It's certainly time for a blog post! We've been busy, and I'm sorry to say much of it has been the drudgery of doctor appointments. However, we are so thankful for healthcare, aren't we?
This stunning sunrise greeted me one morning ... Sunday, I think. No one else was awake; no one drove by on the road.
Adam and I are trying hard to be healthier. His health is very complicated with so, so many medications with various side effects. It's nearly a part-time job to keep up with his health, poor fellow! Diet plays a big part.
I'm eating his healthy, nuts-and-bolts bread for breakfast, farm-fresh eggs, and avocado. Pretty yummy!
He made this for lunch: red pepper stuffed with chicken and Mexican rice, and a kale salad.
And this: "sliders" (mini-burgers) and that same Mexican rice. The burgers are steamed over a bed of sauteed onions, topped with cheese, and then a smear of mustard.
Here's a recent photo of adorable Ellie Kate, our newest grandbaby!
I know!! Those EYES!
I'm painting quite a lot. Roses:
Apple blossoms:
Finally I am cracking and picking the pecans I gathered in the fall. They needed to cure, but it's past time to get them into the freezer!
Adam and I spent several good mornings in the veggie garden, which I had rather given up as a lost cause. We did no weeding last summer ... and you can just imagine the carnage! But he is ready to get back outside and gradually build some stamina. Together we cleared the strawberry bed, put in new (well, transplanted from elsewhere) strawberry plants (lots of them!), cleared the asparagus bed, cleared the bed for sweet peas and lettuce. That was a huge start. I wish I had a photo! I would go TAKE a photo for you, but it's raining steadily outside and has been doing so all day and last night. This is a blessing; we've been quite dry, and all those new plants need moisture.
I'm so very busy with my little side business -- making soaps, shampoo bars, painting cards, filling and mailing orders, contacting customers. I desperately want to get back to spinning and weaving, but there's no time (yet). I am still knitting that slow blanket.
Not very elegant looking! This is just the first row. We'll see if it looks pretty ... or looks jakey! At least it keeps my hands busy.
Let me see if there are any new youtube videos to share ...
This was a lovely day trip with two friends:
This is more soap-making:
And this is just an ordinary day of various little activities. Not sure why I thought that would interest viewers!
Much love to all of you in blog land. Stay healthy, stay hopeful, and I'll give you the MOST helpful advice I've heard in several years: Go get a therapist if you need one! It's past time for anybody to be embarrassed about going to a therapist, like we used to be embarrassed about going to the gynecologist 40 years ago. We must all attend to our mental health, and as with all health, sometimes we need a little professional help. That's my pitch for the day 😀
Adam missed me when I was gone. He keeps telling me so. He makes me delicious brown bread for my breakfast toast.
For lunch he made tortellini and Kaiser buns.
I, in turn, mended his favorite mask by shortening the elastics.
I packaged some lavender soap today too.
We have daffodils blooming now -- hooray! I look forward to this each year, a true start of spring and all the new, fresh beginnings for all of us.
Adam is weeding out parts of our veggie garden, starting with the strawberry bed. There ARE strawberry plants in there, I promise! About ten of them.
He's also working on the asparagus bed, and then will clear out my pea bed. Lettuce will go next to the strawberries. It's a struggle because he's been pretty inactive since last spring, while he was ill. He is still having some health issues -- medication and peripheral issues -- but he wants to get back outside.
I've started a long knitting project, a blanket. The pattern is called a "mitered square" blanket. I found it at a youtube channel that I like, and thought, "I can do that!" I'll share more about it in a youtube video soon, but here it is so far:
My sprained knee is much better, and life is stumbling along as usual -- I won't pretend that it's all easy sailing! But we are getting along, just like you are, I hope. 😀 Adam is a lobbyist/advocate volunteer for people with Rare Diseases in North Carolina right now, and he hears about the most harrowing illnesses that some people have, much worse than his own. It is a reminder to be thankful for each normal day, no matter how many things go wrong.
Ah, pancakes. Those are strawberries from our garden last summer, frozen all through the pandemic. They slept peacefully in the deep freeze and came out for this delicious appearance, haha.
Tomorrow I go off for a day jaunt with two friends to a rural area renowned for good bird-watching. Mostly, it'll be a fun day out with two ladies I enjoy very much. I'll tell you about it next time!
I'll end with some cards I painted in recent days, and maybe a youtube link or two to my latest videos. Thanks for coming by for a chat, friend. Take care of yourself.
