Ode to Joy

Started stocking up on some plants this week (I had ordered a few by mail only the second time or so I have done that) and my neighbor-niece picked up a few for me while she was out on errands.  I already almost killed those by leaving them out on the step in an “ooops, I forgot the plants” moment when the temps dropped down to near freezing. They may recover IF it warms up soon. I think May 10 is our safe to plant date for 2020.

I told you about the extension of my trail, once known as trail to nowhere and now referred to, occasionally and loosely, as the trail with purpose. I LOVE this addition to our landscape and although it was a lot of work, and still work needed, it is becoming a favorite spot. Except for the poison ivy or poison oak I picked up while ripping out myrtle, hiding in the growth to do its dastardly deed on my arms and ankles.  Now that I know it is there, I look for it and it is discreet, for sure, but its there. Poison Ivy seems to be strong this year as I have seen several people post about it. Devil weed.

This year has turned in to a year of some serious landscape planning. It is nice to have the niece next door as she also is a landscape planner. We talk flowers, shrubs and trees a LOT. We enjoy it and well, she also picked up some poison ivy working in HER beds. So, we share that as well.

The daffodil game has been strong and long this year; the colder temps seem to be keeping them on a nice rotation without everyone blooming at once. There’s a lot to divide and move later to keep this look going.

 

Even with everything that is going on, spring is such a great time of year. Even on days when it is a bit gloomy or cold I walk out onto the porch and take it all in, just sort of survey it. We have a lot of projects, sure, but also a lot of joy. Who doesn’t need a bit of joy?

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Well, hey, everybody!

Yes, yes it really has been a year since I posted on this blog.  That has been intentional by the way, not that I forgot or had nothing to say.  Fact is, I was afraid of what I would say and therefor, thought it best not to have a forum...if you know what I mean. 

That being said, it's a new time, a different time. Very different.  I was thinking this morning, as I was doing some deep breathing exercises,  that I would like to post a little something positive on Facebook and Instagram and well, some of you know that I have been posting my "Days of Love" on a near daily bases for over two years.  That's usually a picture and I keep the comments down to a roar. At least, from me! I love YOUR comments!

Anyway, this morning I found myself thinking a lot about my friends and family, and decided to rejuvenate my blog, to keep in touch, to do a little mental health check with all of you.  It's too easy to disconnect, to feel a little overwhelmed and to shut in..and shut down.  I'm not having it. 

As I have stated in the past, I started this blog to keep my family and friends up to date on what was happening around my lakeside home and to entertain them, and you.  I am still all about that.  I hope to be a place you can come to for a few words of levity and good feels.  Expect to see my dog and my grandchildren and hubs, of course.  You may get tired of the food pics and cocktails with fires in the background but hey, it's what I do and I invite you to come along.  I love you all, near and far, and hope to see you all again soon.  Until then, please join me at my window!

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A quick check in…

First, I am about 75% with my new commitment to daily moisturizer, but, my skin does feel better.  If you are like me and have been ignoring moisturizer for a while, do it.  I am using an Olay product.  If you are younger than I and don’t moisturize regularly, well, change should be your goal, and remember, don't forget your neck and chest.  You'll thank me in twenty years. 

So, I had a visit with my doctor last week and bemoaned my morning blood sugar readings.  Not alarming, but why always higher than what I think they would be after not eating for 12 hours?  She suggested a bedtime healthy snack and some evening exercise, like a walk or stationary bike.

Not a serious walker but trying to get better and I can’t imagine trying to walk at night, after dinner, when hubs is thinking ice cream, but, we’ll see.  Anyway, I’ll let you know.

We hosted a fun get-together last weekend…charcuterie and wine.  I set up a huge board, covered in parchment, on the island and we just added the contributions as people came in the door with a cheese, or a meat or a jar of nuts or olives. One person brought a large vegetable tray, which was perfect, and another included a curry chicken salad, which we devoured.   We even had figs.  It was fun, it was great food, lots of laughs. I also set up a grilled cheese/quesadilla bar for the kiddos.  We liked it so much we had left over cheese and meats with family the next night, and a grilled cheese bar for grown ups and kids the third night.  We are now on a cheese moratorium for a few days, but, it was a super fun weekend and Monday, with swimming, boating and tubing thrown in. It’s back to school and back to work, and there's been some rainy days to keep things kind of slow and lazy.

 

I’ve been keeping an eye on shadows in the yard, and how the air is starting to feel, and I know the season is winding down. The lake is more quiet and here we are, at Labor Day weekend.  We have a few more days of “summer” but we all know it’s coming.  The memories will be big from this summer. 

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Never too old to dream.

This week one of my dreams is coming true.  One of my adult children, along with her husband and three children, are moving “home” to my town.  She left for college at 18 and never looked back, or so I thought.  She was looking back, however, and a spark for living in her hometown became a flame…and oh, enough with being poetic! I am doing cartwheels over here I am so happy.

All three of my kids left for parts unknown, or Indianapolis, when they were finished with college.  While the oldest didn’t quite finish his education at Indiana University, he didn’t move home, either.  Now living in LA, I only get to see him once or twice a year, three times if I am lucky.  His visits are always welcome, and never long enough. The two girls both married boys from other towns and settled in Indianapolis right out of college.  An absolutely great town, we have enjoyed many wonderful times in Indianapolis, with lots more to come as we love that town, and our youngest, with her adorable family, still lives there.

Many times over the years friends and family have asked “Do you think one of the kids will move home?” and our answer was always “No”.  Both of our sons-in-law, and this daughter, are in technology related fields.  There’s not a lot of their particular kind of work in Northern Indiana, folks.  But, through advancement of “remote” opportunities, both are keeping their current jobs and will be working remotely.

We spent time in Indianapolis this weekend packing up the house they have lived in for twelve years.  It was bittersweet.  Their place served as “home base” for many family events.  We have had great times in their home, on their deck. Even hugely pregnant with her first baby, they opened their home to host wedding events for her younger sister, who married in Indianapolis, ten years ago.  That house on Lincoln Court is special for all of us, for many reasons.  I wish I could tell you how many times my husband has said “I love that deck”.

 

Yesterday was bittersweet for all of us as we packed boxes and loaded the truck.  I was lucky to get to empty the bookshelf of all the photo albums and spent a couple minutes flipping through pages and memories, oh so many memories.  I am so looking forward to what’s ahead…much to do as the house they are moving into is a bit smaller, with less storage, is on a great lot, on the lake she grew up on, a fantastic place to raise their family.  Oh and is less than five minutes from ME!

As my nine-year-old granddaughter said a couple of times on Saturday as she and I packed up her room “This is really happening! I have butterflies!”  Yes, my love, I know the feeling!

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The annual slow down.

This is one of those rare, quiet weeks, following Labor Day, still warm but beginning to feel that chill in the evening breeze.  Not a lot going on around the homestead and the lake calm, settled.  Our boats are not yet out so we have taken a few lazy, slow cruises in the early evening.  We’ve built fires and sat around watching the sky darken, said our good nights to the day over a glass of wine, a hunk of cheese.  It’s rained a bit and the flowers are tossing their goodbyes, petal by petal, into the wind.

 

Up early on Saturday, hubs and I went down to the courthouse area and strolled through vendor booths, at an annual festival.  I then asked if we could go to the greenhouse and pick up a large mum, and maybe a couple smaller ones, for some pots around the house that I haven't yet filled.  Now, this was an amazing feat…an arts and crafts festival AND a trip to the greenhouse? To buy stuff? Rare in this house for him to go along, but go along he did as I walked up and down the aisles at the greenhouse trying to make a size and color choice.  It’s only one dang pot of mums for crying out loud, just pick one.  I could hear it as clearly as if it were spoken out loud.  Only it wasn’t from him, it was me.

 

I don’t want that orangey bronze…too close in color to the millions of leaves we will soon have fluttering into the yard.  I don’t want yellow, again, too close in color, but, we also have so many yellow daffodils in the spring I want something different, and the pots are yellow, so no.   No to white for no particular reason, just no.  Lavender pink? No, not vivid enough. Red? Sure, red! Of course, red.  My favorite color, duh.  Now, which one? Perhaps a hundred pots of red mums to pick from.  Not enough buds, too many buds.  I can’t tell, how do I know for sure this one is red? Is it round? Does that look a little caved in to you?

We settled on a nice fully rounded, deep crimson, with about half and half blooms and buds, and two smaller pots to combine into one planter ... one of them yellow. Cause yellow mums, hello.  We talked about future boxes for the deck, once the railing is complete, so not this year but next year, look out.  Loaded the mums in the back of his car, talked of the work he has planned for the rest of the day but, hey, let’s take a ride first.  I don't know if I have ever been down this road.

We’ve got nowhere to be and no one coming in for the weekend, yes, let's take a ride.

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Not yet, not yet.

And, just like that, it’s over. 

I sat on the screened porch this morning enjoying a bowl of oatmeal, thinking about how nice the warm goo felt going into my throat and belly, and looked towards the corner stacked with little kids life vests and beach towels.  “So, I guess I could put those away.” was the thought that strolled around in my brain. Along with “But, I don’t WANT to…”

A definite change every year when the first football game at the high school is played, the school bus begins to honk it’s horn for the children in the neighborhood, the life vests get put away.  We talked this weekend about pulling the boats out and I began to plan the annual chili party.  It popped in to my head that last year the chili party was during the major league play-offs and we combined a game viewing with the event, had a great time AND a positive outcome. Will the Cubs make it that far this year?

I watched this morning as one lonely looking pontoon boat puttered across my view.  I could see that its passengers were in long sleeves and sat huddled together, except for the captain who pulled at his coat collar while drifting by, his motor sputtering to a halt.  Are they going to fish? I wondered, or is that engine trouble?

Casual, lazy thoughts as acorns plunked the roof and deck.  A couple of sun bleached beach towels flap themselves dry in the cloudy breeze, remnants of the weekend and I find myself wondering if it’s time to sort through beach towels, casting some in to the rag bag and refreshing others with a good wash and dry to be folded, stored until next year. Should I bring the chairs in? I need to cover the fire pit table.  Are we going to leave it out all winter? (Winter? I tend to get ahead of myself sometimes). There’s still a lot of good fires, and fire pit conversations that can be had…it’s only the last few days of August! I resolve to fluff the pillows and sweep off the spider webs…there’s lots of time to party, for family and fun.   And then I remember school nights and dance practice and marching band competitions.  The busy fall flexing its muscles before me, reminding me of who is in charge, better not plan too many fireside chats, girl, or you’ll be talking to yourself.