I Like Thursdays: March 30, 2022

 

Happy Thursday!

Time to celebrate the good in life by participating in "I like Thursdays" hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.  What are you grateful for this week?

I'm grateful that it is warm enough that I could begin cleaning out the garden.  It's hard work but it's so nice to be outside in the sunshine and warmth!  

I've been taking Kerry to the park every morning and sometimes again in the afternoon.  Walking a dog (for me) is more therapeutic than walking alone.  After Scout died, I walked the park alone but my nagging lower back was still tight and nothing seemed to help.  One walk with Kerry and it just relaxed.  I'm not sure what that's all about but my back is fine and Kerry is delighted to go to the park each day.  She has become friends with many of Scout's dog friends.

Play ball!

Our Phillies begin the regular season tonight and that makes us excited!  Yeah for baseball!

We are also happy that Call the Midwives is back on PBS.  I just love this show!

Our prompt this week from LeeAnna is special Easter foods we like.  We always have ham for Easter and whatever sides strike our fancy.  I love getting Easter bread from our local farmer's market and always put an order in to insure we get a loaf.  It's a sweeter and light bread.  I never had it until my first marriage and my late mother in law (#1) made it from scratch way back when.  Of course the thing that everyone eats around here are Peeps!

Just Born candy is located here in our valley and is always adored and devoured.  It's funny because Peeps continues to make new and unusual things with Peeps (like Peeps flavored soda) and the older neighbors always buy whatever's new to try it.  I like a Peep in hot chocolate.  My step-son always likes when Peeps get a little stale (a choice I've heard from other people).  It just doesn't seem like a holiday without them.

Well that's all my likes for this week!  

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

I Like Thursdays: March 23, 2023

 

Time to celebrate the good in life and participate in "I like Thursdays" hosted by LeeAnna!

The kindness of friends has continued this past week.  It amazes me the outpouring of love we've received since Scout passed.  Last week we received a letter from a local animal rescue.  They had received a generous donation from a former neighbor who had heard about Scout passing.  Of course I cried and Brad got choked up.  She was so loved.  And then LeeAnna sent me a piece of artwork that she did of Scout.  And I cried again.  Isn't it wonderful?

Fortunately, we've had some good things happen.  We saw our niece two weeks ago and the baby is now 10 months old and so cute!

Other good news!  My husband is back after a month of working in Canada and Utah!  

Spring has finally sprung in eastern Pennsylvania:

The prompt for this week's blog post is what do we grow in our garden...I have a perineal garden and although I usually add annuals for color, I won't be doing that this year.  Next year (after both hand surgeries are recovered), I am going to remove two of the big beds in the front yard so it is more manageable as I age.  They are the beds along the sidewalk and this photo is from 2020 when we celebrated the centennial of women's suffrage:

So I'll be moving and giving plants away next year and focusing more on the backyard which is more of my retreat anyway.  

Wishing you all a happy spring!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

I Like Thursdays: March 16, 2023

 Happy Thursday!

It's "I like Thursday" and time to celebrate the good in life!  Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and that means spring is almost upon us.  It's been one of those pre-spring weeks.  A nor'easter was expected to bring snow.  It was cold and a little bit of flurries but nothing stuck to the ground--yipppeee!  After three days of cold and wind we are now expecting temperatures to climb to 57 degrees!  Spring is almost here!

Next week I'm hoping to start cleaning out the garden if the weather remains good.  Always a good thing to celebrate!

Today our hostess LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color provided us a prompt--what our favorite spring flowers?  Although it's exciting to see snowdrops in the winter or the blooming of crocus, for me daffodils really signal the advent of spring.  I love the many combinations the flower has and yellow is such cheerful color!  Here's a photo from last year, mine are just about to bloom in the next day or two.

Other things to like:  I finished a bunch of pet themed wall hangings for my goddaughter's grooming business.  There are more photos of them at this post at my Pennsylvania Piecemaker blog.  

I continue to walk my mom's dog Kerry at the park in the morning.  She has made some friends and absolutely looks forward to the daily constitutional.

Wishing you a happy and warm weekend!

I Like Thursdays: March 9, 2023

 

It's Thursday and time to celebrate the good in life!  I participate in "I like Thursdays" as a way to brighten the internet.  Be sure to visit the other bloggers by visiting LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color!

The weather has gotten cooler even as spring approaches.  I'm taking this indoor time to do some spring cleaning.  Once the warm weather really hits, I won't have the energy to clean out the garden and the house so I'm doing it now.  Yesterday and today I'm working on the kitchen, editing and changing things.  Over at my Pennsylvania Piecemaker blog, I'm celebrating hanging some vintage crocheted potholders that I'll be displaying this year. 

This week I'm grateful to be springing forward as we change the clocks.  I'm up so early anyway and my husband and I will be glad when we are awake at 5:30 a.m. versus 4:30.

We had guild this past week and it's always wonderful to be around my quiltmaking friends!  I love the show and tell portion of the meetings which are so inspiring!

My best friend Linda is a snowbird but she has already texted me that they are heading home!  Yipppeeee!

This week's prompt from LeeAnna is to discuss our dream sewing studio.  I do like my space but one thing I would change are the walls.  All the walls are slanted and I am so envious of folks who can not only hang pieces on their walls but also have a design wall.  

(Old photo of the sewing room when I actually could fit a bed in there).

Like most of us, I wish I had more storage space. Because I only have 3 of these cupboards and 5 of these rolling containers... 

I pulled up my big girl panties and decided that if I wanted my storage space, I need to use up more fabric!

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

 

Happy Thursday everyone!

Well it's time for "I like Thursdays" and fill the internet with positive energy.  If you need more pick-me-us, visit LeeAnna our hostess at Not Afraid of Color to see what bloggers share with gratitude!

After Scout passed, some of my sweet neighbors insisted I accompany them to paint pottery.  They told me it would relax me...and it did!  And now I have candy dish all ready for St. Paddy's Day!

I am taking my Mom's dog Kerry to the park with me now.  It's a surprising form of therapy for me.  After Scout passed, my lower back was really bothering me.  I walked alone at the park for a week or two but it didn't help my back the way it usually does.  I took Kerry...and voila!  A totally different experience and now my back is fine.  There's something about walking with a dog that takes you out of your head and sorrow and heals one!

I may have posted this before but I have to say that I love Barilla's "Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles"!!  It makes the lasagna prep so much easier and a good recipe for it is here.

I'm grateful for the return of Nate and Jeremiah's Home Project show on HGTV.  Those two make me laugh and I like the designs they create.

Spring begins in 18 days but I think my husband and are really looking forward to setting the clocks ahead on March 12 more.  We are early risers but being awake at 4 a.m. is getting ridiculous.  😜

Lastly, my husband and I have made some decisions.  We are going to wait for my second hand surgery before getting another dog.  I just think it is more responsible to take on training with two good hands versus one.  This way I have the time I need to get my head together as well.

This week's prompt is about our sewing rooms.  LeeAnna asked:

"what do you like about your creative/sewing space?  do you have a dedicated space that is yours alone?  What works in there for you?  How do you feel when you're there?"

I LOVE my sewing space!  

It's never as tidy as I want but as my friend Linda reminds me, it's a workspace.

My brother designed and decorated the space for me after the last child moved out.  He chose the wallpaper, did the wainscoting, brought a table out of his storage unit for me to sew on, and even made little shelves under the window that overlooks the garden.  He said, "you sure have earned it."

Before that, sewing meant getting everything organized in the dining room.  I sewed (for all to brief a period) and then put everything away again before dinner.  

I don't feel one spec of guilt about my territory being the entire second floor of our home.  I raised my child without any assistance or support from my ex-husband.  I got married after my daughter went away to college and then ended up raising my two stepchildren while my husband worked on the road 45 weeks of the year (and yes, I worked full-time as well).  When the grandkids came along, I quit my job and happily babysat them for five days a week so their parents could save money.  My brother was right.  I earned this space.

At one time, my husband suggested he move upstairs to do his fly tying up there as well.  I squashed that suggestion like a fly tied bug.

My sewing room is my serenity spot in an otherwise crazy world.  We nicknamed it "the nest" and it fills with peace to be there.  I change it from time to time but it's my space to do as I please.  

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!