April Decluttering

It wasn't a good month in the way of decluttering. The last week we were away and the week before that...well, I'm just drawing a line under it and not thinking about it.

Books 23

Magazines 1

Misc. 3

Crafting 3

A total of 30 items left the house. Not the greatest amount, but at least things left the house!

After reading My Two Cents and her idea of concentrating on one room for decluttering in May, I've decided to pick just a room and work on that. For May, I am going to work on my bedroom. It's not a large room and it's feeling rather claustrophobic right now! That definitely means it's time to get rid of something. 

So, for May I'm going to sort through and hopefully declutter the bedroom. I'm hoping the weather will warm up enough that I will be able to put away winter clothes and pull out some more summer. There are things I want to get rid of in the winter clothes and it's a good time to sort through the summer ones too. 

I'm hoping to get a start on things soon. Unfortunately, I'm come down with some sort of cold/flu thing. I'm achy, nose running, sore throat and just generally feeling ick. I think I caught it from daughter who came down with something the day before we left. Hopefully, it will be a short thing. For now, I'm trying to balance resting with basic daily stuff. 

Sunrise yesterday morning. 

Thomas Dambo Trolls

While we were in Minnesota, we took a trip to Detroit Lakes to try to find the Thomas Dambo trolls that are in the area. We visited the one in Michigan last Autumn and were a little bit intrigued, so when we found out there were a few in Minnesota, we wanted to go in search of them. 

This is a bit about Thomas Dambo

Thomas Dambo is a Danish recycling artist and sculptor famed for creating over 170 giant wooden trolls from reclaimed materials as part of his ongoing “Trail of a Thousand Trolls” project. Blending folklore, environmental activism, and community engagement, he installs these whimsical works in forests, parks, and cultural sites across five continents, each with its own story, to inspire sustainability and connect people with nature.

Here's a map of the trolls that are all over the world

There were five in the Detroit Lakes area and a Golden Rabbit. 

We certainly had fun trying to find them! In included daughter and the dogs on one so you can see how tall they are. They are really big. 

They are 

Alexa's Elixir

Ronny Funny Face

Barefoot Frida

Jacob Everear

Long Leif

Golden Rabbit

Apart from the last two, they were all in different parks. It certainly makes you get out and about and see different parks in the area. We met a few other people looking for them too. One was a couple with their granddaughter. It sounded as though they were taking her to these ones and then they were off to travel to somewhere else in the US to see some more. When we were up in the UP of Michigan last year looking at the one there, a couple of people said they were visiting different trolls in different parts of the states. It must be a thing people do!

Maybe one day we'll visit some more!

Back Again

I took a longer break than I intended from blogging but I'm hopefully back now. 

We had a lovely time visiting with daughter and Baby A. She is so funny! She has a really good vocabulary for 2 and a bit and is quite the chatterbox a lot of times. I love how active her imagination is too. It's so lovely to watch. She did remember me! It was so funny. We were there waiting when she was picked up from daycare. My daughter told her that there was a surprise waiting. She came into the main room and looked in the kitchen and said Where's the surprise? She hadn't noticed us sitting there in the living room. Daughter told her where to look and she saw me and ran over to me, jumping up and we had a really long hug. Brought tears to my eyes. 

The week went by really quickly, too quickly. Once again, I'm wishing we were a lot closer. I feel as though we are missing out on so much. I wished I could talk to Mum or Mother-in-law about how they felt being the far away grandparent and how they coped, but they are both gone and it feels really lonely. I tried to stay in the moment and enjoy the time that we had. 

The two of us doing cheesy smiles. 

Back tomorrow! 

Foggy Mornings and Family Visits

I have to be glad to say that I'm glad the majority of this week is done. There were a few things going on that caused me anxiety most of the week and I was wishing I could just skip over the days until Friday. I'm breathing a sigh of relief now. I can relax and enjoy the next week away with daughter. I'm putting life on hold and am going to enjoy the moments that we have. 

The last couple of days there has been some lovely fog in the morning that clears away with a bright sunshine. That's the kind of fog I like. It's been really beautiful. 

I honestly haven't got a lot done around the house. I've been keeping up with the dailies, but the decluttering totals are abysmal. I'm drawing a line under it and being okay with it. As I said before, there were a few things this week that were causing me anxiety. I was having trouble sleeping and just thinking about the same thing over and over, playing different scenarios and generally couldn't stop thinking about all of the things. I tend not to discuss a lot of my feelings and find confrontation really stressful. I suppose keeping things in makes it worse in a way. 

______________ me drawing a line lol

Tomorrow, we are off to visit daughter and Baby A. I am so excited! I am going to enjoy the moments we have together. I am taking my computer, but I can't guarantee I'll post. I'll try, but I have feeling I'm going to be a bit worn out - in a happy sort of way. 

 

Week So Far...

We've had a couple of days of no rain, but there were a couple of really hearty downpours today! We managed a nice Sunday Adventure on Sunday, and I managed walks yesterday and today. The weather had turned a bit chillier but we're on the upswing in temperatures now. There was an absolutely beautiful sunrise this morning. 

This was taken with my phone. 

On our Sunday Adventure we stopped by a town that has a tulip festival in a couple of weeks. There is a lovely park with a windmill filled with tulips but it's a bit out of the budget right now so we found a park that had a lovely free tulip display. We weren't the only ones there taking photos!

The park there isn't very big though and as husband wants to walk more, we decided to stop at a beach and take a walk along the beach. 

As we were walking along the beach we saw a lot of these

Husband googled it and we found out they are lotus seed pods. We didn't even realise we had Lotus Blossoms near where the beach was, but apparently there were some that grew somewhere close (not sure where) last year. How they ended up along the shores of Lake Michigan we aren't sure. They were really interesting to see though! 

There was a man and a dog on the beach when we first arrived, but they left soon after and there wasn't anyone else around. I love this time of year because of that. In a month or so the beaches will be packed, they will groom the beaches of anything wild. We usually don't walk the popular beaches in the summer at all. 

On the house side of things, I'm managing to stay afloat and that's about it. There's a few things going on in life that have me a little...off kilter. In all honesty, I'll be glad when the week is done. Nothing life altering, just bits and pieces that make me anxious and I'd rather skip over lol. 

I do have a lovey visit to Baby A and daughter to look forward to starting Friday. My daughter has taken the whole week off and has a lot planned! I'm so excited! I just need to get through this week so I'm trying to focus on the good that's coming...

Yup - Rained Out - This and That Saturday

Well, nobody wants to hear this, but more rain. Drizzly for yesterday's walk to start though the sun did come out later. Today, I got rained out and returned home. I think that might be the end of it for a while. Thankfully. We've lots of flooding in the lower areas of town. Luckily, we live on a hill, and things are holding up pretty well though the garden is a sopping mess. 

As I said, I didn't last long on the walk this morning. I came home when the rain started. Husband and I ended up going to a shop he wanted to go for to get a tool he needed, and we stopped at a thrift store. I did find a nice book, but I forgot to take a photo so that will have to be another post. 

When I came home, I tidied up a bit and did some listing, but weekends are for fun things, so I did a bit of this and that - a bit of reading, a bit of stitching, a bit of photography and listened to an audio book. Not a bad afternoon, quite relaxing

This is a book I picked up at a charity shop. A little bit of an interesting read, but it's more about curating a lifestyle than anything. It was fun to look at and a lot cheaper than a magazine! It's gone back into the donate pile. 

Not a long listen, but it was fun and easy

I'm still plodding along on this cross stitch. I hadn't done any on it for a while as the bit I'm on is rather boring, but I will complete it. I only have the backstitch to do now (I finished a bit more after this photo was taken)

I'm trying some flat lay photography. This was one I took with my phone. I want to try something a bit different from what I usually do. 

How is your weekend going? Any projects or plans in the works? 

Rain Again

It was another rainy day here in my part of Michigan. I did manage a walk and only managed to get a little bit wet. When I first woke up I thought it was going to rain non-stop, but when I looked at the radar there seemed to be a bit of a gap in the rainfall, so I went for a walk then and was almost done when it started to rain. I was wearing my raincoat, so I only got a little bit damp. 

I got a few things done in the house during the afternoon, as well as a bit of sorting and a bit of listing. There was no meeting tonight as it got cancelled, very last minute. I would have rather got it done so I didn't have to do it next week when things are rather busy. Oh well. At the beginning of the week, I'd made a list of social media I wanted to get done for Asylum Lake and I'm glad to say that I'm on track! I think it really helps the community to see what's going on. 

The rain seems to have stopped for at least Friday - more on Saturday maybe sigh, but it will be good to go for a walk without wondering if I'll be getting wet. I have to drop off some bits at the post office then I'll be home to do the usual Friday things. I can't believe we're halfway done with the month and at the end of another week! I definitely haven't got as much done this week as I had planned on. The days seem to have flown by. I certainly think it hasn't helped that I dropped off writing the daily lists on Wednesday and today. They certainly seem to make me feel more productive. 

All this rain is making things more flowery on my walk! I'm pretty sure if April Showers Bring May Flowers that Michigan will be covered with flowers next month!

A little plug here but if you are on Facebook I did finally start a photography page over there. I post on it a bit more than I do on my photography blog lol 

Sharon Koole - A Woman with a Camera

Wednesday

Yah! I did manage to get out for a walk today. I didn't go at my usual time, as it was pouring down. I waited a bit, watched the radar and weather conditions and managed to get out for a bit of one between showers. It was quite peaceful. Lots of puddles. The water level is really high. It's high everywhere. We are under a flood watch - for low areas - due to so much rain!

I got a haircut, well just a trim and it's rather fluffy now due to the humidity. I'll probably have to straighten it. I don't do it often, but when it's like this it's just a mess. I stopped at all the places I need to stop at so tomorrow I won't have to go anywhere - might have to do the Post Office Friday or Saturday as I've sold a couple more things. 

It's supposed to rain AGAIN all day tomorrow so it will be another hit-or-miss for walking. Thankfully, Friday seems to be a dry day so if I can't go tomorrow, I'll leave more time on Friday to have a meander perhaps with my friend and then by myself. I have an Asylum Lake meeting tomorrow - second one in a month - but we ran out of time at the last meeting and still have things to discuss. It is taking up more time than I thought would be required. I do the social media too. I enjoy that part of it, but I'm not a fan of the interacting with other people. I am planning on continuing with the board meetings at least until husband retires, then I'll have a rethink. Unless, before that time, someone else comes along that wants to join the board (there is a limit to the amount of people on the board). There's been quite a bit of turnover even in the two and a half years I've been on the board, and I know there are older members who are looking to 'retire' when others can be recruited. 

Plans tomorrow - I do have to do the decluttering. I keep saying that. I'm just struggling with tiredness right now. It seems that, in this menopause journey, there are nights when I can't sleep at all, nights where I really want to sleep but keep waking up and times when all I want to do is sleep! I'm in a cycle of the last two at this time. I really feel like I could sleep a long time in the afternoon and then stay up half the night! Unfortunately, it's not an option as the other members of the household have to sleep 'normal' hours. I don't want to disturb their sleep. 

This and That

It's not been a bad start to the week. I haven't been as productive as I had hoped, but there's still a few days left! Yesterday, I participated in my small group for my camera club. I do so hate talking to people, get very anxious, but I'm determined to do more of it and it went okay. I did talk and share a couple of photos. I am going to keep doing it. I think things will get easier the more times I participate. It is nice to hear what the others in the group have been up to and get inspired by their photography. 

I have been for a walk both days, but today I got rained out first thing today, so went a bit later on. I was glad I went back as the toads (I think they are toads) were out in full force, singing and playing. It was all rather fun. I could hear them making lots of noise and almost (yikes!) stepped on a couple of them. Thankfully, I looked down before I took another step. 

The next few days look to be wet. Hopefully, there will be enough of a break that I can get out for a walk, otherwise I'll concentrate on getting some house things done. I do have a hair appointment tomorrow and I have to go to the post office so those will be combined. I think I should probably stop by the shops and pick up a few bits while I'm out doing that. 

The days seem to go by so quickly! We are halfway through April, and I realise that I haven't done a lot of decluttering yet, so that is definitely on the list for the next few days. As the weather gets better and we get busier I know the decluttering will suffer so I have to make sure to make it a point to sort a little something each day. There are a couple of areas in the house that needed to be revisited on a regular basis, those little places that we tend to just put stuff 'for now' and never seems to get moved! Do you have spots like that in your house? 

I am pleased with how the main areas of the house are looking. They aren't minimalistic - I won't ever be that I don't think - but they are looking a lot tidier. If only the same could be said for the craft room!

The beautiful sunshine after the rain. 

Sunday - and Thanks!

Thank you for all the comments yesterday. I can feel a bit of the ache still today but it's nowhere near as bad as yesterday. I think the headache was resulting from a bunch of factors. I had been out for a walk and then had a volunteer thing that was very social (I'm not). I didn't take water with me so no drink, and I didn't have breakfast, and I had to do a lot of interacting with people and I think all of it combined just gave me a headache. It was the kind that I don't get often, but when I do nothing seems to help - I just have to go to bed and sleep it off.  Needless to say, I was not productive yesterday, but I did do the volunteer thing, and I won't feel so guilty about being away for the big volunteer event at the beginning of next month. 

Today, for our Sunday Adventure, we had been thinking about going to a favourite nature park further away from us but with the rising petrol/gas prices and entrance fee, we decided not to go and opted for somewhere closer that was free. Well, it's not free but we pay $15 a year for a pass that gives us entrance to 103 State Parks of which we visit quite a few of throughout the year - a bargain, I think! I'm a little sad not to go, but I can't justify spending the money when we are going to visit daughter in a couple of weeks which we're really looking forward to. I feel we really have to choose our activities a lot more carefully when prices are high. 

We did have a lovely walk. There were a few Spring flowers about. The Trillium was just starting to bloom. In a few weeks they will carpet the woodland floor. 

There were also quite a few Dutchman's Britches around too

There were lots of birds singing as we walked through the woods too. It was quite lovely. Surprisingly, it wasn't that busy. Our weather was summer-like today! The high was 80f/27C!!! Can you believe it? And lovely sunshine. The temperatures are dropping a bit tomorrow and then maybe several days of showers. At least today was lovely!

How was your weekend?