The Years To Remember

  This little morning ritual is worth all the milkweed picking and poop cleaning I had to do to raise 14  butterflies. Releasing a butterfly is a great way to start my day. Seven more to go! For the past couple of months I've been on the lookout for more shelving in my kitchen closet/pantry to bring some order to my collection of kitchen supplies and food staples. Then I had an epiphany. The last time my sisters were here, we discovered a few cans of outdated and leaking tomatoes which were promptly discarded. It made me think, maybe I don't need more shelving, but better organizing and attention to what I do have.   I'm going to tackle a minimizing/organizing of that closet. It's funny how just reframing a problem can completely change the scenario. After that is completed, I'll revisit the idea of shelving to determine if that is what is needed or not. So far, I have two bags to donate to my local thrift shop, and quite a bit added to my trash can.  Later - It...

I’m obsessed by my garden lately. Is it a healthy or unhealthy focus though? I suppose as long as I continue socializing and enjoying the rest of the community it remains on the healthy side.   Look what I made! Or rather caused to happen.  It’s a little Monarch chrysalis tree! Some caterpillars chose the twigs, the rest I carefully relocated to the twigs from the sides of the jars they chose to attach to. None of these caterpillars/butterflies were harmed in this process and within a week or two they will emerge and fly off. Thank goodness only 3 more to go and I will be done safeguarding tiny caterpillars. The rest will have to deal with the dangers in my garden - mostly predatory ants. They are just remarkable with their gold accents. My last three charges - I named them Pequena, Mediana, and Grande. I haven't been walking any appreciable distance in the past few weeks, so I chose a 6 mile route Thursday.  My lower back was hurting by mile five, so I just got home...

Sunflowers are blooming! I planted eight little red potatoes in the spring. My only goal was to replace them with new potatoes. One of the 8 plants died back inexplicably, as the others are still green and growing. My curiosity got the best of me, so I dug that one up. This one plant replaced most of the ‘seed’ potatoes. Now I can’t wait to dig the rest up in about a month. Caring for the caterpillars is getting to be a chore so I won’t bring any more in. They are a marvel to watch though. This is Chikory when he was just about to fly off. I love how my garden hides all the neighbors homes so it just looks like an endless flower meadow. I didn't get to the pesto yesterday, so today is pesto day. I cut a huge bunch which commits me to the process. Esther brought me a box of little jars so I can store the pesto and give little random gifts of it. It makes me so happy to share my garden bounty. The basil is loving all the rain so that I can barely keep up with it. Regular basil and Th...

 Thursday - Lake Placid I signed up to volunteer just a couple of days ahead of the competition, and luckily Peggy was working that day too. We rode up together and spent a pleasant afternoon rink side helping out with the Ice Dancing Championship event. During the four hour shift, I "worked" a total of 20 minutes running the results up to the office on the third floor. I got my 10,000 steps just walking around the venue, watching the skaters, and chatting with Peggy and Lyne. It was the last day of competition so we got to watch the top performers. I was enchanted by the costumes.  We stopped for dinner at a brewpub in Lake Placid before the drive home. What a pleasant way to earn lift tickets! Friday - Bike Ride We rode 35 miles along the Mohawk River with 13 of us in the group. The river was high and muddy due to our recent storms. The weather was just beautiful for a ride topped off with ice cream! Valerie snapped this picture of me, Peggy, Lyne, Amyjean, and Charlene. We...

Tuesday - I took my girl to the airport this morning and said goodbye. Her two week visit passed much too quickly and I miss her.  We are in for 3 days of rain which I am glad for, as it's been a bit too warm and dry and I have crops growing! I just appreciate the break from watering each morning.  Once the compass was installed, I could see that the gladiolas were too tall and I needed shorter plants so as not to obscure the direction stones. I moved them out and added calendula which was not growing well in a shady area. I hope they will take off in this area and complement the zinnias and nasturtiums. I replaced the mulch under the triangles of rounded stones with pea gravel which sets them off better. I'll be looking out for larger direction stones on my hikes as the ones I have are on the small side.  The improved compass. Wednesday - I really need to be careful what I wish for.  Just 18 hours ago I told my sister that the rain hadn't started yet. I was woken up...