Where's That Brake Pedal?

 I'm not sure how the speedometer on Life creeps up from "nice and leisurely" to "uh oh, here comes a curve" to "careening over the edge." But it does. This week I intend to Slow It Down!

Last time I posted was about 3 weeks ago. Since then I've been to Chattanooga and back, visiting kids and grandbaby. We had a church Seder supper and Easter. Adam and I went to the Van Gogh Immersive Experience exhibit in Raleigh. The Saturday farmers market has ratcheted up a few notches too, and I'm making all the usual products for that.

Here I'm showing my grandbaby all the photos I have of him on my laptop in a folder just for his pictures. He was interested!

It snowed in the mountains as I drove back from Chattanooga, but at home ... cascading wisteria.

Easter lilies around the communion table mean Easter is coming!

Adam made matzo bread for the Seder. It was a wonderful experience, and we also ate a delicious pot-luck dinner together.

Here's the farmers market last week. It was much busier yesterday. Folks are eager to be out and having fun in Oriental.

My Lady Banks rose bush is not as full as most years; we had a late frost. But she's still a beauty.

This is a tapestry weave (my second one) that I finally finished. It had many problems and challenges, and I learned a lot from trying to correct them. On to the next tapestry weaving adventure, I say!

Leo is fun every day. The animals -- all three of them -- are pure entertainment in a quiet house.

This may look like innocence to you, but believe me, it's absolute WARFARE. Beau and Leo are competing for the coveted spot on the plaid blanket in front of the window. At this particular moment, Leo is winning. Beau is plotting his revenge. (Don't let his crossed paws fool you.)

The Van Gogh exhibit was fabulous. We did this as Adam's birthday gift, and it was so much fun. We drove 3 hours to north Raleigh, visited the leather store for him to buy some pig skin for book binding, ate lunch at Panera, and enjoyed the "Immersive Experience" of the very creative, very engaging Van Gogh experience. They do a good job of making you feel that you are inside his paintings, I think. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

But I'm worn out. And Adam's Pemphigus illness is flaring up, so he is pretty unhappy. He's been on spring break from his teaching job, but he goes back tomorrow. Then I plan to organize my days well, get things done in a calm way, breathe deeply, take daily naps, and slow Life down. Yeah, I know ... good luck with that!

Oh, and Rest In Peace, Roo Roo, best rooster ever. He gave his all to defend his hens from a predator. We'll miss him.

Looks Like Spring!

We're well into true spring now. Daffodils are faded, as is the forsythia. We've advanced into apple tree buds, fig leaves, tiny rose tips, and blue bells. The temperatures are still quite cool many days, like today, breezy and sunny. Perfect!

I've thought about blogging, but didn't entirely know what to say. Terrible news from Ukraine dominated my brain for many weeks, and now, like the rest of the world, while I still read about it daily my mind is becoming sadly accustomed to the idea of what's happening there. We are numb to their suffering in the same way that they become numb to the fear of the air sirens. A friend-of-a-friend in Kiev kind of jokes about how they opt to sleep in their beds because they're just tired of the bomb shelter.

Our ladies' Bible study group is now studying Elisabeth Elliot's compilation of her newsletter articles called Secure in the Everlasting Arms. Each section of the book focuses on an aspect of Elliot's wisdom, and we're now examining how we respond, how we pray, when we suffer -- or should I say, when God designs suffering for us. We all struggle with this whole idea. It's a good study.

I found some good books at the local thrift store. I finished another Pilcher book (Sleeping Tiger) very quickly, and am now in September, for which I abandoned the Cahill book halfway through. I'm admitting to myself that I now enjoy fluffy romances (well, NOT Danielle Steele) like Pilcher and Mary Stewart, and I mustn't feel bad about not reading Dickens and Austen much anymore. It's okay!

I'm painting cards. Here's my latest favorite.

There's something loose and whimsical about that ink-and-then-dabs-of-watercolor style that I find relaxing and appealing.

Adam taught me how to use the riding lawn mower! Yippee!! I mowed nearly the entire property this past week. A bit exhausting, but I like to help, and he simply doesn't have any time right now to do it. I feel so farmy when I'm mowing on it. I get so much grass in my hair, and I send the fire ants flying when I run over their hills!

I can't really think of any news from here for you. Life is much the same, for which we are grateful. I've always heard people say we should be thankful for our troops, that we sleep peacefully in our beds at night because of our troops. I know very few people in the military; my daddy was in Korea. Adam's dad was in Vietnam, but that was before my time. Now I understand a little, as I think of women just like me in Ukraine, how much they value their soldiers who stand between them and an enemy. How they sleep in their beds, or don't, depending on how far away their soldiers can keep that enemy away. I live in a home of peace, surrounded by a county and state and nation of peace -- layers of peace. What a privilege that is! Thank you, soldiers!

Leo doesn't know he has a blissful life. He's so chill.