Me On Monday - May 25th

Good Morning my friends.  I hope those that are celebrating a long weekend are enjoying themselves, safely, not in crowds, keeping 6 feet apart & wearing a mask if outside of your home.  Here endeth the lesson.

Currently Thankful: that Mother Nature gave us some really beautiful days over the weekend, I certainly needed to be outside in nature's balm. Sunday the temperatures rose to +29 with a humidex of +33

Currently Awaiting: the day & time to pick up my garden annual order from our local greenhouses.  She is assigning very strict guidelines & times so that there is only one vehicle on her farm,  picking up at a time.  Of course we do not normally plant out annuals or bedding plants until after May 24th when the risk of frost and/or snow is less.  My pick up day is Tuesday May 26 at 11:15am.  I decided to order all my annuals from here, no sense running around to other locations since we are trying to maintain minimal outside contact.  I have also planned on fewer pots as I will be busy with the perennial side of the garden this year, plus the expense of annuals is a little higher than previous years.

Currently Reading Real Books:  our library opened last Thursday for curbside pick ups of books previously put on hold before the lockdown of March 12th.  I picked up 3 books & 1 magazine. I had a pick up time of 11:30 on Friday; you arrive, stand at the pick up pylon, one of the ladies comes out, in gown, face mask & shield, gloves, puts the books down, returns to building, then you pick up & go.   

I chuckled about my magazine, which is the spring issue of Creative Scrapbooker, because the summer issue is now available. That is a statement about lockdown if ever there was one.  No matter, ideas are seasonless or is that timeless ...

The first book I am reading is a recommendation from Ruth, Wolf Hall, book 1 of a trilogy.  Next up is Middlemarch. 

Currently Pleased:  that the farmer is going to plant the field behind us.  He was out late afternoon on Sunday spraying to kill off any of last year's corn. Once he started that, we had to go inside & shut all the windows.   He will be planting soy this year.

 Currently Preparing:  the final selections for this year's Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt.  I think the list will challenge all of us to think outside of the box.  While many areas are lifting lock down restrictions, we still need to be mindful that not all of us will be rushing back to life as it once was.  I think the list will allow us to participate with things at home, close to home & for those venturing further afield.  I will be posting the list this Wednesday as we begin SPSH 2020 Monday June 1st!

Towards the end of last week, it was a really difficult time for my family as we experienced a very unexpected loss of a family member & within hours of that, we received news of another family member seriously ill & not likely to live much longer.  Then to finish the week, another family member had emergency open heart surgery.  None of these people were/are old, none of them had been previously ill.  And because of the current pandemic situation, we were/are not allowed in person goodbyes, not allowed to hold a hand to ease the fear & because of lock down restrictions, not allowed to gather to mourn or comfort each other. 

Wednesday Wisdom

Be like a postage stamp.  

Stick to one thing until you get there.

Source: Internet

Me On A Monday - May 18th

Greetings & Salutations on this holiday Monday.  Being that we are still mostly on lock down, it's hard to get excited that this is a long weekend - we have been on a long weekend since March 12th. 

This weekend is also traditionally the start of the summer season for us, when Ontarians open their cottages & get their boats in the water, go camping or start planting out their annuals.  Although between Mother Earth & Mother Nature there's a plot a foot to keep us mostly indoors.  And please do not get me started on those Murder Hornets invading us now!  It does feel like Stephen King is writing a 2020 series.  I am not liking series 1 at all!

 Currently Reading:  an e-book on the life & memories of Albert Estein's first wife, Mileva Marić.  It was a book suggested to me by the online library. So far, interesting, not that I totally understand physics but you don't need to really & it seems to be a story more about being a women struggling in the 1800's, with the world's perception of what a woman is capable of, a woman's own perception of what she's capable of & it's a love story.

Currently Crafting:  came across this paper in my Christmas stash & thought it would make a choice for my COVID-19 pages.  Those circles just remind me of the pictures we see of the Corona virus.  I did order a small package of  Corona scrapping paper.  I am impressed by the number of companies that have gotten things created so quickly to bring to market.  

 Currently Received: the last of my monthly subscription for a stamping kit.  This month's theme was rainbows, which is very timely given that rainbows & butterflies have become a worldwide theme of hope in the pandemic.  I am considering extending this subscription for another few months as we move from Stay At Home to Safer At Home. (Although I believe we will be moving to Get Back Home & Stay There)

"Strong walls, may shake, but they never collaspe"   ... maybe they cry a little, slam a few doors but they are still standing tall & carrying the load.  (me, I said that).

Wisdom Wednesday #10

"I sleep my beauty sleep for eleven months in total darkness, gathering my strength in order to enlighten your day."  The Tulip

So maybe this time of the Great Pause, is our time to gather our strength to be ourselves enlightened.

Me On A Monday - May 11th

One Lovely Pink Tulip of 2019

Good Morning.  I trust everyone had a good weekend. We had snow & record low temperatures. 

Current Mood: I must admit to waking on Saturday morning to the snow falling & already accumulating on the ground did not bring me any cheer.  My poor tulips were flattened by the snow & cold, so it took me quite a bit to pick up my mood.  

My overall garden has been leaving me feeling quite discouraged.  It is in rougher shape than the economy.  So since I will be home a lot this summer, I have worked out a plan to revive, redo, reinvent my garden.  

I had several large clumps of daffodils come up but not a single flower, well I did have one bud but my little chipmunk friends decided it was a delicious opportunity & waited no time in chewing off.  So do I leave the clumps in & find a fertilizer to feed the bulbs all summer or do I dig up?  Any suggestions?  

Currently Crafting: I finally received my photo order in the mail - yeah photos to work with, so I will be spending some time working with my scrapping stash this week. 

Currently Working On: the list for the SPSH (Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt).  Being that some, if not all of us will still be on some form of social distancing and/or lockdown restrictions, the list is providing some challenges to take in consideration those restrictions.  It will be a shorter list this year.  My hope is that it will still provide a bit of a challenge, encouraging everyone to think outside of the box & mostly importantly to have fun with it.  I plan to roll out the list by the end of May.  The SPSH will be June to September, just like summer.

Currently Baking: I made Beer Bread & yes I used Corona beer, I just could not ignore the fun in that.  The Beer Bread was introduced at Ruth's blog, found here: Ruth's Beer-Bread Recipe.  It's quite easy & very tasty.  It also toasts up really well & gives that delightful crunch. 

Currently Surprised: but very impressed that even though the Premiere of our province has allowed some Phase 1 essential businesses to open up in-store shopping, many are not rushing to re-open other than with curbside pick up. The one everyone has been excited for, are the garden centres.  Many of our local garden centres feel that they could not successfully provide the required social distancing rules & safety of staff & customers, so are remaining closed to in-store traffic & providing curbside pick up only.  Well done!

Currently Entertained: the Canadian Snow Birds, officially known as the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, or military aerobatics of the Royal Canadian Airforce, arranged for a flyover of most of  Ontario on Saturday, but it was postponed to Sunday because of the snow storms.  Mr Man was very excited & braved the cold to watch; for me it was kind of  ... oh.  But I did like that they did this as a tribute & thanks to the Ontario people for staying home,  __ 💜__ holding the line & flattening the curve (slowly it seems).  

Currently Commerical Emotional:  there are several of the big companies airing on TV, pandemic related commercials,  ones meant to tug at your heart strings.  And do they ever, there's 3 in particular that make me cry every time.  I am sure that these retailers run a similar commercial in every country that they sell in, just changing the outdoor scenes for local.  There's one that has the female singer sitting on her bed, playing a guitar & singing Stand By Me; oh yeah gets me every time.  I also like that several of the big car manufactures have kept their commercial time but have allowed local business to advertise, for free, during that time slot. 


"Right in the difficult, we must have our joys, our happiness, our dreams: there against the depth of this background, they stand out, there for the first time, we see how beautiful they are."  Rainer Maria Rilke

Wednesday Wisdom #9

In keeping with the painted stones & rocks.  Such Simple Wisdom

Me On A Monday - May 4th

May the fourth be with us all.  

A few views of what is happening around the little village I live in.  Some are crafting, some are walking, some sending encouragement, some entertain us ...

This is our local real estate office - they are closed because they are not an essential service, so they covered the building with a flag.  To me it looks like it is wearing it's non medical mask.

"The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members." – Coretta Scott King. ...