There is always a road back. If we have the courage to look for it, and take it. I’m sorry. I was wrong. I don’t know. I need help. These are the signposts. The cardinal directions.
Louise Penny
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Tags: Quoting
Michael, Mary, and Jesus came for a visit! The weather was warm enough to go without a sweater, the food and company so good. Juniper and Jesus were best pals, eating from the same plate, drinking from the same bowl, playing in their odd way. In one of those mind benders, the time spent together over a mere twenty-four hours morphed into a jolly few days of activity. We grilled, puzzled, chatted, laughed and laughed, walked, shopped, and ate and ate and ate.
It is an old refrain, but dang, what would we do without the support and company of our very best friends? I will never stop marveling at my wonderful circle of loved ones. With them, I may not be able to understand a world of war and poverty and senselessness, but I can certainly feel less alone in it, embraced in warmth and joy.
Farmer Greg broke out the big guns this year, buying a grow mat (the basement floor is very cold) and a light. There were a few seeds that never sprouted and a couple that did, then died, but overall, it’s been a successful start. He’s growing several varieties of pepper, tomato, nasturtium, ground cherry, beans, fennel, and zucchini. It is very exciting to watch!
We are nearly finished with our spring garden clean-up, with the front yard remaining, though it will be (or just seem) like ages before everything is well and truly green. There are leaves budding on the rose and fern bush, nascent lilac blooms, tulips and daffodils popping up and a lone pasque in full flower, which is always such a treat to witness.
The chickadees have made a nest in the bird house again, and I love their earnest endeavor to make it safe and cozy, mom and pop darting to and fro with every manner of material. We are all connected in our own little worlds, so sweet.
Hope this April day is a fine one in your neck of the woods…
It isn’t the great big pleasures that count the most; it’s making a great deal out of the little ones–I’ve discovered the true secret of happiness, and that is to live in the now. Not to be for ever regretting the past, or anticipating the future; but to get the most that you can out of this very instant.
Jean Webster
Caught up in the first real warmth of the year, however desperate for green. I love my full shade hat!
It had been ages since we’d enjoyed a grilled cheese sandwich! This was smoked gouda on rye with my homemade spicy tomato chutney for dipping. The word is splendid.
Our first burger of the season, also with spicy tomato chutney and a homemade brioche bun. Summer on a plate!
Does anyone else remember the 80s t-shirt of Richard Nixon – Tan, Rested, & Ready? Well, I’m not exactly tan, but am feeling refreshed, thank goodness. Could be the dazzle of sunlight on my keyboard or maybe something else. Whatever it is, I’ll take it!
Biscuits two ways! With crunchy-sugary blanched almonds and and ye olde gravy topped version with left over smoked chicken and mushrooms. Small luxuries.
Homemade minestrone, damn good. When I was a teen and bussing tables at the Italian joint, I ate this all the time, dunking crispy hunks of garlic bread like there was no tomorrow. It didn’t have zucchini noodles but did have tortellini, which was better, truth be told, but I made do.
Sunday is raw marrow bone day for the Juper-dog, and darn it if she doesn’t know. She gets it in place of her usual afternoon snack and is positively wild with anticipation. She works herself into a lather for about half an hour, utterly cleaning it of any doggy desirable, before collapsing with exhaustion on the couch. It is ALL the things and keeps her teeth clean, too.
In a strange reversal, my constant coldness pre-menopause has turned to coziness or straight up hot flashing, barefoot on the frozen porch and loving it! Poor Greg is often left shivering. So this started as a joke, a weird contraption from Poler called a Napsack that had me chuckling. It’s basically a sleeping bag with arm and leg holes! Then the genius of it sunk in, and here we are, peeps. The hubster loves it!
In an attempt to be less wasteful, instead of donating a sheet that got a small tear (Juniper and her bed hopping!), I repaired it. Looks nifty, I think.
