Cozy at Home.

A day that was to be sunny and warm started out warm, without sun, then turned bitterly cold .... again! We have another week of this and then it's supposed to warm up quite a bit. Not "melt the snow" kind of weather. More like "cold but no longer bitter" kind of weather. We'll see.

We trekked down the lane to take our garbage bins and recycling to the road, picked up our mail and then headed down to our neighbors. They had farm fresh eggs for us and we had a kids chair and a bag of clothes for their little ones. A great exchange and a lovely visit. The rest of the day was filled with laundry, work tasks, chatting with my staff from preschool about the week, then chatting via email with my other staff to set up the week at hospice. School has been delayed by a week, so lots to figure out. The numbers have increased again and now we're all back to square one again. Not quite but feels like it. Ugh! We need this virus to stop!!

A busy week ahead but now I'll be working at home for a good chunk of it. Dh is still off as well and we'll get a lot done. I hope our weather does turn soon so we can get out of the cottage more. It's so lovely to be cozy in our sweet place. But also nice to be outside and we're missing that at the moment. Soon .... until then, we'll cherish this time.

Hope you had an amazing weekend

and your week ahead is filled with hope.

~ Chy

Blogtober: Day 2.

After 18 months of avoiding illness and feeling so lucky to not be touched by Covid, I had a little scare this past week when I became quite ill with a nasty chest cold. I've been home all week, cuddled up to get better and thankful that the two rapid tests I was able to take (last Saturday and then Tuesday) were both negative. But I kept getting worse, so tried to get a doctor's appointment. Our family doctor and our naturopath were both booked up for the next two weeks. I was encouraged to call in each morning but was worried I was getting bronchitis or pneumonia. So off to an open clinic we went on Friday. They told me they couldn't see me until I had a Covid test done by the Provincial Medical system, so I had to book a test. Thankful to get in that afternoon for a test, which literally took 2 minutes. Today, I got a text confirming that I'm still negative, so off to the doctor for a 1:00 pm appointment tomorrow. I hope that it's not more than a cold but if it is, that I can get some antibiotics so I can heal and get back to life. If Covid wasn't part of daily life right now, I would not be worried. But it's hard not to go to that place when our numbers are so high and deaths are happening, even in people who have been double vaccinated. It's been an insightful week for sure. Wish me luck tomorrow when the doctor sorts out my nasty cold and gets me on the mend 

Do you love my photo of my lunch the other day?

Everyone was at work and I was too tired to make

any kind of decent lunch. So I opened up my bag

of popcorn and filled my bowl. Yummy and fast!

Hope you are well.

~ Chy

A Long Week.

This last week has been super long and tiring. But so rewarding at the same time. I'll likely write a few short posts to share the many different pieces. For today, my lavender win! We were at Costco late in the day to visit the garden centre for the first time this year, thinking it wouldn't be too crowded. With the new restrictions in place, space in retail stores is limited again. It was a big surprising to pull up and see a lot of cars but the lot wasn't packed like on a weekend, which we always avoid. As we walked up to the store, we realized there was no lineup as we anticipated. Score! So we grabbed a cart with the idea that we could stroll through, looking at plants and choosing a few favorites, like my lavender pots for the front veranda. And then we thought we'd stock up on some food items since we were there already. As we walked through, it seemed quiet. 

Until we got to the entrance to the garden centre. And then we spotted why the aisles were quiet but there were many cars .... the lineup to get in to the area was packed and the line snaked around the corner almost to the front of the store. Yikes! I had such high hopes of getting my pots today. No worries, we'll come back another day. But I thought that it couldn't hurt to ask if they have any so we know if coming back is a good plan. I went to the front (no husband, no cart, just little me) and found the sweetest employee who was letting customers in as others came out. She greeted me with a sweet smile so it felt okay to ask if there was lavender and if there are times that are better to come back to shop. She chatted with me for a moment, reassured me there was a good stock of my pots and I thanked her and turned to walk away. A few steps in and I heard her say "is it only lavender you need?" As we've potted 138 different flowers (perennials and annuals) and have many more seeds to plant in the ground, truly, yes, it was only my 2 pots I was hoping for. I walked back and said yes, and she said "hang on!" She disappeared for a second and then came back and turned to the people in the line up and said "this lovely lady only needs to pots of lavender. I've asked a staff member to go grab 2. Is everyone okay with this?" I cringed for a second as I hadn't asked for this gesture of kindness but the line up all answered with "yes of course." Wow! And then the other employee came around the corner with these 2 pots above. Better than I've ever seen and she was even proud she had chosen the "2 best" ones she could find. I was almost teary with the kindness of the staff and then the crowd. As they placed them in front of me, I turned to those in the line up and thanked everyone, and I was met with smiles and nods. I was so thankful and the staff told me they were more than happy to help out. With smiles all around, I picked up my precious pots and walked away thinking "in all this crap right now, a moment of kindness that made my heart swell." I found my dh a few aisles away and he was surprised to see me walking towards him with 2 pots of sweet lavender and the biggest grin on my face. 

Aren't they the most beautiful pots of lavender? It's English and will look amazing on the front veranda. I have Munstead growing in pots and at least 4 of another kind starting to come to live out in the front garden. My dream one day is a tiny lavender "farm" and we're on a way to making that happen in time. I love the end of the season when these will all be big and ready to harvest. Drying the buds and hanging little bunches of lavender around the house makes the time going in to caring for them worth all the fuss and bother. 

Do you have a favorite plant you love to grow each year?

Are your garden centres or nurseries super busy again?

Namaste my blogging buddies.

Enjoy this beautiful Friday.

~ Chy

Rainy Days.

Thank you for the sweet and kind comments on my scary post yesterday. I am so thankful for the diagnosis of strep throat vs. the diagnosis of Covid! I can't imagine what that would be like both for the individual battling this virus and their family and friends. So very thankful to not be on that journey. I'm definitely appreciative of every breath I can take at the moment. And so grateful for all of you. You keep me humble! Far away friends that make my day bright.

I'm still not 100% but managed to help dh yesterday with the greenhouse base and decking. The base is built and so solid. The decking is about 1/2 done, with the rest laid out. I did stain the lower deck with it's second coat and then started staining the greenhouse deck, and managed to get 1/4 of that done before we ended our day @ 4:30. It was hot but there was a breeze all day and some cloud so we made better progress than the day before when it was scorching and no cloud cover or breeze. Today we've woken up to dark skies, some rain and thunder in the distance. It's supposed to be like this all day, with thunderstorms until about dinner time. Tomorrow is not too bad then it becomes a pattern of rainy, cold days until the weekend again, when it's supposed to be another couple of hot and sunny days. Looking forward to planting our veggie patch then. We had hoped for this weekend but I still need more soil and the nighttime temps are still a bit low so we'll wait until next week. On our shopping trip to Costco the other day, we picked up 6 perennials (large and medium and so healthy) and 2 tall lavender bushes. I've got lavender growing in the garden and will be using the greenhouse to cultivate my own little lavender farm. But these are sweet trees in a lovely pot and they look amazing on the front veranda. I will likely plant them in the front garden once the season is close to the end. For now, a beautiful addition to our quiet spot that is perfect for sunsets. Quiet and peaceful, a great spot to read.

With the rain today, my plan is to work on the art studio. We painted walls last week and now it's time to put everything back in its place. And then I need to bin up the Winter boots that are still sitting in the mudroom. Getting a bit too crowded, so off to the garage storage room they go. This week, while the rain keeps us inside, I'm hoping to also tidy up the garage, sort and flatten the cardboard that has accumulated, continue to bag and box up donations (loving all the purging that is happening), continue to dream about what's next on our landscaping plan, and work on case notes and puzzles. Not an exciting week but one I'm looking forward too. I also need to find dirt and we had our eyes and hearts set on a new conversation set for the deck but it's now sold out online, so I want to pen a letter to the store to see if it will be back in stock this year. Looks like from reviews it's been a staple for a number of years now so hoping it will come back in. If not, we'll have to start our search all over again. We've been watching "Dead to Me" on Netflix, so we'll likely finish that up this week as well. And work a bit on our Festival in August. We'll be doing it online this year, so lots of little details to work out. I personally love rainy days ~ keeps me grounded and cozy inside.

Wishing you an amazing day and hope the rain

stays away from wherever you are!

~ Chy