Pretty, Pretty ... and Not So Pretty

So many of you enjoyed the azaleas in the last post, I figured I'd better give you more of them before they're gone. Azaleas here in the U.S. South grow large, so I backed up to give you a broader view of them.

They can easily cover the front of a house. We have many hot pink ones.
And some salmon-colored ones. These look more pinky, but they're actually an orange/pink/salmon.

And some pale pink, which are so nice.

And some white, which are so fair in the spring.

We also have some lavender/purple colored ones. I'll hunt up a few more.
All this, while I tootled around town on my bike. In the basket there are a bag of potatoes and some lettuce; I biked to the grocery one morning for them.

Oh! I have a couple more:

There's nothing quite like pedaling along the waterfront on one's bike on a quiet morning while a lone sailboat glides through diamonds.

This is a Very Happy Thing -- a local man is building a treehouse in his yard for his grandkids. He is Julia's art teacher. I know she's secretly hoping she'll be invited to play in it!

Okay, all of that was the FIRST pretty thing. Now we move on to the SECOND pretty thing: I found treasure at the local thrift store! Yes, I did! Looky-here ~~

Yarn and china. Does it get any better than that? What two things do I have oodles of, and don't need anymore of? Yarn and china, of course!
There were two salad plates, two bread plates, and a cup/saucer in this delicate pattern. I fell in love immediately. Ever since being a guest in Mrs. Jean Belz's home and enjoying her lavender flower tea set (or something like that ... lilacs perhaps?), I've been partial to china with little purple flowers.

Brain asked: "Do you need them?"
I answered: "No. But they need me. They need a home. If I leave them here, who knows what china-breaking criminal might come along and snatch them?"
Then I turned a plate over ... yes, it's Haviland.

That black marking tells you that the plate cost $1.

The teacup is light as air, the china is so thin. The gold leaf edges are in excellent condition. I'm thrilled!

As for the yarn, there were five skeins of this: 

And quite a bit of this:

All the yarn together was only $4.75. Yippee!
Alright, we've done two pretty things, and now comes the ugly thing. Adam went for his doctor's visit, and I took photos, so if you don't like a picture of a wounded leg having its staples removed, now is your cue to CLICK AWAY!!

The nurse pulled up his x-ray from that morning on the computer screen. So I took a photo of him taking a photo of a computer screen ... with his iPad. Aren't we silly these days?

He wanted so badly to get a new brace, one that allowed some bending of the knee. But the doctor said no, that the most precarious part of his recovery is the healing of the tendon that runs down the front of the knee. It must be allowed adequate time to heal, without the pressure of bending. If it is damaged again, he said, it would be a chronic (i.e., life-long) problem. "Yes, sir!" we replied.
Then a nurse came in with a funny little device and crimped each staple and removed them all. Adam said he didn't feel anything. {{{shiver}}}

He starts physical therapy next Tuesday. He goes back to the doctor in a month. He's still so easily exhausted, which tells you how hard his body is working to heal.
It was lunch time, and we were an hour and a half from home, so Adam chose a watering hole for lunch called Moe's Southwest Grill, a Tex-Mex place where the meals are assembled much like at a Subway sandwich shop. It was fun! Qdoba is like this also.

We each got a burrito bowl, basically the ingredients of a large burrito, without the tortilla. I love tortilla chips, but I'm not a fan of one big tortilla.

It was very good, and huge. I ate half and took the rest home for dinner -- so, two meals for the price of one. I firmly believe the best way to lose weight is simply this: learn how to tell yourself NO when your tummy begins to feel full. If we all did this, no one would be fat. Somehow, we think it's better to say, "I'm never eating bread again!" instead of, "I'll eat one piece and stop for now." Why is that?
Chips and salsa come with each meal, which is nice. I also took most of the chips and the queso home for Julia to enjoy later.

And today, after a long morning at the farmers' market, I'm enjoying a cuppa in my new teacup.

You should have some too!