Me On A Monday - May 30th

 Good Morning!  We have been enjoying some lovely weather over the weekend, which encouraged me to spend lots of time in the garden.  

Currently In The Garden: this spring the tulips were glorious & lasted for several weeks, which was because the initial installment of spring was chilly. I still have a clump of hot pink tulips & a clump of white tulips blooming.  I also have iris that are blooming after several years of sulking.  And speaking of sulky, one of my Sarah Bernhardt herbaceous peonies has decided after several years, that she will bloom this year.  Her daughter plant when separated has never not bloomed.  The photo below is of the Tree Peony which I had thought would not have any blooms - there are still 4 very plump buds to bloom.  These flowers burst open quickly & fade just as quickly, which is so sad, because they are the most gorgeous flower, petals just like a thousand tissue paper sheets in one flower.

Tree Peony - 2022 Bloom 1 of 5

Currently Watching: we watched the 2nd series of Manhunt with Martin Clunes.  This was just as good if not better than the 1st series.  I hope for more.   

Currently Reading:  I had a few books from the library that were not for light reading, more textbooks for an online workshop I am preparing for.  I did get the summer magazine issue of Creative Scrapbooker from the library, which had a few pages I would want to try to recreate.

Currently Wondering: who our new neighbours will be.  Our westerly neighbours are splitting up (very sad) & have decided to sell their home.  There's been a lot of interest so far & I must admit I am finding lots of reasons to be in the back garden to check out the potential buyers.  Mr Man & I have a wish list of who we would like to buy the house.  I know, you cannot pick your family, you cannot pick your neighbours.

Currently OLW: I'm just half way into the 2nd Quarter's OLW of Return & I must admit, I'm not doing so well with it or with returning to LBC, aka Life Before COVID.  I have Returned twice to in person church service. Thankfully it is still required by the church that everyone wear a mask & keep 2 meters apart, which makes me feel a little more comfortable. Plus there are SO few in church; yesterday including the minister (1) & choir (3), there was a total of 17 people in church.  I have Returned to cat/house sitting for my friend with the pool. She's put the heater on in the pool so there's a chance that this week I may get a swim in.  👸

 

 

Wisdom

 

"Some people try to turn back their odometers of life.  Not Me. I want people to know why I look the way I do. I have travelled a lot of miles & not all roads were paved.

Me On A Monday - May 23rd - SPSH List

 

Today is a holiday for us - Victoria Day, aka Two Four weekend.  The first long weekend of the summer season.  So time to think about the annual Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt.

Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt (SPSH) runs from June 1st to September 30th.  Photos should be taken by you or a family member, we don't want to get in trouble for copy right rules.

A list not too long; a list of finds to share; a list that works for those of us at home; a list that works for those who travel about; a list that includes some difficult to find; a list that includes some easy to find; a list that can be interpreted with our differences; a list for one find or a list for all to find ... or a list to see what everyone else finds.

I hope you have fun with what ever your level of participation is.  First link in will be Monday July 11th & the final will be Friday September 30th.  As in previous years, just let me know in the comments if you want to be part of the group & I'll list your link on July 11th.

The 2022 SPSH List:  

1. Path
2. Peek-A-Boo
3. Stairs
4. Faceless Selfie
5. Something That Looks Like A Number or Letter
6. A Corner
7. Leaf Vein
8. Sipping On
9. Changes Shape When Wet
10. OMG, The Shoes
11. Yellow & Blue Together
12. Fuzzy Wuzzy Texture
13. All Gone, Empty
14. Left Overs
15. Wind Power
16. Oh So Colourful
17. Out of Place
18. In The Distance
19. Culture, Yours Or Another
20. You Grew It, Made It
21. Invokes A Childhood Memory
22. Add, 1-2 To Change The Taste

Alt A: Recent Purchase

Alt B: Sunset

Alt C: Free Choice

Wisdom

 

"Those that love you, don't clip your wings, but add a feather so you can fly even higher."

                                ... Thoughts Wonder

Me On A Monday - May 16th

Good Morning - Spring is definitely in full swing & action in my part of the world.

Current Spring Tulips.  This has been an amazing year for tulips in this region.  Everyone is talking about the abundance of bloom.  I am so amazed at the number & varying colours of bloom in my garden.  So far I have lost only 3 tulip blooms to naughty squirrels, or more likely naughty bunnies.

Current Spring Sex. The wild bunnies are running about; early evening last week we had two males chasing each other off for the solitary female.  Will it mean having baby bunnies to battle in the garden?

Current Spring Cleaning. The township has sent around two street sweepers to tidy up the roads. They did a fantastic job.  Sadly two days later, 2 neighbours decided that it was too much work for them to bag their grass clippings & blew their cuttings on to the sidewalks & road, which makes a horrible mess to walk through. The grass clippings then get washed into the sewer system.

Current Spring Birth Day. One of our neighbours around the corner wanted to let everyone know that they had a girl.  A fun announcement.

Current Spring Planting: The farmer in the field behind us was busy preparing the fields & planting corn. We are desperate for some rain.

Current Spring Feeding:  Our little chipmunks have returned, This one, I believe is from last year as he seems to know the routine of me in the garden, means a peanut handout. Oh I am so well trained. This year I am calling this one Timmer.  A name of a character from a favourite book.

Current Spring NSD. For National Scrapbook Day I did a few layouts but mostly on this Saturday, I participated in an online (FB) card making, catalogue reveal  "party", hosted by my upline contact for Stampin Up.  I won two of the draws (stamp sets) & made this mystery card.  The host sends the written instructions for cutting & as a group we put the card together.  I was quite pleased with my results.  The ongoing joke is not to have naked envelopes.  I must admit this is a set I nearly always forget when card making.

Current Spring Nesting Destruction: We had a squirrel rip some siding off the house in one of those odd angles on the roof line & try to make a nest.  We quickly had the pest removal people show & install a one way door - they can get out but not back in.  Thankfully our little furry friend has moved on before completion of the nest & the birthing of any babies. Eventually re-building a nest in the neighbours large walnut tree. 

Current Spring Returning: No photos of this, but I conducted/participated in my last Zoom meetings last week.  All are preparing for the migration back to in- person working.  Not sure how I am feeling about it.  😔

Current Excitement:  Next Monday, May 23rd is a holiday weekend for us so I'll be posting the 2022 Summer Scavenger Photo Hunt list. 

See you later in the week for some Wisdom  👧

Wisdom

 

"I do not understand the mystery of grace, only that it meets us where we are & does not leave us where it found us." 

                    ... Ann Lamott

Me On A Monday - May 9th

 

Currently Wondering About some recent "deep discussions" on social media.

Item 1:  Blates:  is this newly discovered or just a rebranding of what I grew up calling pasta plates?   What is a Blate you ask. Short answer; a wide, shallow, rounded vessel for food that is a combination of a bowl & plate. 

Source: The Internet

Is this just another social trend? But when thousands of Twitter users can agree on something, you have to wonder if  they are on to something with the love child of a deep bowl & a flat plate mate & create the Blate.  What do you think?  Blates on your shopping list?

Item 2: Pineapple; it seems nothing creates bigger wars on Twitter than putting pineapple on a pizza & now it is war on pineapple in a pasta dish.  Are you team pineapple on pizza & in pasta? Or pineapple for tropical drinks & desserts only?  Me, I like pineapple on my pizza & we often grill pineapple rings for burger enhancement, both the meat burger of Mr Man & my veggie burger.

Source: The Internet

Item 3: Shirt Extenders: adjustable layering fake tops, lower sweep hem with elastic waist band.  These are part of several new "fake" clothing items.  Since the trend is to add layers to the overall look (it seems to be only for ladies right now) so rather than add the extra bulk of a full shirt, you slip the fake lower part of the shirt on & it gives the illusion.  My example of the fake shirt extender is the plaid below.  Something you would add to your wardrobe?

Source: The Internet

I think I like this trend. Although I haven't ordered one/two/three ... yet.

Wisdom

 

"You have to meet people where they are...

  ... and sometimes you have to leave them there."

                            ... Iyanla Vanzant

Me On A Monday - May 2nd

Good Morning Everyone.  Another month's beginnings are upon us & it can either be very thrilling to think of another 31 fresh opportunities or another 31 days to get through.  I'm going with thrill & joy of 31 new beginnings for May.  

SOURCE: Internet (Pinterest)

I think most of us can agree that during the last two & a bit years, that many of us have done a lot of reading.  It was & always has been, a joy for me to sit & read for hours at a time.  I think that during the lockdowns, book recommendations exceeded even recipe sharing.

My biggest gratitude was that during the first few months of initial lockdowns, our library was readily available through an online system called Libby.  I am not normally an ebook reader, but when it was the only way to get my "hands on"  new to me books, I was thankful it was available.  Since most if not all things are now returning to open & come on in mind set, I have continued to read a few books as ebooks, mainly because it is the only way that many of the newer books are available.  That does not make me happy, but I am trying my best to be adaptable & smile through it.

In April, I mixed up my reading genre quite a bit.  I had decided back at the start of the year that my ideas for 2022 is to read some books that I missed out on as a child.  Recently on Lady Ella's blog, she reviewed a favourite childhood book of hers, The Railway Children.  The book was originally written in 1906 & has been reprinted several times & made into a movie;1970 & remade in 2000 & another revision for 2022.  I was able to get a solid copy of this book & read.  I had to remember when reading this book, that my mind & heart needed to be a child again.  It was a good read overall.  Next up are some Winnie The Pooh & Beatrix Potter books.

My latest new to me read, was recommended by an online (F/B) book club; Ruth Ozeki's The Book of Form & Emptiness.   Ruth's opening is what caught my attention & desire to read more; 

 "A book must start somewhere.  One brave letter must volunteer to go first, laying itself on the line in an act of faith, from which a word takes heart & follows, drawing a sentence into its wake.  From there, a paragraph amasses & soon a page & the book is on its way, finding a voice, calling itself into being.  A book must start somewhere & this one starts here."

The book is about Benny Oh & his Mother, Annabelle's journey in coming to terms with the sudden & tragic death of Benny's Father, Annabelle's husband.  They both develop less than ideal methods of coping. Benny begins to hear the voices of things like his sneaker, a window & a broken ornament.  Annabelle develops hoarding as a way to protect herself.  Best character in the book is the Book-a-Talking, who narrates the story. I liked this book & will re-read it in the future. (what the window had to say, got me a little teary). 

I also re-read some of my (current) author's books, Louise Penny & the Chief Inspector Gamache books.  Thankfully I own the collection, so can pick up these any time my heart desires.  The latest Chief Inspector book is currently being written by Louise & not set for release until 2023!

Also read, The Younger Wife, which turned out to be a not horrible read, took me a while to get interested in the story & characters. 

Another read was Death at the Chateau Bremont, by M.L. Longworth.  This was the first in a series of murder mysteries taking place in Provence, France.  These books are the base of the latest TV murder series "Death in Provence"  starring Roger Allam of Inspector Thursday (Endeavour) fame.  This was/is one of those ebook reads for me.  I liked & have book 2 on order (another ebook).

I had previously talked about my other April reads, Where The Crawdads Sing &  Crown & Septure in an earlier Me On Monday post.

And I will leave you with another quote from The Book of Form & Emptiness: 

 "According to the capabilities of the reader, books have their own destinies .. "                    Walter Benjamin, Unpacking my library.