Strange Sort of Day

I had a plan of attack for today, but things rarely work out the way they are supposed to! It was beautiful when I got up this morning. I went out for a walk, dropped a few bits off at the post office and headed home. 

Middle son called, chatted, chatted some more. I got a few bits done. He called back saying his power was out. He had to work (he works from home since he moved back) and could he come over to work and to do his washing. Certainly. Only we have no table. The table was put out to be picked up and husband hasn't unloaded the other one yet. We had a small portable table which son set up and was going to work from. Power company informs him that the power has been restored so he decides to head home. I said I'd finish his wash, and he could pick it up after work. He gets home to find out he has power but no internet! Back to our house he comes and sets up to work. 

Thankfully, now he only lives 10 minutes away from us. 

Our other son didn't come home as planned as he was on overtime too! I'm probably going to have a couple of grumpy, tired men for the next few weeks! 

I've set up another plan of attack tomorrow! Hopefully son's internet will be back working otherwise he will be back to work here again tomorrow. 

Photo for today - a nice surprise while I was out walking. There have been a couple of Sandhill Cranes at Asylum Lake. I saw one nesting, sitting oh so patiently. This morning, I spotted a little Colt with them! How lovely! 

Back From the Weekend

The weekend away was...okay. It was a bit strange going away with this other couple. I felt a bit like the odd one out as my husband and the two of them know one another quite well. The lady L likes photography, but we approach it quite differently. She's more of a hop out of the car, take a couple of photos and get back in. I'm more of a get out of the car, wander around a while, enjoy the place, take some photos, sit a while, enjoy and then get back in the car. I felt a bit awkward, definitely as though I was holding people up. I don't understand the need to hurry. Husband used to be like that, but he's learned to enjoy the moment and take time to just sit for a while. 

I did enjoy the scenery, and I saw a sunset and a sunrise. The first day we got there the weather was alright, then it rained and rained and rained. It was good that we were able to see things before the rain came! The other husband wanted to do a bit of shopping, so we walked around the tourist-y shops for a while. The area is well-known for cherries and there was a whole shop of cherry things (and bits to try). We also went to a local cheese shop and tried some different cheese. 

I did enjoy being away though. It was nice to have a break. The hotel was good, nice and clean and quiet. It wasn't too far from the beach, so I was able to drive myself to a small park and have a walk along the beach. 

Off For a Couple of Days

 Just a quick post. I'm off with husband for a weekend away. We're going away with one of his friends and his wife as it is his birthday. We're going to visit a couple of lighthouses, have a couple of meals and (hopefully) see a sunset or two!

I'll be back on Sunday

It will be nice to have a little break. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Mid-Week

Had a pretty nice walk this morning. It was nice out but that meant there were quite a few people around. A little bit too people-y for me lol. I ended up walking in the woods where not many people go. I saw one of the owls again and a turkey! I didn't get a lot done. I'm in a bit of a blah mood. I ended up sitting outside, wallowing and watching the birds. I did see my first Oriole of the season! They are lovely birds, bright and cheerful and have a lovely song. I took some photos but - story of my life - I'm behind sorting them so here's one I took last year. 

I definitely think the list making helps so I've written one for tomorrow. Hopefully it will keep me on track. The weather is supposed to be lovely, and I'll be tempted to sit outside when I should be getting things done! 

Monday/Tuesday

It's already Tuesday night. The week is flying by. The shredding still hasn't got done. I really, really need to stop procrastinating on that! I have yet to take the book boxes to be donated. I don't think I'm going to make it there tomorrow either. I have a hair appointment midday, and I have to go to the post office and pick up a couple things at the shops. Unfortunately, the library (where I donate the books) is nowhere near where I'm going. They will have to sit there until next week. Sigh. Maybe I can fill another box by then - the limit is four boxes. Perhaps I should make that my goal! 

I chatted with Baby A for quite a while yesterday. She was quite chatty. She doesn't say a lot of words, but she was certainly telling me something! It was funny as, at the end, she'd wondered off somewhere so daughter and I chatted a bit more and then daughter said goodbye. She rang back almost immediately and said Baby A wanted to say goodbye! Apparently when daughter was saying goodbye and hanging up Baby A rushed over wanting to say goodbye. Baby A gave me a couple of waves. She is adorable. I'm on the countdown until we go see her! 

Today I spent far too much time wondering around the woods. Literally. It turned out really lovely after a chilly start. Lots of birds singing and signs of Spring actually starting to pop. The leaves are starting to come back on the trees! I forgot to take photos while I was in the woods, but I took one when I got home!

The evergreens, well, the leaves are always there lol, but the tree next to it is starting to look quite leafy. I'm so happy as it's at the bottom of the garden and once it fills out, I can't see the neighbour's house back there anymore! I do like to be able to sit out on my (really small) back deck and watch the birds. 

A few birds from the garden

Easter Weekend

Saturday morning, I went for a walk. It was pretty chilly and not that great out, but I did get out for a bit. I saw the owls again - 2 babies and 1 adult on Saturday so that was kind of fun. I did get my list done for Saturday - well, except for the shredding which seems to keep getting pushed back to another day! I don't know why I keep putting it off. Maybe it's because the shredder isn't handy. It really does need to get done this week! 

Husband and I went out for our Sunday Adventure on Sunday. We walked at a different park we hadn't been too before. To be honest, it was a little disappointing. The website showed wooden paths and bridges over some water. They were all blocked off due to damage. They looked very neglected as though they hadn't been taken care of for quite a while. There was a little bit of pretty blossom on the trees. It was certainly beginning to look a lot like Spring. Some of the trees are beginning to get leaves on them too. 

On the way back home we stopped at another small park. Not a great long walk, but by that point it was rather pleasant outside. 

I really liked this tree. So unusual

I could almost imagine something living in there!

Later Sunday Afternoon, son J stopped by and stayed for a little bit. Daughter sent lots of photos of Baby A enjoying Easter. It brought back memories of how busy and joyful Easters were when the children were little. 

Here's one of Baby A. She was wearing a mask. She didn't seem to mind it! When daughter took her to see the Easter Bunny on Friday she was not pleased! Baby A definitely takes after Daughter. 

It wasn't a bad weekend in all. How was yours? 

End of Week

Another not-so-productive day. I did have two chats with daughter and Baby A today so I'm not complaining too much. It was lovely and mild outside. I would have spent longer on my walk this morning, but a stray thunderstorm came through and I went back to the car as the rain rolled in. Oh well. I did sit out in the garden for a little bit.

It's another of those posts where I might moan a bit too much. There's so much depressing news going on right now. 

So...

Things That Made Me Smile Today

* Talking to Baby A. She's so adorable. Only three weeks until I see her again. After that, it's not so long between visits :)

* Daughter sent me photos of her visit with Baby A to see the Easter Bunny. A didn't like it too much - she takes after her mum as daughter didn't like anything like that either!

* Seeing the owls in the woods again

* Warmer weather

* Getting rid of a few more books

I usually don't make lists for the weekend, but I have made one for tomorrow. I've been procrastinating all week and now it's time to play catch-up! I am allowing myself to have as much time as I want out wandering around taking photos tomorrow. I'm not talking all day, my ankle/leg isn't up to that yet, but I want to not have to worry about the time. Husband and son are going out late afternoon/evening so I'll feel free to continue on with projects later in the evening. 

What are your plans for the weekend? Do you do household jobs on the weekends? 

I saw a face in the tree that made me smile. 

Thursday

*Hope you can see the photos - they have been causing me trouble today!

I can't believe it's almost the end of the week. It definitely hasn't been a good productive week. I'm behind more than ahead. Sigh. I shall write it off and start afresh next week. I'm still in a blah kind of mood, but I'm plodding on. I've been forcing myself out the door in the morning even though it's been chilly. The other day there were icy pellets as I walked along. I didn't stay out long that day.  One day - I think it was Wednesday - I went splat in the woods as I tripped off a vine of some kind while looking at plants. My camera survived the fall; the lens hood hit the ground but that's why I have it on there! I thought I was okay (though I did let out a string of naughty words). Since then though I've had a pain at the back of my ankle and up my leg. I think I pulled something. I have been taking it easy but still walking a bit. It seems to tighten up if I sit for too long. Hopefully, all will be okay in a few days. I shall have to be more careful when walking around the woods!

I had my small group camera meeting yesterday on Zoom. I was still nervous, but a bit better than I was the first month! It's lovely to chat with other like-minded women. Today I messaged with sister. Usually, we do Fridays, but she is going out with her husband tomorrow, so we decided to do it today. Nice to have a chat. She enjoyed her mini-break away with her children and grand-children. They didn't like the campsite as much as others they've been to before, but all had a nice time. I can't wait to go away! I haven't been away since New Year (too long!).

Tomorrow, I plan on a small walk, some daily house stuff, some washing and then some book sorting. I have a bit of space left in a third box that I want to fill as I want to take donations next week to the library bookshop to get them out of the house. 

A few phone photos from my walk today

There was another lovely sunrise

Really purple and pink skies

Later on, lovely skies

And a Pileated Woodpecker

She sat quite quietly on the tree and let me take quite a few photos. They are usually a lot jumpier! She was alright though as a bit later she flew off making their really distinctive call. 

I Was Going to Have a Moan....

...but I've decided not to. 

Things that made me smile today

* a lovely sunrise

* a nice mild day

* a video call with granddaughter (really quick one but I loved her smile!)

* Seeing the owl again today

* Chocolate

* Wearing a tee shirt and not a jumper! 

Sunday

It wasn't a bad day today. No sunshine though. The temperature wasn't too bad. Husband and I went to a park and had a good walk. I think we did about 3 and a half miles. Husband hasn't been walking much lately and said he was sore later when we were home! 

I can't say I did a lot when I got home. I have done my meal planning for next week and started a list for the food shop. I have also written a list of things to be done tomorrow and things I want completed for the week. Sounds quite impressive, but apart from being indecisive about things it didn't really take that long. At least I've got a good start on the week!

A few phone photos from our Sunday Adventure

I really liked this hat. I'm not sure if it was a real hat or a piece of art someone had left along the trail lol

It was quite a relaxing day. Now it's time to jump back in and hopefully get some things done!

Hope everyone had a good weekend. 

Looking a Bit Brighter

The snow has cleared off and things are looking a little brighter. At least for a few days. The mornings have been really chilly, but today actually ended up quite nice. There was a lovely sunrise yesterday, not so great today though. 

A couple of phone photos

 

I had quite a nice walk both days. 

Life seems pretty quiet right now. I really shouldn't be complaining. Sometimes quiet is good. I've been plodding along, getting daily housework done and sorting a few bits though not as much as I should be. I've been going through a sleepy stage and seem tired all the time. Menopause seems to have its ups and downs and sleep seems to be one of them. Right now it's being tired. I can't seem to get enough sleep. Perhaps I should just give in and have a massive sleep session. As it is I've been trying to get up my normal time. This afternoon I actually fell asleep in my chair! 

During my walk today I decided to check out 'my' square a bit more. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I volunteered - through my Asylum Lake group - to adopt a square to do a plant inventory of the area. The goal is to see what grows in a certain area so that replanting can be done or to see what invasive species are taking root and preventing native species from flourishing. There is an online map which, in theory, should be easy. I am directionally challenged. Even with the technology I struggle. As I was sorting my way through the woods trying to find the boundaries of my square, I caught sight of a ribbon someone had tied around the tree to signal a corner of their square (which is also a corner of my square). I suddenly turn and sitting low on a branch is a Great Horned Owl! How cool! I sat down on a log and watched for a while, took some photos with my big camera and a couple with the phone. 

Of course, I haven't sorted the camera photos but here's a phone photo

I know they live in the woods in that area somewhere so hopefully, while I'm out doing plant inventory, I'll see more of it!

Tomorrow is our Sunday Adventure day. It is supposed to be quite mild, but cloudy. I think we're going for a walk in a park. We'll see. Husband says he needs to walk more and it's a flat area and there is some okay scenery and birds. 

Not sure much else will get done. I do need to meal plan and write a list for the week. I think I'm going to start doing daily lists and then a weekly list of other projects that need to get done. I need to step things up before our trips away start!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

April Snow Showers

 

Yes, it snowed. Again. Not too much but enough to make everyone in the house groan. 

Things are looking up a bit for the weekend. It's a good thing as the cold is getting me down. 

I did drag myself out for a walk. It was really quiet. I saw one person. We were the only two crazy enough to go out in the cold. At least it was nice that it was quiet. I dropped a few packages off at the post office after and stopped at The Dollar Tree. They need to change their name. The lowest price of anything in there now is $1.25 and I've heard it's going up to $1.50. You really have to watch what you buy in there as sometimes you can get the items cheaper somewhere else. 

The day from there sort of flew by. I was so cold when I got home that I had a lovely warm bath just to warm up a bit! I did my cleaning for the day, made a cottage pie and then messaged with my sister. Usually, we message on Fridays but she's going away for the weekend to a holiday camp in Clacton with her daughters and their families. It sounds like she will have some nice weather! 

Thank you for all the comments on the decluttering again. I appreciate tips and such!

Plodding Through the Week - Decluttering - Sigh

I really feel as though I'm dragging this week. I think I'm going through one of my sleepy periods. Not that I've been sleeping fantastically, but it's not been too bad when I can actually sleep through husband's snoring. I've been having sleepy moments in the afternoon. It's a good thing I've been writing the lists otherwise I might just doze the day away lol. 

It's been so cold the last couple mornings. This morning was about 25F/-4C when I went out and felt colder than that. I didn't really feel like walking too much, but I had a bit of exercise before going to the post office and stopping to pick up a few bits. There weren't a lot of people around either. No surprise. I think that if I didn't feel 'off' all day if I don't walk, I would have stayed inside! There are signs of Spring around, but wow, I could really do with it being a bit warmer outside! I think my heating bill could use it too! I keep telling myself to be patient and things will warm up soon, but this cold is really dragging on! It's supposed to be cold again tomorrow, but I'll be dragging myself out for a walk. 

House stuff tomorrow - I really need to sort out what's going on with the dining room. Some old furniture bits and a new furniture bit are sitting there waiting for me to make up my mind what's going to happen with them! They aren't in the way too much, but they are making it a little cluttered. I'm also debating with myself whether I'm going to get rid of a chunk more of books. I keep going back and forward with it. Agh! Sometimes I wish a delcuttering fairy would come and get rid of the lot of it and perhaps I wouldn't miss them.

That's the real question though - would I miss them if they were gone? Confession time - some of them I even have on Kindle. I think there are some that I even have double (different covers) of the same book.  Shaking my head. These are ones from a series I collected all of. Most of them are hardcovers so they take up extra room. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to give them up yet though. It actually sounds quite silly when I say it. I might just sort through the bookshelf tomorrow and pull them off and go from there. 

What's the thing when decluttering that you struggle the most with? How do you work through keeping v giving them up? 

Sunday Adventure

It was better this morning. Bright and sunny if a little chilly when we went out. We had a couple of nice little walks along a couple of beaches. We were pretty lucky seeing birds today. We saw a Loon along the pier on our first stop just as we were getting ready to leave. We ended up staying a little longer so I could get some photos. 

It actually came quite close which was really nice!

The second nice viewing of the day were some Horned Grebes. We saw these at both places we went, so I suppose they are probably moving through the area

There were a few fishermen out along the pier. They were all bundled up as it was quite chilly. We saw a couple of them catch some fish though I'm not sure what kind

Even though it was a little chilly we had a lovely time. It was really quite beautiful out and not too windy, so it wasn't bitterly cold. It really does look like it should have felt really quite warm but it wasn't!

I sorted a couple of bits when I got home, but not a lot. I tackled some of the post that's been hanging around, sorted through it and have a stack of shredding that needs to be done this week. I asked son to sort through his so I can add that to the shredding. Not sure I'll do that tomorrow, but it will be done this week!  I've got most of the meal planning done and a list done for tomorrow. I'll probably try to tackle a bit more of the porch too. I'm really pleased with how it is coming along. I am quite confident it will be mostly sorted by the end of the month. We don't go to daughter's house until next month though so I might plan on using a small corner of it to store the things we are taking to her house. 

Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend!

Saturday...and more rain

It wasn't the brightest day when I got up this morning. It was actually raining. I waited until it had mostly stopped before I went out for a quick walk. There wasn't a lot around, but at least I got out for a bit. The weather tomorrow does look better so we'll be going out then. 

I think the puddles at Asylum Lake were worse than they were yesterday!

I didn't do too much when I got home. I did sort a bit more on the porch. It's slowly coming along. I did a bit of Ebay listing. What doesn't sell shortly will be going in daughter's garage sale. 

I've been watching a show on Netflix - The Residence. It's a bit quirky but I like it. I especially like the main character, and it doesn't hurt that she's a birdwatcher lol. I'm still sitting watching it while I should really be in bed!

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend

April Days

We got a LOT of rain on Wednesday! We got 2.8 inches which was a record for Kalamazoo for 2nd April. It's raining again as I write this. 

I did manage to get out yesterday. The water levels at the lake were quite high. I imagine they would have been higher still if someone hadn't cleaned out the beaver deceiver a few days before. What is the beaver deceiver? It's a pipe that goes from big Asylum Lake to Little Asylum Lake. As it's running water the beavers like to block it up (and also that's the way the water flows so all the leaves and debris tend to clog it up) so to try to combat this a pipe was laid and enclosed that is supposed to continue the flow of the flow of water. It doesn't always seem to work and needs to be cleaned out. The water level did fall a bit when they cleaned it out but with all the rain the level is high again. 

It was cold yesterday when I went for a walk. The wind was blowing too which made it feel colder. 

A small puddle, just because I like puddle reflections 

The second and third photos show areas which are usually dry. They were filled with water. 

The beavers' lodge also seemed a bit wet

This part is usually dry. It was filled with water. 

Today I went for a walk and though it was below freezing the wind wasn't blowing and, for a time the sun was shining. There was a beautiful sunrise.

The water hadn't gone down by much. 

At home today I did a bit more work on the porch. It's my project for the month. I want to get it cleaned off and make a space where I can (hopefully) sit and enjoy when things warm up a bit. For too long it's been a total disaster - so much so that I'm not even going to share a photo! I am slowly getting there. It's just a matter of sorting through things, getting rid of things or finding new spaces to put things. The story of my life!

Tomorrow, well, it's raining, and it may/may not rain in the morning. I will be going for a walk but whether early or later depends on the rain. I'm going to do a little bit of work on the porch, a little bit of sorting in the house and a bit of relaxing. 

Do you have plans for the weekend? 

Floating Away Here - More Rain

Thanks for all the comments on the decluttering post! I really appreciate them :)

Ugh. It rained and stormed all day here today. Bucketfuls of it. I'm not kidding. There are several streets downtown that are flooded. It follows on from the bad rain and storms that we had on Sunday. Husband hasn't had a full day at work this week. The building he works in lost power Sunday night during a storm. There have been several updates - Monday at noon, Monday at night, Tuesday at 5, Wednesday morning. He went in on Monday only to be sent home. He did bring some work back with him. He went in Tuesday, managed to get on a computer at another building to do hours and then went in the field to do some measuring. Today he went in for a little bit but shortly came home. Thankfully, the power came back on tonight and barring no more incidents he'll be back at work tomorrow. Phew!

His being in and out has wreaked havoc on my routine! I haven't got near as much done as I hoped. The main living area is a mess. He did build me another piece of furniture while home today so tomorrow I've got to move bits around and replace. Hopefully things will look better then!

I didn't go for a walk at all today. I turned off my alarm last night but didn't sleep in a lot. I suppose when you're used to getting up at a certain time your body tends to wake up at that time. I did laze around for a bit rather than get moving right away as I usually do. 

The rain is supposed to stop sometime early morning. It will be interesting to see the state of Asylum Lake tomorrow. The water was already high so I wonder how this rain will make things look. I shall see in the morning. 

It will be nice to have the house back to normal. I've got a list going and lots beside to get done!

BTW I really shouldn't complain about the rain, Daughter is getting snow and Northern Lower Michigan had a terrible ice storm that even had the Mackinac Bridge (the only road to cross from lower to upper Michigan) closed due to falling ice! 

Me walking in the sunshine on Tuesday - it seems so long ago!

March Decluttering Totals

While not as good as February's decluttering totals I am pleased with how the month went. This really is an ongoing process. Sometimes I find it really tough to let things go and other times I find it a bit easier. Because of that I declutter the same spaces on a rotating basis. I am finding that when I revisit an area, I'm willing to let a few more things go. This might seem like a long-winded way to go about it, but it seems to be working for me. I am definitely finding this works especially well with the books. There are still a lot in the house, but they are slowly moving out and (for the most part) new-to-me ones aren't coming into the house. I'm still picking up some bird books (second-hand) but I might have to stop that soon! They are for a (supposed) craft project that doesn't seem to be happening lol. 

The craft room? That's not really happening that much. I tend to go up there, move things around and come back down. My daughter has said that she is having a garage sale and could do with some non-baby things so I'm thinking I might be willing to get rid of some things for their sale. That might work for me. I won't be expecting any money and anything left over will be donated. Seems strange but knowing I won't see it in my charity/thrift shops might actually work lol.

Here are the totals:-

CRAFT ITEMS - 37 

MAGAZINES - 11 

BOOKS - 91 

MISC. - 37

Question - how do you deal with items given to you by someone? Do you find it easy to let go of them? Do you feel obligated to keep them? I'm beginning to try to change my mindset and say that I have enjoyed the item, but it's time to pass it on to someone else so they can enjoy it. 

Thanks for the input!

I'm getting started on April's decluttering already!