Saturday tour of flowers.

From my back yard...enjoy!

Day lilies.

Snap dragons.

Iris.

Gerbera daisies.

Dianthus.

You're welcome!

Earth.

Tomorrow commemorates Earth Day. Seems like Facebook has made a special day of every day. If it isn't sibling day - it is Linda Day! or Susan Day! Or somebody's day.

But. Earth Day. 

The first Earth Day I remember started out well enough for me. I was a junior in high school. Long story short, a bunch of high school juniors and seniors ended up being driven "downtown" in the back of police cars, parents being called, walk of shame out the doors of the station. High school party gone wrong. Yet. I am ever thankful that there was intervention at that precise moment. Deeper trouble would have descended had the police waited a few hours. Not until years later, many years later, did I realize that the boy I was dating had begun the chain of unfortunate events of the night. He later ran for, and was elected sheriff of my old home county. He was basically a good guy. But. He ratted on his friends. And. His girlfriend. As we would have said back then - bummer. 

And. Life went on. Today I will go volunteer some hours at our Catholic elementary school in their new garden. Weeding, digging, planting. Thanking God for our good earth. And celebrating.

Earth Day! 

The week started off with celebration of Christ's resurrection. Easter Sunday dinner was delicious. Mr. Macho slept most of the day away, attempting to get over a nasty cough. He had been up for two nights hacking until I thought he would expire. It is still hanging on, but is much better and his sleep has improved 1000%.

I am enjoying the dianthus in my yard. I hope to start a butterfly garden out my kitchen window. 

Whilst planting the tomatoes in our new raised bed this week I discovered this creature on my patio. She skittered to the door jamb so that I couldn't get in for fear of her leaping on me. I had to find my hidden key and let myself in the front door. Then I took a bunch of photos of her right out the laundry door, banged on the door repeatedly, and still she didn't budge. Only when I left her alone did she find her way down and away. I have since learned that she is a broad head skink. She is big around. She eats bugs and spiders. I will leave her to her appointed task. Daughter has dubbed her "Herpes". So now, Herpes lives on my patio. It is a symbiotic relationship. I let her live. She eats my bugs. Win-win!

Thursday morning post walk photo of the Easter bunny that breakfasts in my yard. I love her. She is always welcome. 

***

The week has had ups and downs. I am ending on a good note with heartfelt appreciation for accidental, monumental connections. I won't go into detail, but sometimes a simple phone call will turn into a blood transfusion moment. Life is exchanged. Love is exchanged. Hard becomes soft in the sharing. Forgiveness flows in all directions. 

****

Smelling the red beans cooking on my stove. This pot full has promise.

Happy weekend, evahbody!

Namaste.

He is risen!

This will be my Happy Easter post. I guess it has been two weeks that have elapsed since I last sat here typing my thoughts. This year Lent has sped by, and here we are - Easter! Already!

We all do Lent differently. Not until I was an adult did my mother tell me that Sundays were free days from whatever you gave up. I still don't cheat on Sundays. Although. I have to confess. I blundered during my Lent this year. I confess that (after giving up alcohol with Mr. Macho) I drank a glass of wine when I was out of town. It was an unplanned breaking of my Lenten regimen. Still. Same night I popped a peppermint in my mouth when I left the restaurant...then realized what I had done. Every year I give up all sweets. I also ate the muffins my sister bought for me. I knew it was cheating when I passed them off as a breakfast food. One Friday I even ate a small portion of a chicken casserole. On NO MEAT FRIDAY! That is all. My sum total confession. So. I accept that I am not perfect. I'm okay with that. And. No. I didn't tell Mr. Macho that I had that glass of wine. Yet. I guess I need to 'fess up to him?

This morning I ate two of the cinnamon rolls I made from scratch yesterday. My Lent is over after Good Friday. The Cruxifixction has happened. The Passion is over. The suffering has occurred. I have the benefit of knowing the Resurrection WILL happen on the third day. And so. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Tonight? A glass of wine. Happy Easter, y'all.

Tater salad. Check. It will be accompanied by ham, marinated cucumbers and tomatoes, brussell sprouts, and homemade rolls. 

The baked goods. Before they were baked. 

This little fellow has been spied out my back window for two mornings now. I love his visits. He leaves his calling cards. He even stayed around yesterday while Macho and I drank coffee and chatted on the porch. Didn't bother him in the least. 

Today the tomato bed was constructed. I flitted around pretending like I was helping. But this guys knows the truth. (He did all the work.) 

No Easter baskets here this year. No candy. But there will be wine!

Shalom. 

Day of rest.

Ah. Sunday. Weekend. What a busy month March was. April is starting in the fast lane, also. 

Friday, the last of March I enjoyed a long leisurely lunch with my girlfriends as we celebrated Patricia's birthday. Afterwards I ran to get a few groceries before I headed back to town and Stations of the Cross and fish fry at church. I got home with take out in tow for Mr. Macho and myself. We settled in to watch the MSU Lady Bulldogs work the miracle of beating UConn in the Final Four! I must confess I fell asleep and missed all of the fourth quarter. But! I woke just in time to see the final seconds of the game and the magic shot heard round the world! I sat straight up and could do nothing but shout! It was so exciting. I could not believe my eyes! I had been so hoping they would play well and have a good game. 

Saturday we woke up to a picture perfect day. After breakfast we had a walk in the neighborhood and I just had to say it was a great day to be alive! 

Mr. Macho and I worked in the yard for the majority of the morning and tag teamed our old azalea. And I do mean old. It is over 30 years old. It hasn't bloomed well for several year. It was infested with Lacy azalea bugs. We cut it to the ground. I believe it will come back. Hopefully we can spray and keep the lacy bugs at bay. 

After lunch I headed to town. 

Here are a few snaps from yesterday...

Here I am at Ole Magnolia in my borrowed hoop skirt. My friend Lee depends on her friends to help docent during our annual Pilgrimage. It is so fun. Good weather plus Saturday equaled a heavy and steady crowd of people. It felt frantic a moments, but it also made time seem to go really fast. 

Lee always has the most lovely arrangements in her front hall and on her dining room table. 

I left a few minutes early so I could grab a pizza and get home in time to get dressed for the ball! Yes. I said ball.

Our local Junior Auxiliary Ball was last night. I think we enjoyed our first and last trip to the JA Ball. It was interesting. It was quite the occasion. I enjoyed the fun of dressing up. 

We saw so many people we knew and met even more good folks. Being an insider is an asset when attending the Ball. And we aren't insiders. So we made the most of our Cinderella evening. 

We sat with our good friends Stephen and Frieda. 

We did get to dance a few dances. The band was good. And loud. The young crowd was getting wound up when we left. My ears are getting old. 

****

I have a beef brisket in my roaster. Tomorrow I will travel to Daughter's house once again to gather the children after school while their dad has another heart procedure. We hope this one will fix whatever the problem is. We want his ticker to keep ticking for a very long time. 

***

I have completed my Master Gardner classes. Our test will be on Tuesday. Open book. Discussions are acceptable during the test. Not worried. 

It's all good. We got this.

I better go feed the bear.

Namaste. 

It worked!

I am in the process of putting up my winter clothes. And. I am happy to report that the coat hanger trick worked beautifully for me. Last fall I placed all the fall/winter clothes on hangers hung backwards in my closet. If I wore something I then replaced it in my closet with the hanger turned around. Today, any clothes on hangers that are still backward are being removed and donated. Voila! I have three bags full in the back seat of my car as I type. Spring cleaning. Easy peasy.

I have a pot of greens cooking on the stove. I have shucked four ears of corn for supper. I think I have a few butter beans in the fridge left from Sunday. I'll make some cornbread. Mr. Macho will be so happy. 

On my early morning walk yesterday I spotted this pair of shoes in a neighbor's yard. It looked so humorous that I snapped a photo. It looked like Cinderella had just stepped out and kept on going. 

My garden club pots at the library have a parsley plant that has gone buck wild. It is taller than me. I thought it was a weed until I got up close. 

I am growing potatoes and pumpkins in my compost. Will they last until harvest? Stay tuned.

Namaste.

Barometric pressure.

That must be what is making me feel stagnant this afternoon. That plus the adrenaline that was coursing through my body this morning.

On my way to Walmart this morning I was passed by multiple emergency vehicles driving at a high rate of speed. There were some police cars blocking entrances to the highway. I pulled over three different times to allow police cars to pass. Then I spotted an ambulance heading at a high rate in the opposite direction. On the second stop I called Mr. Macho. We've watched too many CSIs and crime shows for me not to know that, more than likely, a policeman had been shot. My biggest clue was the fact that there were multiple agencies represented in the speeding parade of cars. And. Did I say how fast they were going?!

Sure enough. Watching the mid-day news confirmed my suspicions that a policeman had been shot in the leg. There had been a high speed chase across three counties.

So I came home - roads still blocked to oncoming traffic. Investigations will go on well into the night, according to local news Twitter accounts.

I am coming down from the adrenaline. Haven't accomplished much. Got the grocery shopping done. A load of clothes in the wash. Some veggies roasting in the oven. Dot. Dot. Dot.

I picked these out my yard. The pansies are so satisfying. They just bloom and bloom. Happy little flowers. 

Saturday Mr. Macho constructed a frame for Daughter's upcoming art festival sale. He did a fabulous job on it. 

We had to run out and pick up the pegboard...and voila! 

Less than two weeks until the art festival. 

 ***

This is my last week of gardner classes. I have already started some volunteer hours. Will participate in another volunteer project tomorrow. I've got this. 

***

Wrapped up a year and a half Bible time line study last week. (Did you hear the angels sing their relief?!) I am glad to have completed it. The last bit I must confess I didn't do my homework very well. But I hung in there. Another study starts this week. It is promised to be lighter. Keep your finger crossed!

***

My veggies are calling. 

Namaste. 

No pictures.

Only words. It was a quick, good weekend. Ran down to the coast to visit Mom. Stayed with Beach Boy and his family.

Friday got off to a rocky start as I realized that our tax return, that I had picked up the day before, was incorrect. Early emails to our accountant...got him on the right track. Got away about when I had expected. Had an uneventful drive. Drove straight to Mom's and had a good visit. Sister from Virginia was there. We visited. Then Sister and I drove to Beach Boy's house. She visited for a while then went back to her condo. It was her last night there and she needed to get it cleaned up for her departure.

We ran and ate some supper then settled in for the night. I called Mr. Macho and got the news that our kitchen estimate had arrived in the mail. Let's just say we both suffered a case of sticker shock. (We are slowly accepting the fact that it is going to be expensive.) Mr. Macho was REALLY shocked. I thought I was being realistic, but even I underestimated.

The granddaughters like to sleep with people. So, I had one in my bed Friday night. She only butterfly kicked me once.

Saturday morning we lazed in our pjs until lunch time. After a peanut butter sandwich and a shower, I headed back over to visit Mom and Amanda. The two coast sisters joined us later and we all went to mass together. Amanda opted out of dinner with us since she was leaving for home early Sunday morning. The three of us left and ate at a nice restaurant at the Long Beach harbor. It was delish...panneed flounder with pasta and a good sauce, topped with shrimp and crab meat. Left their good company and headed back to son's house for a good night's sleep.

Up Sunday. Went to church with Beach Boy & family. Then to Mom's for more visit. Sister Mimi joined us for a really good mexican dinner. Spent the whole afternoon just chatting with Mom. It gets hard to leave her these days. Seeing her little face looking out the window at me as I was driving off nearly crushed me.

Beach Boy's girls are something else. I will miss having Millie's warm hug in the morning. She readily says, "I love you" frequently. It melts my heart.

Peyton slept with me again last night, but ended up in her Mom's bed before the night was over.

It was a good ride home until I got to Macon and a big truck threw a rock on my windshield. Ruined an otherwise good trip.

Back to the old routine tomorrow.
Namaste.