Goodbye April.

A beautiful and very warm month. Not very much

rain, which is a worry. Goodbye to April of 2023!

~ Chy

English Village.

I would love to take dh across the sea one day to

visit the tiny English villages we explored when

I travelled there at 16. He loves to watch "Escape

to the Country" with me and we always marvel at

the quant villages that dot the countryside. We do

hope to get there soon and stay in a little village.

~ Chy

Collecting Clothing.

Carys has been a very lucky Blythe doll

lately with new clothes arriving in the

mail box. We decided to turn my "tea

cupboard" into a tiny closet for clothing!

~ Chy

Dreamy Windows.

Some day, we will build again. For now, we're

still getting used to country living and figuring

out the cottage. But I do still dream of the next

cottage we'll build. Love these dreamy windows!

~ Chy

Mom's Birthday.

Mom just had her 80th Birthday on the 18th of April. We celebrated with her and the care team at her assisted living centre but she didn't really catch on that it was her special day. Treats and gifts and lots of laughter. But my heart breaks as we visit and see how much her cognitive mind has changed. I love this photo, when she was healthy and she knew who we were then. Now she smiles and babbles along, but I'm sure we show up as strangers in her vision. It was still a beautiful day and I love we can spend time with her. Can't believe my "young mom" is now 80!!

                                      ~ Chy

Warm Nights.

I love April when our days are longer

and the nights are warmer. We can

even sleep with all the windows open.

I dream of fairies in the garden and

big full moons to light the paths we

love to now walk on at night. Sweet!

~ Chy

As Long As ....

I'm having quite the journey at work.

I am working hard to get through. It

is exhausting and heartbreaking. But

I'm determined to make it through.

Love this quote for inspiration. All I

can do is baby steps and keep going!

~ Chy

Blythe in the Rain.

Sweet Carys in the April rain. Hoping

that our garden will soon be green. She

is looking a bit chilly sitting in the mist.

Soon the warm air will be here each day!

~ Chy

Our Baby Fern!

About 2 years ago at this time, I brought home some tiny plants for our kitchen. I had found this sweet yellow vintage oval pot that had been at the antique mall forever. I would walk past it, admire it, and put it down. The price was decent (less that $20) but there was a chip on the back corner. However, one rainy day, as we browsed through the store, it was still there and I felt like I just had to rescue it! So home it came and a few days later, I brought a collection of plants home. No one can see the chip because between the moss and the plants, it's well covered. This tiny fern was maybe 2 inches tall (or shorter) and maybe 2 inches in diameter (or smaller) but look at it now! I recently found a large black pot with pretty roses in the clay. Black is not my color, so I painted it our light sage green and now the roses on the side "pop" out. I'll repot the fern soon and let the other smaller plants under the fern thrive now that they'll get more sunlight. Once it's settled, I'll post more photos.

It's Easter Weekend here in Canada and after a very, very difficult couple of months, I'm so grateful for the 5 days off I'm taking. Yesterday, I did some work in the morning, after a nice sleep in, then a long shower, did our laundry and off to town we went in the afternoon. I dropped dh off at our local greenhouse so he could set up for the Farmer's Market, then headed over to visit a friend in her new home, then picked up dd to take her home, went back to town to the bank, then another bank (we're transitioning all our financials so it's work right now), then picked up some food to eat while we talked to community members about our upcoming Music Festival in June. When we got home, we settled in to watch a few shows we had taped. Late night, long day, but it was a lovely relaxing time. Today, no big plans other than catching up on a few things, dinner with our girls later and maybe a movie. Tomorrow, we're planning a trek into the big city to visit the Antique Mall, then back to our community to pick up some groceries, then home to watch hockey in the afternoon. Easter dinner on Sunday, and no plans on Monday. Trying very hard to just be in the moment and taking in all of Spring's warmth.

Wishing you and your family

a beautiful Easter weekend!

~ Chy

Spring is Here!

We are in full Spring mode up here in the

northern part of Alberta. Bits of snow

remain in the shade of the forest but any

spots that have even a bit of sun on them

through the day have no snow at all. I'm

so excited to start to see little bits of green

emerge from the very frozen Earth. March

was a super busy month here but April is

a bit quieter. This week, I only work on

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then

I'm off for 5 incredible days, all in a row.

A rarity lately! Planning is underway for

my time off. I hope to finish up a bit of

paperwork but then I want to chill and try

to get my energy and my confidence back.

It will take time but I'm on the mend now!

How was your March?

Are you excited about April?

~ Chy