Monday

Note to self - look in the spam folder for comments. Not sure why but even some of my replies are going in the spam folder. Who knows why - sigh.

Today wasn't a bad start to the week. I got out for a nice walk. The sun was shining though it was a little chilly. Over the weekend the snow had been packed down, so it was easier to walk on. I wore my Yaktrax, which help me not slip and slide. The beavers are still buried away but hopefully as it is supposed to get above freezing several days this week, they may be able to punch through the ice depending on the thickness of it.  

I really like the sunshine and shadows in this phone photo. 

After my walk I went and did a food shop. I haven't been for over a week, and we were running low on a few things. I've done the meal planning but there were a couple of items not available at the shop I went to, so I am stopping by another tomorrow. Hopefully that will be it for the week! Less trips to the shops seems to be the way to limit the spending on food. 

Husband is still not feeling well. He came home from work and spent most of the rest of the day in bed. It kind of threw my day off but I did manage to get a few things done. I hope he feels better tomorrow!

Monday

The rain finally stopped, and I managed to go for a walk. No sunrise but the sun did come out later - just as I was at the end of my walk of course but I did get to enjoy it a bit! The trails were very muddy and more than a little slippery. There were quite a few people out this morning though. I must not have been the only one who wanted to get outside! It was quite nice though to get outside. My walking friend was back from visiting her son and his family for the Christmas holiday and we had a little chat. 

After the walk I went to the Post Office, dropped off my packages and then stopped at the store. There were a couple of items on sale that will do well for meal planning next week when we are back. Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day, trying to get ready and go with son to look at another place and dropping a few more packages off at the post office. It's supposed to be a rainy/snowy day tomorrow but there isn't supposed to be a lot of accumulation. Maybe there won't even be a walk. Sigh. We shall see. A lot of time the weather forecast is wrong. 

I am going to try to stay up tomorrow night, but that's on the hopeful side. We want to leave quite early Wednesday morning as it is a long drive to daughter's house. My sister said she might ring (if they are home) at midnight her time so that will be fun. Hopefully I'll find somewhere to watch/listen to Big Ben. It's a bittersweet time as it was something Mum and I did together every year. I'll raise a glass to her and think of her at that moment. 

Do you have plans for New Year's Eve? Do you go out or is it spent indoors? Do you stay up or not bother? 

* Just down the bottom of this field I watched (and took photos with my camera) of three large male deer locking antlers in play fights. It was quite delightful to watch. I'll share photos soon!

Back to Monday

It's going to be a strange week this week. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is a holiday here in the US. My son had today off, but husband went to work. They both have tomorrow off and then back to work Wednesday. I'm sure I won't know what day it is! 

Yesterday it rained. A lot. We do need it, but on a Sunday? Ugh. It's usually our adventure day. We managed to get out for a drive and a really quick walk along the beach before the rain came...and came...and came. We headed home and I spent the rest of the day doing a little sorting and some stitching. 

Today I went for a walk with my friend. As we were leaving, she said, see you tomorrow. I reminded her that I wasn't going to be there on Tuesday or Thursday (not to mention, it's a holiday too and I don't usually walk with her on holidays as husband and I might want to do something). She didn't look too pleased, but I'm sticking to my guns. 

I have decided to leave husband to his own devices and let him relax for the day tomorrow. We are going camping for a couple of nights next weekend, so I'll keep him busy then - ha ha. I am going to go watch the beavers, do a quick walk by myself and then come home. I've got some things I want to get done. 

As it was so wet yesterday everywhere was soaked on my walk. The path to the beavers' lodge was waterlogged and I had to find a new way round. The beavers were out and about this morning so that was nice. 

I hope it dries up soon.

Before I got down to the lodge, I walked partially through the field (it too was very wet). There was fog over the field though and it was really beautiful.

While out walking I came across this lovely decorated stone. Just in time for the holiday!

Monday - Some Thoughts

Monday was off to a slow start. It was dull and rainy when I got up so I decided not to go for a walk. I did go out and run some errands so I could check those off my list. I also got tomorrow's housework done today so that I can (if the weather is better) walk for a little longer tomorrow morning. I didn't mop however as it was raining, and it seemed pretty pointless to mop the kitchen when everybody would be walking in the back door with (likely) muddy boots!

I'm not going to complain too much about the rain as we really do need some. I took this photo with my phone of my windshield after I got in the car lol. 

I also listed a few more things on Ebay today. Things are slowly going out the door. I need to get more organised with this. 

I was thinking about the decluttering today and where I want to go with it.  As I sit in the living room, I see the cabinet we keep the television on, DVD player and way too many DVDs and CDs. They are in the cupboard but there are a lot of them. I took out a few to look through and got stuck. I was wondering what peoples' thoughts are on these. 

* Have you got rid of all your DVDs and CDs? 

* Do you keep a collect few? 

I'm really stuck where to go with them. There are some that I put on and watch, but there are a lot that I don't. Some can be seen on the streaming services we have while others cannot. Should I just go through them the first time and pick out ones I can easily let go and then take a rethink about what others I can let go of? 

Ideas? 

Hope everyone had a good Monday. Back tomorrow. 

Monday and a Poppy

It was cloudy and cool today. Felt more like Autumn that heading into Summer. It was quiet on my walk. Nice though. I saw the swans with their one remaining baby. It is sticking really close to Mum, still riding on her back even though it's getting quite big!

I came home, tidied a little and then tried to sort out some things. I feel as though I'm taking baby steps, but, as I've said before, as long as I keep plodding forward progress will be made! I'm trying to sort out the main areas of the house (problem areas where things are put) so that I feel peace in those areas first. I do have another couple of boxes ready to go to the charity shop so I think that's a plus! 

I did get the meal planning done and have made a list of things I need to pick up from the shops tomorrow. I have packages to drop off at the post office too. I shall do my errands after my walk tomorrow. 

I managed to look through most of the flower photos from yesterday. I seem to have really liked taking photos of one flower standing out lol. Here is one 

Hope everyone had a good Monday!

Monday

Not a lot accomplished today. I thought about not posting at all, but am holding myself accountable and just saying that I didn't get a lot done. I had a hair appointment at 2pm which really threw me off as I like to get things (outside the house) done early so I can get in my comfy clothes and (hopefully) get things done at home. I know why I made the appointment at that time - if the roads were bad I could have asked husband to go in early to work and get off early and take me. Luckily the roads were okay - no snow - so I could drive myself. 

I did go for my walk this morning. It was cloudy when I first went, but then the sun came out. I stayed out longer than I usually do. We are forecast cloudy/rainy/snowy weather the rest of the week so this might be the only sun I see. 

I saw three beavers today, lots of muskrats, ducks, geese, a blue heron (unusual at this time of year as the lake is usually frozen over) and some green winged teal. Quite a good morning overall!

I did get two cupboards sorted in the kitchen. I've been putting it off as I know there are some out-of-date items and I feel really bad about throwing them away. That's not a good enough excuse. So I got started today and sorted through two of them. I'll get some more done tomorrow. 

I do feel better for having my hair cut. I used to hate going, but I have been to the same hairdresser for a while. She's really nice, knows what I like and doesn't change anything unless I ask her to. My hair was getting really long. I had a bit more taken off than normal. It feels a lot better. 

The newer beaver lodge is starting to spill onto the path. The strange thing is that the path has been there a lot longer than the lodge! They actually built it right where there is a lot of foot traffic. I saw one beaver leaving the lodge today. 

There are two more beaver lodges here. One at the very end of the reeds and the other to the left of that. I saw two beavers here (at the same time). 

Still a tiny bit of ice on the lake. I love seeing the slabs like that. 

Hopefully, I will be able to get out for a walk tomorrow, but if the weather looks to be lousy I think I'll do my food shop tomorrow and then work on house stuff instead. 

Until tomorrow (hopefully)

Piles of Washing...

There always seem so much of it when we come back from anywhere! I'm almost caught up. I'm done for the day though. It will still be there tomorrow! I'm still without a car so I was home all day. I got most of the jobs done I wanted. The one I really wanted to get done was the first on my list - sorting all those pesky plastic containers. They seemed to have multiplied and then just started getting shoved in the cupboard without any sort of organisation. It was shove it in, close the door and hope they don't all fall out when you open the cupboard back up! Now at least they are in some sort of order - at least for a while.

I haven't got any books to photography today but I am happy to say that 23 books shall be leaving my house tomorrow! I relisted some Ebay auctions when we got back and two of them have already sold. So the books will be on their way to new homes. They are series I collected. I was a little up in the air as to whether I wanted to get rid of them, but now they are sold and I honestly won't miss them. I shall get more into the swing of sorting tomorrow or Wednesday.

I still haven't sorted through that many photos, but I did get to a couple of the yurt we stayed in on our second night. It was actually quite cosy, though warm enough that we didn't have to use the wood stove inside. We did have a campfire outside though.

It was down a little path away from the other campers (there was one other yurt before we reached ours) and there was a little path down to the rocky shore. It was really quite peaceful. I shall be looking to book this one again if we end up there.

As always, it's a little struggle getting back into things. There are things I need to get done though so no slacking! I have this full week here, next week on the 4th of July we're heading over to visit daughter in Minnesota for a long weekend. We come back on the Sunday and I leave for England on the Friday. Time is certainly slipping by!

After the Weekend...

Well, as I said - good intentions and all that. Not a lot happened last week. I am determined that things will be done this week and am making sure to use my daily journal/diary to write down what I want to get done so I make sure to do some. On the plus side, my Mum is feeling a lot better. It is taking a while for her voice to come back but she certainly sounds more like herself, so I can worry a little less! She had her scan last Friday and will find out results next week so fingers crossed that everything is well.

Temperatures are starting to warm up here, not significantly so, but definitely not as cold as it has been - we're actually making it above freezing in the daytime. I think people are a little ahead of the game though. When I was out food shopping this morning there was a woman out in sandals and summer capris - it was barely above freezing! I think we've all had enough of winter and are just too excited for Spring.

It was sunny over the weekend - finally! We did a walk on Saturday and Sunday as the trails are getting better. There were a few icy/snowy spots and still some snow/ice on the lakeshore, but it is certainly coming to an end.

Some lovely reflections on Sunday's walk. It was so very peaceful too. There weren't many people out - we walked almost the whole trail without seeing a single person. There were several times when we just stood still and listened to the birdsong all around us. Beautiful!

I'm not off to a flying start this morning. I have meal planning to do - I do have today and tomorrow's food sorted, but need to come up with some other ideas for the rest of the week. I am determined to use more of the freezer stuff. I seem to take one step forward and then steps backward!

I got rid of some more books - another auction! This week I am going to sort more and list or donate. I don't think I'll miss them at all. There are still too many I want to read though! I can't seem to read fast enough. I also want to make some more cards. I needed a couple this last week and had some on hand as I didn't feel like making more. I want to make sure I have several different occasion ones in case I need them.

What are everyone's plans for the week?

Monday Ramblings and Darning

It was really cold when I woke up this morning. It was -12C (10F) and when I did go out for my walk it was -7c (19F). I bundled up really warmly with long undies, hat, scarf and handwarmers tucked in my gloves. There weren't many people about - what a surprise!! I was quite disappointed in my walk. I saw lots of deer and got some photos for my black and white project but I couldn't walk all the way I wanted to as they were doing work on the trail. I think they are planning on expanding or something but there were so many industrial machines and they were pulling up places where the animals roam. I found it sad really. There was someone out (in a snow removal vehicle) clearing the path but it was making things worse, scraping of the layer of snow to reveal a sheet of ice below. At least with the snow on the path my boots had something to cling on to! I ended up walking alongside the cleared off path.

When I got home I was disappointed to see that my lovely thick socks had holes developing in the heels. I was thinking of darning (I'm not quite sure if that word is used in the states or what the equivalent is) them. I remember Mum would always be darning our socks. Nowadays it seems that we just go out and buy new ones. Does anyone do darning anymore? I love these socks and they were (although a present) quite expensive. It seems a shame not to darn them and continue to use. The same for one of the knit pairs of gloves I wear. This sounds strange, but I bit a hole in the top of one of the fingertips (it's a nervous habit to sort of chew on it).


As it's so cold today I put some chilli in the slow cooker. Son and husband will probably be quite cold when they get home from work. Son sometimes has to work outside. Middle son is coming up to visit too so there will be plenty for him to eat too. I'm working on my stitching while waiting for people to come home. The jobs I wanted done today are done. I'm starting on a list for tomorrow. There is ice/snow in the forecast and if the roads are slippery I shall be staying in tomorrow.

Photo from our cold but sunny walk yesterday!

Hot and Humid

After a nice few days of reprieve the weather has turned horribly hot and humid again. It was uncomfortably hot last night (about 23c/73C) and I didn't sleep much at all. It felt like I was tossing and turning all night. I was finally glad when everyone had gone to work and I could get out of bed. I just didn't get up any earlier as I hate interrupting their routine. I didn't like anyone interrupting mine while I was getting ready for work so I try to be considerate. Needless to say I haven't got a lot done today. I did go for a walk, but even that was horrible. I was sweating by the time I was done (and not because I'd exerted myself!).

I'm going to do soft shell tacos tonight so I don't have to turn the oven on. I got ready to chop things up and found out the tomatoes I got yesterday are not good on the inside. Not exactly sure what's wrong with them, but yuck. I ended up asking hubby to pick some up on his way home from work.

I did decide to try to find up my living room projects that I had put away before I went to England. I thought perhaps I could sit and do one of those. I found the knitting project - still on needle - but couldn't find the other needle or the pattern. Sigh. I did find them in the end, but it seems to hot to even knit. I got my cross stitch out that I was working on - that was all together - but I've closed the curtains to keep out the sun (gasp!) and can't see to stitch. Instead I'm going to look through a couple magazines I brought back with me and maybe dream of more projects I can do someday!

Here's a card I made for Mum. Her birthday is next week. I left a card and some GC with my sister before I left, but I wanted to send another little homemade card.

It snowed...

...most of the day! Insert grumpy face here. This should be Winter's last hooray - according to the weather people it is supposed to hit 21C/71F on Friday. We'll go from being bundled in long undies, gloves, hats and scarves to wearing shorts in one week. I'm pretty sure I won't be wearing shorts, but the last time it warmed up to about 14C there were people out and about in shorts. It has been a long winter afterall.

It wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick to the roads, thank goodness, but as I speak there is a light blanket on the ground. It's supposed to all be gone by morning.

I feel a bit of a failure today as I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I was all gung-ho last night (close to midnight) but when I woke up, not so much. I didn't even write the list I was going to do to keep me on track. I shall try to do better tomorrow!

Drying Out

The weather people said we ended up with almost 6 inches of rain on Saturday. I think it was more. My bucket in the garden is completely full. I thought it would never stop! Sunday brought high winds. We'd spent all day Saturday in so we decided to go out even though it was still raining and very windy. We didn't walk far but decided to go look at a couple of (sort of) nearby lighthouses. The waves at the lakeshore were wild!

There was definitely no walking along the walkway! It was covered with water and waves. It's amazing to think this is a lake and not the sea!

At the other lighthouse there were people trying to surf! They could barely get up on their boards before either the wind or the waves knocked them off again!

Monday dawned cloudy but I put my boots on and went for a walk anyway.

The water was a lot higher at the place where I usually walk. I can usually walk past that plant - now it is in the lake! I've never seen it so high.

I was hoping to get some crafting done, but I've got to clean up a bit - we're having some of our windows replaced tomorrow so things need to be tidied and moved.

Hope everyone has a good Monday!

Hot days yesterday and today. Yesterday we took a walk at a state park near the lakeshore so at least it was cooler. It was actually really nice walking along there - the temperature was certainly a lot more bearable. The air conditioner has been running for days now (do turn off at night) so I dread to think what the electric bill will look like! Another reason to enjoy the end of April and May - too warm to need heat, too cool for the air conditioner!

I walked early today. Good thing too. It would have been too hot later. My poor plants are looking rather dry - doesn't matter if I do water them. Of course it looks like it's going to rain when we go camping next week but who knows, they may have changed the forecast by then. If not, we make the best of things.

Here's an image from today. A deer with a little attitude. I imagine it was wondering why I was taking photos of it.