Life Lessons

 My Mom once said when life gives you lemons make lemonade. She had a plaque hanging in her kitchen with those exact words. Mom was very wise and she always had the right answer whenever I had a problem.  I miss her so much, especially this past year.  Not that I would have wanted her to be here during the pandemic but I know she would have made living through it much easier. She always looked for the good in everything. If you planned a picnic and it rained you just moved the picnic inside. Spread a cloth on the floor, had a picnic and watched the rain from inside. Today was especially hard not because of one particular thing, just hard. I think because being stuck staying home is getting to me. I get up, have breakfast, clean house, get dressed, do laundry if there is any, plan dinner, watch tv, go to bed only to get up and repeat it al over again. I sit here tonight watching tv and realize tomorrow night I'll be in the same place at the same time doing the same thing. I think I need to make some lemonade.

Homemade

Crafty I'd like to think I am. I enjoy making and receiving homemade things. Since the pandemic hit a year ago I've thought a lot about getting back to making gifts. It will give me something to do to pass the long days stuck at home. I remember when my mom was alive every year before Christmas we would get together and have a craft day. My mom was very crafty. I remember growing up she and several of her friends would get together weekly in our basement and make crafts. Mom would see something in a magazine and next thing you knew she 'd invite a few of her friends over and they would set up shop and  create the things she saw.They made a Christmas tree out of a readers digest and sprayed it gold something I tried and could not re create. They made place mats from felt, ornaments from styrofoam and just had fun. 

This past year I have been collecting ideas of things I'd like to make such as snow men out of clay pots. quilted fabric ornaments, and angels.,using wooden balls string and fury material. I need to gather all my supplies before I can start these but I am looking forward to having a craft day.

Yummy and Homemade

 Bread, who doesn't love good bread. I love bread good bread that is not the soft kind you buy in the grocery store but good flavorful bread. The draw back is good bakery bread can be expensive.  My solution was make my own. I have baked bread in a dutch oven, and in a loaf pan. I've made cardamon bread, plain white bread, fragrant orange bread, french,rosemary and wheat bread.  I love the feel of kneading the bread, watching it rise and the wonderful aroma while its baking. Its a long process so it isn't something I do often, until now. For Christmas I got a Bread Machine from my husband. Since then I have been putting that machine to good use. I make about 2 loaves a day. One loaf to eat and one goes in the freezer. No more store bought bread for us.  

Goodbye 2020

 Its been a very long 10 months.wearing masks, social distancing, and not being able to be with family. Do I think just because a new year has begun and theres a vaccine that its over,I'm hopeful. I think the thing that got me through these long lonely months was my Joy Journal. I know this may sound odd but it's true. On January 1st 2020 Jenny,Sandy, Jennifer and I  began what we thought would be a fun adventure. Each week we would write in our journals something joyful that had happened to us that week. At first it was easy. Dinner with friends, a Bible Study at Church, and an outing with the grandkids. Then COVID hit and we were in Lockdown. Finding anything to be joyful after that was difficult. I struggled each week but I was determined to find something anything that gave me joy. So each end of the week I'd look back and think about what happened. My daughter called,  a text from a friend, flowers beginning to pop out of the ground things I had taken for granted became the joy in my life. I wrote about the joy I got baking cookies about making a Thanksgiving dinner and doing a zoom session with the grandkids. I found joy in spending time with my husband and making his Moms fruit cake together. When I finally made my last entry it was bittersweet. I felt sad but I was happy I had stuck with it and completed a year of finding something joyful during the dark days of the virus.  

Joy

 With everything that has been happening these past nine months, its been hard to find Joy in anything. That was until one Sunday our Pastor said choose Faith not Fear. I never put my tree up until the day after Thanksgiving. This year I decided to put it up before. I also decided to decorate every room in my house with some Christmas, which is something I haven't done since my  kids were little. It gave me so much joy to carefully take each ornament and really look at it and remember where I got it or who made it for me before I placed it on the tree. I didn't rush. It took 3 days to do my decorating which in the past I've usually done in a day. This year by taking my time I actually found I enjoyed doing it and didn't feel rushed. It gives me Joy every morning when I turn the lights on the tree. I look around and see Joy in each decoration and it makes me happy. This Pandemic is not going to win,I am choosing Faith over Fear and going to have a joyful holiday.

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Frost warning

Well this was an unwelcome surprise. Last night the weather man said there was a frost warning for our area. Its May 31st and It was going down to a low of 34 degrees.We were advised to cover all our tender plants. So at 6:30 pm John and I were outdoors covering our tomato and lettuce plants, my hydrangeas and moving all 6 of my hanging baskets to the garage. Most everything else in the garden would survive since it hadn't started blooming yet. After a fretful night of worry I woke up and by 8am it was 41 degrees. We uncovered everything hung the baskets back up and took a walk around the garden and were very pleased that nothing was lost. I did some weeding and watered and luckily no frost forecast for tonight and I'm hoping that the warm weather is now here to stay.

An Unlikely Pair

Our dog Buttons has a best friend, the dog next door, his name is Fred Parker. Buttons is a Havenese and Fred is a hound. A most unlikely pair but they love each other. Buttons wants to do everything Fred does. He lets me know when Fred comes over for treats and every time he goes outside he looks at Fred's house hoping to see him. Fred watches out for Buttons and if he gets loose because of someone not watching when they go out the door Fred rounds him up and brings him back home. 

We have a covered porch on our house and Fred can often be found sleeping on it to get out of the hot sun. I keep a bowl of cold water out there for Fred and he lets me know if I forget to fill it. Last week when the temps reached the high 80s the coolest spot was on the covered porch. We sat out there looking at the water enjoying the breeze and of course Buttons buddy Fred Parker joined us. When it was time to go in Fred's Mom blew the whistle, his signal it was time to come in, but he just sat there. I finally said "Fred go home" he didn't look happy but left. See you tomorrow Fred.