Wisdom

 

We are all the leaves of one tree, We are all waves of one sea.

            ... Thich Nhat Hanh

Me On A Monday - April 25th

Good Morning Everyone.  From my patio views, it looks like Ms Spring has definitely set up housekeeping.

                                            💙💛💙💛💙

My spring garden continues to excite me with the return of favourites & a few I thought had left.  

Spring is about renewal.  In spite of being asked not to feed the birds, I have a pair of Cardinals that visit daily & could be nesting close by.   Mrs Cardinal is rummaging through my garden looking for bits & bobs for nest building & I am only too happy to leave some cut back for her.  Mr Cardinal sings to us every morning & it is a most delightful verse.

Mrs Cardinal

Mr Cardinal

Lady's Mantle has returned:

The  Siberian Squill, blue bells,are out in abundance & hosting hundreds of bees:

A lone crocus:

A pot of last year's disappointing pink daffodils - there's no signs of pink or the sherbet colour ...

And lasting, the blue flowers of the sparse periwinkle:

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.

Wisdom

Sometimes all you can do is accept that there's not much you can do.  And sometimes all you can control is how well you let go of  control.

                        ... Lori Deschene

Me On A Tuesday

 ... over heard in an argument between Ms Spring & Old Man Winter, he was heard shouting "and another thing ...!"  He threw down 5-8cm of wet snow. 

Me On Monday - April 18th

Good Morning. Spring is arriving slowly in my garden & region & it makes my heart glad.

The  chipmunk living under our front steps has been doing some house cleaning ...

 

Tulips, my red & whites planted for Canada's 150 birthday - there's hope for another great showing ...

 

The neighbours smoking out the neighbourhood with their wet wood & leaves fire ... 

Daffodills also with a promise of glorious bloom ...

 

And the Hellabores with blooms about to open fully ...

and the ospreys are back at the lake ...

 

And I will leave you with my thought for the day and/or the rest of the month ... " I admit I need professional help; a maid, a cook, & a cleaner should do the trick!"

....

Wisdom

 

 

If life knocks you down, roll over & look at the stars.

... Hippee Souls

(or in the case of my photo, roll over & look at the beautiful sky)

 

Me On A Monday - April 11th

 

Good Morning. I trust everyone made it through the weekend unscathed.

Currently Watching:  Series 2 of Bridgerton. Oh my the costumes are magnificent, but I personally don't feel the story is strong. We all knew the ending in the first 30 minutes.  I read that series 3 & 4 are confirmed. Next up I have The Adam Project.  Both are courtesy of a lady from church that loaned me her DVDs of the two shows.

Currently Reading: I figured it was time I tried Where The Crawdads Sing, by Deila Owens as the film is about to be released.  I'm about 100 pages in. I know there are many fans of the book, but I don't think I will be part of that count.  For absolute pleasure of reading, I re-reading the Louise Penny Chief Inspector Gamache series along with an old favourite written by Dr Brene Brown. She writes & I have the feels.

Currently Making: Easter & Spring cards, along with a few birthday cards.  As for the birthday cards, I had taken a suggestion from Susanne's blog post over at Snaps & Snippets about setting up a file box by month & making the cards before you actually need them. So far this is working quite well for me.  I like the before I need leisure of creating.  This method is also tying in nicely with the 100 Day Project. 

 

Currently Sadden By: the fact that in our region bird flu cases are  exploding at regional poultry farms (chickens, duck, geese & turkeys).  The University of Guelph, which is primarily an agriculture university/college, has published a notice asking home owners to take down their bird feeders so that wild birds don't congregate, helping to stem infections of domestic & wild birds.  I have taken down my two feeders, but oh I do miss the birds as do my indoor cats.  They love bird theatre.  The University has assured everyone the wild birds won't starve, they know how to find food. Hopefully these efforts by everyone will turn the tide of the outbreak & before long up go the feeders again.

Currently Speaking Of: theatre ... a chain of theatres, under a one name umbrella - The Drayton Theatre Groups, have issued their 2022 season schedule.  They have 3 types of theatre settings in which plays will be performed this year; (1) no restriction in numbers, no vaccine passport required; (2) a 33% reduction in seating, no vaccine passport required; (3) a 33% reduction in seating & vaccine passport required.  They are responding to the regular patrons survey, of which I completed one.  In our efforts to awaken from the COVID coma, we are ordering tickets for one play in the summer in the option 3 category.

 

 

Wisdom

 

In keeping with my own thoughts around my OLW & moving out of my COVID coma, these quotes really resonated with me this week.

Steps in the right direction can turn out to be the best & biggest steps of your life.  Tip toe if you must, but make the step.

which pairs nicely with:

Walk gently in the lives of others, not all wounds are visible.

Me On A Monday - April 4th

 

Good Morning. Welcome to a new month.  I've heard through the poets, that April, can by some be considered as the cruelest month.  Weather wise that might have a sting of truth.  Daffodils & tulips, along with other spring flowers are trying to push through in the lengthening days of sunshine & bang, out of seemingly no where - snow!  

Currently Reading: Crown & Sceptre: A new history of the British Monarch, from William The Conqueror to Elizabeth II, by Tracy Borman.  It definitely reads like a text book. I have several books on hold at the library.  

Currently Watching:  I watched on line last Tuesday, the service of Thanksgiving for Prince Phillip.  It was a lovely tribute & I was more than pleased that her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, made it to the service.  While not a fan of Prince Andrew, I was glad he was there to honour his father.  When they played/sang God Save The Queen, I cried the ugly cry ... yes indeed, long may she reign. 

I did not watch the Oscars, but have seen the slap.  I'll say no more.

Currently Working On: my 2nd quarter's OLW.  I am looking for a Re word that would go with my best laid plans of wanting to wake from our COVID coma & get out of this lockdown cocoon.  I churned with thoughts of Recovery or maybe Re-new that would lead to Return or Refresh or Re-engage in the next quarter.  But like all best laid plans of chipmunks & women, the increasing numbers of COVID are making some of my plans moot.  Even though our Premiere has restricted the testing of new cases for COVID, the health boards are testing waste water & they confirmed last Friday that we are indeed in a 6th wave. Hospital numbers are rising.  Mr Man wants the word React.  For now Recovery is a OLW in pencil.

Currently Enjoying: this new to me recipe.  It has been deemed a soup recipe, but I think it falls more into being a stew. Of course if you like lots of juice, sauce, gravy, you can add more liquid & make it more soup like.  I change the chicken broth to veggie broth, & add the chopped cooked chicken to Mr Man's bowl.  I also add the spinach sooner to the mixture as we like our spinach to be cooked more.  Left overs are wonderful. I've made this three times in the last 2 weeks.  Several of my friends have also made & rave about it.

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

·         2 tablespoons butter

·         2 tablespoons olive oil

·         1/2 large onion chopped

·         1 cup celery chopped

·         1 cup carrots shredded

·         2 teaspoons minced garlic

·         1/4 cup flour

·         32 oz. chicken broth

·         1 cup half and half or whipping cream

·         5 sprigs fresh thyme

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         pepper to taste

·         2 cups chicken cubed

·         1 cup packed fresh spinach

·         16 oz. potato gnocchi

·          

·         Add butter and olive oil to a large dutch oven.

·         On medium high heat, add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic.

·         Saute for 5 minutes.

·         Sprinkle 1/4 cup flour over the vegetables and stir for 2 minutes.

·         Add chicken broth, half and half, thyme, salt, and pepper.

·         Add chopped chicken and bring to a boil.

·         Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.

·         Add gnocchi and spinach.

·         Simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.

·         Remove the sprigs of thyme. Serve immediately

WPSH - The Final Link In

 

 

Well another fun Winter Photo Scavenger Hunt comes to an end.  Thank you Eileen for hosting & posting.  You can find the link to participants here:  Bracelet of Days - WPSH Link

My Final Entries For The 2021/2022 WPSH:

 #3 Something You Use Every Day: I tossed around the idea of either my electric kettle for boiling water for my tea or my camera; the kettle won out as it is really something I use everyday, where as the camera maybe 5-6 out of 7 days. Seeing such a boring item, I'm thinking I would like a fun kettle, at least one that whistles! 

#5 Diagonal: we pass this "art installation" on the drive to Mr Man's Eye Pressure Specialist. I was told that this piece of art is called "diagonal fall"  not sure I believe this person ...

 

#6 Currency: A form of currency that every Canadian knows; Canadian Tire reward money.

#7 Rainbow: Rainbow crafting paper from Stampin Up

#9 Single Letter Of The Alphabet: in reducing/releasing decluttering activities I came across these "letter books" in my scrapping stash. One is Believe, which was intended for a Christmas book & the other is Friend; I am not sure what project or friend I had in mind for this.  But before I decide what to do with them, the letters make a good example for this item.

#10 Trees: Silhouetted one evening in February, my back garden.

#12 Symbolic Of The Country You Call Home: a windy March day of our flag that surprisingly has lasted through the winter. 

#13 Graffiti (Street Art): This was the hardest one for me & not because there isn't graffiti around, but most of it is very rude. I have no idea what TRV is all about ...

#14 A Tea Break: gifts from friends to honour my love of tea parties. These were part of the emotional de-cluttering of the dining room. For now they stay.

#17 Wheel(s): the wheel on my garden (decorative) wheelbarrow has survived another winter & still attached.  Soon to be put right side up.

Alt A. Free Choice: winter art - our little village has officially made the bear a mascot; these little snow bears on the trees were found all over the village.