Mmmmmm ......

My daughter thinks it's crazy I have

this much food in a salad but I love

mixing everything up and enjoying

every last tasty morsel! So yummy!

~ Chy

No More ....

.... storms, warnings, thunder, lightening

and rain. Make it all go away or STOP!!

In April and May, we were crying for rain and

we we're crying for this to stop. And it worked!

Except now the rain won't stop and we truly need it

to. Warm and sunny, with a nice rain shower every

couple of days. That would my perfect weather

pattern. Anything that makes life cozier and easier!!

~ Chy

Impressive Quilt.

In between meetings yesterday, we walked

over to the Quilt store in town. And look

what was on display in the lobby!! So very

amazing! I've made 1.5 quilts so far and

can't even imagine making something this

grand. It's huge! One day, maybe I can ....

~ Chy

Inspiring Hope.

More additions to my new little office in our

temporary location while we wait for new space.

Love that the quote can be seen by my clients as they

sit in counselling and the flowers are under them to

inspire and provide Hope. Getting lots of feedback

from staff and clients. Cool what a few dollars can do!

~ Chy

Hardy Roses.

I'm saving to buy a sweet little rose bush for our

secret garden. Right now, they are not on sale ....

.... but once the sale does begin, I'll be first in line to

get my hands on these babies. Well worth the wait!

~ Chy

Button Tin.

Found this sweet little button tin at our

charity shop. Perfect for the Art Studio.

~ Chy

Village Plate.

A sweet pottery plate we found at our

local charity shop for the Antique Mall.

~ Chy

Work Lunch.

I showed up for work at Hospice one

morning and a big tent was being set up.

The landlord of our building was treating

all the tenants with a catered lunch. It was

so yummy and a great time was had by

all. Love how the landlord is so amazing.

~ Chy

Garden Bench.

We have 2 stone garden benches. One

in the front and one out in the back.

This is the front one and it's in a quiet

spot facing the front of our house.

Nestled in the trees and back from

the lane where it's serene and calm.

A favorite spot to sit on sunny days ~ a great

place to read and reflect and enjoy the garden.

~ Chy

Pretty Perennials.

More shots of the perennials we planted

last year and the year before. Healthy!

Perennials cost a bit more but the idea of having to

only plant them once and then reap the reward year

after year makes the investment so worth it. And

the colors this year are so impressive. Happy!

~ Chy

My Lavender.

So excited to have this hardy version

of Lavender growing in our garden.

We put in 4 plants and hope they will

not just grow but spread and bloom.

~ Chy

Sprouting Thyme.

Another addition to the front garden

this year ~ sweet smelling Thyme.

~ Chy

Sweet Angels.

Our stone teeter totter figures are

2 sweet Angels. The little girl ....

.... and a little boy but he's hidden in

this shot. I'll try and retake it. Cute!

~ Chy

Mystery Plant.

Another gifted plant that I don't know

the name of it. But it's growing well!

~ Chy

Gifted Tree.

I received this tiny tree from a fellow

gardner last year. It didn't do well then

but look at it now. Blooming from the

bottom and looking so very healthy!

~ Chy

Lilac Bush.

I have no idea why my photos are loading this way

but a lovely shot of our little Lilac bush. So green!

~ Chy

Bleeding Heart.

This also has come back so nicely, filling the

space in the garden where it's bloomed beautifully!

~ Chy

Healthy Hosta.

 I wasn't sure if it would come back this

year but here is my very healthy Hosta!

~ Chy

After the Rain.

Love how the sun shines through the

lace curtains and makes sweet visuals.

Reminds me of my gramma's tiny house

when we were growing up, after a storm

like tonight, when the sun would finally

return. I loved the dancing light. Love!

~ Chy

Another Storm.

Scary skies and reports of funnel

clouds all around us this evening.

Downpours and then 2 hours later, the

sun shone until it set. Crazy weather!

~ Chy

Allium Success.

 

In the Fall, I planted bulbs for the 1st

time in my adult gardening life ....

.... and look what grew. Success! Sweet and vibrant

Alliums! There were 8 bulbs in the package and

I have 8 plants. So excited that not only did they

bloom but they are so pretty and very, very tall!

Did you plant bulbs last Fall?

Or will you this year?

~ Chy

Ugh Weather.

This keeps happening. Storm clouds that

turn in to all sorts of weather warnings. Ugh!

~ Chy

The List.

Sundays and Mondays are my 2 favorite days of the week. Do you have a favorite? For me, these are my "grounding" days. I accomplish more tasks with renewed energy after a busy week. Technical, Sunday and Monday are my weekend as I work on Saturdays. Sunday is full of adding and crossing of the task list and Monday is the get it done day. 

Today, my list looks like this for this bright Sunday:

1. Research how to kill horse tail weed with no chemicals

2. Plan our menu for the week with what's in the freezer

3. Gather cardboard for creating borders along the grass

4. Put the clean laundry away that is sitting in the basket

5. Work on the veggie patch now that the rain has quit

6. Pull out all the vintage wicker furniture from storage

7. Put the deer mesh around the veggie patch fencing

8. Decide then plant our raspberry canes in a sunny spot

9. Finish writing my letter I started to my U.S. pen pal

10. Enjoy our evening with the next "Big Little Lies" episode

Later, my list will look like this for this upcoming Week:

1. Pack up the preschool before Wednesday for the big reno

2. Work on the Festival planning and attending a meeting

3. Providing support to our baby loss families on Tuesday

4. Festival, Festival, Festival, Festival ~ did I mention Festival?

The Festival is our main focus for the next four weeks, though we also have to get ready for our deck expansion (the same deck guys from last year are back to build the expansion ~ we just need to move the rocks from that area) and we have to finish clearing out the preschool for the reno ~ we're half way there and have volunteers to work with us. It's the Festival that is going to take up all our time now. We power cleaned, purged and sorted out the house (everything back in it's designated spot) and pared down life for now so that we can just concentrate on this huge event we've created for our community. All the little details are now on our task list. The big details are complete. Our big and only concern is ticket sales. We need to sell at least 1,000 tickets for each day (two day event) to meet our budget and anything over that is profit for next year. Tickets are selling but it's slow at the moment. We're told that attendees actually buy closer to to the event, like the week before but this is driving me crazy as we need to know it's solid and we can then enjoy. I'll be a bundle of nerves for the next few weeks! Wish us luck and send blessings for beautiful weather as well. If it could be like today, it would be perfect ....

Do you write to do lists?

What's on your list this week?

~ Chy

Lobster Dinner.

Dear grandson has a great imagination

and he loves to make us all "dinner" that

we have to order. Menu and all. This is

my most recent lobster dinner! Yummy!!

~ Chy

Finally .... Rain!

After weeks of scorching heat and horrible, thick

smoke from the fires up North, it finally rained!

But instead of just rain, we've also been getting

lots of storms, with thunder, lightening and hail.

Warnings keep popping up. It's hard to plan when

the silly weather changes so very quickly each day.

Today, after I was done my work, I was excited to

get home to garden. We did a couple of hours and

then, bam, the thunder started and the black clouds

rolled in. We'll try and get more done tomorrow but

for now, the rain is falling and the Earth is green.

Something to be so very thankful for anyways!

~ Chy

A Baby Moose ....

.... on the loose! This was the very first time

we've seen our newest neighbor in the woods.

He's still getting used to his long legs. A bit

wobbly as he tried to negotiate our acreage.

Finally spotting us, he began to make

his exit. He must have felt so scared.

We wondered where his mama was. And

it looks like he was so lost and nervous.

Off he went, back to the forest. The next

day, we had mama and two babies come

for a visit. They wandered then went out

to the lane and walked to the neighbors. I

hope they visit a few times. So quiet and

very, very majestic as they lumber through.

~ Chy

Potted Garden.

In our last house, and most of our

houses before that, we've had lovely

garden beds full of perennials. The

beauty of this is I only had to weed!

I always had a variety of pots, small

and large, and everything in between

to fill with pretty blooms through the

season. In this house, we have had to

start from scratch, even with living

in the forest and having natural plants

all around us. While we work on our

garden beds, we still need to have some

pots on our veranda and our decks.

This year, I found such amazing colors

and textures of plants. I will in time

show them all to you but here are two

of my favorites. They are growing well

so far. I hope they will last all Summer.

Do you have garden beds?

Or just pots with flowers?

~ Chy

Happy Sunday.

Wishing you a beautiful day full of

love, family, memories and reflection.

~ Chy

Sunny Saturday.

I woke up way too early this morning. Just before 6 a.m. I am NOT an early riser. But after 2 days of beautiful rain with dark skies, the sun is shining and the sky is blue. That was the first trigger for my early awakening. The second was the growling in my belly. Not a lot of appetite the last few days but this morning, my body was hungry! Dh was still sleeping, so off to the kitchen I trekked. As awake as I was, I didn't have the energy to cook a breakfast and I didn't feel like cereal, so I filled up my vintage bowl with white cheddar popcorn, grabbed a couple of ripe strawberries and a cup of chocolate milk. So yummy and filled me up. And dh is still sleeping, so I successfully had brekky in bed without waking him up! He works so very hard and rest is good. 

Look at that blue sky! The rain we had was so welcome. It started a bit on Wednesday, then continued with downpours and thunder on Thursday. By yesterday, the sky was dark, the air was chilled and the moods were shifting. We both had work yesterday (dh at home and me in my little office) but we stopped to have a lovely lunch and that cheered us up. Late in the afternoon, snow started to fall. Crazy weather, but true! Today and tomorrow should be warm and sunny. I'm off to teach my kids grief group today with my crew and dh is going to be at a community event all day promoting our new music festival. Tonight will probably just be a quiet night to relax. Tomorrow will be landscaping in the morning and then we want to go in to the Big City and revamp our antique mall booth. We did some treasure hunting yesterday and found a bunch of great items to sell. We'll settle down to watch the 2nd season of "Big Little Lies" and plan out our week before heading to bed. A nice weekend all around and hopefully the weather will continue to be nice and warm. More rain in our forecast for next week, which is a perfect weather pattern. A day or two of rain, days of sun, then a day or two of rain again. Just enough to keep everything green and growing. Perfect!

What are your grand plans for the weekend?

If you garden, how is your garden growing?

~ Chy