Happy Vesak!

Fresh Roses for the Mantel

Vesak is a Buddhist celebration, commemorating three events: the birth of Siddhartha, his enlightenment and becoming the Buddha, and his death.  Vesak is observed on the full moon day in May, so the date is not a fixed date.  It is the biggest, most important religious event on the Buddhist calendar.  It is a day for religious observations, for going to the Temple, for illuminating the homes with candles, oil lamps, and lanterns, and for distributing food.  I participated in Saturday's food drive which was held by the postal service (an annual event which was put on hold for the past couple of years due to the pandemic; it has nothing to do with observing Vesak, but, just happened to coincide very nicely with it), said my morning prayers, and offered fresh flowers at the home altars.  

Dancer insisted that I woke up early today!  I tried to go back to sleep, but, gave up after 30 minutes of trying, made my morning tea, and got going with my day's activities!  I dusted the living room and dining area (except the dining table that is piled with scraps of fabric!); the dusting didn't take long because most surfaces were clear, so, I went ahead and dusted the family room, as well (on my weekly schedule for Tuesdays, but, I will be going to the doctor's appointment, tomorrow, so, the fewer things to do tomorrow, the better).  Then, I picked a few roses to bring inside, for the altars and the mantel where I display photos of my mother.

Most of the roses looked like this:

When You Try to Bloom and it's 96F

Desiccated!  

Afterwards, I changed the bed sheets, did three loads of laundry, and remade the bed.

Later in the afternoon, I played a bit more with my fabric scraps!  Remember I said I needed to trim some of the larger scraps?  Well, I might have done a bit of sewing, as well:

Cat Block

I found several cat block patterns and tutorials online and decided to try a tutorial by the Missouri Quilt Co.  

After tea, I cleaned the fridge (it was pretty clean, just had to wipe up some crumbs and the only item tossed was a half eaten tortilla that had dried out), cleaned the litter box, took the trash cans to the curb, picked blueberries, and made my meal plan for the week.  The only item that remained on my Monday's to do list was to spot water the fruit trees and seedlings, but, I checked on them and they were okay (it wasn't as warm, today, as it had been over the weekend); I will water them, tomorrow.

 Monday's To Do List:

- Change bed sheets ✔

- Load of laundry (bed sheets/towels) ✔

- Dust living room & dining area ✔

- Clean the fridge ✔

- Take trash cans to the curb for Tuesday trash pick up ✔

- Clean the litter box ✔
- Spot water the back garden (fruit trees and newly planted seedlings) - Tuesday

- Meal plan ✔

- Trim some fabric ✔

In the evening, I spoke with friend R and chatted with my daughter.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Being able to observe Vesak in my own way
- Roses from the garden

- Working appliances

- Online tutorials

- My scrap fabric stash

Today's joyful activity was more patchwork piecing!

Tuesday's To Do List:

- Dust my bedroom

- Doctor's appointment
- Water the fruit trees and seedlings

- Water the house plants

- Bring the trash cans in

- Put away the last load of laundry

- Run the dishwasher

How was your Monday?  What are your plans for Tuesday?