tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71624289321223545362024-03-18T18:49:58.572-07:00My Two CentsBlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.comBlogger3710125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-54985879338311533952024-03-18T00:07:00.000-07:002024-03-18T18:15:05.634-07:00On Sunday<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gsznB8Pd7uRKai7rU1kjzMbF37M45fLwN13COng6siRVbNP1CQJJjlxw3qkNxgKUJgM054mMVA86GH4d2vRCLK0li7vxIkfgUC3pH1VcVvNzl0eGpZDAXL_H8EwH7wAIhvkMsZlJ7l9PtcasJjyTIr5k6OLJSHHa2mqSX2rpMvUq9UrSdL-UJGJIyaA/s3147/IMG_0412.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3147" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gsznB8Pd7uRKai7rU1kjzMbF37M45fLwN13COng6siRVbNP1CQJJjlxw3qkNxgKUJgM054mMVA86GH4d2vRCLK0li7vxIkfgUC3pH1VcVvNzl0eGpZDAXL_H8EwH7wAIhvkMsZlJ7l9PtcasJjyTIr5k6OLJSHHa2mqSX2rpMvUq9UrSdL-UJGJIyaA/w384-h400/IMG_0412.jpg" width="384" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bless' Waffle Station</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I had a rather restless night, last night. My leg was painful and my stomach was having some issues. I woke up a couple of times to go to the toilet and had some trouble falling asleep again, but, eventually, I fell into a deep sleep and slept in. Let's just say that I tacked on my afternoon nap to the night's sleep! LOL!<p></p><p>I felt better when I woke up today and haven't felt as much leg pain today. I made a pork curry with all the leftover pieces of pork that I hadn't already frozen and then, decided to make waffles for brunch. But, I didn't want to stand to make waffles, so, I set up a little waffle making station in the living room! I had my daughter place the side table in front of my arm chair and I made plain waffles and blueberry waffles. We had the plain waffle with some of the pork curry and the blueberry waffles with syrup. Around tea time, we snacked on the leftover waffles. Later, for dinner, we had leftover rice and pork stir-fry from last night. </p><p>In the late afternoon, I walked a little bit in the garden and up and down the driveway. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3Bzled8FyFlaipq8hJ-oZLi_aDpD_-G6RzHd5WltipW3sgfOAqTV2_XzOzt0V_XYRh9yxPowjmAy3Gbl0iiK3jMgyaYMN3g4OK-HMLEfFtqTMzSHU6PhE4oTqDIVPuSWMUFwm4IlYD9ZR_rs5r91eJTWKEmJwFzHCL8Yd79tFGFM-F3zuTmba0ph3JM/s4032/IMG_0413.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3Bzled8FyFlaipq8hJ-oZLi_aDpD_-G6RzHd5WltipW3sgfOAqTV2_XzOzt0V_XYRh9yxPowjmAy3Gbl0iiK3jMgyaYMN3g4OK-HMLEfFtqTMzSHU6PhE4oTqDIVPuSWMUFwm4IlYD9ZR_rs5r91eJTWKEmJwFzHCL8Yd79tFGFM-F3zuTmba0ph3JM/w300-h400/IMG_0413.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Plum Tree is Flowering<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Last summer, we had about a dozen or so plums; I'm hoping that we'll have a few more than that, this year.<div><br /></div><div>The nectarine tree has one flower blooming, but there are more buds on the tree:</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSsL7QyusKtNBgJqAMmyZb6zL_Zz8T1bPsJHt8TII232evcqWVHV0cGtcGB8yD_fX75jPrYrVT68Ur1deAzrVcaWncOabk6Y3RtvPmbzo1-UDwgwku6kRAjp7TY-oaHrqJshTcYU46rffXQvKspzlCkwKa8ek2Y-CO5pG9yHdUD9z3J96MB8HON2e3H0/s4032/IMG_0414.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSsL7QyusKtNBgJqAMmyZb6zL_Zz8T1bPsJHt8TII232evcqWVHV0cGtcGB8yD_fX75jPrYrVT68Ur1deAzrVcaWncOabk6Y3RtvPmbzo1-UDwgwku6kRAjp7TY-oaHrqJshTcYU46rffXQvKspzlCkwKa8ek2Y-CO5pG9yHdUD9z3J96MB8HON2e3H0/w300-h400/IMG_0414.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The First Nectarine Flower<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Last year, we didn't get any nectarines; I am hoping that we will get at least a few fruit, this year.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAEgJOcGxVqzvD0aG_6vHEQO-FFIZGNAzAHyIfv1x5R19M5d_LmXlMsvrN6z7z1PCIyvCDBPLvR0lXoPepxGllPumg8-mCUoVVeyRvRjppTkTByAAB4A3zl1xCZ6msQm2IRWeWGE6XmCcFoqjM7x_EpOar4DEqKf045VzXEZV3j5ScgMpN0ReSlXYD5g/s4032/IMG_0415.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAEgJOcGxVqzvD0aG_6vHEQO-FFIZGNAzAHyIfv1x5R19M5d_LmXlMsvrN6z7z1PCIyvCDBPLvR0lXoPepxGllPumg8-mCUoVVeyRvRjppTkTByAAB4A3zl1xCZ6msQm2IRWeWGE6XmCcFoqjM7x_EpOar4DEqKf045VzXEZV3j5ScgMpN0ReSlXYD5g/w300-h400/IMG_0415.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Fuyu Persimmon Tree is Leafing Out<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The fuyu persimmon tree is starting to leaf out! Last year, we had one tiny fruit from this tree. I am hoping that there will be more than one fruit to enjoy this year.<br /><p>Much later in the evening, my leg hurt a bit, but, it was time to apply more of the ointment I was prescribed and the pain lessened. </p><p>My aunt called in the evening and I spoke with her for a bit, then, played a few computer games and watered the indoor plants. All in all, it was a good day.</p><p>Today, I was grateful for:</p><p>- Being able to sleep in<br />- Medication for the blood clot<br />- My daughter didn't have to leave today<br />- Phone calls and emails from family and friends<br />- What I was able to accomplish</p><p>Today's joyful activity was walking around the garden, checking on new growth.</p><p>Plans for tomorrow include cleaning out the fridge, maybe making a meal plan, taking the trash cans out, and crocheting. Daughter will be working from home and I know that she has some online meetings, so, I will do some quiet activities in the background until she is done with her work. </p><p>How was your Sunday? What are your plans for Monday? </p></div>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-90960447028287042522024-03-16T23:34:00.000-07:002024-03-16T23:34:21.791-07:00On Saturday<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGLk2bdw2jLhuFU6dpZD2mUTDacYN68Bm4JQsTYL9-oLdPtbIayrnby0MHQOe0ZJ2zwwSfNlAhMBd7oTcrlX0c_fPfrH4cgiIT3fZM6d6PcvmPLGD_2c7ke0zSwrSjT1NVvR5BTXJKsDLSJq8SQEwzB_8dXEvehwf79-YJypMY-PBmCh0ddN4dK02YIg/s4032/IMG_0405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGLk2bdw2jLhuFU6dpZD2mUTDacYN68Bm4JQsTYL9-oLdPtbIayrnby0MHQOe0ZJ2zwwSfNlAhMBd7oTcrlX0c_fPfrH4cgiIT3fZM6d6PcvmPLGD_2c7ke0zSwrSjT1NVvR5BTXJKsDLSJq8SQEwzB_8dXEvehwf79-YJypMY-PBmCh0ddN4dK02YIg/w300-h400/IMG_0405.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mourning Doves</td></tr></tbody></table><br />It's been a lovely sunny day, with an afternoon high in the upper 60s. </p><p>I woke up feeling much better than I did, yesterday. The blood clot is still there and the leg is still painful, but, I think it is getting better. </p><p>I did two loads of laundry in the morning (although I haven't put them away, yet!)</p><p>In the early afternoon, neighbor S called and came over to see me and my daughter. She brought us some gata (Armenian cookies). She was happy that my daughter will stay another week, but, told me to call her if I needed anything. She is such a wonderful neighbor and friend.</p><p>Later in the afternoon, my daughter and I went for a very short walk, up and down the driveway and in front of the house. Just for 10 minutes or so as I didn't want my leg to hurt. We saw these two mourning doves sitting together on one of the overhead power lines. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioLb4tSKRc-SF8fxX3Tp2W5gOWalfW8bXWvvy23ibznZAlLjXiW0BywbHqUDoYGQ8ivE_aHhXxMGCuoYuwMFB8vrNre6vFcAWpvQSGVqFcWEBzEm3otuell65bpuDFm3YuGeWeKKs3G4RssVCFnprpW6UpHLVoBjorPuo6_6QUhSSXxQ109Noeg8G2xRI/s4032/IMG_0406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioLb4tSKRc-SF8fxX3Tp2W5gOWalfW8bXWvvy23ibznZAlLjXiW0BywbHqUDoYGQ8ivE_aHhXxMGCuoYuwMFB8vrNre6vFcAWpvQSGVqFcWEBzEm3otuell65bpuDFm3YuGeWeKKs3G4RssVCFnprpW6UpHLVoBjorPuo6_6QUhSSXxQ109Noeg8G2xRI/w300-h400/IMG_0406.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Side By Side</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Love was in the air! There was a moment of fluttering wings and a high wire balancing act and we realized that the one with the ruffled feathers to left was the male!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uwWr2wLhiEzPd7dhgwI4AMF59h3sqQhVAqznsuuz781A3DQ7A8i_KGryk20nFB4QH3qZhofow78rRi0VD2edGuMcR_rskBhq5WzpuH39n9VT4J8fU-G6C3cQwkcVbSy5vloro3qSSNk-rMmjkLedLdxI8l13GbspVAvmPWrmFpdiaOj8Ee8aY772WBc/s4032/IMG_0407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uwWr2wLhiEzPd7dhgwI4AMF59h3sqQhVAqznsuuz781A3DQ7A8i_KGryk20nFB4QH3qZhofow78rRi0VD2edGuMcR_rskBhq5WzpuH39n9VT4J8fU-G6C3cQwkcVbSy5vloro3qSSNk-rMmjkLedLdxI8l13GbspVAvmPWrmFpdiaOj8Ee8aY772WBc/w300-h400/IMG_0407.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the Loving</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Then there was a moment of billing and cooing and daughter and I left them to continue their courtship and went back inside! LOL.<p></p><p>Daughter showed me how to log into the Hoopla website on my laptop, today, and I borrowed an e-book from the library! Once, a few years ago, she had shown me how to download the app on my old cell phone and I borrowed an e-book, but, I didn't like reading it on my small phone screen, especially since I had to enlarge the print in order to be able to read it. But, the laptop screen is big enough and I can read more than a couple of words at a time! I read a couple of chapters of the book I borrowed (non-fiction; The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir); I think I will enjoy reading e-books, now. </p><p>I had a scrambled egg and some fried potatoes for brunch while daughter finished up some leftovers. For dinner, I made a stir-fry with slices of leftover pork roast (daughter cut the slices for me), onions, tomatoes, and broccoli and cooked a pot of rice. Daughter enjoyed the dinner. </p><p>Today, I am grateful for:</p><p>- Phone calls from my aunt and former neighbor T<br />- A visit from neighbor S<br />- A sunny day and a short walk with my daughter<br />- Feeling a little better<br />- Working appliances</p><p>Today's joyful activities included reading and crocheting.</p><p>I haven't made any plans for tomorrow. Since daughter is not flying back out, tomorrow, we will spend a relaxed day, being together. </p><p>How was your Saturday? What are your plans for Sunday?</p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-67760304826209453512024-03-16T01:26:00.000-07:002024-03-16T01:26:26.617-07:00Relaxing on Friday<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgprFNH46VkyB8hQRfWaFIZD_Icz6C9gwOjdWYCBHBQ7ars0Q2y_t3ViE-rWjm2d0TTLTJRBqVL00m28S3CC9xOzhPdLsstiFj75eelByuCJcVpNf2ALKY4_ht1q5yO5JxwopLxFrCC7xzerUntPfwEyQMlmoJJ6k-sqHZ1aFoUfmvbuzQdkuH1PYIzbNw/s4032/IMG_0394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgprFNH46VkyB8hQRfWaFIZD_Icz6C9gwOjdWYCBHBQ7ars0Q2y_t3ViE-rWjm2d0TTLTJRBqVL00m28S3CC9xOzhPdLsstiFj75eelByuCJcVpNf2ALKY4_ht1q5yO5JxwopLxFrCC7xzerUntPfwEyQMlmoJJ6k-sqHZ1aFoUfmvbuzQdkuH1PYIzbNw/w300-h400/IMG_0394.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rose Leaves</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The rose bushes are leafing out; hopefully, we'll have some roses, soon.</p><p>It was a mostly cloudy and cool day, on Friday. It had been very windy, on Thursday due to the Santa Ana winds, but Friday was not as windy. I woke up once at 9:00 a.m. to feed the cats and turn off the porch lights. Then, I went back to bed and dozed until 10:00 a.m. But, even after I had a cup of tea and said my morning prayers, etc., I felt, not exactly sleepy, but, very drained and unenergetic. I suppose the events of the past few days and yesterday's diagnosis sort of took a toll on me. However, as the morning went on, I felt better. </p><p>I had a bowl of cereal for brunch, replied to blog comments (thank you, everyone for your well wishes) and read a few blogs. </p><p>Daughter went for another walk with neighbor S's daughter in the afternoon. Later, we chatted for a bit and she emailed her supervisor at work to ask if she could work from home, next week. Her supervisor, who works remotely 100% of the time, was quite agreeable. So, daughter extended her visit by one more week and rescheduled her flight to the following weekend. I think we are both a little relieved to know that she will be with me for another week, just in case! </p><p>I wore my compression socks all day, today, and have felt comfortable wearing them. I'll probably take them off when I go to sleep, though.</p><p>In the evening, M tended to the garden and watered it as there is no more rain in the forecast. </p><p>I made roast pork sandwiches for dinner (and daughter had some leftover soup from Tuesday's Italian meal, as well). </p><p>On Friday, I was grateful for:</p><p>- Daughter was able to extend her visit by another week<br />- M's help with the garden<br />- Working appliances<br />- Phone calls from family and friends<br />- A relaxed day</p><p>Today's joyful activity was chatting on the phone with family and friends.</p><p>Plans for Saturday include more laundry (today, I handwashed one of my wool sweaters) and crafting.</p><p>How was your Friday? What are your plans for Saturday and the weekend?</p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-38404088617176565382024-03-15T01:26:00.000-07:002024-03-15T01:26:26.200-07:00On Thursday<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmyCj5ZJ0WfBUgVsPFjPNvu2-JhNT-iE3FTmijQIAWhHNajcbAraaq21OaoVzvm3018Y4OhnXLaFx69LSEGEu6bxLLrcr3leQ01mo31g87dbI6M8oTeWKep2f8LeKR1NTUrYIk1uDFnM3XkT5XgwssJE4YuLuP7oGdrko9XtgT8Vqk2uiMR7nx22zE0TQ/s4032/IMG_2423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmyCj5ZJ0WfBUgVsPFjPNvu2-JhNT-iE3FTmijQIAWhHNajcbAraaq21OaoVzvm3018Y4OhnXLaFx69LSEGEu6bxLLrcr3leQ01mo31g87dbI6M8oTeWKep2f8LeKR1NTUrYIk1uDFnM3XkT5XgwssJE4YuLuP7oGdrko9XtgT8Vqk2uiMR7nx22zE0TQ/w300-h400/IMG_2423.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh Fruit Tart</td></tr></tbody></table><br />On Thursday, I called the doctor's office at 8:00 a.m. (before they opened) and again at 9:00 a.m. (after they had opened) and left a couple of messages. Then, when I didn't hear back from them within the hour, I messaged the doctor and the nurse called back a short time later, saying they had an opening at 1:30 p.m., if I would like to come in then. I was happy to get that appointment.</p><p>I had originally planned to visit my cousins at 2:00 p.m., but, I let them know that I will have to push back the visit for later in the afternoon and they were both fine with that.</p><p>My daughter accompanied me to the doctor's office and the doctor confirmed that it was a blood clot, but, fortunately, it was a superficial thrombosis as opposed to a deep vein thrombosis which is more dangerous. She was of the opinion that the superficial blood clot would go away after a few days. She prescribed a blood thinner and gave me a topical ointment to apply for the pain. She also prescribed a low dose aspirin and recommended I wear compression socks. </p><p>Afterwards, we went to a local store in the next block to pick up one of the ointments she recommended. It was a tiny little ethnic store, with groceries, a deli, some take away food, as well as a small stock of over the counter medications and it was well patronized! </p><p>Then, we drove home and decided to go to my cousin's house, right away, having texted her that we were on our way. We picked up a fruit tart from an Armenian bakery on the way and took it to my cousin's. Cousin had put together a tray with cheese and crackers, stuffed peppers, and salami, etc., and my other cousin who was meeting us there brought some pastries (both savory and sweet) from a popular Cuban bakery. So, we spent an hour or so visiting, chatting, and eating. Just before we left, both cousins gave us several bags (five bags, to be exact!) of clothes they had decluttered! We are to keep what we want and donate the rest.</p><p>On the way home, we stopped at the pharmacy to pick up the prescription my doctor had called in and I bought myself a pair of compression socks as well.</p><p>Then, we came home and had a cup of tea (me) and coffee (daughter). Afterwards, I took a nap on the sofa! I guess I was tired!</p><p>Later, my daughter went through the clothes and picked out the ones that she liked. I will go through the remaining clothes to see if I want any of them. I will offer the rest to my friend R and whatever she doesn't want will be donated. If I do decide to take any clothes, I will have to declutter an equal number of items from my closet to make room for them! </p><p>On Thursday, I was grateful for:</p><p>- Being able to get a same day appointment to be seen by the doctor<br />- Access to medical care<br />- The availability of medications<br />- Visiting with my cousins and their gifts of clothes<br />- A safe drive to the clinic, to my cousin's, and back home</p><p>Thursday's joyful activity was visiting with my cousins.</p><p>Plans for Friday include doing some laundry and tidying, plus tending to the garden with M in the evening. </p><p>How was your Thursday? What are your plans for Friday?<br /><br /> </p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-79097278645761151732024-03-13T20:03:00.000-07:002024-03-13T20:03:31.735-07:00Mid-Week on Wednesday<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_KkpPBWk-uwhEtwSVp3Fco7DEM7kySPY4SsIgkSf42B37TcQDpAHI87oBRUyM8g4HfBPjao92MHS9d5AYCRsht_XGoVfNHUAhhv3bcyTkfh3RBvEI1Ff2HkezgoRevAvXygh6T5_-H_jfFseW11TVII6nrpSC-6Srh5dE7ikEXE-BHQGBusPbQYv0ig/s4032/IMG_0369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_KkpPBWk-uwhEtwSVp3Fco7DEM7kySPY4SsIgkSf42B37TcQDpAHI87oBRUyM8g4HfBPjao92MHS9d5AYCRsht_XGoVfNHUAhhv3bcyTkfh3RBvEI1Ff2HkezgoRevAvXygh6T5_-H_jfFseW11TVII6nrpSC-6Srh5dE7ikEXE-BHQGBusPbQYv0ig/w300-h400/IMG_0369.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tree Bark</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I saw this tree trunk when I was at the library, the other day, and took a picture of the mottled pattern of the tree bark. I believe it is a plane tree.<div><br /></div><div>Today, Wednesday, M was here around noon to tend to the garden. He did some weeding and watered only the potted plants as the rest of the garden didn't need watering. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the afternoon, daughter went for a walk with neighbor S's older daughter. They just walked around the neighborhood, but, they enjoyed a good talk and catching up with each other.</div><div><br /></div><div>Still later in the afternoon/early evening, we had a quick, curbside visit with friend R who had wanted to see daughter. I took some freshly picked curry leaves to R; I offered some lemons, but she declined. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the way back, we took a short detour to put gas to the car. I was down to one quarter of a tank and I wanted to fill it up. The nice thing about putting gas when my daughter is visiting is she will usually be the one to go in to pay and actually put the gas while I sit in the car! This was only the second time I put gas to the car this year - I put gas at the beginning of January and now, mid-March. </div><div><br /></div><div>After we came home, we relaxed. I watched news and crocheted, daughter played one of her video games. I called former neighbor T and we chatted for a bit and I exchanged emails with a friend. Then, I did a few household things such as washing the dishes.<span> </span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>We had leftovers for lunch and we'll probably have leftovers for dinner, too. </span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Today, I am grateful for:</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>- M's help with the garden<br />- Daughter enjoyed a walk and chat with her friend<br />- A curbside visit with friend R<br />- Emails, texts and phone calls with family and friends<br />- Gas for the car</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Today's joyful activity was spending time with my daughter.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Plans for tomorrow include visiting two of my cousins in the afternoon. However, it might be subject to change as I want to call my doctor's office in the morning to ask about a somewhat painful swelling in my leg and see if I need to have it checked and if so, when she might be able to fit me in. </span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>How was your Wednesday? What are your plans for Thursday?</span></div>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-21442163831093467672024-03-13T00:29:00.000-07:002024-03-13T00:29:26.207-07:00Shopping on Tuesday<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVJO-AwFuY4bquW22dFoWjsnWnIlkuT184f8L-vPwakJGJ3sBTVZ4xvS5UEbCWBeIhCFvLK4gevbLnNjtvZ-uNoH1GCuLrqeivK4N40PWyiKY5_E_9wx9hOF8GmK9RWC4J3xIfLI8MJ3mkVmopPGFyd5mZIFxxQd2iXTy61fuch8yJyCZ8v7NyxMWtgg/s4032/IMG_0401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVJO-AwFuY4bquW22dFoWjsnWnIlkuT184f8L-vPwakJGJ3sBTVZ4xvS5UEbCWBeIhCFvLK4gevbLnNjtvZ-uNoH1GCuLrqeivK4N40PWyiKY5_E_9wx9hOF8GmK9RWC4J3xIfLI8MJ3mkVmopPGFyd5mZIFxxQd2iXTy61fuch8yJyCZ8v7NyxMWtgg/w300-h400/IMG_0401.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scrapbooking Album</td></tr></tbody></table><br />On Tuesday, daughter had to work until 2:00 p.m. I spent a relaxed morning, replying to blog comments, watching online videos, and crocheting while she worked. </p><p>After daughter was done with her work for the day, she brought in the trash bins for me and we went to the crafts store to look around and shop! As I mentioned in yesterday's post, it was the first time I've been inside a crafts store since before the pandemic. I had a couple of items I wanted to buy and I was looking forward to just browsing the aisles.</p><p>One of the items I wanted to buy was a scrapbook album. I wanted one with 12 x 12 inch pages. I had been waiting to find a good sale on them but, there haven't been many what I'd consider a good sale. The one I picked was $32.99 but, we had a 40% off any one regular priced item coupon, so we got the album for $19.79 (plus tax, of course).</p><p>Then, I wanted more yarn for the blankets I want to make. The $2.00 clearance yarn bins were empty! I decided to buy the store brand yarn, instead. On sale for $3.99 for a 7 oz. skein, but, we had a 20% off the entire purchase, coupon, so, each skein of yarn came to $3.20, which was reasonable, I suppose (it was a little cheaper than the $3.49 a skein I had paid for the pink yarn I had bought, online, earlier). I selected six skeins of yarn in an assortment of colors for the blankets I want to make:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGlqCcl2jCzQy8PkcRVzklnfOh2_VQXW7aG-4oKEp3wBAkONPepRDCrD7Fl6csaaZ5FHdWXwBT0f1inrU1NFilGuw3AN7oPBCL5Hb9wzJTyPRVEfeHfPE44yhXB8oabk1FSeSX-Q0YE-DsRCz2ruhaAnsRZ8mJFIMCTiIapgxS84ohuhjUbKCzavOaHyE/s4032/IMG_0402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGlqCcl2jCzQy8PkcRVzklnfOh2_VQXW7aG-4oKEp3wBAkONPepRDCrD7Fl6csaaZ5FHdWXwBT0f1inrU1NFilGuw3AN7oPBCL5Hb9wzJTyPRVEfeHfPE44yhXB8oabk1FSeSX-Q0YE-DsRCz2ruhaAnsRZ8mJFIMCTiIapgxS84ohuhjUbKCzavOaHyE/w400-h300/IMG_0402.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yarn for Blankets</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Daughter had a list of items she wanted, too, including some chains for jewelry making and more yarn for her own crochet projects. She selected seven skeins of yarn and silver and gold chains:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7n5NL2wJ2IN22MnwZOovvr8sLVQSLxrdWIaSku5NqXYPW23EyGJL7rshTXo2-BilUlX3KkWp-ak1Hfc2IydQMLrtQofoZjlthgIp9KIAiFEAfdVtk9vshS_DDMl5g6FaC_GDgXU0hwgvgReskBg_hjNSxw6dlJnyXufJpgFAUvzIn5r5PGj_dKbseEY/s4032/IMG_0403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7n5NL2wJ2IN22MnwZOovvr8sLVQSLxrdWIaSku5NqXYPW23EyGJL7rshTXo2-BilUlX3KkWp-ak1Hfc2IydQMLrtQofoZjlthgIp9KIAiFEAfdVtk9vshS_DDMl5g6FaC_GDgXU0hwgvgReskBg_hjNSxw6dlJnyXufJpgFAUvzIn5r5PGj_dKbseEY/w400-h300/IMG_0403.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daughter's Yarn and Rolls of Chains<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>Daughter had also wanted to buy more beads, but, they didn't have the particular type of beads that she was looking for; she will order them online, instead.</p><p>We walked around the store looking at various things. They had jar candles on sale for $3.33 each, which I thought was a good price, but, I have some jar candles at home and I didn't want any more. I was not tempted to buy anything else, so we paid for our purchases and left. We had ordered some Italian food from a restaurant in the same shopping mall, so we picked up our dinner and came home.</p><p>We ate some of the Italian meal when we got home and it was delicious. We had some of the leftovers for dinner and there's more for tomorrow's meals, as well. </p><p>Later in the evening, one of daughter's friends (neighbor S's older daughter) visited her. </p><p>I spent the evening crocheting, chatting with friend R, and, of course, doing some of the daily chores such as cleaning the litter box and sweeping my bathroom. </p><p>On Tuesday, I was grateful for:</p><p>- Feeling comfortable enough to go shopping in person<br />- Being able to purchase what I wanted<br />- A lovely Italian dinner<br />- A safe drive to the stores and back<br />- Spending time chatting with my daughter</p><p>Tuesday's joyful activities included buying crafts supplies and crocheting.</p><p>Plans for Wednesday include M tending to the garden in the morning and spending time with my daughter. </p><p>How was your Tuesday? What are your plans for Wednesday? Have you shopped for crafts supplies recently?</p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-22991602709793709842024-03-12T02:22:00.000-07:002024-03-12T02:22:30.281-07:00Mending on Monday<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVlLBfkCidS6KuME4V2NN3TA0oryo-UxTUok0xbsfkIvitP_ZpymtPIGCiEAbo7YJZlFpBrlWA2-SmeXnh0emQGTyEKrTyLMndEDsshOZo-hLBxeSYjjSatjXokn6eybtWbm0X1Ea7RMDEl73jil0KFg4RLIOeJQd2OWF4rGDGxAi5RNI9utBkAaTNC9Q/s4032/IMG_0400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVlLBfkCidS6KuME4V2NN3TA0oryo-UxTUok0xbsfkIvitP_ZpymtPIGCiEAbo7YJZlFpBrlWA2-SmeXnh0emQGTyEKrTyLMndEDsshOZo-hLBxeSYjjSatjXokn6eybtWbm0X1Ea7RMDEl73jil0KFg4RLIOeJQd2OWF4rGDGxAi5RNI9utBkAaTNC9Q/w300-h400/IMG_0400.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visible Mending</td></tr></tbody></table><br />On Monday, daughter worked remotely from home. While she was busy working, I occupied myself paying the gas bill, renewing a library book, replying to blog comments and doing a bit of mending. </p><p>Daughter had brought home a few blouses and a sweater that needed mending. One blouse was an easy repair - a strap that crisscrossed in the front and the back had come undone and needed to be sewn in place, That was done with just a few stitches. Another blouse had lace inserts in the sleeves and the lace had torn. I will need to see if I have any lace on hand to repair that blouse.</p><p>The sweater is a wool blend garment and had been a hand-me-down from a cousin. It had a few tiny holes when it was first given to daughter and I had embroidered some pink flowers and leaves to cover the holes, <a href="https://bless2cents.blogspot.com/2022/02/more-mending-on-thursday.html" target="_blank">a couple of years ago</a>. A few more holes had appeared, so I embroidered more flowers to cover the holes, today. The pink embroidery thread I used today is a shade darker than the thread I used last time, but, daughter didn't mind. </p><p>Later in the afternoon, I filled the yard waste bin with some of the trimmings from the bottle brush tree and took the bins to the curb for pick up in the morning. </p><p>In the evening, I watched news and some online videos, while daughter relaxed with one of her computer games. </p><p>We had assorted leftovers for lunch, today. In the evening, I cooked the pork roast. I decided to cook the whole thing as it was. I made a sort of dry rub with curry powder, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper and applied it to the meat and roasted it. We enjoyed some of it with rice and chutney for our dinner. The rest of the pork roast will be portioned out and some of it will be frozen. I'll keep some of it in the fridge to have later in the week.</p><p>On Monday, I was grateful for:</p><p>- Daughter was able to work from home<br />- Texting with my cousins<br />- Working appliances<br />- Being able to mend and extend the useful life of garments<br />- Weekly trash collections</p><p>Today's joyful activities included embroidering and crocheting.</p><p>Tomorrow (Tuesday), daughter will work until mid-afternoon. After that, she will be on vacation. We are planning to go to the crafts supplies store in the late afternoon; daughter wants to get a few crafts supplies and I want to get a scrapbook album if they have one at a good price and to see if they have any yarn on clearance to use for making blankets for the cancer clinic. It will be the first time I'll be going to the crafts store since the pandemic and I am looking forward to browsing the aisles in person! </p><p>How was your Monday? What are your plans for Tuesday? </p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-41942463146977240852024-03-11T01:26:00.000-07:002024-03-11T01:26:26.175-07:00Spring Forward on Sunday<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdE7jLCHKnjv8A-95-LncYri_ZdzQKqCRLRv7yCW_-8G1OESu9X5LgVRhGqvtBgqNwRWalWUIZiTc3Fj8X5Y2ZQazK9W4EiJq9LJdCM1If7vZ06wV2XUGahrGvZ3Z0ypKGU5KwLOmtZTHY_MO2K74W-9rDpcFPF5d5VWs-u6y_6ClTW_KaKhQkwGn1FE4/s4032/IMG_0391.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdE7jLCHKnjv8A-95-LncYri_ZdzQKqCRLRv7yCW_-8G1OESu9X5LgVRhGqvtBgqNwRWalWUIZiTc3Fj8X5Y2ZQazK9W4EiJq9LJdCM1If7vZ06wV2XUGahrGvZ3Z0ypKGU5KwLOmtZTHY_MO2K74W-9rDpcFPF5d5VWs-u6y_6ClTW_KaKhQkwGn1FE4/w300-h400/IMG_0391.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Succulents Nursery</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The red aloe was divided in February and the individual plants were potted up. One of them was taken to the front garden and kept near the front door, but, the rest are kept in the back garden, along with the single blue aloe plant. </p><p>We put the clocks forward this morning as we switched to Daylight Savings Time. No doubt it will take me at least a week to adjust. But, daughter was up bright and early today to spend the day doing escape rooms with her friends. I woke up briefly when she woke up, but, I went back to bed and slept for another couple of hours.</p><p>It was a mostly cloudy day, but, I opened all the drapes and vertical blinds to get as much light as possible into the house, and, later in the afternoon, I opened one or two windows to air out the house.</p><p>I did a little cleaning (scrubbed both toilets and swept my bathroom), did a load of laundry (the kitchen mats, bathroom rugs, etc.), and washed the dishes. Then, I replied to blog comments, read and commented on another blog or two, played some computer games, watched the news on TV and watched the Academy Awards/Oscars. I haven't seen any of the movies nominated for awards, but, that didn't matter. I just enjoyed watching the show. </p><p>Daughter came home shortly after that, and she brought me some doughnuts made with rice flour "mochi" dough which were very delicious.</p><p>I had leftover patties for brunch and the rest of my beef teriyaki meal from last night for my dinner. Daughter had lunch out with her friends and some of the unagi donburi for her dinner. <br /><br />Today, I was grateful for:</p><p>- Daughter had fun with her friends<br />- I slept in and had a relaxed day<br />- Leftovers for meals<br />- Working appliances<br />- More daylight hours in the evenings</p><p>Today's joyful activity was playing online games and watching TV!</p><p>Plans for Monday - Daughter will be working from home, on Monday, I plan to do some paperwork and pay the gas bill, maybe do some tidying, and mending, etc. </p><p>How was your Saturday? What are your plans for Monday?</p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-61092336287211278082024-03-10T00:16:00.000-08:002024-03-10T00:16:44.696-08:00Saturday<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkc2YgGIs1Z4FtdX_m65GAM8Z-5Vn2C7Xor40MaWj29P2uqt5SPRtw4uT6er-O0Zr5vFP_DRjbDurbqi_MG1i-V2_JZe9BVlycXq9cmhvNb8ZverqYHdfHD0ufMOdovZy4dmRsvY2Rbyc17QBOHqBnSCFZ0wsoLfjJzrLs8qmO8KlYWSAJjGYmdAlUKU/s4032/IMG_2402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkc2YgGIs1Z4FtdX_m65GAM8Z-5Vn2C7Xor40MaWj29P2uqt5SPRtw4uT6er-O0Zr5vFP_DRjbDurbqi_MG1i-V2_JZe9BVlycXq9cmhvNb8ZverqYHdfHD0ufMOdovZy4dmRsvY2Rbyc17QBOHqBnSCFZ0wsoLfjJzrLs8qmO8KlYWSAJjGYmdAlUKU/w400-h300/IMG_2402.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birthday Celebration Dinner</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Miso soup, baked scallop and mushroom roll, beef teriyaki dinner, unagi (eel) donburi, mentaiko (cod roe) cut roll, and tempura squid salad. The beef teriyaki dinner, which comes with miso soup, salad, pickled vegetables, and rice, was my choice; the other dishes are what daughter ordered for herself and I got to sample them. We couldn't finish all the food, so the leftovers are in the fridge to be eaten over the next couple of days.</p><p>Daughter and I slept in, this morning, and I woke up with a pain at the base of my spine, but, it eventually wore off during the course of the day. I think I might have done a bit too much, yesterday. I took it easy, today, but, did a load of laundry and got Rebel the Robot vacuum the family room. Daughter managed to reconnect it to the internet, after several tries. She was just about ready to give up when it beeped and started to vacuum! Daughter says she doesn't know what she did to make it work, but, I was able to work the vacuum with my phone, today! Let's see how long that will work!</p><p>We had croissants and patties for brunch, today, and the Japanese food for dinner.</p><p>It was a lovely, sunny day, with the afternoon high reaching 71F! I opened the windows to air out the house for a little bit, and walked around the garden for a bit.</p><p>Yesterday (Friday), M cut the bottle brush tree quite a bit at my request. He was unsure if the tree would survive, but, I had him cut just above some new growth and I am confident that it will do just fine:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8GWPt2YaegS36pHsEZuzklEePJkE1t2wCFsXArydsYiYXk4lPY_KM3R9K_Ejx-0htuHIKNQ-xt1W20H1KPQ8zE3JUgf-zB6hjA73o7YEw0MUnihKXcFQqp53icTGcFddalbPEwKUlibTIfU0i-am_-mChdyb51Veetx_ukn6tEBToDRbphu8Jn_WYx8/s4032/IMG_0388.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8GWPt2YaegS36pHsEZuzklEePJkE1t2wCFsXArydsYiYXk4lPY_KM3R9K_Ejx-0htuHIKNQ-xt1W20H1KPQ8zE3JUgf-zB6hjA73o7YEw0MUnihKXcFQqp53icTGcFddalbPEwKUlibTIfU0i-am_-mChdyb51Veetx_ukn6tEBToDRbphu8Jn_WYx8/w300-h400/IMG_0388.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Newly Pruned Bottle Brush Tree </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sqsVz71ZFYlv1EfGk5ma-WewM2QMBSq-vuFipsmkKrg3Cdc0WcnNLxHfrnvlJFFQcTn2aVvYS0Rcmyt_X3XTLAFofWN6IBmLUIILV59IWd_rrMpKd6rMwYviMxjkLDEf2y1vTLLIKpuYTa1hy6lBFj_8tQ2pHE01JFk6BwTXWSEPMyuhhWR79CcR9WM/s4032/IMG_0389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sqsVz71ZFYlv1EfGk5ma-WewM2QMBSq-vuFipsmkKrg3Cdc0WcnNLxHfrnvlJFFQcTn2aVvYS0Rcmyt_X3XTLAFofWN6IBmLUIILV59IWd_rrMpKd6rMwYviMxjkLDEf2y1vTLLIKpuYTa1hy6lBFj_8tQ2pHE01JFk6BwTXWSEPMyuhhWR79CcR9WM/w300-h400/IMG_0389.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Another Angle<br />(One of the Curry Leaf trees behind it)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAkaDnYi23a617-5FRpowRfb8P5wqFSS6zGBwWE57M-FGObz9eioyyYccNlznN8E3g_FMjPUD2bTbwnIhOYaaGSGQzm9j3LWDEeyTpMvOy2tdWAsA8n4k3HgABmECf16pylLE1iY51OetOVc9l0Vb_qWTPF11khZwF5cL9TOlV1P1JO3ZJJbZTSqPlOg/s4032/IMG_0390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAkaDnYi23a617-5FRpowRfb8P5wqFSS6zGBwWE57M-FGObz9eioyyYccNlznN8E3g_FMjPUD2bTbwnIhOYaaGSGQzm9j3LWDEeyTpMvOy2tdWAsA8n4k3HgABmECf16pylLE1iY51OetOVc9l0Vb_qWTPF11khZwF5cL9TOlV1P1JO3ZJJbZTSqPlOg/w300-h400/IMG_0390.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pile of Branches that were Cut Down</td></tr></tbody></table><br />We will dispose of the branches in the yard waste bin over the next few weeks.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3ZvWI_73ETmRrW-kBUf37gg8g1izloygR0MsSijG46iQAvDTrBlYDaa_KMRA7a3pchfP2_HBlEKs_N1116RPMf6fq8ML2iuNfv2IEtWe5EWQ9AwHNXtGECMV21FpZWO1pHsiuCqYHdRKrdU0H1aaWdkLnuw98ie_vlf5TLlCbE6ONqMF2NWqmgPh-UA/s4032/IMG_0393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3ZvWI_73ETmRrW-kBUf37gg8g1izloygR0MsSijG46iQAvDTrBlYDaa_KMRA7a3pchfP2_HBlEKs_N1116RPMf6fq8ML2iuNfv2IEtWe5EWQ9AwHNXtGECMV21FpZWO1pHsiuCqYHdRKrdU0H1aaWdkLnuw98ie_vlf5TLlCbE6ONqMF2NWqmgPh-UA/w300-h400/IMG_0393.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peach Tree</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />The peach flowers are coming to an end, I can see the first fruit starting to set, and the branches are starting to leaf out. <div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, new buds are starting to appear on the orange tree:</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZrfxtKRn9Su6Fk0B0MqxA1bWVHgkUJkl_M7joadkHzngP3xzTXLKENE6qI7YKuVGAFpKrGRjfSo4HUNz9d_UbL8PaqGwxNlaco-QWqjMSPL1kb-YpdA-LcvP1Oxtyb8IlawpUka8L-Mfu0Y1c-2J_Umei71cY82xz4baOTMbq6tXhijwCTZZLiFN1-s/s4032/IMG_0392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZrfxtKRn9Su6Fk0B0MqxA1bWVHgkUJkl_M7joadkHzngP3xzTXLKENE6qI7YKuVGAFpKrGRjfSo4HUNz9d_UbL8PaqGwxNlaco-QWqjMSPL1kb-YpdA-LcvP1Oxtyb8IlawpUka8L-Mfu0Y1c-2J_Umei71cY82xz4baOTMbq6tXhijwCTZZLiFN1-s/w300-h400/IMG_0392.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orange Flower Buds</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Oh, and I picked some oranges, too:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPRVdxaESGBuxpTGbEhqaCc2WBZXYRsc4ES27t7Yir2FA79RWl1HjMX03Oj5K2VbZ72xhAgeHmVfRuXlWqg-019MCdae-84OdFPtjjcBD8wptB8i5FkuVZYBDc_kuhY55VRgiztXNP7GohijJMp7tsASwFts0AGTw9uLdEY3D7Hi-Lp69QVa0Q9bad8M/s4032/IMG_0396.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPRVdxaESGBuxpTGbEhqaCc2WBZXYRsc4ES27t7Yir2FA79RWl1HjMX03Oj5K2VbZ72xhAgeHmVfRuXlWqg-019MCdae-84OdFPtjjcBD8wptB8i5FkuVZYBDc_kuhY55VRgiztXNP7GohijJMp7tsASwFts0AGTw9uLdEY3D7Hi-Lp69QVa0Q9bad8M/w300-h400/IMG_0396.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freshly Picked Oranges</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Lady Ella, these are for you, but I don't have a way to send them to you. Sorry about that!</div><div><br /></div><div>Later in the evening, daughter had a craving for potato chips. I hadn't bought any when I put in the order for groceries, but, she had brought down some potatoes and so, I sliced up two of the the potatoes and fried them; we had them sprinkled with salt and chili powder and they were delicious. If you slice them thinly enough and eat them before they get cold, they stay crisp. </div><div><br /></div><div>On Saturday, I was grateful for:</div><div>- Having daughter home<br />- Being able to sleep in<br />- A sunny and warm day<br />- A special dinner from a local restaurant and an opportunity to support a local business<br />- The pain in my spine went away</div><div><br /></div><div>Today's joyful activity was celebrating daughter's birthday with a special dinner.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tomorrow, we will begin Daylight Savings Time. The clocks change at 2:00 a.m. I'm looking forward to longer daylight in the evenings. </div><div><br /></div><div>My daughter will be spending the day with several of her friends, doing escape rooms. One of her friends will pick her up and give her a ride home.</div><div><br /></div><div>I plan to spend the day doing some sewing and mending. Daughter brought home a couple of garments that need mending. One of them is a wool cardigan that I had mended once before; it has developed a few more holes and I'll be trying to mend them. </div><div><br /></div><div>How was your Saturday? What are your plans for Sunday? </div>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-49424345865212963642024-03-09T02:20:00.000-08:002024-03-09T02:20:43.353-08:00Sunny Friday<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9DS_qiBEJiE3gwuQSo298qGQC8WT8h7iTu8OwuTxbrExjq5dDZyoWmvNHDPx98lAU_bvD0jEp6X8qoifBqd6XMrr6Lgj5Z_6BbjlCu6E32o6FR1YXzEppn149tHZlOp_2XhHEmjoVx_8dWJjoqBw9ACE-FW5PdLt3Fsi1WmTtLShhjTKUQ6rQ42trVs/s4032/IMG_0385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9DS_qiBEJiE3gwuQSo298qGQC8WT8h7iTu8OwuTxbrExjq5dDZyoWmvNHDPx98lAU_bvD0jEp6X8qoifBqd6XMrr6Lgj5Z_6BbjlCu6E32o6FR1YXzEppn149tHZlOp_2XhHEmjoVx_8dWJjoqBw9ACE-FW5PdLt3Fsi1WmTtLShhjTKUQ6rQ42trVs/w400-h300/IMG_0385.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Stemmed Celery</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I picked the red stemmed celery, today. I didn't cut or uproot the plant, but, picked most of the stems. I washed them well, then chopped them up, leaves and all, and froze them. I'll add them to soups and stews, etc., as needed (I can't eat raw celery; it causes gastric discomfort!).</p><p>Daughter texted me at 6:15 a.m. saying she's heading out on the drive down to Los Angeles, with her friends. I didn't see her text until I woke up at 10:00 a.m. and I was surprised. I hadn't expected her to leave so early! So, I rushed to finish the housework I wanted to do before she arrived home. I tidied the kitchen (why oh why does my "after cleaning" kitchen look like other people's "before cleaning" kitchens?), swept and mopped the kitchen floor (then, proceeded to spill things when I cooked, later), cleaned daughter's bathroom, and had Rebel the Robot vacuum my bedroom. </p><p>The drive from Berkeley to Los Angeles usually takes about six hours, so I was expecting my daughter to arrive around 12:30 p.m. or 1:00 p.m. I cooked the salmon fillet, cooked a pot of rice, and made a cucumber salad to have lunch ready when she came home. </p><p>Daughter texted at 11:30 a.m. to say they had stopped for gas and her friend who was driving had to attend a work-related meeting, remotely, so they'll be a little late. She didn't get home until almost 3:00 p.m.!</p><p>We had lunch after she came home and then, we relaxed and chatted a bit. Later, she took a nap as she didn't get a lot of sleep, last night. </p><p>M was here in the evening and I had him trim the bottle brush tree even more. It will be easier to keep it pruned now, I think. </p><p>In the evening, while daughter napped, I made patties with the ground beef and vegetable mixture I had cooked earlier. I added a grated carrot to it and a mashed up boiled potato and added curry powder and chili powder; it made a nice filling for the pastry I made from scratch:</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1k-tpftvLBvkbqnbnVulFehJOrRSbxPwlAA2WQlyHUT3zrFoNMefjuw1nygxNED6qMjtkoUw84gs-V8_Ohkpo9mY8TNCKBYEzmwKywnMDozXwRkjmp9c92J7O-fB-UuUJ2dohKWWrGnMNIenW1PaY4Ac2MoN9b-K3x-gDJkl3ag3cQ7jPOubNT2ie2c/s4032/IMG_0387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1k-tpftvLBvkbqnbnVulFehJOrRSbxPwlAA2WQlyHUT3zrFoNMefjuw1nygxNED6qMjtkoUw84gs-V8_Ohkpo9mY8TNCKBYEzmwKywnMDozXwRkjmp9c92J7O-fB-UuUJ2dohKWWrGnMNIenW1PaY4Ac2MoN9b-K3x-gDJkl3ag3cQ7jPOubNT2ie2c/w300-h400/IMG_0387.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patties Fresh Out of the Oven</td></tr></tbody></table><br />We enjoyed the patties for dinner, with a little Sri Lankan chili sauce. Ice cream for dessert! </p><p>On Friday, I was grateful for:</p><p>- Daughter had a safe ride home with her friends<br />- Having her home again for a week-long visit (although she will work remotely from home for two days, next week)<br />- M's help with the garden<br />- Getting the house cleaned and tidied<br />- Working appliances</p><p>Today's joyful activity was hugging my daughter! </p><p>Plans for Saturday include getting take out from our favorite Japanese restaurant for daughter's birthday dinner! </p><p>How was your Friday? What are your plans for Saturday?<br /></p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-53732601094375885252024-03-08T00:08:00.000-08:002024-03-08T00:08:36.078-08:00March Grocery Shopping: Part 1<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkrtNDuF7bC-JPET8MuATRJc25wirFLQKYFukIm2I_ANXYJHgB8qMrwJ7U3uOQdUzl7LPouLMmoroI_FtuUsj7dAyQoPRcZYRfc_AJDoR4Q8S9ymHBHBlH8vs9Js-xjkza3N3347gSAJgl8vaqVe_Wz8fNec7hU3XRrATWiekSvXdjeNT3dHgQHP-9mg/s4032/IMG_0382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkrtNDuF7bC-JPET8MuATRJc25wirFLQKYFukIm2I_ANXYJHgB8qMrwJ7U3uOQdUzl7LPouLMmoroI_FtuUsj7dAyQoPRcZYRfc_AJDoR4Q8S9ymHBHBlH8vs9Js-xjkza3N3347gSAJgl8vaqVe_Wz8fNec7hU3XRrATWiekSvXdjeNT3dHgQHP-9mg/w400-h300/IMG_0382.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">March Groceries (3/7/24)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I ordered and picked up groceries, today. It was a bright, mostly sunny day with no rain in the forecast, Then, around 3:00 p.m., the clouds moved in and it started to rain just as I left the house to pick up the groceries. As I drove towards the grocery store, the skies were clear on one side of me and dark grey on the other! Eric saw me pull up into the parking spot and he brought the groceries to the car even as I was struggling to log into the account to notify the store that I was there, which was very kind of him (I gave him a good review on the store survey after I got home. I apologized to him for having to bring the groceries out in the rain and he apologized for the fact that the grocery bags were wet! There was even some lightning and thunder when I got home! It rained for a couple of hours before it stopped.</p><p>Today, I bought:</p><p>Broccoli crown, 0.69 lb. @ $1.98/lb, = $1.37<br />Green beans, 0.77 lb. @$2.98/lb. = $2.30<br />Carrots, 2 lb. bag = $1.99<br />Onions, 3 lb. bag, with coupon = $2.49</p><p>Bananas (5 bananas), 2.2 lb. @ $0.69/lb. = $1.54<br />Avocados (4) @ $0.89 = $3.56</p><p>Salmon fillet, 1.01 lb., on sale at $9.99/lb., plus $1.50 coupon = $8.60<br />5 cans tuna in water, $1@ = $5.00</p><p>Pork "Boston butt" shoulder roast, 10 lbs. (!) on sale at $2.99/lb. = $30.02<br />(I didn't think to specify how big a roast I wanted, like 5-6 lbs.; I think they gave me the biggest one they had!)</p><p>Eggs, 1 doz. large = $4.49</p><p>1 loaf white sandwich bread = $2.49<br />1 doz. mini croissants, reg. price $4.99, with coupon = $4.19</p><p>2 boxes cheese crackers, reg. price $4.99@, on sale for $1.99 @ with digital coupon plus multi buy discount = $2.98</p><p>Cereal, 18 oz. box, reg. price $7.99, on sale for $2.49; free with coupon = $0.00<br />(I will be keeping this one for my own use)</p><p>1/2 gal. half & half = $5.49<br />1/2 gal. milk = $2.79<br />Yogurt, 32 oz., reg. price $4.79, on sale for $4.29, with coupon = $3.69<br />Ice cream, 2 x 14 oz. containers (1 coffee, 1 butter pecan), buy one get one free = $5.99<br />(a more expensive brand than I normally buy, but, we are celebrating a birthday!)</p><p>According to the receipt:</p><p>Original item total = $153.20 <br />Coupons and sales = - $69.28<br /><b>Order total</b> = <b>$83.92</b></p><p>March Grocery Budget = $100 + $17.59 carried over from February = $117.59</p><p>Spent to date = $83.92</p><p>Balance remaining = $33.67</p><p><br /></p><p>I am not sure quite what I am going to do with 10 lbs. of pork! But, I'll make a curry with some of it, a stir fry with some, maybe cut a couple of shoulder steaks to pan fry, and, of course, my daughter can take some of the cooked meat back with her, </p><p>Once I came home and put away the groceries, I had two of the mini croissants with butter and peach jam for brunch. Then, put away the last load of dried laundry from yesterday. Later, I watched the State of the Union address, watched some other TV, called and spoke with friend R, and video chatted with my daughter. I wasn't very hungry for dinner, so I ate two more croissants! I'll probably have some fruit before I go to sleep.</p><p>Today, I am grateful for:</p><p>- More rain for the garden!<br />- Being able to order groceries online and curbside pick up<br />- Helpful store personnel<br />- A safe drive to the grocery store and back<br />- Working appliances</p><p>Today's joyful activity was video chatting with my daughter.</p><p>The yellow throated bird was back, today, but, it was not the only bird to help itself to the cat food:</p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6UgeuMH5B1CVY8N8xuKxb5_UOxRh5sUxmdb86YU99aCrBwWE6u8EurNKHv4o__ULvhg2rd6kFlalCGGPxS2pT5_-8c-0MvnN4DzSD9ko0De-CLtfrBf2kJLKUQeOUMKuB5pBmQedw91-MDbWiEF-z4VJCX8zACcoIs-4Oa_gJ7IFg6e0FiRN7lrJ1dQ/s4032/IMG_0380.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6UgeuMH5B1CVY8N8xuKxb5_UOxRh5sUxmdb86YU99aCrBwWE6u8EurNKHv4o__ULvhg2rd6kFlalCGGPxS2pT5_-8c-0MvnN4DzSD9ko0De-CLtfrBf2kJLKUQeOUMKuB5pBmQedw91-MDbWiEF-z4VJCX8zACcoIs-4Oa_gJ7IFg6e0FiRN7lrJ1dQ/w300-h400/IMG_0380.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken Little and Mama Cat</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4pA9Utyyvxi46rel_omErYZ1Gv3SKfdqUTnJN4M0nfzxOLH2q2SaJeolcYT1hSRL4cpoW-ihi7KptBwaDridq4jfDwSOWtURZuB030jsnEfPM7B_LtteO4zmtFVUEDgGFufKhGcMVo00VJPEZE0F3UWztCwYPbLNvS2iaqhn_EN9PPMqw6q1dabSYt0/s4032/IMG_0381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4pA9Utyyvxi46rel_omErYZ1Gv3SKfdqUTnJN4M0nfzxOLH2q2SaJeolcYT1hSRL4cpoW-ihi7KptBwaDridq4jfDwSOWtURZuB030jsnEfPM7B_LtteO4zmtFVUEDgGFufKhGcMVo00VJPEZE0F3UWztCwYPbLNvS2iaqhn_EN9PPMqw6q1dabSYt0/w300-h400/IMG_0381.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice Mama Cat moving her head to the side <br />to make room for Chicken Little!<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Mama Cat does not tolerate Patches the calico cat, but, she tolerates Chicken Little! </p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-83680199881690593132024-03-07T02:04:00.000-08:002024-03-07T02:04:53.824-08:00Rainy Wednesday<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwXVuObwu-EsHLkwnhEjr7kUTS44usdVxZu8lgCFXWiP91DcxFedu9Y8s325l6PNxK9TOJWvrqZsYDsojFy-KgwzTR6d0sBUelnU47ZrwRjFSEs-6Hi3GRTyshBcyODIFmalCLuYBukG-zY1suspJWsb1_9LvhmL_NNgjKLd-Q0ZWyUU9_TegGECI8uxA/s4032/IMG_0375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwXVuObwu-EsHLkwnhEjr7kUTS44usdVxZu8lgCFXWiP91DcxFedu9Y8s325l6PNxK9TOJWvrqZsYDsojFy-KgwzTR6d0sBUelnU47ZrwRjFSEs-6Hi3GRTyshBcyODIFmalCLuYBukG-zY1suspJWsb1_9LvhmL_NNgjKLd-Q0ZWyUU9_TegGECI8uxA/w300-h400/IMG_0375.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self-Sown Red Stemmed Celery <br />(and Mystery Plant)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Last year, M transplanted three self-sown red stemmed celery seedlings from his garden in my garden, in one of the planting beds. They bolted and went to seed and this year, I have two or three self-sown seedlings growing in the same planting bed and this one, the biggest of them, growing among the paving stones near the blueberry bushes! I will be harvesting the stalks, soon, before this plant bolts, although the stalks are mostly leaves! </p><p>Growing in front of the celery plant is another small plant, with just three leaves, so far. It is a bit of a mystery plant! I asked M if it could be a passionfruit seedling, but, he thinks it might be a coffee plant! He has a coffee plant in his garden and it produced some coffee beans; he gave me a couple of coffee beans to try to grow in a small pot inside the house, but, they didn't germinate. But, he thinks he might have planted a coffee bean outside, near the blueberry bushes! We shall keep an eye on this plant and see what it turns out to be! I remember that there was a coffee plant growing in the garden of my childhood home - I don't recall if we ever picked any of the coffee berries to roast and make coffee, though!</p><p>It was sunny on Wednesday morning, but, by 11:00 a.m., the clouds moved in and it started to drizzle a bit by 12 noon. M was able to fertilize the fruit trees and tend to the garden a little. But, by 1:00 p.m., it started raining in earnest and it rained all afternoon and into the evening. It stopped around 10:00 p.m., I think.</p><p>I did three loads of laundry (all bedsheets and sofa dust sheets), and with the help of Rebel the Robot Vacuum, vacuumed several rooms in the house! I still can't get it to work through my phone, but, I can press the buttons manually and it happily meanders around the house! We vacuumed the living room and dining area, the hallway, daughter's bedroom, and the family room. Rebel even went into the kitchen for a bit, but, I didn't really want it to vacuum the kitchen, so I gently nudged it out of that area! I accidentally dropped it, when carrying it from the living room to the family room, but, it survived the fall, thank goodness! </p><p>I enjoyed a nice chat on the phone with my aunt, this evening, wrote a long email to a friend, and video chatted with my daughter.</p><p>Brunch was a scrambled egg on toast. Dinner was some of the soupy rice with half a sausage sliced into it. For a snack, I roasted some cashews and enjoyed them with salt and chili powder sprinkled on them. </p><p>Today, I am grateful for:</p><p>- More rain for the garden<br />- Working appliances<br />- M tending to the garden<br />- My daughter's gift of a robot vacuum<br />- Phone calls and emails from family and friends</p><p>Today's joyful activity was spending some time in the garden before it rained.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHU52vzg_wkSHQIgKiDgSBeIKZfYDL-sLfJsiPHyHag7WJJjRrzazF62DzM6fqNXw6KAxRZBCE934CWUp3aKQgsDTpmHrXCabcCNflJ2ojCINfetwDaCg1xkkA2WysGjqLZFrcHECq2VWm9hDUAVuOZkxyPUEHdkm_gh-dxoZcfuHh3znAcWszcYFuXs/s1684/IMG_0377a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1407" data-original-width="1684" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHU52vzg_wkSHQIgKiDgSBeIKZfYDL-sLfJsiPHyHag7WJJjRrzazF62DzM6fqNXw6KAxRZBCE934CWUp3aKQgsDTpmHrXCabcCNflJ2ojCINfetwDaCg1xkkA2WysGjqLZFrcHECq2VWm9hDUAVuOZkxyPUEHdkm_gh-dxoZcfuHh3znAcWszcYFuXs/w400-h334/IMG_0377a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow Throated Bird</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I don't put out birdseeds to encourage birds because I have cats in the garden (although Mama Cat tends to ignore birds), but, there are birds who come to eat the cat food! This is not a very good photo because I took it from inside the house, through the glass door. But, the bird is about the size of a sparrow, is mostly grey, and has a yellow throat. I wondered it if was a Yellow Throated Warbler, but, then, I read that Yellow Rumped Warblers are supposed to be common in southern California backyards, especially in the winter; I was unable to see if this bird had a yellow rump, though. Whatever it was, it took a kibble in its beak and disappeared into the blueberry bushes to enjoy it! </p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-67266317581536913002024-03-06T03:05:00.000-08:002024-03-06T21:28:20.554-08:00On Tuesday<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFCFXUvrUgZJ5_QbGZs1SpcIr9G-gZGniJIwWJMwV8ofxmpX1LV8NjLtjv6qpdcuq3puFOkcPpSH4-oYIma829tY2VFiRnZOB7h0zodD8FbeBf-bghqxLZNqXWdflJcuf_a83E5WiuPYAV2_lZ87qo04cS6ZjHZ2PaoqAwgZYQjxOI_ZjuWCob_8ks_I/s4032/IMG_0374.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFCFXUvrUgZJ5_QbGZs1SpcIr9G-gZGniJIwWJMwV8ofxmpX1LV8NjLtjv6qpdcuq3puFOkcPpSH4-oYIma829tY2VFiRnZOB7h0zodD8FbeBf-bghqxLZNqXWdflJcuf_a83E5WiuPYAV2_lZ87qo04cS6ZjHZ2PaoqAwgZYQjxOI_ZjuWCob_8ks_I/w300-h400/IMG_0374.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White-lined Sphinx Moth (<i>Hyles lineata</i>)* </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>I found this (dead) moth on my doorstep on Tuesday afternoon and I took a picture of it because it looked so striking and was quite large. I don't know what kind of moth it is, but, it might be a sphinx moth (apparently, also called a hawk moth), in the family <i>Sphingidae.</i></p><p><i>* </i><span style="color: red;">Bushlady has further identified it as a White-lined Sphinx Moth (<i>Hyles lineata</i>). Thank you, Bushlady!</span></p><p>I slept in on Tuesday, then, called aunt C to check on her. I brought in the empty trash cans (that's when I saw the moth, above), collected the mail, and checked the week's grocery ads. I also took a picture of the front garden because there were more flowers in bloom:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIY72loWw_BHRalxfrUTA4U3Ma0rOx8ov0DJ2kIMoUW-ZtVxVsJwSdDKc5kzYTAqQ1fRd2ik84VBHLyJ4Ba2aJcbcLpdUMUAU4sOhlgEy1RNmulVs7mC7qVothcRfEcNGum6daExMYPp1Ud_JV2ayUoSLFihqY-2LezmvBDo78O5e4fCg73GMXMBo1P3g/s4032/IMG_0373.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIY72loWw_BHRalxfrUTA4U3Ma0rOx8ov0DJ2kIMoUW-ZtVxVsJwSdDKc5kzYTAqQ1fRd2ik84VBHLyJ4Ba2aJcbcLpdUMUAU4sOhlgEy1RNmulVs7mC7qVothcRfEcNGum6daExMYPp1Ud_JV2ayUoSLFihqY-2LezmvBDo78O5e4fCg73GMXMBo1P3g/w400-h300/IMG_0373.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front Garden in Early March</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I spent the afternoon getting all my tax documents together. I put the documents into a file folder as they arrive in the mail, but, this year, some documents were available online, only, so I had to print them out (I like to keep paper copies of my documents) and I did that only today. After I checked everything and double checked to make sure I had everything, I took the folder of documents over to the tax accountant's office and handed them to her. I have my appointment with her scheduled for later this month, to go over the documents and finalize things.</p><p>After I came home, I had some rice and the last of the beef curry for a very late brunch. Then, I replied to blog comments and watched the evening news and all the election results. </p><p>I went off the meal plan for dinner and had some frozen breaded shrimp that I pan fried.</p><p>On Tuesday, I was grateful for:</p><p>- Being able to sleep in!<br />- Chats with my aunt<br />- Being able to get my taxes done by a tax accountant<br />- A safe drive to the tax accountant's office and back<br />- Garden flowers</p><p>Today's joyful activity was getting the tax documents off to my tax accountant to deal with! </p><p>There's rain in the forecast for Wednesday. I'm not sure if M will be able to tend to the garden or not. I will do the last couple of loads of laundry (sofa dust sheets, etc.), and do some tidying and cleaning.</p><p>How was your Tuesday? What are your plans for Wednesday?</p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-80980815944538327832024-03-04T21:44:00.000-08:002024-03-04T21:44:22.017-08:00March Fo(u)rth! <p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlG7hRU_acZZup0WYfFdsd9jzceg2Hbfll9K7jbY50QyU4XeXTiXeebugkFfKo9C2IioL1JyV0U7jYl3X4IV8hbA-rR08Qqn4t2SYvG5bkYVG8tt3F1XCZITCU9jidXJsqMRPiInWUEDAoiWP_qJMW-g3akG0TDebEWCul6X5weRK0Z1mqF7aWxnzZJk/s4032/IMG_0370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlG7hRU_acZZup0WYfFdsd9jzceg2Hbfll9K7jbY50QyU4XeXTiXeebugkFfKo9C2IioL1JyV0U7jYl3X4IV8hbA-rR08Qqn4t2SYvG5bkYVG8tt3F1XCZITCU9jidXJsqMRPiInWUEDAoiWP_qJMW-g3akG0TDebEWCul6X5weRK0Z1mqF7aWxnzZJk/w300-h400/IMG_0370.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancer on his New Blankie</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I took all the covers off my daughter's bed to wash them and Dancer was looking very sad and forlorn on the bed without a blanket to keep him warm. I took another blanket from the linen closet for him to use, but he doesn't look very happy about it, does he? The blanket was a gift from a work colleague to my daughter when she was born.</p><p>Today was a mostly sunny day. I didn't fall asleep until 6:00 a.m., but, I woke up once at 9:00 a.m. to feed the cats, then, slept until 10:30 a.m. I could have slept a bit longer, but, I forced myself to get up and get going. Maybe I'll be able to sleep at a more reasonable time, tonight!</p><p>The library had auto renewed the two books that were due today, but, I decided that I will return them, today, especially since I was going to the library to drop off my ballot, anyway. I dropped off the ballot in the designated box and then, went into the library to return my books.</p><p>The library was not at all crowded, today; there were two other people using the computers and the printer and three library staff. So, for the first time since the pandemic, on March fourth, more than seven months after I first went inside the library to collect a book from the hold shelves, I marched forth right into the library stacks to peruse the shelves and selected three books to check out! </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOs7MGmh6BqFYmB-nVWfN-4H35BACXgzINhDA4YZ3GHe7x8M-XaC2xpQQGTmZ4jp2bCuIJVcBNAptcx9VHjY_fvPSDf51wwD8O9STIR41TjTqmwYdzDyuCw_OYwJFJ-pEQPJbRlDrhkCHyBJlDyrc_JbqtfB_P8MGAl9weeUVIHSRSCYHUqw0SXSLsD2A/s4032/IMG_0371.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOs7MGmh6BqFYmB-nVWfN-4H35BACXgzINhDA4YZ3GHe7x8M-XaC2xpQQGTmZ4jp2bCuIJVcBNAptcx9VHjY_fvPSDf51wwD8O9STIR41TjTqmwYdzDyuCw_OYwJFJ-pEQPJbRlDrhkCHyBJlDyrc_JbqtfB_P8MGAl9weeUVIHSRSCYHUqw0SXSLsD2A/w400-h300/IMG_0371.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two Non-Fiction and One Fiction</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I was also able to take two more boxes of Covid test kits (each box contains two test kits) from the basket at the check out counter. If I am going to start venturing out more, I might be needing them! <div><br /></div><div>After I came home, I had my brunch: a slice of the frozen pizza, that I had bought and baked, last week. I warmed it up in the toaster oven and ate most of it. There's a tiny piece leftover, to have as a snack, later, if I feel like it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, I washed the last quilt that was on my daughter's bed and dried it in the dryer. I took the trash cans to the curb and set them up in front of my driveway because there were vehicles parked on both sides along the curb and there was no room for the trash cans. I did a little paperwork (there's no end to the paperwork!), watered the houseplants, read and commented on a few blogs, and watched the evening news.</div><div><br /></div><div>For dinner, I cooked some rice with the last serving of the ham and split pea soup that was in the freezer. Then, I heated up some of the ground beef mixture that I had cooked yesterday and I added some of the rice to it and had a bowl of what I'm calling rice casserole or a version of dirty rice. It was very filling!</div><div><br /></div><div>Now I have a rice cooker full of leftover rice cooked in ham and split pea soup, the rest of the container of ground beef mixture, the two Italian sausages that I didn't eat last week, and leftover pasta from Sunday night's dinner, to form the basis for the rest of this week's meals! Plus four more banana-blueberry muffins for brunches! I'm not going to make a meal plan as such, except to have chicken curry (from the freezer) and rice or baked salmon (from the freezer) and rice on the night my daughter comes home, depending on what she would like. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, I'm grateful for:</div><div>- A mostly sunny day<br />- Being able to vote<br />- The library handing out free Covid test kits<br />- A safe drive to the library and back<br />- Working appliances</div><div><br /></div><div>Today's joyful activity was actually going inside the library to browse in the bookstacks and selecting a few books to read!</div><div><br /></div><div>Plans for tomorrow include more paperwork, some housework, and some reading! Oh, and lots of crocheting while I watch the coverage of the Super Tuesday election results!</div><div><br /></div><div>How was your Monday? What are your plans for Tuesday? </div>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-24282729396106955072024-03-04T02:34:00.000-08:002024-03-04T02:34:17.483-08:00Mostly Cloudy on Sunday<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGLM1l-ZMdPZtTF_8jR5idxIZGIRAIGXXj6Ooy5GcSGFrvRkRqfMqi3QF6Fpv8Drr0-qxo2WiyaS61KoytmkgIHxvReQfDd51SCpdUcsM9wBEbcQ5uv3Aa_4WvmDUocPaTqsEd7ahuFiDl1jWvFcMqgzMxM4DJJ3IEGJGkXMNWMUHvFemlYFrn1fDC0Y/s4032/IMG_0363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGLM1l-ZMdPZtTF_8jR5idxIZGIRAIGXXj6Ooy5GcSGFrvRkRqfMqi3QF6Fpv8Drr0-qxo2WiyaS61KoytmkgIHxvReQfDd51SCpdUcsM9wBEbcQ5uv3Aa_4WvmDUocPaTqsEd7ahuFiDl1jWvFcMqgzMxM4DJJ3IEGJGkXMNWMUHvFemlYFrn1fDC0Y/w300-h400/IMG_0363.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On Gold Mountain by Lisa See</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>This is the latest library book I've read. It is the story of the author's family, starting with her great-great grandfather, an herbalist, who was recruited to come to California in 1866 to tend to the Chinese laborers who had been hired to work on the railroad and his youngest son, the author's great-grandfather who came to look for his father and brothers. and ending with the author, her cousins, and their children. It is the story of one family's dreams, struggles, successes, and failures; and I think the author writes about the various members of the family and their strengths and weaknesses with sympathy and understanding. I really enjoyed reading it. </p><p>Sunday started out sunny, but, it soon became cloudy. There was some rain in the forecast, but, it didn't rain in my area.</p><p>Once again, I had stayed up practically all night, going to bed at 5:00 a.m. and waking up well after noon. I woke up once at 10:00 a.m., fed the cats, saw that it was sunny, turned up the heater because the house was cold (thermostat had been set at 60F) and went back to bed, "until the house warms up a bit" and fell asleep. I woke up, again, at 11:00 a.m., when my cousin texted, but I fell asleep again, and didn't wake up until my daughter called to check on me. I sounded so sleepy that she told me to go back to sleep and I did! On the positive side, I got my 8 hours of sleep. On the negative side, I slept away most of the sunny hours, because it became cloudy soon after I woke up!</p><p>I had my "morning" cup of tea in the early afternoon, said my prayers, replied to blog comments, conveyed the birthday wishes to my daughter (she says, "Thank you"), did another load of laundry (blankets and a quilt from my daughter's bed - Dancer has been sleeping on them and his fur is all over them!), and I cooked the packet of ground beef I had bought earlier in the week:</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKYizvd9qBhAg9tfL_ZqxtqFTlCqAE0I9PlhqjGkz1coO4ipJbGk7EmOh8IhO-xdfD-CyyA02pOl5iIh6vvdDD_g_wHQhNQqGP1h99ePKM60Y8zwRfQrOCvFc42L9UQollm_Ttl2Dl32c51HvD_Hv_U43Dd2xtmwgCakWseaYx94hQEDT54x2UZYOM10/s4032/IMG_0366.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKYizvd9qBhAg9tfL_ZqxtqFTlCqAE0I9PlhqjGkz1coO4ipJbGk7EmOh8IhO-xdfD-CyyA02pOl5iIh6vvdDD_g_wHQhNQqGP1h99ePKM60Y8zwRfQrOCvFc42L9UQollm_Ttl2Dl32c51HvD_Hv_U43Dd2xtmwgCakWseaYx94hQEDT54x2UZYOM10/w300-h400/IMG_0366.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooked Ground Beef with Vegetables</td></tr></tbody></table><br />To 1 lb. of ground beef, I added, from the freezer, a grated zucchini, some homegrown onion , a little celery, some bell pepper, a small amount of broccoli, and some tomato; all the vegetables, other than the grated zucchini, were ground in the mini food processor my daughter had given me one Christmas, thus saving myself a lot of chopping by hand. I added a little seasoning - garlic powder, ground black pepper, salt, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce, I would have added grated carrots, too, if I had any fresh carrots, but, I don't have any fresh carrots and I didn't want to add a can of sliced carrots. </p><p>Breakfast, eaten around 3:00 p.m. had been a banana. So, around 6:30 p.m., after I had cooked the ground beef mixture, I took out a small package of pasta sauce I had in the freezer and warmed it up in the microwave. Then, I cooked a small amount of angel hair pasta, added it to the pasta sauce, added some ground beef to it, and had that for my lunch/dinner (or "linner"). I kept some of the ground beef in the fridge to use during the week (maybe to make a small cottage pie or turn into a keema curry) and froze the rest. </p><p>For dessert, I made vanilla pudding, using one cup milk, about a quarter cup of sugar, a tablespoon of cornstarch, and a little vanilla essence. I also added some small raisins (currants) to the pudding, something I remember from my childhood. I forgot to take a picture, but, it was delicious! I ate some for dessert and some for a snack, later.</p><p>After dinner, I sat down and did some paperwork, sorting through all the voting information and ads for the upcoming Primary elections, filling out my sample ballot and then, the actual ballot which I will drop off at the official ballot box at the library, tomorrow. I preferred to vote in person and did so until March 2020, just before the first Covid lockdown took place. I have not voted in person since then. I will also return two of my library books at the same time. </p><p>On Sunday, I was grateful for:</p><p>- Being able to sleep in!<br />- Working appliances<br />- Libraries<br />- Being able to participate in elections and vote<br />- Having the option to vote by mail, drop off ballots, or vote in person<br /><br />Sunday's joyful activity was ... sleeping in! LOL. </p><p>Plans for Monday include dropping off my ballot and visiting the library to return books.</p><p>How was your Sunday? What are your plans for Monday?<br /> </p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-91482267247034210672024-03-02T23:32:00.000-08:002024-03-02T23:32:40.430-08:00More Rain!<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndf4rbt1sI860YQx4JeMvd8oO8VV7Dvk57ACBTFdSSW96N00izzRmmn77sa2Bc5cC9GKDq2_f6E8F5CWfIaENyl1wyvJn1Qd__DORL7kCeMO8k69Uf8BgVbAEDVQKDzVNEWD1Cw7gqpopnxnlxTDB21HS-tXr6d_3meUOndPt4WMuin_n3y3bFmAovaY/s4032/IMG_0356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndf4rbt1sI860YQx4JeMvd8oO8VV7Dvk57ACBTFdSSW96N00izzRmmn77sa2Bc5cC9GKDq2_f6E8F5CWfIaENyl1wyvJn1Qd__DORL7kCeMO8k69Uf8BgVbAEDVQKDzVNEWD1Cw7gqpopnxnlxTDB21HS-tXr6d_3meUOndPt4WMuin_n3y3bFmAovaY/w300-h400/IMG_0356.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset and Rain Clouds</td></tr></tbody></table><br />It started to rain on Friday evening and it has been raining on and off all day Saturday. Mostly light rain and drizzle, so the garden is having another good watering. </p><p>On Friday, it being the 1st of March, I made milkrice for brunch and I picked some flowers from the garden to place at the home altars and on the mantlepiece in the living room, including a sprig or two of peach flowers:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpEKGAbhxYpcMZapmM2RWSNIM3ugh1spkYF0jhYCmTCWow-q0EC1agn6P46hWDbnyQXCmyQW-vLFC1SWzwuYsnIi0PZNVqdVn8k_TKqwbrXvAh9y25b4CmvYNitrDAJSVDGhLpytL0kcrW8UxJOH3Yf9AZaIimiPXjd6dTqH9GAvojqbRkW30Xm7FV_I/s4032/IMG_0359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpEKGAbhxYpcMZapmM2RWSNIM3ugh1spkYF0jhYCmTCWow-q0EC1agn6P46hWDbnyQXCmyQW-vLFC1SWzwuYsnIi0PZNVqdVn8k_TKqwbrXvAh9y25b4CmvYNitrDAJSVDGhLpytL0kcrW8UxJOH3Yf9AZaIimiPXjd6dTqH9GAvojqbRkW30Xm7FV_I/w300-h400/IMG_0359.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peach Flowers</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>Later in the evening (on Friday), gardener friend M tended to the garden; he weeded some of the planting beds and trimmed some of the branches of the feijoa (pineapple guava) tree that were shading the orange tree a bit too much. </p><p>Today, Saturday, is my daughter's birthday. We video chatted last night and I sang Happy Birthday to her at midnight. We will celebrate when she comes home next week, but, she spent an afternoon doing some crafts at a friend's place and they had got her a cheesecake to mark her birthday.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpTmAuEF1j_0fiQYL8brdskf9C1kh3JbPg-AORvFRmtJyy_eqUJnUxgf_XE9BMDF2-6XRy1UX0yNV1P954bvkjgDeXrZc6-oOINgn0JZVEUItKu6Lciq31nuKsUmJOUY-alE-LWPrTdBgbBYDBthcL7pdcoivWZNPVBFk_DcljFZ33KVyEu-uakDwtXc/s4032/IMG_2355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpTmAuEF1j_0fiQYL8brdskf9C1kh3JbPg-AORvFRmtJyy_eqUJnUxgf_XE9BMDF2-6XRy1UX0yNV1P954bvkjgDeXrZc6-oOINgn0JZVEUItKu6Lciq31nuKsUmJOUY-alE-LWPrTdBgbBYDBthcL7pdcoivWZNPVBFk_DcljFZ33KVyEu-uakDwtXc/w300-h400/IMG_2355.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Beaded Keychain Daughter Made</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Today, I spoke on the phone with my sister and later, with neighbor S. I did a couple of loads of laundry including my bed sheets and a quilt. I read in the evening, watched the news, and did a bit of crocheting. </p><p>Today, I am grateful for:</p><p>- My daughter<br />- Rain for the garden<br />- Working appliances<br />- Garden flowers<br />- Phone calls and emails from family and friends</p><p>Today's joyful activity was video chatting with my daughter.</p><p>Plans for tomorrow include doing some paperwork and maybe some housework?</p><p>How was your Saturday? What are your plans for Sunday?</p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-60186545151934239682024-03-02T02:33:00.000-08:002024-03-02T02:33:18.524-08:00Balanced Life Monthly Goals: February Review and March Goals<p>My main goal in life, these days, is to live as well balanced a life as I can. What does that mean? Basically, it means making sure that I pay equal attention to work (household tasks, paperwork, etc.) and play (leisure activities, crafts, hobbies, etc.), to spiritual matters (prayers, meditation, etc.) and to physical well being (health, self-care, etc.), to others (family, friends, community, etc.) and to myself (leisure, hobbies, self care, etc.); that I don't neglect any of the different areas of my life that I consider to be important to me. </p><p>I'm continuing to assign numbers to rate my satisfaction in each area, from 1 to 10, with 10 being most satisfied. I am continuing to tailor my monthly goals to what I feel is realistically achievable under present circumstances, given that I am still not comfortable with going out and about as much as I used to before Covid. But, I am aware that certain areas could be improved upon and I am adjusting my goals and ratings to reflect that. </p><p>Here is my review of my February goals, followed by my goals for March: </p><p><b>Spiritual (10)(<span style="color: #2b00fe;">10</span>): </b><span> </span><span> </span><b>The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life.<br /></b>- Continue with daily prayers, meditation, being grateful, positive, and joyful<br />- Continue to cultivate non-attachment by being more giving<br />- Offer special prayers to my mother on what would be the 18th anniversary of her death</p><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I have continued with daily prayers, etc., and I was able to offer special prayers to remember my mother on the anniversary of her death. I feel that I am living a spiritually meaningful life.</span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>March Goals </b>will be more or less the same, with daily prayers and meditations and remembering my father on the anniversary of his birth. Maybe a visit to the temple, towards the end of the month, if possible.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b style="font-family: "times new roman";">Daughter (10)(<span style="color: #2b00fe;">10</span>)</b><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">: </span><b style="font-family: "times new roman";"> The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her.</b></div><div><b style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: 400;"><div id="yiv9420180646yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509655731302_8073"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><div style="margin: 0px;">- Continue to keep in daily contact via phone calls, texts, and video chats<br /><br /></div></span></div></span><div style="font-weight: 400; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I continued to have a close relationship with my daughter in February, with daily phone calls, texts, and video chats</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">. She helped me with some technological issues during the month and I'm very thankful for that!</span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">March Goals<span style="font-weight: 400;"> include celebrating her birthday! She is planning to come down for a week long visit and I am looking forward to that! The daily phone calls and video chats will continue, before and after her visit.</span></span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div></b></div><div><div id="yiv9420180646yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509655731302_8073"><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span><div style="margin: 0px;"><b>Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies (10)(<span style="color: #2b00fe;">10</span>)</b><span style="color: black;">: <b>The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">-</span> Engage in daily joyful activities</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">- Engage in leisure activities<br />- Do crafts and pursue hobbies</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #2b00fe; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">In February, I spent plenty of time relaxing and enjoying joyful and leisurely activities, daily. I read, made a couple of wreaths, participated in a photo challenge, and started a new crochet project.</span></div><div style="color: #2b00fe; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #2b00fe; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>March Goals</b>: I plan to continue to engage in fun, relaxing activities including reading and crocheting.</span></div><div style="color: #2b00fe; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></div></span></div></div></div></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><b>Finances (10)(<span style="color: #2b00fe;">10</span>)</b><span style="color: black;">: <b>The goal is financial security.</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: "Times New Roman";">I continued to spend mindfully and lived within my means in February. I don't do any "no spend" months, but, I stayed within my budget.<br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman";">March Goals</b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman";">: March goals include getting my income taxes filed. I have an appointment with the tax accountant for later in the month.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><div style="margin: 0px;"><b>Garden (9.5)(<span style="color: #2b00fe;">10</span>): The goal is a garden that is productive, yet drought tolerant.</b></div></span></div></div><div><div><div>- <span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Maintaining (water, fertilize, and weed); M will continue to visit twice a week</span></div><div><br /></div></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The garden did really well in February, thriving with all the rain we had. The peach tree is in bloom and the blueberry bushes are promising another wonderful harvest, later in the summer. M continues to bring me rescued plants and cuttings to add to the garden, as well, which I appreciate very much. We did quite a bit of pruning and weeding in the garden in February.</span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman";">March Goals</b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman";">: To continue with maintaining the garden. I discussed adding more rose bushes to the garden this year to replace some of the rose bushes I've lost over the last few years. I'm still at the discussing stage! </span></div><div><br /></div></div><div><div id="yiv9420180646yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509655731302_8073"><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><b>Family/Friends/Community (9.5)(<span style="color: #2b00fe;">10</span>)</b>: <b>The goal is to have a close connection with family and friends and be involved with my community.</b></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;">- Regular phone calls and emails, etc., to keep in touch with family and friends<br />- The occasional in person visits as and when I feel comfortable with doing so</div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;">- Participate in the blogging community and the online organizing community<br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman";">In February, I attended one family gathering in person, when one of my cousins hosted a birthday party for her grandson. I wore my mask during the visit, but, it was lovely to see a few members of the extended family. I did a brief curbside drop off/visit with friend R, there were a few exchanges of food with neighbor S, and kept in regular contact with other family members and friends through phone calls and texts. As for Community participation, I have started crocheting a lap blanket to donate to the cancer clinic. </span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><b style="color: blue;">March Goals</b><span style="color: blue;">: March goals will be the same as above. I might visit another cousin this month, provided it is convenient for her.</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: bold;">Health, </span><b>Self-Care</b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: bold;"> & Well Being (8.75</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><b>)(<span style="color: #2b00fe;">8.75</span>)</b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman";">: <b>The goal is good health.</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Focus on continuing to improve my health through diet, hydration, adequate sleep, etc.<br />- Attend my medical appointments<br />- Continue to take my medications as prescribed</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">- Continue to take necessary precautions against viral infections</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: "times new roman";">I had a blood test and an appointment with my oncology nurse practitioner in February, and I received my bone strengthening injection. My blood test results were mostly good, my blood pressure was good, too, and my weight had remained the same. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: "times new roman";"><b style="color: blue;">March Goals</b><span style="color: blue;">: Will remain the same as above.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><b>House (8.5)(<span style="color: #2b00fe;">8.5</span>):</b> <b>The goal is a home that is pleasant, comfortable, and welcoming.</b></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman";"><div style="color: black;">- Clean - Clean the house as needed <br />- Organized - Continue to find a place for everything and keep everything in its place<br />- Well maintained - Keep "erasing the evidence"; implement daily and weekly cleaning schedules<br />- Decluttered - Continue with the decluttering process</div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The house has been maintained (more or less) with regular weekly cleaning, although I still have some areas that tend to get messy really quickly. I didn't declutter as much as I had wanted to, but, I plan to make up for that in March! </span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b style="color: blue;">March Goals</b><span style="color: blue;">: Will be the same as above.</span> </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div></div></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: black;">Time Management (8.0)(</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">8.0</span><span style="color: black;">)</span><span style="color: black;">:</span></b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"> <b>The goal is to spend my time in a mindful manner.</b></span></span></div></span></div></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">- </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Spend time purposefully, mindfully</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Continue to focus on making my schedule work for me</span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Procrastinate less</span></div><div id="yiv9420180646yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509655731302_8073" style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div><div id="yiv9420180646yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509655731302_8073"><span style="color: blue;">I continue to struggle with time management. I'd rather play (be online, read, crochet, etc.) than work (clean the house or process the mail), but, the important things are getting done.</span></div><div id="yiv9420180646yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509655731302_8073"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></div><div id="yiv9420180646yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509655731302_8073"><span style="color: blue;"><b style="font-family: "times new roman";">March Goals</b><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">: Continue to manage my time in a mindful and efficient manner!<br /></span></span></div><div id="yiv9420180646yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509655731302_8073"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span></div><div id="yiv9420180646yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509655731302_8073"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">All in all, I think I had a fairly balanced life in February. I was very satisfied with several areas in my life and both Garden and Family/Friends/Community ratings increased. I'm looking forward to another balanced month in March.</span></div><div id="yiv9420180646yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509655731302_8073" style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";">Are you making any goals for March?</div></span></div></div>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-39327190665070238762024-02-29T17:25:00.000-08:002024-02-29T17:25:58.304-08:00February Monthly Photo Challenge - Older Than You<p>Eileen at<a href="https://in-my-playroom.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> A Bracelet of Days</a> is hosting the monthly photo challenges and February's theme is "Older Than You". It's getting harder to find things that are older than me, at least in and around my house, and I have already photographed some of them for previous photo challenges, but, here are my finds:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuEDvgRDPl53LvscBwJzlSwN78MoQGs65FmawcLt44wxPabVzYcWkDG1COLppeOvVM6QTQKCubJivLbNEbCCDARUaeSbUQag1Nngk0yq1hY0ZfK2zLNYet69x6aofCcSyr-LnZwirmDawjJlixwkfB3nsTofjzLiH4SP3pYPWd4ivEBXP5yON53lhloes/s4032/IMG_0231%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuEDvgRDPl53LvscBwJzlSwN78MoQGs65FmawcLt44wxPabVzYcWkDG1COLppeOvVM6QTQKCubJivLbNEbCCDARUaeSbUQag1Nngk0yq1hY0ZfK2zLNYet69x6aofCcSyr-LnZwirmDawjJlixwkfB3nsTofjzLiH4SP3pYPWd4ivEBXP5yON53lhloes/w300-h400/IMG_0231%20(1).jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The House: Built 1944</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyEgMgcJvs98KH0o3YXnK-7HFw0IZaSxWND1vNlMZdrlDVOAAxsA5U5SXjg1A_1LfY7lNaIAgTp2mE5NRp_PbV3TWXZpRO-WP60KwuLjjhzsivfVsWB4gs3hqVsNnZA4s33JzdfYGGEmFFIQpopummXhEgd7E4CxcIo3UhggPWnKhOmJsxKxVNg8rszYE/s4032/IMG_0339.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyEgMgcJvs98KH0o3YXnK-7HFw0IZaSxWND1vNlMZdrlDVOAAxsA5U5SXjg1A_1LfY7lNaIAgTp2mE5NRp_PbV3TWXZpRO-WP60KwuLjjhzsivfVsWB4gs3hqVsNnZA4s33JzdfYGGEmFFIQpopummXhEgd7E4CxcIo3UhggPWnKhOmJsxKxVNg8rszYE/w300-h400/IMG_0339.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Father's Much Battered Carved Elephant<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwT3rVzKS8v86T5sGb0vGlkmPZGpE-PJ5KgzbKH5POEjbSxisf2RSIvSSa1ZSDhyWiecPEsud_AxGQx_RPegAVbFjHDAiE7lWDbGnlDaEky4J9IQdQaVPNnsr5UcYzeIWTRIyzaKThPro8KwEqXw-8bZsEBk7vCrwu6F3PR5Z6kUd8ginjrna5SQTunAg/s4032/IMG_0340.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwT3rVzKS8v86T5sGb0vGlkmPZGpE-PJ5KgzbKH5POEjbSxisf2RSIvSSa1ZSDhyWiecPEsud_AxGQx_RPegAVbFjHDAiE7lWDbGnlDaEky4J9IQdQaVPNnsr5UcYzeIWTRIyzaKThPro8KwEqXw-8bZsEBk7vCrwu6F3PR5Z6kUd8ginjrna5SQTunAg/w300-h400/IMG_0340.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Mother's Figurine<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rXquDpok27zXZfLlaWyhamUMBYeYt_KCraNMEgXMKJCO8_HYdFdL3-XfCdipAtsad2ycUHX4S_bvxaKVtG3n30ryocZRxzGlG1lLbkYRVqXK4HnQeYPIvct1Y3F8UcVgb5GE48kQ6Ht-YPT6NuM-2hFBLanf6lhHEpzTEmfRhhov91qNrDnMCDC2He8/s4032/IMG_0345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rXquDpok27zXZfLlaWyhamUMBYeYt_KCraNMEgXMKJCO8_HYdFdL3-XfCdipAtsad2ycUHX4S_bvxaKVtG3n30ryocZRxzGlG1lLbkYRVqXK4HnQeYPIvct1Y3F8UcVgb5GE48kQ6Ht-YPT6NuM-2hFBLanf6lhHEpzTEmfRhhov91qNrDnMCDC2He8/w300-h400/IMG_0345.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two Dictionaries:<br />Sinhalese-English and English-Sinhalese</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-YjnVmmkomgj2fcqNpucQ1ypWGM7pSvAr4UIPAwFo3AdB2cOuG86-HU26pQKtX5qiTb4OqABv6Qs4iYKMgDjhY2ZMj00FXXpDQDYs87URNox3wLzwb7PbEECDGDpv-RkOZS5-KLz2RITbtSomd9Ic1k08XnovwgW7kGIA-Fh7DLET_A1yhcFKrBR38k/s4032/IMG_0348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-YjnVmmkomgj2fcqNpucQ1ypWGM7pSvAr4UIPAwFo3AdB2cOuG86-HU26pQKtX5qiTb4OqABv6Qs4iYKMgDjhY2ZMj00FXXpDQDYs87URNox3wLzwb7PbEECDGDpv-RkOZS5-KLz2RITbtSomd9Ic1k08XnovwgW7kGIA-Fh7DLET_A1yhcFKrBR38k/w300-h400/IMG_0348.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One Published in 1924</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig41EVdN2dduiPPiooMpa5rwC41DM19_DCsVtgujkJH1ktAkEXdnCbezG9no0qnAYcXu-aQXCjBlpBGLBgIsN90YWtCtkE1Ip-gGDjkhWtDGI8Se-b_SFnZGKV-KxStsCKkOEdPfTNQfIdQOUHA1ZfR3EW_13EgTEV0mH5ATSyPcmd7JMI5uC5yMGXjY4/s3691/IMG_0346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3691" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig41EVdN2dduiPPiooMpa5rwC41DM19_DCsVtgujkJH1ktAkEXdnCbezG9no0qnAYcXu-aQXCjBlpBGLBgIsN90YWtCtkE1Ip-gGDjkhWtDGI8Se-b_SFnZGKV-KxStsCKkOEdPfTNQfIdQOUHA1ZfR3EW_13EgTEV0mH5ATSyPcmd7JMI5uC5yMGXjY4/w328-h400/IMG_0346.jpg" width="328" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Other Published in 1936</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrK7Xk0CU6OgfnOiJ10AHaMPycWKdDFTWCh7wn4vJQvd_-0EjI7jMea0ZTEa7n7LE2CBrRDhD997zG7jeK7EWijsFUZKecaw76xzIbM5ieBPhlr0NfO2E_vj2y_MgKQIs5aON9hz4CHOIMxh-yBu4oH_91IN2sAY3640emq88NNu770M_6oA4Eq664Ql4/s3024/IMG_0347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2811" data-original-width="3024" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrK7Xk0CU6OgfnOiJ10AHaMPycWKdDFTWCh7wn4vJQvd_-0EjI7jMea0ZTEa7n7LE2CBrRDhD997zG7jeK7EWijsFUZKecaw76xzIbM5ieBPhlr0NfO2E_vj2y_MgKQIs5aON9hz4CHOIMxh-yBu4oH_91IN2sAY3640emq88NNu770M_6oA4Eq664Ql4/w400-h371/IMG_0347.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Both Gifted to my Step Aunt by her Mother in 1944</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>And, in turn, gifted to me by my step aunt (step-father's sister) because my great-grandfather (mother's paternal grandfather) worked on the preparation of the dictionaries.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7g628o1KCQmWVQXbkFwZ253FOKMEdTxMhgr9XvKW33fb3Ri8IcMuMNReURfCS3vOO393HQmwZHdVK0f1rVu4aeonF6CeLsGnDbgyF50Y3TJSu3MuEIxJxGc9xlasyoNa3E5mPU8LLBCwtfZpml-xHRG1W2-G5-niCnrdM-K0s6gO4CODh27gIGMa94M/s4032/IMG_0350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7g628o1KCQmWVQXbkFwZ253FOKMEdTxMhgr9XvKW33fb3Ri8IcMuMNReURfCS3vOO393HQmwZHdVK0f1rVu4aeonF6CeLsGnDbgyF50Y3TJSu3MuEIxJxGc9xlasyoNa3E5mPU8LLBCwtfZpml-xHRG1W2-G5-niCnrdM-K0s6gO4CODh27gIGMa94M/w300-h400/IMG_0350.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Mother's Recipe Book</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwsYddxbPQNfNj6LPB6X9x_XcmC4n2-ohDGCfrWmfqRQG9pBWLVD0cm02EratyXFnWltclF26qLdnIEKdk8SmGWKLfOgYti3T1Z8Dm4Qiuag8cV00LVCoiSUZVGRlhVF0xke558LwlqbteJjNJRKuJ6fbe7NB8-7LsIyttygwwxNXU64f35VY57N50Jc/s4032/IMG_0351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwsYddxbPQNfNj6LPB6X9x_XcmC4n2-ohDGCfrWmfqRQG9pBWLVD0cm02EratyXFnWltclF26qLdnIEKdk8SmGWKLfOgYti3T1Z8Dm4Qiuag8cV00LVCoiSUZVGRlhVF0xke558LwlqbteJjNJRKuJ6fbe7NB8-7LsIyttygwwxNXU64f35VY57N50Jc/w400-h300/IMG_0351.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dated: 3rd September, 1953<br />(She wrote her name, address, and the date inside the front cover)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9_Re9dABjTRTogW79sRrXc0VOwioSpnV9ApeiSTVprOQj83YJmmo09Zh_oFms5ifJXOMafz6lRckHIFqHxntTrzgV1PTNeuxG9CWQ7JTPGardgvmEgW7eyfINR0JSkZ4Aa9FWO2raZg7fEWQrtQfWdAGdphz_o7d1JLklqKbE6JXSEdyXJsERbg9WWdw/s4032/IMG_0352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9_Re9dABjTRTogW79sRrXc0VOwioSpnV9ApeiSTVprOQj83YJmmo09Zh_oFms5ifJXOMafz6lRckHIFqHxntTrzgV1PTNeuxG9CWQ7JTPGardgvmEgW7eyfINR0JSkZ4Aa9FWO2raZg7fEWQrtQfWdAGdphz_o7d1JLklqKbE6JXSEdyXJsERbg9WWdw/w300-h400/IMG_0352.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The First Recipe: Sponge Layer Cake<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />And finally:</div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78nBkzbXIJrBd0QzyNPbjenfCnlW4nvA-fdqQPJWDz7_TFFUxPoLDObzz0qO8wQ4x5PQmaE9KKwhJPorAisIQYY4m0UTXw6fI1n7TyzZOqpCB0pNiRYqo3f43MP-Ok_LqpOZnkanMwxlsveL9DAjgDkov6w1emA8DlG39eKmkiN-diEKF4w7gquaJ4Ns/s4032/IMG_0353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78nBkzbXIJrBd0QzyNPbjenfCnlW4nvA-fdqQPJWDz7_TFFUxPoLDObzz0qO8wQ4x5PQmaE9KKwhJPorAisIQYY4m0UTXw6fI1n7TyzZOqpCB0pNiRYqo3f43MP-Ok_LqpOZnkanMwxlsveL9DAjgDkov6w1emA8DlG39eKmkiN-diEKF4w7gquaJ4Ns/w300-h400/IMG_0353.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NOT Older than Me!<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIsX9s3B-WctrB0qKRkThsXyHf3IHvr2x0PFCXPiW2AoSa99ytzKv4hviGcOPzJTwrgODahre2GyxvKo1tShE7e3juLOUJdHbMNIvMLp1M37IZn19xAB0Yxv4ViURYO0D1daD_GjKpwldUTuJ2qPFLu0bxvZ9C4DsFMSd8TJvG8hUoUA9Qb-EqBCX_Aws/s4032/IMG_0354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIsX9s3B-WctrB0qKRkThsXyHf3IHvr2x0PFCXPiW2AoSa99ytzKv4hviGcOPzJTwrgODahre2GyxvKo1tShE7e3juLOUJdHbMNIvMLp1M37IZn19xAB0Yxv4ViURYO0D1daD_GjKpwldUTuJ2qPFLu0bxvZ9C4DsFMSd8TJvG8hUoUA9Qb-EqBCX_Aws/w300-h400/IMG_0354.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancer Says, "My Mummy is older than me!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Thank you, Eileen, for hosting the monthly photo challenge. Looking forward to March's theme!<br /><br /><p><br /></p></div>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-65003061592472118652024-02-28T17:45:00.000-08:002024-02-28T17:45:21.133-08:00February Grocery Shopping Part 2<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQ_7w2EWeg7fpHcU_SN49pAtJbtRoWoMo6mIrXJetUFKN80xqwzGRWSbt4G9Pw-liynNGQTSSVf7nqfgqDGMLIPXLhyphenhyphen3T-OFtdTSYBqiK29RnXx6b8vKLort8vt8KtsnPEOX2QoKoLscI_rNZS9iaLm-Sl2vbqpGH5H07hYqR9ZpqNroimuGfBc33orY/s4032/IMG_0335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQ_7w2EWeg7fpHcU_SN49pAtJbtRoWoMo6mIrXJetUFKN80xqwzGRWSbt4G9Pw-liynNGQTSSVf7nqfgqDGMLIPXLhyphenhyphen3T-OFtdTSYBqiK29RnXx6b8vKLort8vt8KtsnPEOX2QoKoLscI_rNZS9iaLm-Sl2vbqpGH5H07hYqR9ZpqNroimuGfBc33orY/w400-h300/IMG_0335.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Today's Grocery Shopping</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I ordered groceries this morning and picked up the order in the afternoon. </p><p>February grocery shopping part 1, done on February 12, is <a href="https://bless2cents.blogspot.com/2024/02/february-grocery-shopping-part-1.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p>I bought:</p><p>1 cucumber, reg. price $0.89, with $0.40 off coupon = $0.49</p><p>3 bananas (0.83 lbs) @ $0.68/lb. = $0.57</p><p>2.24 lb. grapes @ $1.99/lb. with digital coupon (reg. price $3.69/lb) = $4.46</p><p>1 loaf multi grain bread = $2.99<br />(store brand bread was $2.49, but, not available for pick up; delivery only)</p><p>1 box 16 oz. saltine crackers = $2.29</p><p>1/2 gallon milk = $2.79</p><p>1 small container of plain yogurt (5.3 oz) = $1.00<br />(the larger containers of yogurt were not available for pick up; delivery only. I'll use the small container as a starter for a batch of homemade yogurt)</p><p>1 container (16 oz.) dry roasted peanuts = $3.29</p><p>1 lb. ground beef, reg. price $6.29, on sale for $5.99, with $2.25 off coupon = $3.74<br />(1 lb. ground turkey was on sale for $3.99, but the ground beef was cheaper with the coupon)</p><p>1 vegetable oil (40 fl.oz.) = $3.99<br />(I had asked for the 48 fl. oz. store brand oil and they substituted the brand name oil, which is less quantity, but, sells for $4.99)</p><p>3 cans tuna in water, on sale for $1.00 each, with a $0.50 off purchase of 3 coupon = $2.50</p><p>5 gallons purified drinking water, @ $1.39 = $6.95<br />(although only one is shown in the picture, above)<br />California redemption value (recycling deposit) = $0.50</p><p>1 frozen pizza, reg. price $6.49, with digital coupon = $3.49</p><p><b>Total spent = $39.05</b></p><p>According to the store receipt, my groceries would have cost $51.68 but I saved $12.63 with sales and coupons.</p><p>My February grocery budget (for food, only) is $100<br />Total spent to date: $3.00 (for a loaf of bakery bread), $40.36 + $39.05 = $82.41<br />Balance remaining (to be carried over to March) = $100 - $82.41 = $17.59</p><p><b style="background-color: #c0a154; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><br /></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4yhurwXgVhuwsAfEIrC92_2TpcQPxsxQk2QqhNm9iUZJ2M3F3yLQA3o-sQfZzXJo0V01BzWBa-zzaDxKPfhVGu044xs1ZvyJcyyTEjun0W4vs3JpqRYxCkL6nw1aSqrIRDXQEK2kvuI6MHYGEiKnpLj4o1GotfywHfmUixZ-CP04hIDarx1MxbaRW-rI/s4032/IMG_0336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4yhurwXgVhuwsAfEIrC92_2TpcQPxsxQk2QqhNm9iUZJ2M3F3yLQA3o-sQfZzXJo0V01BzWBa-zzaDxKPfhVGu044xs1ZvyJcyyTEjun0W4vs3JpqRYxCkL6nw1aSqrIRDXQEK2kvuI6MHYGEiKnpLj4o1GotfywHfmUixZ-CP04hIDarx1MxbaRW-rI/w300-h400/IMG_0336.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Did you buy any tuna for me?"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>I baked the pizza after I came home and had a slice of it for brunch (eaten at 4:00 p.m.) I plan to freeze some of the pizza for later. </div><div><br /></div><div>And that's my grocery shopping for February. How did you do with your February grocery shopping? Were you able to keep to your budget?</div>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-90402104044419538512024-02-27T23:52:00.000-08:002024-02-27T23:52:47.939-08:00No Rain on Tuesday<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49cZoKm7WehOjIl2RkrLQYaIg8XAk75XF5n57ExstYD6bJm7efM8tSiFJs8TtT2sZugNuAKSkNdCXYrAe56CY7Tw21OUeE_db1PBk9VWT4EUkJ44yydnfxYrzYO8j521XkseITZ5sNobKooeP3h4bK7mCDCZXihxeek4KB7Gg_Z41Kr-KO5kxmUdIxfo/s4032/IMG_0331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49cZoKm7WehOjIl2RkrLQYaIg8XAk75XF5n57ExstYD6bJm7efM8tSiFJs8TtT2sZugNuAKSkNdCXYrAe56CY7Tw21OUeE_db1PBk9VWT4EUkJ44yydnfxYrzYO8j521XkseITZ5sNobKooeP3h4bK7mCDCZXihxeek4KB7Gg_Z41Kr-KO5kxmUdIxfo/w300-h400/IMG_0331.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spicy Sauteed Garbanzo Beans</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>Tuesday's brunch was a bowl of spicy sauteed garbanzo beans from a package I had cooked and frozen, earlier, and a banana-blueberry muffin. </p><p>It was a partly cloudy day, today, but, there was no rain. I spent the morning doing my usual morning stuff. In the afternoon, I went to the pharmacy to pick up two of my prescription medication refills. I was very pleased to see that the pharmacy has placed a container for depositing unwanted and expired medications! I have some old medications that I can dispose of appropriately, now. I only went to the pharmacy, today, and only picked up my medications. I didn't buy anything else and I didn't go to the dollar store, on the other side of the pharmacy/drug store. </p><p>I had my brunch after I came home and then, I spent the rest of the afternoon reading my library book. I have another couple of chapters to read and then, I can return the book to the library.</p><p>Later, I watched news and some other TV programs and crocheted. I haven't started on daughter's blanket, yet. Instead, I'm using the yarn she has in her stash down here to make another lap blanket to be donated to the cancer clinic.</p><p>Dinner was leftover from last night's dinner: rice, beef curry, and moringa curry. </p><p>Today, I'm grateful for:<br />- The availability of medications<br />- Medical insurance and drug coverage<br />- A safe drive to the pharmacy and back<br />- Time to read and crochet<br />- Phone calls and emails with family and friends</p><p>Today's joyful activities included reading and crocheting.</p><p>Tomorrow (Wednesday) is supposed to be a sunny day. M will be here in the late morning to tend to the garden and I might order some groceries to be picked up in the afternoon.</p><p>How was your Tuesday? What are your plans for Wednesday?</p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-37497567128315754682024-02-26T21:57:00.000-08:002024-02-26T21:57:02.948-08:00Another Rainy Monday and a Meal Plan of Sorts<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrePW-6fkG8R8mdKl2vPNzPeEKVpXycKOB0SmTnrR9O3H_T4_Zmhl4Sy8gi66WXmivGD9IrpIYbGEOPjyDuuvw09NAqsYKfU8eaS4s1ghuB9IaOHgzjWN23LY0dNp4Odp99Gxl88v4EKOJke7b9NmhKXmWNtuD_9J3e3T5lXRx4gXGrSvHspZfEhCtfP4/s4032/IMG_0327.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrePW-6fkG8R8mdKl2vPNzPeEKVpXycKOB0SmTnrR9O3H_T4_Zmhl4Sy8gi66WXmivGD9IrpIYbGEOPjyDuuvw09NAqsYKfU8eaS4s1ghuB9IaOHgzjWN23LY0dNp4Odp99Gxl88v4EKOJke7b9NmhKXmWNtuD_9J3e3T5lXRx4gXGrSvHspZfEhCtfP4/w400-h300/IMG_0327.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Baker's Dozen of Banana/Blueberry/Cashews Muffins<br />(in dark blue paper muffin liners)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The day started out cloudy and rather grey; the rain started in the afternoon. A light rain, but, the garden is getting watered!<p></p><p>On Sunday, I checked my freezer. organized it a little (the bottom bin and two of the five shelves), and updated the inventory. Then, I took out a package of beef smore/curry, a package of moringa curry, a package containing two cooked mild Italian sausages, and a package of frozen blueberries for this week's meals. <br /><br />I had one banana that was getting a bit too ripe for my liking, so I made a batch of banana muffins with blueberries and cashews. They will be good for breakfasts and snacks (and to share with M when he's here on Wednesday). The beef curry and moringa curry will be good with rice for dinners and the sausages can be made into something to eat with pasta or with mashed potatoes.</p><p>Today, Monday, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a refill of Dancer's thyroid medication. I asked myself if I wanted to get a doughnut from the store, next door, but, decided I didn't because I had muffins at home. So, no doughnuts this time around!</p><p>After I came home, I had brunch (a slice of toast with the last of the tuna salad I had made over the weekend and two of my muffins), took the trash cans out to the curb, read and commented on a few blogs, cleaned Dancer's litter box, etc., and watched the news.</p><p>I also accepted the delivery of this box:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4JWyRsFdVegYC4-daDsM7anepKoDhilmBxERPqe4KBCBJaK-ohYDsicYlMllM1NAfBp4L6aKLuqXJUTc7zYlq_35QiG4iOaANRieSdgxogXHJBsDJKsROdcbG-jiCZ51DoXQpUwj9HF3yey2PlglzuvLTMn9sujtt1RWGO4Mnmcn1ApWplJzrQB47qk/s4032/IMG_0328%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4JWyRsFdVegYC4-daDsM7anepKoDhilmBxERPqe4KBCBJaK-ohYDsicYlMllM1NAfBp4L6aKLuqXJUTc7zYlq_35QiG4iOaANRieSdgxogXHJBsDJKsROdcbG-jiCZ51DoXQpUwj9HF3yey2PlglzuvLTMn9sujtt1RWGO4Mnmcn1ApWplJzrQB47qk/w400-h300/IMG_0328%20(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Yarn!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I had made a few granny squares with some pink yarn leftover from a baby blanket I had crocheted, earlier; my daughter liked the colors and asked for a pink granny squares blanket for herself. So, we ordered some yarn, on sale for $3.49 per 7 oz. skein) which was delivered, today! Guess what I'll be doing in the coming days and weeks!<div><br /></div><div>Dinner, tonight, was rice (with some frozen green peas added to it), beef curry, moringa curry, and peach chutney:</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZxL1EWuK5icgu4w5aTxGvxvxdqEw_fHxoY4VZ0whLv888g5TZChyphenhyphenj7u_iJo37xbKXm8wnehSUV0f3hnThjGVE-bEAMBoyTyjitqoLHJ3XDG9gGqyHSJpKpfxDNDJn2WTDK8SIbFG0RlJGtuxFcs4yUanSdpz4dkkGD7AVFZLy5mnUI766zWsrDl6VxOM/s3286/IMG_0329a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3286" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZxL1EWuK5icgu4w5aTxGvxvxdqEw_fHxoY4VZ0whLv888g5TZChyphenhyphenj7u_iJo37xbKXm8wnehSUV0f3hnThjGVE-bEAMBoyTyjitqoLHJ3XDG9gGqyHSJpKpfxDNDJn2WTDK8SIbFG0RlJGtuxFcs4yUanSdpz4dkkGD7AVFZLy5mnUI766zWsrDl6VxOM/w368-h400/IMG_0329a.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monday Night's Dinner</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Last week's meal plan worked out well, enough, although I didn't have the salmon dinner I had planned to have. Here's this week's meal plan:</div><div><br /><div><b>Brunches</b>: Tuna salad and toast (Monday), banana-blueberry muffins, spicy sauteed garbanzo beans, milkrice and curry (Friday, March 1), pancakes or waffles, leftovers</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Dinners</b>: Rice, beef curry, moringa curry, peach chutney (Monday and Tuesday), sausages with pasta or mashed potatoes and vegetables, turkey casserole or pot pie, leftovers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once again, this meal plan is based on what I have on hand. It might (or might not) change, if I do a grocery pick up this week. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, I am grateful for:</div><div>- Rain for the garden</div><div>- Dancer's medications</div><div>- The car started after not driving it for a week</div><div>- A safe drive to the pharmacy and back</div><div>- Phone calls, emails, and texts from family and friends</div><div><br /></div><div>Today's joyful activity was crocheting.</div><div><br /></div><div>How was your Monday? Any special plans for Tuesday?</div>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-40171562767153974222024-02-25T15:02:00.000-08:002024-02-25T15:02:32.840-08:00The Back Garden in February<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEx6dF6bVOZ6lMydIKx6QH_89hjaNtbqbD2LktLZVPSvOX7Bu9xSATP1oRF7Pp6E7GySuV5TE9tR-e91AOYZdJxK3E9rX5Ke_fKsKBkexYxnzlighou6PTcDzIJDmpekJlk75z1hyphenhyphensPmAxXZO8hwJBoZdCatKZ_3qbB2BYRhSXxgFYH6peBiwqwgkUq6g/s4032/IMG_0313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEx6dF6bVOZ6lMydIKx6QH_89hjaNtbqbD2LktLZVPSvOX7Bu9xSATP1oRF7Pp6E7GySuV5TE9tR-e91AOYZdJxK3E9rX5Ke_fKsKBkexYxnzlighou6PTcDzIJDmpekJlk75z1hyphenhyphensPmAxXZO8hwJBoZdCatKZ_3qbB2BYRhSXxgFYH6peBiwqwgkUq6g/w300-h400/IMG_0313.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Backyard on a Sunny February Afternoon</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Are you ready to take a short stroll through the back garden? The photo above is looking straight down the garden; the photo below is taken from the side gate (the big tree in the background is a neighbor's pine tree, which was trimmed late last year.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxtFUJxDFdbQUvOYT0IfO6VphiVAyiA1J85FJ2I8Y7Q4-PscWzf2GeJVO5eQSs4MvuctuCEkJypG1QDye0T_iOhnbq8IcyKEydNy7wBwjefXVPPvXKOw8F9-GJXWkXeZOPLOmPZmCeZp-f8n1vVHPG18wo_MD0HfR1ADwpC76q8ln4EHZxdE_dQvUk-A/s4032/IMG_0294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxtFUJxDFdbQUvOYT0IfO6VphiVAyiA1J85FJ2I8Y7Q4-PscWzf2GeJVO5eQSs4MvuctuCEkJypG1QDye0T_iOhnbq8IcyKEydNy7wBwjefXVPPvXKOw8F9-GJXWkXeZOPLOmPZmCeZp-f8n1vVHPG18wo_MD0HfR1ADwpC76q8ln4EHZxdE_dQvUk-A/w300-h400/IMG_0294.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From a Different Angle<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />See all that lovely green stuff on the ground? It almost looks like a lawn from this angle, doesn't it? It's just a weedy type of grass that grows only in the winter when it is cool and wet. As soon as summer comes and it starts to get hot, that grass will die back and it'll be just bare ground, again, especially since I won't water it.<br /><br />The star of the garden, right now, is the peach tree:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1c8SuPgVMaqni6Ra3bU0UwzwWraSKr1oaH5l-Om15rVxdABaau6FR2t0-rnctAtokUiP3YwxZcEXYtrUKt8JpW7mQ7EgfZU_tIv2EjoJsI4HJkXWbY5WNp1dMEnie2oXeqCqL4o9lqH809j30gfKyp_yZP3Q1EX5BPakQx0pTknPjZR-XD39PhJ1W3Y/s4032/IMG_0295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1c8SuPgVMaqni6Ra3bU0UwzwWraSKr1oaH5l-Om15rVxdABaau6FR2t0-rnctAtokUiP3YwxZcEXYtrUKt8JpW7mQ7EgfZU_tIv2EjoJsI4HJkXWbY5WNp1dMEnie2oXeqCqL4o9lqH809j30gfKyp_yZP3Q1EX5BPakQx0pTknPjZR-XD39PhJ1W3Y/w300-h400/IMG_0295.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peach Tree</td></tr></tbody></table><br />You are going to get tired of pictures of the peach flowers, but, I love seeing them!<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPniMeqyzwaKeGgEY98E1LyAptnhaL5_ENDmpouu6T8_OO7w2VDnPmPVgJHvo-vcO0CHeWHghWfxFUDYR6FnO9VX3rK7A2StE1e3uoxVXAERQA3TK9qg1AhNHqGQMU4hScDnbpVujvWO_v2pyFlieqqOPz02hAsf_RWsWzMsxKcSlZof0cRMbX9RdH9WI/s4032/IMG_0318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPniMeqyzwaKeGgEY98E1LyAptnhaL5_ENDmpouu6T8_OO7w2VDnPmPVgJHvo-vcO0CHeWHghWfxFUDYR6FnO9VX3rK7A2StE1e3uoxVXAERQA3TK9qg1AhNHqGQMU4hScDnbpVujvWO_v2pyFlieqqOPz02hAsf_RWsWzMsxKcSlZof0cRMbX9RdH9WI/w300-h400/IMG_0318.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peach Flowers</td></tr></tbody></table><br />There are clumps of osteospermum in the back garden, too:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tdb2TPlCHHG3ZvkoN-Nb1rN5RZP7bLlKhU54icxl_ik04SULNfERTNMDBgcoS4X9Smh1bB5vxWMBQ7_bpOgia4o3_mU4uLchlFcUfqGkjK3PmfENenfo6g33oJaHlbWgQPwgv623rFh8neQ0lk2hF_P7ul7dq6BjmRlrikfGf2rLSxRkaky06A9fAyM/s4032/IMG_0319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tdb2TPlCHHG3ZvkoN-Nb1rN5RZP7bLlKhU54icxl_ik04SULNfERTNMDBgcoS4X9Smh1bB5vxWMBQ7_bpOgia4o3_mU4uLchlFcUfqGkjK3PmfENenfo6g33oJaHlbWgQPwgv623rFh8neQ0lk2hF_P7ul7dq6BjmRlrikfGf2rLSxRkaky06A9fAyM/w300-h400/IMG_0319.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purple Osteospermum</td></tr></tbody></table><br />And the aloe vera flower stalk is still in the process of opening up, with the buds separating from the cluster (the flowers haven't bloomed, yet):</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintuem3SMpsT14VLdanQdIAHPGwWPqEPztYFgpHKUnHIz01Ln5jz0DvWpJIZzHHSGdVi19YwYwF5NPYHcNXcSJwRrgtcuw3tay0Pp3s7rp7qF21vXwjVp83voYgmxSYLMErb8nwfN6W3aNRrlYVKPaqNs7Ev8m9f-DQPdXH-dh-dDE9LOPXpQwEIDRS_s/s4032/IMG_0314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintuem3SMpsT14VLdanQdIAHPGwWPqEPztYFgpHKUnHIz01Ln5jz0DvWpJIZzHHSGdVi19YwYwF5NPYHcNXcSJwRrgtcuw3tay0Pp3s7rp7qF21vXwjVp83voYgmxSYLMErb8nwfN6W3aNRrlYVKPaqNs7Ev8m9f-DQPdXH-dh-dDE9LOPXpQwEIDRS_s/w300-h400/IMG_0314.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aloe Vera Flower Stalk in Bud Stage</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Looking down along the side wall, with the clumps of crocosmia growing along the wall, the orange tree with osteospermum growing around its base: <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDo3XlhwZLDmj-0fCm5ShIWiKM_CDiDH0mugs-16fkR2j_b5rb4NuIlsaZaXeIszwIizP2AsC7bGFXtMGMFuPkvYl0jZpgeySIlmMyhII_uzP6BUKgrdFKDkxYWEP12oQHFGNI-bJLXn6hAL8peyHBrO4QzskR2iDrGLQKNps-tr7Kf6ufJDzPh64J1xE/s4032/IMG_0316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDo3XlhwZLDmj-0fCm5ShIWiKM_CDiDH0mugs-16fkR2j_b5rb4NuIlsaZaXeIszwIizP2AsC7bGFXtMGMFuPkvYl0jZpgeySIlmMyhII_uzP6BUKgrdFKDkxYWEP12oQHFGNI-bJLXn6hAL8peyHBrO4QzskR2iDrGLQKNps-tr7Kf6ufJDzPh64J1xE/w400-h300/IMG_0316.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orange Tree and Companion Plants!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Also growing under the orange tree is this volunteer carob plant!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9JRdLP60nMm0iXYgu0gXvcVN-iYqOzeTTIxNKH10yVq5MEjauYBOmiz_ePgIb6j9rcm0-2ULKjDzbliv0Qp3TLnsQnRzdPX44jehC0GJwSstjPtsHSPX3u-zvJud9req-8vBoYjtLW4lBbH1Je6oMjq2zXQfNF6OpP998Ti9d_RA0OnZ4xZondfHZ7g/s4032/IMG_0320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9JRdLP60nMm0iXYgu0gXvcVN-iYqOzeTTIxNKH10yVq5MEjauYBOmiz_ePgIb6j9rcm0-2ULKjDzbliv0Qp3TLnsQnRzdPX44jehC0GJwSstjPtsHSPX3u-zvJud9req-8vBoYjtLW4lBbH1Je6oMjq2zXQfNF6OpP998Ti9d_RA0OnZ4xZondfHZ7g/w300-h400/IMG_0320.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Volunteer Carob Plant</td></tr></tbody></table><p>I might ask M to dig it up and plant it somewhere else!</p><p>This clump of crocosmia (and a yucca plant behind them) are growing further down along the side wall. You can see some of the plants flopped over, which is what happens when they are not staked. Almost all of the plants will flop over after they've flowered and once the leaves start to die, we will cut them down to the ground. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWhulZpoX5f4c3BNZxmn6Bf9ZmPrkJ1P3nMpMIfY_3Oq0s0BHTBho-jhDB8gu1m_1eP7AkVQpS0xT5IeC5kdNruaPXVPB0ktGO8GkfMkYHvE7_pHAKwUPvFDy0h_96IZt-1JiDuAIlkYPEQZj5lbHdxzv9a-d8f8x5KiMlGfnykp57OJCWDwi3Z2UURw/s4032/IMG_0321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWhulZpoX5f4c3BNZxmn6Bf9ZmPrkJ1P3nMpMIfY_3Oq0s0BHTBho-jhDB8gu1m_1eP7AkVQpS0xT5IeC5kdNruaPXVPB0ktGO8GkfMkYHvE7_pHAKwUPvFDy0h_96IZt-1JiDuAIlkYPEQZj5lbHdxzv9a-d8f8x5KiMlGfnykp57OJCWDwi3Z2UURw/w400-h300/IMG_0321.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Croscosmia</td></tr></tbody></table><br />On the other side of the garden, behind the garage, the path to the shed is almost completely hidden by these plants, a mixture of purple Martha Washington geraniums, curry leaf suckers, osteospermum, and gazania, plus weedy grass! As M says, "Just add water and watch the garden grow!" <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-duQpex4YYbM/Zduyzpf9U3I/AAAAAAAAdA8/QEGKUV1j8gA7bJ6scmA3oQzzeYpzd7WjwCNcBGAsYHQ/s4032/IMG_0322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-duQpex4YYbM/Zduyzpf9U3I/AAAAAAAAdA8/QEGKUV1j8gA7bJ6scmA3oQzzeYpzd7WjwCNcBGAsYHQ/w300-h400/IMG_0322.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Hidden Path!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The area near the shed is full of gazanias and commelina (Asiatic dayflower) plants, growing like weeds. M cleared a whole bunch of them from around the base of the persimmon tree, but they are still growing in other places:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAPw6d30gyyhpBhl8T2M7zW7yM5EIg7CNLv46K9pgjPLmoe8airq6V9RDVVSeFKRGc7Zy4vhGqe3jXgdJwTbc-Ggef6aPzbiWOEYVgHctPLCL-8iXoqS8GxqWwDdSMKOBlOdP9S86sK9IVuOtn_Cl61un01B2XfvUTbv0gFRb4Qnjm13ZMQfseIQaHKE/s4032/IMG_0324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAPw6d30gyyhpBhl8T2M7zW7yM5EIg7CNLv46K9pgjPLmoe8airq6V9RDVVSeFKRGc7Zy4vhGqe3jXgdJwTbc-Ggef6aPzbiWOEYVgHctPLCL-8iXoqS8GxqWwDdSMKOBlOdP9S86sK9IVuOtn_Cl61un01B2XfvUTbv0gFRb4Qnjm13ZMQfseIQaHKE/w300-h400/IMG_0324.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gazania and Commelina (Asiatic Day Flower) Plants</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I've tried transplanting the gazania to other areas in the garden, but, they seem to prefer this particular location.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPPeF4efpQTnDtj2hOV2YciWcF3peg_F17BOR5bxmejrf1OFnsfPMKK5JjUIQpF6KTLygarlGDje24JEZJ4Q_uYycIbSwd6RXatvzX-b9Eo2RGzJwMQ4rb7n1Ex8OApc_T9UrxDy9RKjJu5yxsnEUFupXcmnQWcZc8g8JldN2QT4l_td_d5ftxvt8SJA/s4032/IMG_0325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPPeF4efpQTnDtj2hOV2YciWcF3peg_F17BOR5bxmejrf1OFnsfPMKK5JjUIQpF6KTLygarlGDje24JEZJ4Q_uYycIbSwd6RXatvzX-b9Eo2RGzJwMQ4rb7n1Ex8OApc_T9UrxDy9RKjJu5yxsnEUFupXcmnQWcZc8g8JldN2QT4l_td_d5ftxvt8SJA/w300-h400/IMG_0325.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Gazania</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Finally, the blueberry bushes:</p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnNo1eI5Gpg-Izjwx7CHNUoWdoIArnH1Wo2zxtBVjJDqrRsSvy4EgDXXb3MzBfS7aL63SbiRCrqywj9Zjvo0ne-iOpjGVp8EDM7RayyOVFOBshyy69uyMRlEZyhileKLRq9bhvHMzuoYaMW_zoQ1_yHlghA-3qpPxY2zshxbxBWq9xweAek7aAwBFSGUI/s4032/IMG_0326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnNo1eI5Gpg-Izjwx7CHNUoWdoIArnH1Wo2zxtBVjJDqrRsSvy4EgDXXb3MzBfS7aL63SbiRCrqywj9Zjvo0ne-iOpjGVp8EDM7RayyOVFOBshyy69uyMRlEZyhileKLRq9bhvHMzuoYaMW_zoQ1_yHlghA-3qpPxY2zshxbxBWq9xweAek7aAwBFSGUI/w480-h640/IMG_0326.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blueberry Bushes in Flower</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The bees are loving the flowers; in fact, there's a bee in the picture above - do you see it? No? Check the picture below - I've drawn an arrow pointing to it:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wVV8U0WbVzn5VgmOV-mr0hZCVIrNGHAarYBOl9CZow8M84pR2WUcMG1p0Ft6FXYY4Nd5_R41vci3bHQ22r4ph0AJ2wYZ8DYT9I2ahHapVo0yEwsZnd55cwe3FLMFrzI1xRxZdA28ZFALChCzVETGbebZXLqoBwpDZ6u0BlSwPgXjdvkwWW3SsxGrHkY/s2752/IMG_0326%20(1)b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2752" data-original-width="2478" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wVV8U0WbVzn5VgmOV-mr0hZCVIrNGHAarYBOl9CZow8M84pR2WUcMG1p0Ft6FXYY4Nd5_R41vci3bHQ22r4ph0AJ2wYZ8DYT9I2ahHapVo0yEwsZnd55cwe3FLMFrzI1xRxZdA28ZFALChCzVETGbebZXLqoBwpDZ6u0BlSwPgXjdvkwWW3SsxGrHkY/w576-h640/IMG_0326%20(1)b.jpg" width="576" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee on the Blueberry Flower</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Thank you for strolling in the back garden with me. Hope you enjoyed your visit! <br /><br />Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-7065617424711387212024-02-25T00:16:00.000-08:002024-02-25T00:16:50.711-08:00The Front Garden in February<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJQIxfMgbHezTpXMlejkr3zGOeguLj9-WIUaOHpVy8I30xgL04haRSVPohpQ_YG9ywZV8fdVS87Q-A-DmOW-zPYwYkLdmEh9W3Iqxj8gSUoe61WBrySmx5a8dyWuwUuyEWeLXQiBp6V4qSTqBHYpMPFIsbQUJRmDm58vXrcylv7FndytTbVAdfj-T9R7w/s4032/IMG_0297.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJQIxfMgbHezTpXMlejkr3zGOeguLj9-WIUaOHpVy8I30xgL04haRSVPohpQ_YG9ywZV8fdVS87Q-A-DmOW-zPYwYkLdmEh9W3Iqxj8gSUoe61WBrySmx5a8dyWuwUuyEWeLXQiBp6V4qSTqBHYpMPFIsbQUJRmDm58vXrcylv7FndytTbVAdfj-T9R7w/w400-h300/IMG_0297.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Front Garden in February (2/24)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />On a sunny Saturday afternoon in February, will you come for a stroll in the front garden with me?<p></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQFc40bHKcOKRbtdiA-icPtZ8cJFMxmeN2VHOYjF34T5xZ_2AQbHtLJibSPnMwGddYNevqboJ0GZYNin_CH5uimZZpB8MywAjjNJyjyJqkAX30XaD1rLwV_ZNxVoe33-txQIie3DJHrq7i7B_BgWyrI45Nyol1sFIuzK2F85UMizaN_EhzKEygkYLIrg/s4032/IMG_0298.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQFc40bHKcOKRbtdiA-icPtZ8cJFMxmeN2VHOYjF34T5xZ_2AQbHtLJibSPnMwGddYNevqboJ0GZYNin_CH5uimZZpB8MywAjjNJyjyJqkAX30XaD1rLwV_ZNxVoe33-txQIie3DJHrq7i7B_BgWyrI45Nyol1sFIuzK2F85UMizaN_EhzKEygkYLIrg/w300-h400/IMG_0298.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Osteospermum mxed in with the Lantana</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I am encouraging them to grow wherever they consent to grow!<div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyc4ORf1OdD24RjSjckVXvtqdJKK7rpR-FdsDHR24xG3D_PJARWWKMBKL598LrzzLo8JQTEL5Vy8BhObjRfLd-4zORDlsHV3g38-mYxU_2KUMppiK5OQBca3bEJon95ZP-HZ26FRP8bdP9Pcs4rPA0RXTTH84n7Ca3Ig38ND54CbrtNPdCr1Of8199fI/s4032/IMG_0299.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyc4ORf1OdD24RjSjckVXvtqdJKK7rpR-FdsDHR24xG3D_PJARWWKMBKL598LrzzLo8JQTEL5Vy8BhObjRfLd-4zORDlsHV3g38-mYxU_2KUMppiK5OQBca3bEJon95ZP-HZ26FRP8bdP9Pcs4rPA0RXTTH84n7Ca3Ig38ND54CbrtNPdCr1Of8199fI/w300-h400/IMG_0299.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Osteospermum (Self-Seeded)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The euryops bushes, growing at the base of the eucalyptus tree, are also flowering; I love their bright yellow daisy-like flowers:<br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8BGEsJvj9C2yXgHNmSW-6ZF6HRaK8N51QioKyTVjOGCV2tpANAtgyqCf6hcIuaCDIB4W4SEuWscBgihvShJybqzdSoDmnFChK8XjSg9-EpapVX_d76x2NGIUsJo3SHNnJfFZMcbolwyx2wE2j2_JoK83EJOBBL4S7Rx5Xc9jnRL-EKqoaG44-1s14Ew/s4032/IMG_0302.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8BGEsJvj9C2yXgHNmSW-6ZF6HRaK8N51QioKyTVjOGCV2tpANAtgyqCf6hcIuaCDIB4W4SEuWscBgihvShJybqzdSoDmnFChK8XjSg9-EpapVX_d76x2NGIUsJo3SHNnJfFZMcbolwyx2wE2j2_JoK83EJOBBL4S7Rx5Xc9jnRL-EKqoaG44-1s14Ew/w300-h400/IMG_0302.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Euryops</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9mhIdjUiGxXvJ5nSCi7qUFT0zVS_wPTSn9gzn1O0wE5eJy4oP-7z-TgdsJLGLkvIzqjYMC6JLs7N8qVJozZaeJUWdVU-OJ4hD2znkxDV-reKAnhKUXkB1VBCgw-sIUhvvl5CUZqU6x-71mcwkPeDTaVBAvxeHyHg99YjjsWRABOAJaBcWafx2petKM8/s4032/IMG_0301.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9mhIdjUiGxXvJ5nSCi7qUFT0zVS_wPTSn9gzn1O0wE5eJy4oP-7z-TgdsJLGLkvIzqjYMC6JLs7N8qVJozZaeJUWdVU-OJ4hD2znkxDV-reKAnhKUXkB1VBCgw-sIUhvvl5CUZqU6x-71mcwkPeDTaVBAvxeHyHg99YjjsWRABOAJaBcWafx2petKM8/w300-h400/IMG_0301.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Euryops - Close Up</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Between the eucalyptus tree and the fence with the neighbors, I have what I call my succulents circle, with the jacaranda tree in the middle, and aloes and aeoniums growing around it:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNow499M4tp6YKaLi9aPO3HBUlh_mDi21yr7asy9ui7T2Uz6crK5jkmXJxTTQ7bJ3Wl8qGiwr5leplRuuTV2m781xCCAbilKQKg-BjGB9C-3KraIMitPnWRg_HCyqFNwAXCRE_MFueaaZEQp_tqpIm66vXreaRhhpDmnssN4jenxhoD1hsxU0R4GVtqbg/s4032/IMG_0303.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNow499M4tp6YKaLi9aPO3HBUlh_mDi21yr7asy9ui7T2Uz6crK5jkmXJxTTQ7bJ3Wl8qGiwr5leplRuuTV2m781xCCAbilKQKg-BjGB9C-3KraIMitPnWRg_HCyqFNwAXCRE_MFueaaZEQp_tqpIm66vXreaRhhpDmnssN4jenxhoD1hsxU0R4GVtqbg/w300-h400/IMG_0303.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Succulents Circle</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The aloe flowers are coming to an end, with just a few flowers left at the very end of the stalks:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn_GZHmX59q8mkJdqWL0SVmxhf-OuA42vOg6o0SRgLsh6TLITPMx65ANVJgZ9-6JZ91OyxuzXJRoqDOgHQa-5PnhfVMlNLGj3qG52pWbbB2q9CbFWC-a_l2ebWxNHjModG0tNazQhopN7a5Ml0QkCnZz28cVxWCnq-6HmzFWyy-k30jioyOE6ec_rKOBM/s4032/IMG_0304.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn_GZHmX59q8mkJdqWL0SVmxhf-OuA42vOg6o0SRgLsh6TLITPMx65ANVJgZ9-6JZ91OyxuzXJRoqDOgHQa-5PnhfVMlNLGj3qG52pWbbB2q9CbFWC-a_l2ebWxNHjModG0tNazQhopN7a5Ml0QkCnZz28cVxWCnq-6HmzFWyy-k30jioyOE6ec_rKOBM/w300-h400/IMG_0304.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aloe Flowers</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This is one of my favorite succulent plants:</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxmscvtWTpRLEKY51g74DGhyphenhyphenmK41hiQiaHjQEX2dvBMyrIs0lqFJJ5grPWTdwnrfsnJpn3JZSrgiaHWCwO5T5XgHWWAiRai34RYjexp9ua5X1l8zi87XAszuXy-Ing9XjS5bth2xDJPSco6kv-SCoWFcG6aFkjt0AZijzu6aJmczWWyt6E0icAFAnyRQ/s4032/IMG_0291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxmscvtWTpRLEKY51g74DGhyphenhyphenmK41hiQiaHjQEX2dvBMyrIs0lqFJJ5grPWTdwnrfsnJpn3JZSrgiaHWCwO5T5XgHWWAiRai34RYjexp9ua5X1l8zi87XAszuXy-Ing9XjS5bth2xDJPSco6kv-SCoWFcG6aFkjt0AZijzu6aJmczWWyt6E0icAFAnyRQ/w300-h400/IMG_0291.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aeonium "Sunburst"</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Along the fence, I have what I call the succulents border, with many different succulents growing along it:</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XfjE8qtOsBz-irQzeB7VY3zL6mPFPV66lXXyxTatoan8x5RqZHAukuIMAN8xWuivMJ-Kp27ZNsO26jSIbF46am26_xAwUv0UpvnCwZ44fKJf6a5vpfJnmCbd4nCIRNKtYv3OOpzQue3ufJU9XY4j1flV0zkOnbzpTH_T8wxJARIeMOov96lWxh3VNsY/s4032/IMG_0307.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XfjE8qtOsBz-irQzeB7VY3zL6mPFPV66lXXyxTatoan8x5RqZHAukuIMAN8xWuivMJ-Kp27ZNsO26jSIbF46am26_xAwUv0UpvnCwZ44fKJf6a5vpfJnmCbd4nCIRNKtYv3OOpzQue3ufJU9XY4j1flV0zkOnbzpTH_T8wxJARIeMOov96lWxh3VNsY/w400-h300/IMG_0307.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the Succulents Along the Border</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Last year, M brought me a different type of succulent plant from his garden, with "leaves" that look like spring onion tops (I've forgotten the name; maybe a species of bulbine?). We planted it at the front of the succulents border and it has some flower stalks, now!<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6c_oBrLQ17ZyOf6myv2Z2FbewCUHUUsIcDAaxiUkc8yx3NyU4AwuFXJfHhvaE1YF-0Az3PHmF3gJRLiW1uBn-zuAXNhoammxg86jFFoTaG7zu5t_qs3wFXNrtPBV3pP4uIHzeTvWPFC4364h2a5lgiyVrQNrqccAiX69Ky8h7gu1CnFD7LJyXle9yvl8/s4032/IMG_0305.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6c_oBrLQ17ZyOf6myv2Z2FbewCUHUUsIcDAaxiUkc8yx3NyU4AwuFXJfHhvaE1YF-0Az3PHmF3gJRLiW1uBn-zuAXNhoammxg86jFFoTaG7zu5t_qs3wFXNrtPBV3pP4uIHzeTvWPFC4364h2a5lgiyVrQNrqccAiX69Ky8h7gu1CnFD7LJyXle9yvl8/w300-h400/IMG_0305.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks like Spring Onions, doesn't it?</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I will ask M what the name of this plant is, on Wednesday. In thee meantime, I took a close up of the flower stalks (still in bud):<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7a1vUDP_kYOVkJYD0uFXScqeP-6PGnsy8pvq1YLpkG8kVtBBnWm-CnjUDj2g4xulnNKDXDydppPdyHNA0QlJWDsI86cn_gyYdQ5IbVVFT0x6Rhat8uQmMmz5GZab2V_f1nCBZCZqNf8Wfgs9CuSE68LcRujhUjZeHGMDAbTK0EqEw2OngyMpSvjP8lD4/s4032/IMG_0306.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7a1vUDP_kYOVkJYD0uFXScqeP-6PGnsy8pvq1YLpkG8kVtBBnWm-CnjUDj2g4xulnNKDXDydppPdyHNA0QlJWDsI86cn_gyYdQ5IbVVFT0x6Rhat8uQmMmz5GZab2V_f1nCBZCZqNf8Wfgs9CuSE68LcRujhUjZeHGMDAbTK0EqEw2OngyMpSvjP8lD4/w300-h400/IMG_0306.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flower Stalks (still in bud)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />At the other end of the front garden, in the planting bed along the driveway, the newer rosemary bush is full of flowers and the bees are going crazy!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuffcJkQBNnWsZPFUash8z5mHXzBj5_TWOiwNu3NU1MKImS6dW6Daslq3mdYlKqQa-yUB5rDYXTSUrL9WAT1xcHThIDDV3T2VH75S4GeEHOwQ0ZikS_j6r7xjTdoUEa8G8ew4kWkMx-nksL-gDbjSnr0fZVrSrzwPVAAUdcGg5vxRa2kpKoYsXYLFwzeI/s4032/IMG_0312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuffcJkQBNnWsZPFUash8z5mHXzBj5_TWOiwNu3NU1MKImS6dW6Daslq3mdYlKqQa-yUB5rDYXTSUrL9WAT1xcHThIDDV3T2VH75S4GeEHOwQ0ZikS_j6r7xjTdoUEa8G8ew4kWkMx-nksL-gDbjSnr0fZVrSrzwPVAAUdcGg5vxRa2kpKoYsXYLFwzeI/w300-h400/IMG_0312.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosemary Bush in Flower and a Bee</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br />I no longer have grass growing in what used to be a lawn, but, I have a mostly water-wise garden in the front and I am content. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am grateful for:</div><div>- Having a place to garden<br />- M's help with the garden<br />- The many water-wise plants I have</div><div>- The rain we've had<br />- Flowers for the bees (and the butterflies, too)</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOL6mjbvJirseVDmlK_CSM12Wwjy9-aGmaWeorAO3EhDh4gBScZOShTtGjcUPvM-1xkp1yFq9TzrPzNLc87XbuhlHmsZjtLUnsNs0ZIOXSe22lm7XjfUHnqbCb5B_SuzX66RIBC1_AmPeIRIzE_pwZYImSHQdl8A-hbKgjbHU22_rUt3eRaV2djrzh37s/s4032/IMG_0300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOL6mjbvJirseVDmlK_CSM12Wwjy9-aGmaWeorAO3EhDh4gBScZOShTtGjcUPvM-1xkp1yFq9TzrPzNLc87XbuhlHmsZjtLUnsNs0ZIOXSe22lm7XjfUHnqbCb5B_SuzX66RIBC1_AmPeIRIzE_pwZYImSHQdl8A-hbKgjbHU22_rUt3eRaV2djrzh37s/w300-h400/IMG_0300.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow Butterfly on the Lantana Flowers</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>It's not the best picture, but, it was hard to photograph this butterfly with its wings spread out in flight.</div><div><br /></div><div>I hope you enjoyed the stroll around the front garden. We'll walk around the back garden on Sunday!</div><br />Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-71819216413383816062024-02-24T01:06:00.000-08:002024-02-25T00:30:30.615-08:00Friday - Updated<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLC3GB8VZcavFMwS3D5DcRwWzKEbNBLjNjwmXM3PDFVAZmWbnyt7qI4DjHVddnG6Rp0OMhwx7Mqnma36lgonBRlR2soxE1_iT6y1yE2HLKv9-78qOKhhj6HEH81QP5cyrdvEBAcxlfeMU9xGYx_UhcJLTgbLqYrtjWkO09DdrXk3vSiz8nVHgAjPL9NU/s4032/IMG_0289.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLC3GB8VZcavFMwS3D5DcRwWzKEbNBLjNjwmXM3PDFVAZmWbnyt7qI4DjHVddnG6Rp0OMhwx7Mqnma36lgonBRlR2soxE1_iT6y1yE2HLKv9-78qOKhhj6HEH81QP5cyrdvEBAcxlfeMU9xGYx_UhcJLTgbLqYrtjWkO09DdrXk3vSiz8nVHgAjPL9NU/w300-h400/IMG_0289.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strike>Mammatus Cloud Formation</strike><span style="color: red;"> <br /> Cirrocumulus/altocumulus</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It was a sunny day, today, with an afternoon high of 73F. When I went outside in the late afternoon, I saw this cloud formation. <span style="color: red;"> At first I thought they were </span>mammatus clouds, also known as popcorn clouds. <span style="color: red;">But, Lady Ella suggested they might be what is known as mackerel skies - formed by altocumulus or cirrocumulus clouds and now that she has mentioned it, I think that's what these clouds are and Celie, who teaches a class in weather had confirmed it! Thank you, Celie!</span></p><p>I think I might use this for the "cloud formations" picture in the Winter Photo Scavenger Hunt final selection.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6pJiIN7TMsaNmZeJ_E6h2M9v65-yMSN_CrrR54Fcnqq2RDG2ITLxvfRCcy6qFiyr2ym0Hbq_SVjSxpt_u5pMYzmV4GJo1E0NY9sxrJY4lKejNXMtxcRL0aa9rLCMtwuFeNmX-D5HXhe0ZuCDQWF9sUQMD5xhqtRcY-dWretf3CGKK8m_DzBdjnKfrLs/s4032/IMG_0286.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6pJiIN7TMsaNmZeJ_E6h2M9v65-yMSN_CrrR54Fcnqq2RDG2ITLxvfRCcy6qFiyr2ym0Hbq_SVjSxpt_u5pMYzmV4GJo1E0NY9sxrJY4lKejNXMtxcRL0aa9rLCMtwuFeNmX-D5HXhe0ZuCDQWF9sUQMD5xhqtRcY-dWretf3CGKK8m_DzBdjnKfrLs/w300-h400/IMG_0286.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strike>"Popcorn" Clouds</strike><span style="color: red;"> Mackerel Skies!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I spent a rather relaxed day. I spent some time in the garden and taking a few pictures:<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlVgc7UIPKGlQTqDYY81pnG5A0sR-q4lPGHyqNgGtauF-bppMi2pYSWfcfd6yemPUkWbJj-Ape5hcmA7HZBZm87XDH4NoqbCF-xr-aCUifr-ohmwZzY9EXuHWK0X1GHvuGCBFkNqmfvQhbZQTCmuYEnmuKykUjrttpgggK3Mlbc2SuCI3ioQaLGoWD38/s2345/IMG_0292a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2151" data-original-width="2345" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlVgc7UIPKGlQTqDYY81pnG5A0sR-q4lPGHyqNgGtauF-bppMi2pYSWfcfd6yemPUkWbJj-Ape5hcmA7HZBZm87XDH4NoqbCF-xr-aCUifr-ohmwZzY9EXuHWK0X1GHvuGCBFkNqmfvQhbZQTCmuYEnmuKykUjrttpgggK3Mlbc2SuCI3ioQaLGoWD38/w400-h368/IMG_0292a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garden Lizard, Sunning Itself</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Then, I continued to read my library book, until M arrived to tend to the garden. He continued with the weeding (the garden plants aren't the only plants to respond to the rain!) </div><div><br /></div><div>Mary-Lou wanted to see the bay laurel wreath I had made. Here's how the wreath looked, yesterday, after I made it:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWWhSZaaUrsNkWdYjq0TZfRCLhzCL46zlDeWgBETgvjEQYBOS-EaoYuuR41dOT9qc2Vx7S6m3WdxnYeaChMHbKwcF_ByAN1KvZiMwmUKgMD_SpQJm6Jv-HWjxDUm4PPNuMoENREl74OBhFywXpHFeeE5mMX9rIonmeZoldhg7iDHRLNdS5jv3OzruvKA/s4032/IMG_0279.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWWhSZaaUrsNkWdYjq0TZfRCLhzCL46zlDeWgBETgvjEQYBOS-EaoYuuR41dOT9qc2Vx7S6m3WdxnYeaChMHbKwcF_ByAN1KvZiMwmUKgMD_SpQJm6Jv-HWjxDUm4PPNuMoENREl74OBhFywXpHFeeE5mMX9rIonmeZoldhg7iDHRLNdS5jv3OzruvKA/w300-h400/IMG_0279.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bay Laurel Wreath</td></tr></tbody></table><p>After I took that picture, I decided it looked too plain and needed a raffia bow to dress it up a bit. Here's how it looked, today, after the leaves dried, overnight:<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX5uPOaSJuBqH6w-2aXXbNTJ5VjaNhTGIP2mKokfqOQgA2nWO689xSEgVusCfh2cUU13FaW58-a4Tmq8fxAgL3OuLLzZr2Y6cgM0gRkA1QOtTheF5Xt0gfWJ4Hu26IcuhJKlSnUBDf_K2lK7rvRJ4vQ0f7I0t17dzpt_AiX1U7ccUg6AdHvXiq1jqN1ME/s4032/IMG_0284.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX5uPOaSJuBqH6w-2aXXbNTJ5VjaNhTGIP2mKokfqOQgA2nWO689xSEgVusCfh2cUU13FaW58-a4Tmq8fxAgL3OuLLzZr2Y6cgM0gRkA1QOtTheF5Xt0gfWJ4Hu26IcuhJKlSnUBDf_K2lK7rvRJ4vQ0f7I0t17dzpt_AiX1U7ccUg6AdHvXiq1jqN1ME/w300-h400/IMG_0284.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bay Laurel Wreath with Bow</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The leaves are not as glossy, but, the dried bay leaves will last for a long time. I gave the wreath to M, today, to give to his sister. I kept a few of the leaves I trimmed off to dry and use for my cooking. I did have fun making the wreath.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of wreaths, here's the wreath base I made with the passionfruit vines that were pruned:</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBeok-e3WKkyzAkgoRzQFAIV_tJ4UWjsEhFHV5OjGpG9fx4hpg05L6fHALFi6JYemsxfRGeDSpyrgTgNIM2eHmtja6YYbn3yVA-8xrDovofPW4F3LoFL9FWXgExC4uyif2hi0Uv8vgMFTkwaQHjzjJ3EgsE5WK552C6j_Fl8dMQPBMaTMdvVN4wh-xddg/s4032/IMG_0285.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBeok-e3WKkyzAkgoRzQFAIV_tJ4UWjsEhFHV5OjGpG9fx4hpg05L6fHALFi6JYemsxfRGeDSpyrgTgNIM2eHmtja6YYbn3yVA-8xrDovofPW4F3LoFL9FWXgExC4uyif2hi0Uv8vgMFTkwaQHjzjJ3EgsE5WK552C6j_Fl8dMQPBMaTMdvVN4wh-xddg/w300-h400/IMG_0285.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passionfruit Vine Wreath Base</td></tr></tbody></table><br />It looks a bit like a grapevine wreath, doesn't it? I haven't decorated it yet (obviously); I could use it as a spring wreath, but, I think it will be more suitable for a fall wreath. What do you think?<div><br /></div><div>In the evening, I watched news and later, a movie, "Love Story", on TV. I read the book when I was in Sri Lanka, but, I don't remember ever seeing the movie.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Today, I'm grateful for:</div><div>- A sunny, warm day in February!<br />- M's help with the garden<br />- Library books<br />- Phone calls and emails from family and friends<br />- Being able to order things online and have them delivered to the door (cat litter!)</div><div><br /></div><div>Today's joyful activities included reading and gardening.</div><div><br /></div><div>Brunch had been a cold cuts and cheese sandwich (using up the last bit of roast beef cold cuts). I had the last piece of the fruit cake at tea time. Dinner was rice and the smoked sausage stir fry, with half a large apple for dessert.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't have any plans as such for Saturday. How about you? Any plans for the weekend?</div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: red;">* Updated to reidentify the types of clouds.</span></div>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7162428932122354536.post-64026774238731866922024-02-23T01:20:00.000-08:002024-02-23T01:20:25.334-08:00After the Rain<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLs02lphYU_cw3GCeHmAycw4ncrfSIDAXnzZwVuAvQDj-OIr2wI8kgREfa9m-KYmx8b4_CSNXvFzvgMButZZW1I1Laocnq8rV1oUWLZepb3fwM9K6vADchmmtGUQQjUAAAahWTEGNePIB-ovw3isArj9CuHxFgM9tgGN-KSB6pYbugCa8dxZrbns4FGKc/s4032/IMG_0282.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLs02lphYU_cw3GCeHmAycw4ncrfSIDAXnzZwVuAvQDj-OIr2wI8kgREfa9m-KYmx8b4_CSNXvFzvgMButZZW1I1Laocnq8rV1oUWLZepb3fwM9K6vADchmmtGUQQjUAAAahWTEGNePIB-ovw3isArj9CuHxFgM9tgGN-KSB6pYbugCa8dxZrbns4FGKc/w300-h400/IMG_0282.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Leaves on the Loquat Plant</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The rain stopped on Wednesday! It was a mostly cloudy day, but, the sun tried to shine through the clouds. Gardener M was here a little after 11:00 a.m. to tend to the garden. He did some weeding and pruned the star jasmine vine. The old wooden trellis it had been growing on had rotted and collapsed, so we pulled it out. I will buy a new trellis for the vine once I decide on one that I like. </p><p>I had leftover French toast and bacon for brunch on Wednesday and for dinner, I had leftover rice and sausage stir fry followed by an apple for dessert.</p><p>On Thursday, it was bright and sunny, without a cloud in the sky. I made a wreath with some bay laurel sprigs that M had pruned from another client's garden, texted with a cousin's daughter and helped her to identify some of the people in an old family photo, did a few household tasks, crocheted another granny square, and read. </p><p>I finished the last piece of French toast and bacon for brunch; dinner was freshly cooked rice with chicken curry and peach chutney; another apple for dessert.</p><p>I am grateful for:</p><p>- A couple of sunny days<br />- M's help with the garden<br />- The garden is thriving after all that rain, with new growth and flowers<br />- Library books to read<br />- Emails, texts, phone calls, etc., with family and friends</p><p>Joyful activities have included gardening, reading, crocheting, and wreath making.</p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGWnlicyTWlN_GNGgEERqDK70uS3WxxePh5-9KPiYGWZ-36VDgNA6wf7GAO7I_MguISmfePw1eo_xf4oQofnoZSh6IFZ_svIuZSYMSI3vgbmhTsZxcZUC1_HS0TQtJdjax_R-7nXkClQIb7c5P81MiW342WTpgj8qHVmZOEtxCdclJy2VsbK8vWtcTYU/s4032/IMG_0283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGWnlicyTWlN_GNGgEERqDK70uS3WxxePh5-9KPiYGWZ-36VDgNA6wf7GAO7I_MguISmfePw1eo_xf4oQofnoZSh6IFZ_svIuZSYMSI3vgbmhTsZxcZUC1_HS0TQtJdjax_R-7nXkClQIb7c5P81MiW342WTpgj8qHVmZOEtxCdclJy2VsbK8vWtcTYU/w300-h400/IMG_0283.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hellebore Flowers</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>Plans for Friday include more reading, maybe doing a load of laundry, and more gardening with M in the evening. </p><p>How is your week coming along? Any special plans for Friday? <br /> </p>Blesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369267622517848850noreply@blogger.com18