel. “Even though the movie has the “Back to the Future” aesthetic, it touches on an overall theme of family, loss and healing.” ~ IGN
I found Ryan Reynolds to have a really appealing face and decided that he’s a very good actor, though this is the first time I remember him playing something other than a super hero. Walker Scobell, the boy in the movie, has a wonderfully expressive face and plays a feisty, loveable character. There is realness and humor, plus I teared up several times. A good amount of CGI and special effects, but used to enhance the story.
If you haven’t seen this movie, I highly recommend it.
My stress eating is stressing me out. I’m eating because several times a day my husband is doing things that scare me. He will be 80 in November (and is quite smug about that) but ACTS as if he’s 20. He has had a couple of strokes and has mainly come back, but still has trouble speaking at times, typing, figuring out technology, and walking at times.
We are adapting to this fairly well, adjusting our activities, expectations, helping each other as much as we can, hiring others to do what we’ve always handled ourselves (as much as we can afford).
The stress comes when he decides to do something I consider foolhardy (is that even a word anymore?) Yesterday he was standing on a wobbly, heavy plastic can on the carpet in the corner of our office, trying to get the top to grip down to the can. He was holding onto some shelves above, but the shelves aren’t really attached to anything. They LIE on some supports, so they can come crashing down, along with everything ON them, ONTO the person who was standing on top of the can. I leapt up to try to get him down. He told me to grab a 4″ x 6″ battery we have for a UPS and hit the rim of the top with it. I managed to do that several times while he turned the can with his feet. We did get the top on the can, but I was exhausted with sore hands from crashing the battery into the rim as hard as I could over and over. I got my husband down safely, but this is what we’re doing several times a day, no matter what I say or do.
I’m seriously thinking of making him wear a bell like a cat or tying his leg to his recliner where I have the only key…
When my husband went to bed last night I ended up eating half a bag of Fritos as if I were starving. I had done well on my eating all day, but blew it as soon as I was alone. It’s a play on the ‘if the tree falls in the woods’ question – ‘if no one SEES you eat, does it count’…
My SCALES don’t need to see me eat. They just die laughing every time I step on them. I’m getting quite hostile.
People are amazing. If I tried to do the above, my stuff would simply look like scribbles. This person’s ‘scribbles’ with charcoal melt my heart.
We’re having one last day of good – though hot – weather here, followed by endless days of rain every day (through NEXT Monday) according to the forecast. I wouldn’t mind having a BIT of rain daily, but HOPE we don’t have a wash out, where people in Greenwood will need a boat to get around. It’s funny that I tried so hard to get the irrigation system programmed for the flower and tomato planters, just in time for over a week’s worth of rain.
My husband got my heart started with a bang this morning. He was determined to fix his recliner, which he had sprung by being over-exuberant reclining it, causing it to tilt to one side when reclined. This caused an imbalance which resulted in it actually toppling over one time. Anyway, I heard a crash while I was typing and ran to the living room. The chair was upended and the crash caused by a big wooden carving falling off the wall. My husband said the carving ‘grazed’ him as it fell, of COURSE hitting his back (still healing from a previous injury). We got the chair right side up. My husband fixed it. I was able to hang the carving back up on its nail on the wall and helped my husband to the chair. He insists he’s all right, but I’m watching him to see how he does. (We leave for a haircut for him in half an hour, so I’ll find out for sure then how he is.)
I continue to be invested in the American Idol and The Voice contests. I’m catching the clips on YouTube. This is the first time I’ve followed either, though I’ve enjoyed various clips from time to time. Last night was the end of another round on The Voice. One of the people I really liked was eliminated and one went on to the next round. I feel a bit silly caring so much, but I would rather be heartbroken about who wins and loses on these programs than about the world around me being in so much chaos.