Tuesday

Oh what a beautiful day we had, can finally believe that spring might be on the way.  March roared in at the beginning and as they're promising thunder storms for tonight I guess it will roar out of here.  It's been a long, dreary month, come on April.
The greenhouse is almost done.  In the meantime our potatoes have come up and the Fava beans are only about a week from picking.
Living in the country and not having to pay sewer charges every month is nice.  Having your septic tank pumped out isn't.  But we hadn't done it since we moved in and it was over due.  Folks showed up on time, did the dirty deed and were on their way with only a bit of our hard earned cash.
Meanwhile Miss Kitty slept the sleep of the innocent like all good cats do.

ARGH!!!!!!

I started a new puzzle last week.  And as always I separated the pieces out, finding all the edge pieces and then sorting pieces by color or what part they are---part of the red bird, yellow bird, house, sky, snow.  That took a while to do, but in the long run it makes it easier to work on the puzzle.
Went up today to get some yarn (the puzzle is on a table in my craft room) for a project I wanted to get started on and of course I sat down to see if I could fit a few pieces into the puzzle.  I have a good beginning, one of houses was done, a cardinal was done, most of the edge was done.
Miss Kitty followed me upstairs demanding attention and I guess I didn't give her enough because she jumped up in the middle of the puzzle which was on a big piece of foamboard (Mac gave me that and a lazy Susan so I could turn my puzzle around) and the puzzle pieces flew up in the air and went everywhere.  I'm surprised that people in the 4 closest states didn't hear my scream.  Miss Kitty ran down the stairs, then crept back up then coming in with what passes for a "I'm sorry" look for a cat.
The pieces are back up, sorted, but not as well as before and I tried to get some of them put back together again.
I'm not a happy camper.

Compensations

There are some compensations for doing the laundry, though not many.  I'll grant you clean clothes, but I also have a nice window in the laundry room and even better, a great view out of the window.

Basket

I finished my jute basket and it looks ok, but I find it a bit floppy.  I probably should have crocheted with a double strand of jute though the directions didn't call for it.  And Lord knows that one strand was rough enough on my hands. Mac said to put a bowl in it and that definitely helps with the stability.  Then I put in a bag of Easter eggs.  The chick says that's fine.
The corners of my entryway are ready for Easter.  Now if I can find some lamb for sale that doesn't involve us having to mortgage the house to buy.

The First Alligator of Spring

He came groovin up slowly, he got juju eyeballs, he got muddy water, oh yes indeed.  The first alligator of spring dropped by today, isn't he a doozy.

Our dock out back

And you thought your backyard had critters in it.

The Down Side of Antibiotics

I have taken antibiotics very few times in my life and only twice in the last 20 years or so.  This last time the antibiotics worked well, too well, they not only killed the germs that were making me sick they killed all they good little bugs too.
I ended up with dry mouth syndrome which is common after taking antibiotics and takes forever to go away and a yeast infection.  That one I knocked out right away.
And then I ended up with a sour stomach and it wouldn't go away.  So Mac hauled me off to the doctors again, even though I'd promised them I wouldn't be back till June when it was time for my semi-annual exam, but there I was yesterday morning.
The doctor said we needed to get rid of the bacteria left in my stomach and give the good ones a chance to grow back.  So I have a GI Cocktail to take several times a day, my probiotics and a different type of antibiotic which tastes horrible.
No more antibiotics for me, they're just not very judicious in who they do in.

It's Still Raining

I have a feeling it's going to be one of those springs where it rains a bit every day.  No heavy down pours, just drip, drip, drip.  Good to get the pollen out, bad enough to keep me out of the yard.
Mac saw the first alligator of spring last Friday, says he's grown, that's nice.
I saw where King Richard III was buried with honors at Leicester Cathedral, too bad it wasn't York, I mean he was Richard of York.  Some people don't think he should have been given honors, obviously they know little about him, other than what Tudor apologists have written.  During his reign property laws were reformed to protect buyer, the system of bail was introduced and who could be on a jury was reformed so jurors couldn't be suborned.  Needless to say Richard is a hero of mine.
Glad to see that Sean Penn's latest movie The Gunman tanked at the movies this weekend.  If you don't like guns, think people shouldn't own them,  then don't make movies glorifying them.  I'm talking to to you too Liam Neeson.
I started crocheting a basket today, inspired by Amy at Love Made My Home, but mine's not out of yarn it's out of jute and boy is it hard on the fingers.  Going to look pretty good though, you sew glass beads onto it when it's finished.

Saturday Sunshine/Sunday Rain

Beautiful day, sunny with some clouds, highs in the 70's, perfect.  Picked up some flowers, after I picked myself up off the ground after seeing how much plant prices have gone up, at Wally World yesterday.  I have quite a few perennials in my garden, but each year I had a few annuals for quick color.
Mac does the veggies and grows most of them from seeds, which have also gone way up in price.
I finally finished that pesky puzzle that's been driving me crazy and lo and behold it has a missing piece.  This is a brand new puzzle fresh out of the  box, I'm not pleased, a nasty email shall be sent off to Ravensburger Puzzles.

The greenhouse is part way up, but windy days and rainy days have definitely slowed the work down.
It was so bizarre.  I have a Ancestry.com account where I work on my family history and last week I found a picture of my Dad's freshman (9th grade) class that someone had posted.  I don't know who posted it, no one else in my family has an Ancestry account.  Unless it's one of my cousins who I've only met once or twice because their Mother, my Uncle's 3rd wife, is too weird for words--I've heard through the family grapevine that some of them are on Ancestry too-- I'll have to do some research.
It was easy to spot my Dad without looking at the names.
Well that was Saturday, a different story for today, clouds and rain.  I was driven to do my ironing.  I don't do much ironing---pillowcases, dish towels and tablecloths--which is better than when I was younger and worked, back then our daughter would all but outgrown her clothes before I got them ironed, good thing my Mother-in-law would come to visit and catch up all my ironing.
Too wet to work in the yard, but Mac went around yesterday and took some flower photos.

Azaleas

Azaleas

Last of the Camelias

Japanese Jasmine

Tulip Tree

Tulip Tree, Also Known as Japanese Magnolia

Wisteria

Wisteria

A Special Treat

Mac knows the way to my heart, it's lined with chocolate.  While in St. Augustine, getting very overpriced ice cream cones,  he found me a St. Paddy's Day treat, a complete set of hair tools all done in chocolate.  They're in the freezer and will be a treat each day.

Back

We've been gone, we nearly always go away over St. Patrick's Day, for 2 reasons.  The first is that about 400,000 to 500,000 people descend on Savannah and the town is packed, can't get into a restaurant anywhere.  And the 2nd reason is that it's an anniversary of ours, we met on this day way back when we were juniors in high school.
This year we went to St. Augustine, Florida and met up with Mac's cousin and his wife.  They'd been on a 10 day Caribbean cruise and then a visit to a number of spring training baseball games.  It was great to see them.
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited European city in America.  It was founded by the Spanish in 1565.  The English had it for a while and then returned it to the Spanish and the United States bought Florida from them.  Beautiful little city, only about 12,000 full time residents, though it was packed for the St. Patrick's Day weekend.
We talked, we laughed, told old stories and ate way too much.  It was so much fun that later this year we're going to see if we can meet up again and do Memphis.

Me, Kathy and Bill

Castillo de St. Augustine

Government House, one of the older buildings

Casa Blanca our B & B

Breakfast

The View at Breakfast

Mac entertaining folks from our balcony

View from our balcony

After we left Mac's cousin made it to the fountain
of youth, I asked for a bottle, but he said he
needed it all.

Out and about in St. Augustine

Saturday

We've had a couple of days of rain that have done no one any good.  The lawn mower is still stuck in the mud, Mac hasn't been able to get the greenhouse put up yet and it's muddy.
But I lied, it has done one good thing, it has washed the pollen out of the trees before I've had a chance to inhale it.  All the puddles are yellow, that's a good thing.
Today is PI Day, you know, good old 3.14, my favorite irrational number.  According to an article I read on the net, "Pi Day 2015 is set to take place – and this year it is of particular importance, with the numbers configuring with the year as well as the day and month, an event that happens but once a year."  Guess I'll have to go around measuring some circles to celebrate.
Yesterday I made a new pillow for my computer chair.  Mac had loaned me his pillow when my back was bothering me and he was making noises about wanting it back.  So I dug out some fabric and made a rather springy one.

I'm beginning to look a bit like a pinto pony so I need to get my hair colored, soon, like this afternoon or someone will be slapping a saddle on me.
Have a good weekend.

Why Am I So Clumsy?

I am indeed exceedingly clumsy, always have been.  Not good with my hands or my feet.  I've always blamed it on my poor eye sight and I'm sure that's a factor.  But I've also wondered if it is because I should have been a lefty instead of a righty.
I wonder about this because I'm left-eyed.  The vision in my left eye is so much better than the right that my brain ignores the info from my right eye and only pays attention to the left.  There's vision in the right eye, if you cover up the left I can see with the right eye, just not as well as my left.
I wear contact lenses most of the time, though actually I should say I wear a contact lens, I only wear one on my right eye, weird uh?
Anyway, back to my original question, should I be a lefty?  It seems to me that if my vision is better on the left side it would make sense for me to use my left hand.  I do for somethings.  For instance, I can only thread my sewing machine using my left hand, can't do it at all with my right.
I've often thought that it was the having to look across my body to tell my right hand what to do that's part of the problem.  If I only had to look from left eye to left hand I might be better off.  Is it too late to learn to use my left hand?
As a footnote, my daughter is left-eyed, left handed and left footed and she' s nowhere near as clumsy as me.

Beautiful Day

Another beautiful day here, around 80º.  Did as little housework as I could get away with and went outside to work in the garden.  The Hyacinths are almost done, but loads of Gladiolas are coming up.
Mac's greenhouse was delivered today, he and a friend will put it together.  When he ordered it it was 40º and today it was 80º, can't win can you.
Mac has planted about 60 potatoes, hope they do well, they're a mixed load, red and golden.
His Fava beans are blossoming and we're hopeful we'll have beans soon.
We got the lawnmower out today and hoped to do the front yard, but it got stuck in the mud and neither of us felt up to pushing it out.  Mac has a cracked rib and my excuse is that I'm a little old lady.
Miss Kitty sat in the garden with us and was so watchful, I would love to know what she's thinking.
Tomorrow should be almost as good as today and then the rains was come, a chance of rain every day for a week.  I won't say we need it because with our lawn mower stuck in the mud it's obvious we have enough "wet" stuff to last us.

This is the new greenhouse, be glad when ours is put together

Decluttering

Seems like most of the blogs I read lately have to do with decluttering.  The need to purge our homes of those things which don't bring us joy.  The high priestess of this movement is Marie Kondo and her book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.
Her theory is that people who can't let go of their clutter are either trying to hold on to the past or fear the future.  I say pooh.
When we retired we sold our 2,000 sq.ft. house and moved across the country to about a 3,000 sq.ft. house just so we'd have plenty of room for our clutter.  If something is in our house it's because we like, we need it, it makes us happy and so what if it clutters the place up.
We each have little stacks of stuff near where we sit or work.  Piles of books, sheets of music, paint and canvas, yarn.  It's how we like to live.

My Corner By the Couch, paintings, crocheting

TBR stash next to the couch

Mac's books and sheet music

His easel and guitar

Oh once a year I do a bit of a clear out, but it's not serious.  This house represents our past and our future.  No I don't want to let go of the past, but I'm up for whatever comes in the future.  I walk from room to room and smile at what I see.
Am I an impulse buyer, not particularly, I don't shop for the fun of it.  I buy what I want or need.  If that makes our home cluttered so be it.  I don't want to live minimally.  We have room to spare.

Five on Friday

Five Things That Made Me Smile Today

For my Five on Friday I chose 5 things that have made me smile this week,

The first is my Easter Table.  I made a new little springy center piece for it, Mac found all my Easter critters and except for the bunny who needs his leg glued back on we're good to go.

The second is the table behind the couch with a few St. Patrick's Day decorations.  St. Paddy and Easter are awful close this year.

The third is my book of Nursery Rhyme songs.  I bought it a few years ago in England when I was first starting to play the piano.  I love the illustrations and though there is no copyright date in the book I'm guessing it's from the 1920's.

The fourth is the top shelf of my bookcase complete with fairies, vintage keys and locks an an oak critter box.

And fifth is the painting that hangs above the bookcase.  It's one of Mac's, but not an original, I don't know who painted that.  I saw a copy of it though and asked Mac to paint me a copy, too sweet.