WELL! This is Fun

 Birthday #83 was last Saturday.  By way of celebration I managed yo do something to my lower back on Friday. night.  I leaned over the pick up stuff off the couch on my way to bed.  Big OUCH!  Slowly getting better, but not how I would prefer to celebrate anything.

On a happier note.  I try to give myself a smallish treat every year for my own celebration.  This year it's one of Kathleen Burke's. IMAGINE mugs.  Love the image of all these people hand in hand.  It's a most pleasant mug to drink from, which I suppose should be a main purpose!

I signed up for Karen Abend's Sketchbook Challenge this year.  I have really enjoyed Sarah Mitchell's pre-challenge video on making the Australian Piano Hinge book.  So far I have made three.  I haven't kept up with the daily challenges due to feeling so lousy.  I may start playing catch-up today.

We are finally having warm weather.  Actually we had several days of what felt more like summer.  After some very noisy thunderstorms late yesterday it's been cooling down to what passes for normal here.  Of course that doesn't mean we couldn't have snow by Wednesday.  Hey!  It happens!

My first impulse was to start moving plants to their outside summer places.  Then I remembered one year, many years ago now, that I did that and the temps promptly dropped to near freezing.  Which then resulted in me frantically covering everything with blankets.  So I will refrain for a few more weeks.  Meanwhile it's a good time to get things clean and neat for the coming summer.

Daffodils are in bloom, late but so appreciated.  Also have vinca and lily of the valley are showing progress. Morning walks around the garden/lawn with a cup of tea are definitely in order.

Stay strong, and as always, thanks for stopping by.............*s*

Books and stuff

Found yet another bunny whistle when I was sorting a shelf last week.  Not a great shot.  May try for a better one later. These were a lot of fun do but I never considered selling them.  They take so long and are so fussy that the price would have to be outrageous.

I have a new. hobby?.....obsession?  I signed up for The Sketchbook Revival 2026 with Karen Abend.  Last year I did a few of the challenges and found them useful for pottery.  She also offers a make-your-own-sketchbook every year.  This year Sarah Matthews has a very good tutorial on how to make an Australian Piano Hinge book.  The neat thing about this one is that is is no stitching involved, and pages are removable.

 

I made the first one following instructions  for a 6x9 book using 9x12 65lb. paper and a paper bag for the hinges.  The bag was heavy duty; Next time I will use some of my packing paper which is a bit thinner.
 

I made another one yesterday approximately 5x7.  Because I wanted to hinge along the short side I only used one hinge.  Mistake!  I should have used two narrower hinges.  As it is the pages slide around a bit, but are easily held in place with a tie.  

The spine looks a bit wonky due to the print I chose for the back cover.  It's really quite straight.

Now I want to try a 9x12 which is my favorite size for planning pot decoration.  I have to see what I have in the way of papers.  I wish I still had some of my old Hammermill Bond cover stock.  I bought a ream of it way back when I was finishing my degree   Used the last of it a few years ago.  Paper keeps vey well if it's stored properly.  Meanwhile my habit of buying paper goes on.

The covers are reused calendars.  Carl Larsson on the to and Mucha on the bottom.  Again there is a good reason for saving stuff!

We are finally having some slightly warmer, sunnier days,  The daffodils are finally blooming.  Toes crossed we don't have a really hot spell which ends them all too quickly.

We'll see, grasshopper............we'll see..............

Stay strong; stay safe and, as always, thanks for stopping by..............*s*

Follow Up

 Stegosaurus is still my favorite dinosaur.......do you have a favorite?

Doc's appointment went very well.  She's very pleased with all my various problems.  Then we talked about THR exercises, (she had hers shortly after mine.),  trees falling across driveways, snow and so on.

I ordered a new pair of reading glasses, about time!

I dd not go looking for flowers.  The stupid cold, and did I mention Lyme, have taken a lot out of me.  Slowly rebuilding stamina.  We'll see, grasshopper............we'll see............

Stay strong; stay safe, and as always, thanks for stopping by.........*s*

Housekeeping

 A sunny day deserves a sun flower.

I am off to my PCP this morning for my quarterly follow-up on T2D.  My A1C  has not changed, which is okay but I was supposed to get it down a a bit more.  However, I managed to lose the pounds I put on over last summer and fall.  And I am trying to remember to exercise more. The problem is finding the best time to do it.  And yes, I will get the referral for a colonoscopy.

As a little reward I am going to order new pair of glasses.  My last pair is being held together with crazy glue and prayer.

My favorite garden shop has just reopened so a visit is in order.  Really hope to find pansies and primroses.  I don't go there ofter as it's a bit more of a drive than I like to do if I don't have other stops in the area.  Once I get there I always buy more than my original intents.  What is the gardening equivalent of eyes being bigger than one's stomach?  Pushing the season a bit as we are still getting frosty nights, but I have nice sunny indoor shelves anticipating plants.

Just read that waking up feeling grumpy can be helped by early morning bright light.  So let's start DST as soon a we can so we wake up in darkness.  FER DUUUUHHH!!!

Stay strong; stay safe, and as always, thanks for stopping by...........*s*

Go Home Winter!

The fish in happier times/

 Winter has five days to shape up and go home.  The Vernal Equinox is on Friday, March 20.  Perhaps Winter will take the hint and leave.  Although, going through photos of past winters I would say that winter being well and truly gone is a shaky proposition.

Proge very sadly discovered yesterday that all our goldfish have died.  We are assuming it is because the two and a half feet of snow blocked any oxygen getting into the pond.  We will replace them when it warms up.  But sentimentally we miss them because they were all decendents of two dollars woth of fingerlings I bought was back when we first put the pond in.  They were meant to be short term experiment to see how fish would do.  Instead we became quite attached to them and their babies.

A few days ago I started my second reading of Shakespeare's sonnets.  Today Sonnet Five feels particularly appropriate. 

Stay strong and , as always, thanks for stopping by.................*s*

More Fun

 Started developing a cold a few days after the blizzard.  I assume I caught it from Proge and that he picked it up when we did our pre-snow market run.  I have been rapidly improving...........until I woke up this morning with a sight temp and lungs feeling tight and congested.  Things are loosening up and phlegm is clear so it's more of a nuisance than a disaster.  BUT STILL!!!

I also realized that a tick bite I got a while before the storm has not cleared so I started antibiotics this morning.  I am supposed to start them if a bite has not cleared in a day or two.  It may not bee full-blown Lyme but active enough to cause problems..  

Excuse me....but....I fail to see the need for ticks in the balance of living things!

Meanwhile the snow has been melting nicely due to warmer weather and heavy rain last night.  We now have a yard full of slush.  Toes crossed any freezing temps are fleeting or else we will. have giant skating rink on our hands.  It has happened!

We go on Daylight Savings on Sunday.  To which I say AAARRRGGGHHH!!!  I have gotten to the point where the sun shines directly into my bedroom window so have not needed my SAD lamp.  Not so fast, girlie!  I'll be back to using the SAD lamp for the next three or four weeks and continue with all the other stuff I do to fight this.

On a happier note the marigold seeds I planted are sprouting nicely.  I love growing the little French variety.  They bloom quickly and have such cheerly little yellow to orange flowers. They'll be ready for their first transplant in a week or so....time to gather supplies.

We're going to do a quick market trip this afternoon.  Think I'll look for primroses.

Stay strong, stay safe, and as always, thanks for stopping by............*s*

March

HARES AND RABBITS!

 Not sure how we got here......February was  snow, snow, and more snow. Happily it has been melting but  there is still a long way to go.

The days are noticeably longer and the morning sun now shines in my bedroom window.  This a difficult time for those of us with SAD,,,,,teetering on the edge.  The good thing is Mother Nature just keeps going.

I have begun to think of these dregs of winter as dogs barking at the caravan!

Stay strong, stay safe, and as always.........thanks for stopping by......*s*