First Day of May

 This seems like a perfect day all around and a perfect day to break my silence on this blog.  

It's the day we weather followers have been looking forward to for a couple of weeks.  High of 77 today and 70 tomorrow, and the rest of the 10 days seem wonderful - and dry.

Noreen and I have plans to go sit by the pool this morning when the sun gets high enough.  At least, that's what we talked about.  We don't feel obligated to stick by a plan if we are enjoying the present.

We did follow through with going to Ace Hardware Monday to look for some plants to start off our porch beautification plans.  We aren't quite ready for a nursery, and Noreen needed a tension rod!  That was a nice short trip to North Bend, and we did find a few things.  I'll venture out and take some pictures when I get dressed.

Katherine stops by at 8:45 or so on Thursdays to walk to school from here, and I love that little bit of alone time with her.  

She is just growing up so much.  So conversational.  So sweet.  She had a litany of injuries she needed to show me - like the waist-area bruise she got from the monkey bars at school yesterday, bruises on her legs from something, and a red bump on her shoulder that made the straps of her bookbag uncomfortable.  I found a perfectly sized bandaid and some Neosporin and patched that right up.  We stood at the door for a while and discussed the weather and how Wuffie was sitting in the park across the street watching us, and then she headed up the street to school.  

I couldn't resist a soft, "Look both ways before crossing," even though it normally makes her roll her eyes.  Lately, she said, "I literally cross three streets every single day."  This morning though, she turned around and smiled and waved, looked both ways, and ran across Kinsey.  Then she turned around and walked backwards, waving until she was out of sight.  My heart!  

This is going to be her month.  In 28 days, she will be 10 years old, and I enjoy every minute with her.  I'll try to post the pictures that come up in my memories.

She had just had her first birthday in Palm Springs and was just on the verge of walking.  What a fun trip.  What a fun baby!

Super special time she got to spend with PopPop.  I wish they could have known each other longer.

Sleepy or pensive?  The old flowered loveseat has finally gone away.  It was special to me for so many years but just didn't fit in here and was getting pretty worn.

I'm lucky enough lately to have both girls come after school for a couple of hours on Monday and Wednesday, and sometimes several hours on Friday.  

Sometimes they'll get out their homework and do a little bit, knowing they have more time that night for it if necessary.  Yesterday, Graysen did some of her math review, and we all worked on a poem Katherine had to answer questions about.  I loved seeing that it was "The Road Not Taken," by Robert Frost.  We had a long discussion about it.  Then there was mac and cheese, of course, made by them for the most part, a little TV watching with Aunt CeCe, and chatting about Graysen's upcoming Friday night Dance.  What?  I'm not ready for this.  She's wearing a dress and getting her nails done.  Katherine might have a playdate after that and then lacrosse on Saturday.  I hope I get to watch one of their games.  I really want to learn what it's all about.  

I was tired at the end of the day, as usual, although I did almost nothing all day except planting the flowers I got and doing minimal housework.  

I just made a chicken salad for lunch with some sweet pickles, celery, eggs, and mayo.  It was not bad at all!  

I hate to be totally useless, but there is such a limit to what I can do.  I took out the plants I got Monday and made plans for where I'm going to put them and put some dirt in two pots.  I brought the car floor mats in to vacuum - but didn't vacuum them - and went to pick up the mail.  I walked an extra half a block to look at the pretty spring greenery.  Noreen had to go to Bellevue this morning, so we didn't sit outside, but there's still time and sunshine if we want to this afternoon.

Here are a few pictures I took while walking.

I forgot to take pictures of the two cherry trees at the end of our alley right by the mailboxes, but this is all that's left of those beautiful blooms.  

Here are some of the trees in downtown Snoqualmie at the Railway Museum.  And maybe in Kent or Issaquah.  They were everywhere and amazing.

This is one in North Bend just as it started raining one day.

Walking back to the apartment from the mailbox.  I never get tired of this view of the mountains.  It's fun to see my old upstairs balcony down the alley.  I loved sitting out there with the girls so much when we first moved here.

    

The little sidewalk between Noreen's apt and mine.  I'm jealous of her little rock wall.

     

The prettiest rhododendron in the neighborhood.

 

My place on the left and Noreen's on the right.  We have some work to do.

Residents don't get to plant their own stuff in the beds, but I campaigned for leaving this hosta that comes back every year and somehow hasn't been bothered by the deer.

I'm still aggravated that they pulled up some dead boxwoods and replanted these little new things.  They're pretty, but I'm not sure why they left those scraggly old ones that they prune into little boxes.  You just have to go along with it.

Noreen has painted her planter boxes and is ready to start relaxing outside.  We now have a choice.  If we want a little sunshine, we'll go to her porch, and if we get hot, we will go to my shady retreat. 

And this is the same sidewalk between our apartments with a pretty little Japanese maple on Noreen's side.  We have a new family moving in above my garage with 3 elementary-age children, so the girls might be having quite a few to play with soon.

The only sun I get is around back outside the garage, so I planted a red geranium and 3 ruffly pink petunias in this pot which was here when I moved in - full of heather.  I always have to have a red geranium!  Those yellow miniature petunias are just waiting there until I find something else to put in their pot tomorrow.  Looking for some white bacopa and creeping Jenny.

I got this strawberry vanilla hydrangea last year for Mother's Day and tried to get it to bloom on my shady porch.  It didn't, but it stayed healthy.  I put it around back about a month ago and was rewarded with these new leaves.  If I can remember to water it enough, it should do really well there.  

It's supposed to look like this when it blooms.

The primroses I found at Safeway have brightened up the porch during the cooler months and look healthy.  I'll find a few little things to add to this pot tomorrow too.

 Happy and content.

We're Skipping Whole Months

 I'm going to have to stop being overwhelmed with finding something interesting to write here and just post moments. 

We had a good afternoon yesterday with it snowing most of the day off and on, alternating with melting and ending with heavy flurries.  

There was a 2-hour delay in school starting, and Ryan had an appointment, so we got Kate dropped off for a few minutes before she had to walk to school at 11:00.  Quick in and out and a good chilly hug.  It's still hard for me to send her out without following behind to see if she gets to school okay.  I'm sure I'll never like it. 

I can't even remember what Elise and I did all morning.  The usual tidying up, herding and feeding the cats, watching the snow, her meditating and me catching up on emails and following the morning's always atrocious news.  

I did a little crocheting and heard Gray come in first around 3:00 since there was no soccer practice, a bonus for me!  I feel like I never see her.  It's time for her band challenge to defend her first chair position, so she was immediately on the flute practicing.  She does sound markedly improved since her last challenge.  She says she's still nervous, but I bet the others are too.  

She asked if she could practice her crocheting next, and we got things ready.  It didn't go well enough to please her, especially getting used to how to hold the yarn in her left hand.  We watched a few videos, and she still got frustrated, but she was pretty proud that she made a long even chain without any big loose spots.  

She wants to immediately create something, and it's hard to keep her interested.  We did a few single crochets after that, and she was on to other things!  

She and Elise conferred over which fruity and spicy tea they wanted, and I went along with them, although I can't get to where I really like hot tea.  I can drink cold unsweetened tea all day long, but give me a cup of hot tea, and I'm immediately bored.  Elise spends a lot of time adding spices and fruits and making quite a ritual out of it, which helps her, and then with the meditation, she's in a good place.

Kate then came in in a whirlwind of snow and boots and scarves.  She had to have some tea and conversation, and we got it straight how long they were going to stay. Emily was working in Bellevue, and there had been a small blizzard during the morning but was just lightly snowing then.  I'm always glad to get her home! 

Elise reminded me there were some old sewing kits in the sewing room closet I needed to get rid of, so we got out the stuffed cat one for some closure and her first sewing venture.  It took them all more time than I thought necessary to pick out their cat colors and thread and much discussion, but they were finally all three actually sewing at one time!  I was there for undoing knots, finding the scissors and handing out the stuffing.  No one finished, but they did make some progress, and it was a sweet time of laughing and chattering.  

Carly finally showed up with the pottery pieces the girls made at her birthday party last weekend and a picture of all three of them.  So sweet.  Katherine did an axolotl that was lovely and named him Sun.  Graysen was not thrilled with hers because she had a soccer game and came in too late to finish hers.  But it was fun anyway and fun to add Carly into the cat-making mix.  

This picture! 

 A perfect example of Monday afternoon:  From bottom right clockwise -

Two cups of tea.  One in a Christmas cup because it got left out of the packing-up process and is still in the cup cabinet.  Mine in my favorite cat cup Debby gave me 9 years ago when we moved here. A strawberry Japanese drink and chips from an earlier snack. Graysen's flute lying abandoned after less than 10 minutes of practice.  Gray looking relaxed and happy.  Carly popping in and being her usual sweet self.  Elise taking her stitching seriously and Katherine just kind of flitting around and showing off her axolotl.  Behind them all, the snow drifting down peacefully and the lamp leaning from too many cat accidents, which is the reason for the spray bottle on the window sill - not that it does much to keep them from jumping up there to view the world outside. 

I love afternoons like this, even if I do get a little anxious nowadays when too much is going on around me.  I never did well with chaos, and I have to talk myself into not letting it bother me.  I have felt really well the past few days with fewer knee pain and all-over aches and tiredness.  I don't know the reason why, but I'll take it and enjoy.

After the girls played in the park for a while and Emily picked them up, Elise and I ate a little bit for supper and watched a new series since we finished Downton Abbey Sunday night and miss it.  I just subscribed to Britbox because of DA, and we found Cranford.  More about that later.  We watched two episodes before we got sleepy and thought it was hilarious.  It was a bonus to discover Jim Carter is in it - Carson from Downton Abbey.  Can't wait to get immersed in it this week.  

December Juggling

 After all the things I talked about yesterday, almost none of them worked out like we thought.  

We did end up going to the nursery event, and it was so much fun.  It would have been so easy to NOT go, and I would have been more than fine with it, but we fortified ourselves with Starbucks and headed to Issaquah, which is just time for half a cup of a tall peppermint-mocha drink with just half the peppermint and mocha shots, or whatever they call the way they make them.  I never go there on my own, so it's always a treat.

The girls got peppermint steamers, and Emily and I got the above.  I got a cheese Danish because it was the first thing on the menu, and there was no reason not to.  Someone got a grilled cheese, another a cranberry something, and everyone was merry and full of sugar by the time we got there.  

We had wanted to get an earlier start, but we didn't, and the parking lots seemed full, but we lucked up and got a place a few steps from the door.  Thanks goodness, because the weather was not cooperating with us or the nursery.  

I seem to have taken my quota of pictures when we first walked in because there was a hummingbird that kept our interest for a while.  It seemed to fly along beside us.  I can't think of a better place to be than a nursery and greenhouse on a day yesterday.

I'm hoping Emily took more pictures but probably not.  She xeroed in on a beautiful table of red and white cyclamen and grabbed a red one.  I think this is what she's holding in the picture here.  I meant to get one too, but I got distracted and never did.  She and the girls picked out a wreath, and we looked around a bit before going into the Holiday Shop.

You can see Emily's cyclamen in front of her and the table of them behind the girls.  

I think I just couldn't decide on a white one or a red one, and I am still fighting to keep my plants I brought inside happy at home.  I want another Lenten rose, but I think I'll wait on plants I can't take care of until the holidays are over.

It seems the style lately is oversized everything, and the bells and acorns and pinecones are beautiful but not for me.  It would so overwhelm my little space.

And no more pictures from me that trip.  I took the girls into the shop where we immediately found a replica of Woodrow to hang on the tree.  We loved looking at all the things, but I feel like I can't let down my guard with either me or the girls on knocking one of those delicate ornaments off the tree or dropping something.  They're so good about not touching, but sometimes you just have to.  

I learned they like dragonflies so have ordered them a little dragonfly ornament that's not $30 and more their size.  The highlight of that part of the trip seeing a CAT!  Imagine that.  A pretty manx who followed us around and didn't have to worry about getting her tail stepped on.  I love these girls and their enthusiasm and ability to get joy from every single thing. I had mentioned at one point that I didn't need any more ornaments for my little tree but I would like to get some of the little bottle brush trees that I seem to have collected over several years.  They spent a lot of time bring me sample for my approval (unbreakable - whew), and we finally decideone just the perfect color of dusty pink to go with my tree bows.  

This is the picture I took last night. The new tree is on the right.  It really doesn't matter that the people in the scene are sometimes bigger than the houses and there's a random plaid box in the midst of it all.  As long as you get a happy feeling when you look at it!  

And this is the pictures I took just now.  So much has happened.

The fluffy yellow tail in the window doesn't mean Bowie was responsible for the state of the tree table.  I saw Layla tiptoeing through the landscape gingerly, thinking no one would notice her.  

When we left, we considered going by Michael's for ribbon but Saturday, pouring rain, warm home..... and our gifts will remain ribbonless for a while.

There was talk of my going over and watching Christmas in Connecticut with the family.  The girls love the old movies.  The grownups too.  But I didn't end up going since it was dark and raining and warm at home.  Maybe next time.  Gray had had a soccer game where she "played hard and got a killer goal."  

It was a good day.  

I'm up fairly early on Sunday morning working on my book list for the year.  I've been invited to eat lunch with sweet neighbors that I haven't seen in a while.  I have one gift wrapped and one in a bag.  I have a long way to go, but I'm going to enjoy every day for the rest of this year except maybe the 16th when I have to see two doctors.  Sometimes enjoyable, sometimes not.  We'll see.  

Always Exciting Friday

 Emily calls on the way to work sometimes, and that's one of the few times we can talk without kids or work interrupting.

She sent this sunrise picture and was talking about how Bellevue is such a pretty town, even though it's more of a city now with a downtown that looks like some Seattle areas.  That's from my limited experience at either place.  I only go to places where I can creep in on the back roads, the scenic ones by the lakes and waterfalls when you aren't in a hurry.

She's going full speed ahead with the opening of the Bellevue Clinic, and even thought I don't quite understand all that's involved, I know it's a huge undertaking.  I can tell she's excited underneath it all, although it makes Christmas planning a little harder.

Ryan is taking the girls to Bellevue after lunch to meet up with her to go see Wicked, so I won't see them this afternoon.  It should be a nice fun night for them.

Em and I had wanted to go to an event at Squak Mountain Nursery in the morning, but I think we're going to call that off.  We knew it was doubtful we could fit that in.  Gray has a soccer game, and we'd like to catch the Snoqualmie Winter Lights event from 3:00 to 5:00.  These activities are always out of my comfort zone as far as staying warm, but if I layer and prepare for it, I'm always glad I got out.  We haven't even had many freezing temps this year, and I doubt we'll have a white Christmas either.  I'd just as soon have snow away from holidays so I can burrow into my cave and not come out.  

I just looked at the calendar of activities on the community pages for this weekend, and if you had the energy, you could stay out from breakfast until bedtime, shopping at the markets and bake sales and listening to the choirs and band ensembles, ending with the tree-lighting ceremony and singing carols.  This is with fitting in soccer and possible birthday parties and cookie exchanges and school activities.  

The family likes to go to Leavenworth on Winter Break where everything is snow and hot chocolate and sleigh rides and whatever else you can find to do in the cold and snow.  They're thinking they won't have snow this year, and I suggested they stay home and just rest.  Emily said that's all they did in Leavenworth - rest.  Cavort around in the snow, get warmed up, and go back to the cozy cabin with coffee and hot chocolate and do nothing BUT rest without any temptations to do housework or wrap gifts or go to parties.  I guess she has a point.  

I suppose it's time to start wrapping gifts.  I don't mind it, but it's just getting all that stuff out and making a big mess and then having to clean it up...... Maybe some Christmas music.  

Getting a Jump on Christmas

 I'm not organized enough to even post, but I don't want to forget things. 

This is the earliest I've done my "shopping," which is just opening my computer and ordering, but the decisions I made earlier I'm already second-guessing.  I have to stop that.  I'm not sure why we keep on doing it anyway.  There's nothing the girls want except the one thing they are asking Santa for.  I'm going to get some Starbucks and Swirl gift cards for them in addition to their few surprises and stop fretting about it.  

One afternoon Graysen begged to learn to crochet, and we tackled it.  I'm so not a teacher, and she's left-handed, but she was pretty willing to try it and thinks she'll be okay doing it right-handed.  One reason I don't like teaching children anything is their lack of patience.  I want them to learn one skill and perfect it before they go on to the next, but GG was in a big hurry to go from learning to make a slip knot to making a chain to doing single crochet before she really knew how to hold the yarn.  We laughed about it, and she didn't lose patience with me.  She found a friend at school who takes her crocheting to school, and this might give her the incentive to slow down.  Or go even faster, since Mia is making a scarf!  

I started this scarf for Ryan because someone was mourning the fact that you can never find anything he wants or likes, and we drive ourselves crazy trying to find one gift to give him.  Some comment was made about knitting a scarf, and I just did it.  It's totally half double crochet, but the yarn is so soft that now everyone who sees it wants one - except probably Ryan!  He'll like the fact that someone made it for him though, and he knows he on the list for a quilt in 2025.  

Speaking of quilts, our closest quilt shop is closing, and it's so sad.  I don't go places much and have not been quilting very much at all, but it was such a pretty and friendly place.  I hate it for the owners.  They're still going to do online sales but not in that beautiful shop.  

Knowing I didn't need to add a thing to my overflowing quilting area, I still looked through a few pages.  One thing that I wasn't looking for but caught my eye was this fabric.

I made Elise a quilt many years ago.  Fifteen years ago?  I really can't remember.  She liked it, and it was fun to do, but she could never find a backing she liked well enough to use.  And then we folded it up and put it in a box and forgot about it.  Now she's decided that just because she can't find the perfect eggplant shade of purple, something else might do.  

When I saw this, I sent it to her and asked if she liked it.  She answered back, "I love it," and I was thrilled.  I'll have to go back and find out the name of it.  It's already off the web site.  With it being 108 inches across, I could have made do with 2 yards, but I went ahead and took the whole 3 yards they had on sale.  At least, I paid for it and asked them to hold onto it until Emily could run by and get it to save shipping costs.  Emily wasn't sure she was going to have time, and I know how rushed she is going back and forth to Bellevue and Issaquah, etc., so I decided to travel the few miles and get it myself.  I really am still not loving driving out of town, but I'll do it if I have to.  I called Ryan to see what child, if any, I would have after school so I would know when I needed to be back.  When I mentioned I had something to pick up in Issaquah, he immediately offered to pick it up for me since he was there right then.  I don't usually have nice things like that just fall into my lap, but that was NICE!  The girls didn't come here after school, but Graysen ran down and delivered the fabric to me, and I'm really excited about moving on with that quilt.  

A few more pictures I've taken or received this week.

I've been told these look really nice from the front, but I haven't walked out to see.  

Noreen started it with her window snowflakes, and I had to have something similar.    She did her dining room window, which I can see from my dining room. 

This is all I did to my dining room window.  I found these little mitten lights from last year that Elise brought and popped them over my plants.  It's looking more like Cinco de Mayo.

The Win-Bins and Wheats at the Nutcracker.

I've run out of energy so will finish later.  Graysen had her first band concert last night, and they just did such a good job.  It was their first time playing as a group, and they were perfect.  The seventh and eighth grade groups showed what they have to look forward, and I was amazed at what a year can do. 

 She and her dad had an indoor soccer game tonight out of town while Katherine and Emily went to martial arts.  Such busy lives, and I think I'M tired.