Category Archives: Uncategorized
Pretty things in my own yard.
Sometimes I feel restless and wish I could move somewhere brand new.
Then we have a beautiful day like today – and as I work in my gardens I realize it’s pretty darn nice right here.
Especially if I could someday get caught up on the weeding.
Though I suppose weeding is never done. Ever.
Tomorrow is supposed to be even prettier than today; though maybe a bit too hot to weed.
Darn.
Walking with random thoughts
Do any of you remember pine cone wreaths? OK – that probably dated me, but I remember my Mom making pine cone wreaths in the 70’s.
You took a bunch of pine cones and glued them to a wire wreath, then sprayed them with something to seal them. They were actually pretty.
Every day at work I try to get out at lunch for a walk around the neighborhood; it’s the best part of my day. Lately I’ve noticed a lot of pine cones under trees along the way and they make me smile, because back in the day the hardest thing about making a pine cone wreath was finding the pine cones. So seeing them all there, ready for the picking, makes me think of Mom. She would have been excited to find so many.
On my walk the other day I saw a beautiful climbing rose hanging over someone’s backyard fence.
I thought how interesting it was that the prettiest part of the plant was where the owner wouldn’t see it. That sometimes the best stuff is just out of sight and takes a little work to enjoy.
Isn’t that the way most best stuff usually turns out to be?
Wordless Wednesday – Not lookin' at you.
Photo scavenger hunt – at the zoo
Karma challenged us to find photos of the following:
- a colorful bird of your choice
- a grad – of any sort
- a dad – of any sort
- something purple
- a butterfly
- a funny face
BONUS: a cow, bull, heifer, calf or ox. Extra bonus points for the belted galloway. (This assignment isn’t due till June 25…you can challenge yourself too!)
So on Father’s Day I took some time and went to the Detroit Zoo. I figured there might be a butterfly house, was sure there would be colorful birds, and figured I’d find a funny face somewhere. And since it was Father’s Day I was hoping to find a father or two along the way.
I have to say – this was a blast! The zoo had everything I needed except for one item on the list; I bet you can figure out which photo came out of my archives.
So let’s get going!
A Colorful bird:
I have lots of colorful bird photos, but this one won out. I’ll show you others on another blog. Promise.
A Graduate:
In the spring of 2008 I graduated with my library degree. Someday I’m going to do something librarian-ish with it.
A Dad:
I saw lots of Dad’s out with their children…
…which made me miss mine a bit. Still, it was nice to see all the families enjoying the beautiful day.
Something Purple:
I took a lot of pictures of pretty purple flowers. But on my way out of the zoo I saw this, and knew it would become my the purple element for my hunt. Because flowers could be anywhere, but this was definitely something from the zoo.
A Butterfly:
There was a butterfly house right near the front of the zoo!
I hadn’t seen a butterfly here at home yet this spring. After my trip to the zoo I was weeding the garden and a monarch landed on my shoulder for a moment. Priceless.
A Funny Face:
A funny face? Well I saw a few, but this guy had the best face. The docent said this emu was pretty ornery. Maybe it was just because he had a bad hair day.
A Cow:
But of everything, you know what I’m most excited about? The COW! I know…I know. A cow you say?
The zoo had farm animals so I figured I’d find a cow there, but I had no idea I might find one that looked so much like a “belted galloway.” But look at this!
I don’t know if it really is a belted galloway…but it certainly has a wide white belt. Maybe he’s still dressing from the 70’s.
All in all I am truly grateful to Karma for challenging me like this. I had a wonderful Father’s Day morning. Such fun!
Here’s one more funny face from the zoo…
Happy Father's Day
Dad was the kind of guy who could fix anything.
I like to look around his shop, and the garage.
Reminds me of him.
Happy Father’s Day Daddy.
Miss you.
Finally! A little dogalicious adventure
With Aunt V somewhat settled in at the nursing home Katie and I finally had some time to do a little adventuring today. Ok..not such an adventure. But we did go to her favorite park! It was a beautiful day and she wasn’t going to let me get away with putting her off. She whined and huffed at me all afternoon till I broke down and loaded her up for the short trip to a good walk.
There were lots of people there, a softball game going on and a graduation party. But we headed off for a solitary walk through the woods and field. It was lovely. We had to stop in the shade once for a rest, but otherwise we trotted right along.
On the way back to the car we stopped at the picnic pavilion and talked to some lovely ladies who said that Katie was a very pretty ‘miniature collie dog.” Whatever. She got petted and admired which is what she was after (That and any scraps of graduation lunch that might have fallen. Too bad her mama wouldn’t let her have any.)
This last picture’s for Diana. Yes I checked for snakes before we went up this overgrown path! 🙂
It’s been a long couple of months for Katie-girl as she took a back seat to other emergencies. She’s been very patient about all the comings and goings.
See? She can be a good girl!
Aging is harder than it looks
I stopped to visit Aunt V on my way home from work tonight. She’s at a nursing home where hopefully she’ll get physical therapy to help build her strength back up. She’s back to not being able to walk or stand on her own after a week lying around in the hospital.
This is her first full day and she wants out. Now. Yet she can’t do much of anything for herself – so where to go is the question. Tonight I was being a cheerleader for her, reminding her how well she was getting around last Sunday, how she worked hard to get stronger and she can do it again.
She said she hadn’t realized how difficult getting old really was. But, she said quietly as she gazed out at a lake she can’t really see, “it’s hard.” I can only agree and hold her hand.
She can’t see much, has trouble hearing, can’t read, and is more confused than she used to be. She’s always been very sharp, very up to date, very engaged. Now she’s sitting staring vacantly out the window, or thinking that she’s being watched, or that ‘they’ are trying to harm her. Then she’s lucid again and you aren’t sure you really heard her say anything crazy. Maybe it’s just you. Maybe.
On my drive home, sitting at a light I glanced over and saw a driver, older than me, with ear buds in his ears, listening and nodding to something. I thought about all the people out there hooked on their phones and ipods and other gadgets. When the next generation gets to be 95 and are sitting in a room at some nursing home will they have ear buds attached? A cell phone with the sound turned up clutched in their arthritic hands, pressed against their hearing aid?
Will the future be less frightening to us if we’re still ‘connected’ to the outside world through our electronics? Or will those electronics slowly move us toward craziness?
Meanwhile we will take our current situation one day, one hour, sometimes one minute at a time. The road ahead isn’t clear to any of us and hard decisions await. I guess that makes us like most everyone else out there.
But it’s still harder than it looks.
June photo scavenger hunt
Karma at her blog has challenged us to another photo scavenger hunt. These are so much fun, though I’ve only done one so far. But June’s list looks kind of hard to me:
June’s Photo Hunt:
a colorful bird of your choice
a grad – of any sort
a dad – of any sort
something purple
a butterfly
a funny face
BONUS: a cow, bull, heifer, calf or ox. Extra bonus points for my favorite, the belted galloway.
Well. I don’t have a Dad around here anymore…and I don’t have any graduates that I know…and I don’t know where I’m going to find a cow of any sort much less a belted galloway…and I might be able to find the colorful bird…maybe…but it might not be the best photograph…and I haven’t seen a butterfly yet this spring.
So…any help, ideas, suggestions would be appreciated!
And you too can join the scavenger hunt….just put together your photographic finds, then let Karma know where you’ve posted them. It’s an adventure and we all need a little more adventure in our lives.
Right?
Musing
If I must weed, let it be in a patch of lavender.
