The Yard

I love this time of year. I love watching my perennial flowers start to come up, and I love how green everything is. We've been talking over the last couple of years about cleaning up the back part of the yard, and this year we decided to make it happen. I'm giving Bruce all of the credit, though, because he did most of the work. I try to be supportive, and helped with raking of dirt and mulch, but honestly, I don't know how he could just keep going, with all the lifting and bending for hours at a time that he did. It was daunting to see 180 bags of mulch, and 75 bags of dirt delivered to the driveway (from Menards), and then it all had to be moved to the backyard to be dumped and raked over. Also, as our yard has become shadier over the years, the grass has died away, so Bruce dumped dirt and seeded most of the back yard. We were our usual frugal selves with the process. We were able to split up the huge hosta growing along the front walk and garage side of the driveway, and ended up with 21 healthy plants to use. The plan is to dig up three pine trees from up north, to plant behind the hosta. Four lilac bushes, and four fire and ice hydrangias were bought to add color. and the bleeding heart plant that's been there for years was pruned, and thankfully looks like it'll survive!

But one of the most exciting things to see, is the little chickadee family that's moved into the new bird house outside the living room window! They don't seem to mind the cats or activity going on in the porch, either. I can hardly wait to see the babies!

Black Forest Poke Cake

Mother's Day 2021

There was a cake incident on Mother's Day this year, but more about that later. Grandma Joyce came over, as did Mark, Nick, and Jake and Brianna. We were all able to sit comfortably in the living room together, thanks to the new furniture we now have, and all seven of us were also able to fit around the dining room table, even if it was a little cozy.

I found bacon wrapped steaks that I decided to put on the grill. I've made this kind of steak only once before for Bruce and me, and that was in a skillet. They were delicious but, it would have been difficult to make 10 steaks in a skillet. Plus, grilling is kind of fun. I have to say, though, it was tricky in knowing how long to cook them all, and in the end, some were more well done than others. It's a learning curve, I guess.

Katie sent me flowers! Jake and Brianna brought flowers, too, and a neon light peace hand. I already showed it to little boy when we were skyping the next day, and he looked at it very intently. They gave Grandma Joyce flowers and popcorn, we gave Mom a beagle stuffed animal that looked very much like my childhood beagle named Ranger 7. And a box of peanut butter kiss cookies. Mark gave Mom and me chocolates. Bruce gave me an umbrella for our patio table, plus a box of chocolates, so I guess I'm all set for awhile! It was a very nice afternoon.

Now, on to the cake incident. I made a Black Forest Poke Cake, which was both light and rich at the same time, with cool whip and hot fudge topping. Yummy. Later, as I was putting it away in the fridge, it somehow slipped out of my hands to the floor! Of course it startled me, and I let out a scream, and it made a loud crash. Luckily the pan landed right side up and the cake stayed in the pan, but the plastic lid got cracked, and had to be tossed. I'm thinking that my hands were slippery with cool whip. And boy did it get everyone's attention!

Grandma Joyce is loving having her new stuffed animals to sleep with at night. I think they truly are a comfort to her now that Patches is gone. As for me, I'm feeling grateful for the chance to celebrate one more Mother's Day with Mom.

Easy Does it

Oofta, but I'm feeling overwhelmed! Somehow, my Little Bohemian Heart room has become out of sorts, and it's causing me all kinds of distress! I guess I've been keeping busy with life in other ways, but yesterday I got an etsy order for a couple of corsages to make. And then I HAD to deal with things, not a fun thing to do. I did get my corsages made, so that's good. I know that I need to get things cleared out and organized. But, it's hard. Today, I already had a charity pick up scheduled, and put out 13 boxes and bags of things to donate. I do take the time to make sure everything is clean and nice, and wrapped up securely, it matters to me that things aren't all trashy. But, the guy literally threw the bags as hard as he could into the truck, I could hardly believe what I was seeing! And then he left about 5 of the boxes behind, mostly books. I double checked the website later on to see if they accepted books, and it said they did. Frustrating.

I don't know why it's so hard for me to just get stuff out of the house, I really don't. I can sit for what seems like hours, putting things into organized piles, but I know I'll still have to do something with the piles, and that makes me so tired. Maybe 5 minutes at a time in the room decluttering is all I can handle at this time? Whatever it takes, I guess.

It's easy to come down on yourself, too, and start to think that maybe everyone else in the world has their act together more than you do. But, I'm going to try to fight those thoughts. It made me start to remember little things I can do that make me feel like I'm taking care of myself, like drinking some water, or eating something healthy like a piece of fruit. Or, calling a good friend. Of course, I'm still overwhelmed, but maybe my discomfort will be the thing that keeps me going.