Monthly Photo Challenge - April: "Spring"

The monthly photo challenge is hosted by Eileen and April's theme is "Spring".

Spring to me means new growth: 

New Leaves on the Persimmon Tree

And lots of flowers in the garden.

On the fruit trees:

Orange Blossom

Lemon

Feijoa/Pineapple Guava

Asian Pears

Pomegranate

Nectarine

As well as cultivated garden flowers:

Roses

Bottlebrush

Lantana

Geraniums (Purple Martha Washington)

Crocosmia

And the wildflowers which also have a place in my garden:

California Poppies

Dandelion

Phacelia

Spring is the best season in the garden for me.

"What do you think about it, Dancer?"

"Who, me?"

"What do I think about it?"

"I need to sleep on it, Mummy"

"I ain't no spring chicken, you know."

Thank you, Eileen, for hosting the monthly photo challenges.  Dancer and I have fun participating in them.  

Friday

Dandelion

Friday was a more productive day than Thursday.  I put away the laundry from yesterday and did another load which is hanging up to dry.  I picked a few more snow pea pods from the garden and, when M was here to tend to the garden in the evening, we planted a few more green beans that had sprouted and a jacaranda seedling that had been growing in a pot (M grew it from a seed).  I also cleaned the bathroom, which is on my weekly cleaning schedule for Fridays.  In between, I sewed a few more patches on the quilt I am repairing.  And, in the evening, I walked for 20 minutes.  I wasn't experiencing any discomfort, but, I didn't want to try and push for 25 minutes.    

Brunch was more sardines on toast and dinner was chicken curry and lavash bread.  I had some cereal, grapes, and strawberries as snacks.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Feeling more energetic
- What I was able to accomplish
- M helping with the garden
- TV shows to watch
- Working appliances.  

Today's joyful activities included gardening with M and video chatting with my daughter.

Plans for tomorrow include a little more housework and sewing.

What are your plans for the weekend?
 

Low Key Thursday

Dancer Takes it Easy

Neither Dancer nor I felt very energetic, today.  He woke me up early, demanding breakfast; I gave him his breakfast and went back to bed!  Then, slept most of the morning!  I still felt rather tired after I woke up.  But, I got a load of laundry washed and hung up to dry, walked around the garden for a bit, did a tiny bit of weeding, picked lettuce for a salad, and started the car.  I didn't take a walk today as I didn't feel up to it.  Instead, I watched some videos and continued to repair the quilt.  Later, I watched news, called friend R, and video chatted with my daughter.

Brunch was a salad with lettuce from the garden, grapes, and almonds, with bottled French dressing.  Dinner was chicken curry with lavash flat bread.  More grapes and yogurt for dessert.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Being able to sleep in as needed
- Electricity and working appliances
- Fresh lettuce from the garden
- The car started
- Being able to video chat with my daughter

Today's joyful activity was watching online videos.

Plans for tomorrow include tending to the garden with M.

Another Day, Another Quilt to Repair

Log Cabin Quilt

This is the second quilt I ever made (the first one was a hexagon quilt using the English paper piecing method; I no longer have that quilt).  This quilt was sewn in 1977.  The top is hand pieced with strips of fabric that are one inch in width when finished and varying lengths; the smallest pieces in the center of each block are one inch square.  I mostly used fabric I had on hand including some of my blouses and two of my step-father's shirts!  The flowered fabric that appears grey was originally black; it was the only piece of fabric I bought specifically for this quilt - a blouse purchased for a dollar or two from a thrift shop.  We were in Florida at the time and money was very tight.

Some of the red patterned fabric has torn through much use:

Torn Pieces

I decided that I wanted to repair the quilt.  I started to cut out 1 1/2" by 3 1/2" strips to replace the torn pieces.  I will hand stitch them in place, on top of the torn pieces.  

**********************

M was here, today (Wednesday) and we planted some green beans under the plum tree and surrounded it with wire mesh to keep the cats away and to hopefully discourage the mourning doves from eating the bean sprouts.  M also planted some succulents cuttings he brought me (from his garden) and watered the garden for me.  

Speaking of birds, I haven't seen Chicken Little in a couple of weeks!  I wonder what happened!

In the afternoon, I cut out some strips of fabric for the log cabin quilt and started sewing them in place.

In the evening, I went for my walk.  This time, my hip hurt after about 10 minutes, but, I decided to continue to walk slowly and did my 25 minutes.  

Yesterday (Tuesday), after I posted, I cleaned the living room and dining area (dusted, vacuumed, brushed down cobwebs, etc.) and swept the kitchen.  Today, I started on the family room, but, didn't finish.  I cleaned the litter box and swept the bathroom, however.  This week is the "All House" branch of my 8-week cleaning schedule.  I want to finish the family room, tomorrow, and mop the kitchen floor.

Breakfast was sardines on toast again (it was a big can of sardines; I think I'll be having sardines on toast for several days, this week!)  Lunch was spaghetti with meat sauce.  Neighbor S provided me with dinner, last night, and I had some of it last night and finished the rest, today:

Dinner Compliments of Neighbor S

Rice pilaf, grilled meat, broccoli and green beans cooked together, and a couple of stems of fresh basil, plus watermelon for dessert.  I put the basil in a jar of water to see if they will root!   

Today, I am grateful for:

- A sunny and warm day (80F; my kind of weather!)
- M helping with the garden
- S providing me with dinner
- Being able to video chat with my daughter
- Being able to order medications online to be delivered to the house

Today's joyful activity was repairing my Log Cabin quilt.

Plans for tomorrow include more housework, quilt repairs, and starting the car!  

How was your Wednesday?  What are your plans for Thursday?

Monday in Review and Tuesday

Lantana Bush

On Monday, I made it a point to walk in the morning; I walked for 20 minutes without needing to stop and, since I still felt OK, I walked for 5 additional minutes.  It's rather pathetic, I know, but, I am very happy with my progress!

This particular lantana bush was covered with flowers, although the picture didn't come out that well (too much glare, I suppose).

I also noticed that some of the self-seeded osteospermum that are growing in the middle of the front garden were flowering!  The plants are only about 4 inches tall!  M is not too impressed by them, but, I am hoping that they will grow and become a ground cover!  I might not be able to grow a lush lawn of grass, but, I'll have a carpet of flowers, instead!  

Osteospermum Seedlings

Have you heard the term guerrilla gardening?  It describes planting seeds or seedlings on land that one does not have the legal right to plant in.  Well, it seems I caught a guerrilla gardener in action, "planting" a walnut in my front flower bed! 

Guerrilla Gardening Squirrel!

Do you see it?  Maybe if I enlarged the picture:

Squirrel 

I had noticed it running across my garden with a walnut in its mouth and by the time I had taken my cell phone out and zoomed in on it, it had already dug into the flower bed and buried its walnut!  Then, as I approached to take another picture, it ran across the driveway and up on to the wall between my house and neighbor T's house:

Just a Glimpse of a Tail Near the Iron Railing

And bounded along the top of the wall to disappear behind the garage!

There it goes!

I love squirrels, although I might change my mind if I have to fight with them for my peaches and other fruits this summer!  LOL.  I wonder if it will remember its walnut and come back for it or if it forgets it, will I have a walnut tree growing in the front yard?  

Later, I had sardines on toast for brunch and my last banana from Friday's grocery shopping - it was already a bit overripe for my liking, but, it was fine.  Then, I sat down to reply to blog comments, etc.

A short time later, neighbor S called to ask if I'd like to have some strawberries, gata (Armenian cookies), and lavash (Armenian flat bread).  I said, "Yes, please" and went over to collect them.  Her mother-in-law, who lives with them had recently come home after being hospitalized and various family members have been coming by to visit, bringing gifts of food with them; S said she wanted to give me some of the extras.  While I was there, I asked S's husband if he knew anything about the police activity down the road from us (his cousin owns the house which is rented to the people currently living there), but, he didn't know about it.  It was a brief visit, but, I wore my mask and neighbor S wore her mask, too, which I really, really appreciated.  

A little later in the afternoon, neighbor S called me again to ask if they can borrow my recycling bin - apparently, she and her husband were clearing some items stored in their shed and their recycling bin was full.  I was more than happy to let them use my recycling bin.  

I watered the garden, both front and back, on Monday, cleaned the litter box, took the other trash bin to the end of the driveway (S's husband had placed the recycling bin there, already), had a chat with Aunt C, did a meal plan for the week, and made spaghetti for dinner.  

On Monday, I was grateful for:

- Neighbor S sharing more food with me
- Being able to help her out by lending her my recycling bin
- Being able to walk for 25 minutes without pain
- Water for the garden
- A sunny day

Monday's joyful activities included watching the squirrel burying its walnut in my flower bed!  

It's another sunny day, today (Tuesday)with the forecast high being 71F (67F, currently, at 2:00 p.m) .  

This morning, I set my timer and walked for 25 minutes, straight!  Without any aches or pains!  Woo hoo!  I maintained a fairly slow pace - I've noticed that if I try to speed up, then, it starts to hurt.  I might build up speed, later, as I improve my stamina, but, for now, slow and steady as my mother used to say.  I don't have a pedometer, but, I counted my steps as I walked and I got in 2,100 steps, today.  It's not enough, of course, but, it is something, and it's more than what I did earlier (my highest count when I walked 20 minutes was 1,600 steps).  I am very pleased about the whole thing.  My goal is to try to walk 30 minutes by the end of the month.  I will try to add two more minutes to my walking time, tomorrow.

Afterwards, I ate sardines on toast, again, for brunch, and some Armenian gata that neighbor S had given me.  Her mother-in-law had to be taken to the hospital, again, this morning (I saw the ambulance in front of their house and called to ask if everything was OK).  

I need to get some housework done this afternoon as I didn't get half the things done, yesterday.  Dinner will be a salad (lettuce from the garden) and spaghetti (leftovers from yesterday).

Today, I am grateful for:

- Another sunny day
- Being able to walk for another 25 minutes without pain
- Snow peas from the garden
- A home to maintain
- Dancer making sure I wake up, each morning, whether I'm ready to wake up or not!  LOL!

Today's joyful activity has been enjoying the flowers in the garden.

How is your Tuesday coming along?

Snow Peas from the Garden

April Meal Planning: Week 4

I didn't make a meal plan last week and I didn't keep very good records of what I ate, either!

But, brunches included yogurt flat breads/roti with katta sambol one day (Monday) and with chicken curry the next day (Tuesday), an egg salad sandwich (Wednesday), a frozen burrito, a salad, scrambled egg and toast, and a cheese sandwich (Sunday).

Dinners included rice with chicken curry and cucumber salad (Monday); a cheeseburger made with the last frozen hamburger patty, bread ends for the bun, and a slice of American cheese, plus a side salad (Tuesday); rice, chicken curry, and mango curry (Wednesday), fried rice (Thursday), gyoza/pot stickers (Friday); rice, ground beef and vegetables mixture from the freezer, with stir fried broccoli (Saturday and Sunday).

Desserts/Snacks included fruit cocktail dump cake (Monday and Tuesday), fruit salad (Wednesday and Thursday), hazelnut wafers, bananas, grapes, yogurt with treacle, and cereal.

Which was not too bad for not making a meal plan!

Onto this week, the 4th week of April!

Brunches: Sardines on toast, salads, peanut butter on toast, lavash (Armenian flat bread) with seeni sambol or chicken curry

Dinners: Spaghetti with ground turkey (and vegetables) pasta sauce, rice with chicken curry, broccoli, the last of the mango curry and/or cucumber slices, patties with ground turkey filling, leftovers

Desserts/Snacks: Gata (Armenian cookies), yogurt with treacle, fresh fruits, cereal, etc.  

Today (Monday), I had sardines on toast and a banana for brunch, lavash with seeni sambol at tea time, together with some strawberries and gata, and spaghetti for a late dinner.  

The lavash (Armenian flat bread), gata (Armenian cookies), and strawberries were given to me by neighbor S.

Lavash (on top), Gata, and Strawberries

That is the plan and, as always, it is subject to change!  Are you making a meal plan for this week?

The Weekend

Rose: Front and Center!

Oh, my!  The days are passing by faster than I can record them!  LOL.  We've had several sunny warm days, with the daytime highs in the upper 70s and mid 80s.  I'm glad I photographed the roses when I did because, by Friday, they were wilted and M removed them.

On Friday, I sat outside in the morning to say my prayers, but, by the time I finished saying them, it was already too sunny and hot to walk.  I thought I'll walk in the evening when it would be cooler (that's what I did on Thursday), but, when evening came, my hips were hurting and I thought it would be better to give my body a day of rest from walking.  Friday, I ordered and picked up the groceries in the early afternoon and M was here to tend to the garden in the evening.  He thinned out more peaches from the upper branches and we planted five potatoes that had started to sprout.  

Berkeley Botanical Gardens

On Saturday, my daughter visited the Berkeley Botanical Gardens.  I told her to take some pictures and she did!  She sent me a bunch of them, but, I have included only a few of them, here.

Redwood Stand and Other Plants

Saturday was another warm day.  I did my walking in the evening and this time, I walked at a slow pace and was able to walk for 20 minutes without any pain.  Neighbor S was also walking in her driveway (at a much faster pace) and we waved at each other.    

On Saturday, I picked more snow peas (which I froze) and I finally cooked the broccoli I had picked on Wednesday.  Some of the buds were already turning yellow, but, they had not opened, yet.  I would have still cooked the broccoli, even if it was flowering.  First, the florets were stir fried with a little soy sauce: 

Stir-Fried Broccoli Florets

Next, the broccoli stalk and smaller stems were sliced and cooked in the same saute pan as the florets, with just a little bit of water added; then, they were bagged up to be frozen to add to stir fries and/or soups, later: 

Cooked Broccoli Stems for the Freezer

Finally, the leaves were finely cut as one would to make a chiffonade and cooked with grated coconut, turmeric, green chilies, etc., to make broccoli leaf mallung:

Broccoli Leaf Mallung

I'm going to call this my "Zero Waste" broccoli cooking!  Every part of the broccoli that was picked on Wednesday was cooked, except for a slice of the stem end that had discolored a bit; it was added to the compost bin.

I also made a batch of yogurt and left it in the pre-warmed oven, overnight.  It had set when I checked, this morning (Sunday).

Sunday morning, when I woke up, I found that the power had gone down, again.  No lights, no internet, no house phone.  Fortunately, it came back on again, in about an hour or so.  It was another sunny and warm day, although slightly cooler than yesterday.  I spent a relaxed morning, replying to blog comments (thank you, everyone, for your kind comments about the sweater), reading a few other blogs and commenting on them, posting on the online organizing group of which I am a member, writing a couple of emails, etc.  

Later, I sat down at the sewing machine to do some 'mindless sewing' - piecing all the tiny scraps of fabric I had accumulated after repairing the triangles quilt.  I will eventually make crumb blocks with them.

In the evening, at 7:30 p.m., I went for my walk.  The renters in the house on the other side of neighbor T's house were having a party (neighbor T is doing well, by the way; I called and spoke with her on Saturday).  I could hear their music (not as loud as when the neighbors on the other side of me have their parties; at least, not yet!) and there were people still arriving.

I was doing my usual walk, up and down my drive way and on the side walk in front of my house and neighbor T's house.  I was walking along the side walk in front of my house, facing away from neighbor T's house, when I heard someone, a male voice, say, "Put down the window, stay in the car and put down the window".

At first, I thought it was one of the party goers, perhaps trying to get something like a gift out of a car, and telling the person in the car to stay in the car, he'll get the item through the window.  But, then, there was another, rather forceful instruction of, "No, don't get down, stay in the car and put down the window".  I turned my head to see what was going on and there were police officers with their guns drawn, standing behind one of the cars parked in the party house driveway!  And a person was trying to get out of the car and the officer reissued the instructions in Spanish, this time.

I had been walking for only about 10 minutes or so, but, I thought it would be prudent of me to get back into the house and close my door!  Which is what I did!  I didn't want to be outside in the way of any stray bullets if there were any shots fired!

The party music stopped around that time and I don't know quite what happened, but, I didn't hear any gun shots.  This is not the first time there has been police activity in my neighborhood, although things have been rather quiet recently.  I think I shall go back to walking in the morning and try to do so before it gets too hot!  

Afterwards, I had my dinner (leftovers - rice, broccoli, ground beef/vegetable mixture; freshly made yogurt and palm treacle for dessert) and cooked the package of ground turkey I had kept in the fridge.  

After dinner, I chatted with friend R and, of course, video chatted with my daughter.

This weekend, I was grateful for:

- The sunny, warm weather

- Flowers and garden harvests

- Electricity and having the power restored fairly quickly

- Emails, phone calls, and texts with family and friends

- Being safe inside my house!

This weekend's joyful activities have included harvesting snow peas and lettuce from the garden, finishing my new sweater, and some mindless sewing.

Plans for Monday include some housekeeping tasks (it's the All House Cleaning branch, this week) and maybe more mindless sewing.

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

Another Finished Project

New Sweater - Front

This is the sweater I've been knitting in the evenings, usually while watching the evening news.  I'd repair the triangles quilt in the afternoons when there was plenty of daylight to sew by and knit in the evenings for an hour or so.

New Sweater - Back

The yarn I used is 100% wool (Patons Classic Wool Worsted).  I had purchased five 3.5 oz/100 g balls in a color named "Softened Pansy" (although the color in the photos above appears a little bluer than it is).  I added color blocks in a dark grey wool (also Patons Classic Wool Worsted) that I had leftover from a previous sweater I had knitted, to the front, partly because I wanted a little visual interest and partly because I have another solid blue sweater and I didn't want two solid blue sweaters (although the other solid blue sweater has a central cable).  At first, I was just going to do blue on one side and the grey on the other side, but, then, I changed my mind and decided to go with color blocks, instead!  They are off-centered and of unequal lengths on purpose.  I am short and chunky; I'd like to think the unequal color blocks provide a bit of an optical illusion of a longer torso!  LOL.  I finished sewing the sweater together, yesterday.

One thing I learned this winter, when I was wearing 3 or more layers on top to keep warm, was that things got a bit tight around the armholes and that would pull the uppermost garment across my shoulders at the back of my neck, which felt uncomfortable to me.   So, I made this sweater sized a bit larger to comfortably wear over a long sleeved top.  I decided on a turtle neck for added warmth.  This sweater is designed for next winter, when I anticipate even higher heating bills!  

It Fits!

For anyone who is interested, I used UK size 10 needles for the ribbing and UK size 8 needles for the rest of it.  The UK size 10 needles and a pair of UK size 12 needles were my very first pairs of knitting needles, bought in 1965 when I was in 4th grade because we had to learn either crocheting or knitting for  our weekly Handicrafts class and I chose knitting.  I knitted a scarf in green and yellow, I remember, which were my House colors at school.  At first, I was knitting it in stockinette stitch (knit on one side, purl on the other), but, then, one of my cousins showed me how to do a basket weave pattern and I unpicked what I had done up to that time and reknitted the scarf.  I don't know what happened to the scarf, but, I kept my knitting needles!  They are still some of my favorite knitting needles!

Knitting Needles: No. 10 Above; No. 12 Below

They are both slightly bent (especially the thinner, No. 12 ones), but, I'm keeping them because they are special to me.  

Speaking of heating bills, I received my April natural gas bill (covering the period of March 22 to April 20).  The initial bill tracker notice email, received March 31 stated that, 9 days into the billing period, my bill was $47.88 and my projected bill was estimated to be $155.63.  The next bill tracker notice, received April 7, stated that 16 days into the billing period, my bill was $85.69 and the projected bill was $151.47.  The third bill tracker notice, received April 14, stated that 23 days had elapsed and my bill was $92.52 and the projected bill was $118.12.  The bill was received on April 21 and the actual bill is $108.10.  I am happy with that bill amount.  It has been warm during these past few days and I have not needed to have the big heater on (I've used the electric space heater in the evenings, when I've felt cold).  I don't anticipate it getting cold enough again to need the heater on until fall, so, my May bill should be much less (my stove, water heater, clothes dryer all work on natural gas, even though I don't use the dryer all that much, especially in the summer).  I will still budget the same amount each month and build up a reserve for the higher winter bills.

Today, I am grateful for:

- A new sweater to wear when the weather turns cold
- Learning to knit 
- My yarn stash and collection of knitting needles
- Getting the gas bill down
- The warmer weather.

 Today's joyful activity was modeling my new sweater!  LOL!

April Grocery Shopping - Part 2

I ordered groceries today and picked up the items in the afternoon.  It's been two weeks since my last grocery pick up.

I bought:

3 Bananas, 1.1 lbs. @ $.69/lb. = $0.76
Grapes, 2.44 lbs. @ $1.99/lb., reg. price $2.99/lb. = $4.86

1 Cucumber = $0.79

1 doz. Eggs (store brand), reg. price $3.99, on sale with coupon = $3.49 

3 lb. Ground turkey, reg. price $6.49/lb., on sale with coupon @ $2.99/lb. = $8.97

10 cans Tuna in water, reg. price $1.59@; on sale @$.99 = $9.90

1/2 gal. Milk, store brand, reg. price $2.79, on sale with coupon = $1.79

Cereal, 12 oz. box, reg. price $5.49, on sale with coupons = $1.99

Saltine crackers, 16 oz. box, store brand = $2.69

5 lb. Flour, all purpose, unbleached, store brand = $3.19

1 loaf Sandwich bread, 20 oz., store brand = $1.99

2 bottles Cranberry juice cocktail (store brand), @ 64 fl.oz., reg. price $3.59, on sale with coupons $1.99@ = $3.98

Frozen Gyoza (dumplings), 20 oz. = $5.99

Hazelnut wafer cookies, 2 packets @ $1 (reg. price $1.25) + $0.10 tax per package = $2.20

Bag fee, @$0.10 = $0.30

Total Spent = $52.89

I mostly wanted to take advantage of the sale on the ground turkey and the canned tuna.  Plus the deal on the eggs.  I was also all out of cereal and had been waiting for a sale to buy some.

There were a couple of substitutions which I accepted  - the frozen gyoza (a different brand) and the wafer cookies (hazelnut instead of chocolate).  The gyoza was my splurge item; but, I figured that if I was able to get two meals from it, spending $3.00 per meal was not too bad.  I had some for my dinner, tonight and it was delicious.

My April grocery budget is $100.

I had spent $42.71 during the first grocery pick up earlier this month, which left a balance of $57.29.

April grocery spending to date: $42.71 + $52.89 = $95.60

Balance left = $4.40.  

I don't anticipate grocery shopping again, before the end of the month.  I will carry the balance forward to May.  

Dustin brought my groceries to the car for me - this is now the third time he's brough the items to me.  I asked him about Jennifer and he said she was at the store; she was supposed to have been off today, but, had to come in because another worker called in sick.  According to Dustin, Jennifer was not happy about having to come in on her day off!  I guess one can't blame her; I wouldn't have been happy to have to work on what should have been my day off, either!  

I froze two of the packages of ground turkey and kept one out to cook, tomorrow.  There will probably be some spaghetti on the menu, next week!  LOL.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Being able to order groceries online
- Being able to pick up the groceries/have it brought to the car and loaded into the trunk 
- A safe drive to the grocery store and back
- Being able to shop the sales for a good portion of my purchases
- Having groceries available for purchasing

Today's joyful activity was picking up groceries!

How is your April grocery budget coming along?  Have you found any good sales?  Are you managing to keep to your budget?  

Front and Back (Gardens, That Is)

The Front Garden in April

The front garden in April is still flowering!  Lots of osteospermum, of course.  But, also, a few other flowers:

The Red Climbing Rose

And on the steps leading to the front door,

Pots of Geranium

Elsewhere in the front garden, the succulents are as attractive as the flowers, I think:

Aeonium arboreum 'Sunburst'

The succulents border by the side wall - the aeoniums in this border are Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' and their leaves should be a dark purplish color, but, they are not receiving enough sunlight right now.  

Succulents Border

Meanwhile, in the back garden:

Back Garden in April

The apple seedling is coming out of dormancy:

Apple Seedling 

Lois Lane Kent Mango, the only one of the three Kent mango seedlings to survive, needs a new planter!

Lois Lane Kent Mango
(Yes, that's an osteospermum growing in a crack in the cement)

The purple Martha Washington geranium clump is doing well, although resisting all my efforts to root cuttings!

Purple Martha Washington Geranium

The self-seeded phacelia are trying to take over the garden!  They are springing up all over the place!

Phacelia

And the Asian pear tree is flowering and the first leaves are appearing: 

Asian Pear Flowers and New Leaves

On Wednesday, when M was here, he looked around the garden and told me that I had a piece of paradise!  I laughed, but, yes, this is my piece of paradise!  I sat outside to say my prayers, this morning and a hummingbird flew over and hovered not even 3 feet away from me!  I didn't even try to take a photo as it would have flown away at the slightest movement, but, I think that's the closest a hummingbird has come near me!  Then, it flew off to sip the nectar from the lemon flowers.  

I am grateful for:

- My piece of paradise!

- The plants, the flowers, the fruits and vegetables growing in my garden

- The birds and the butterflies and the bees that visit

- The recent rains which watered the garden
- The sunshine which helps the plants to grow

Today's joyful activity was touring the garden!