It's Pickin' Time!

 Changing my sleep schedule isn't going as well as I had hoped.  There is still time.  Instead of me waking up Zed this morning, he woke me up.  It was a good morning though.  Everyone but Zed, who had to work, went and picked strawberries at a local farm.  Gideon has been eagerly anticipating strawberry picking for a few weeks.  We still had guests and the five of us picked around 28 pounds of strawberries.  The picking was great!  

Our friends headed back to Pennsylvania after lunch with their strawberries.  When we got home I picked five more from our little strawberry patch.  Fresh strawberries and the following are my happy things for today:

• As I prepare for this new overnight job, the time after lunch is when I hope to have my best sleep time.  I went to bed later than I had hoped and woke earlier than I had hoped.  What woke me?  A thunderstorm rolled in this afternoon.  It was loud and very close.  I opened the blinds and watched the sky darken.  Soon there were little pit pats on the leaves of the tree outside my window.  It only took a few minutes before the pit pats were a dull roar as the rain streamed down.  The sky started to lighten and soon the storm was gone.  
• The afternoon was sunny after that and I was able to find a rainbow.

It is so hard to capture rainbows.

• For dessert, we had strawberry shortcake with some of those fresh picked strawberries.  Yum!

🍓 ☮ 🍓

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Thank you for reading, stay safe.

Cemetery Day-Too Many Pictures

 Before Memorial Day every year we plant geraniums on family graves.  That day was today.  Not everyone could join us, but we got the geraniums planted, cleaned off the stones that needed it, and got a much needed visit with family we haven't seen in a while.  Hugs are a wonderful thing.  Other happy things for today:

• Since I knew I would be gone all day, I started by taking a walk around the property and getting the pictures from the wildlife camera.  Here are some of the plants I saw and what Lens thinks they are...

Common Cinquefoil, it is getting larger.

Possibly a blackberry.

This is coming up as either whorled loosestrife or
northern bush honeysuckle.
I'll try to look for this again as it grows.

Ostrich Fern.

Fern.

This is supposed to be Geranium dissectum.

Just trees.

The witch tree.

The rhododendron.

Iris are starting to open.

• I saw some deer tracks on the property.

At least I think it is from a deer.
It looked like it in real life.

• Some highlights from the day...

Fairly new monument at one of the cemeteries.

This is at my aunt's house.
The tree has grown SO much.

Keziah and the reflection on those sunglasses!

Well water for the flowers.

Up it comes!

Beaver lodge.

Goose family.

On the way home a storm was rolling in.

We had a rainbow after the storm passed.

• We went out for lunch and ice cream.  😃
• There is a tiller in the back of the van.  It may not work, but we will find out fairly soon.
• For that 'just in case' reason I brought my pruning shears with me to the cemeteries.  I don't think we have ever needed them and didn't today.  However, there were some people that were planting flowers on a loved ones grave near where we were and they did need them.  Being helpful is one of those things that makes me happy.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Stay safe.  What things make you happy?

National Tea Day (Britain)

 It has been just over a month since I purchased the external hard drive and was able to backup my photos from my phone (other than the cloud).  I know this because my phone is full again and I have just backed up more photos.  There are so very many pictures that I take that never make it here or anywhere else.  I am so glad that I got that hard drive.  Other happy things for today:

• I noticed that my tax refund was in my bank account.
• Keziah and I went shopping today and I found shoes.  My sneakers and hiking shoes have both been falling apart.  I have new sneakers that I will start wearing tomorrow.  I also got a pair of sandals that I hope are made for walking.  I still need to replace the hiking shoes.  I'm planning on a trip to REI for those next week.  
• There were trees blossoming in the store parking lot.

• I took the day off of major gardening and yard work.  Hopefully my body has healed a little from all the bending, raking, etc that I have been subjecting it to.
• There was a thunder storm followed by the sun appearing lower on the horizon as evening drew near.  I went out and saw a rainbow.  I tried to take a picture but the camera phone didn't quite capture it.

There was a rainbow, really.

• Between the rains, I went for a walk.  The air was fresh and cool.
• The cats are getting along.

☮

Currently reading: The Burgess Book of Nature Lore, by Thornton W. Burgess.

Stay safe.

Geraniums

The downsizing for Lent challenge that Zed and I have been doing is over.  Well, the recording part, there is still a bunch of editing.  Zed and I had a long talk about what the next steps should be.  I still have a bunch of boxes.  It has been 46 days of going through boxes and finding places to put things and get rid of at least one thing from that box.  When I wanted to keep everything, I worked on another box.  I think that only happened once.  It has been challenging and fun, but this week -at least the end of it- has been overwhelming.  Tomorrow, Easter, there is no plan to go through a box.  Zed and I are planning to continue on some level until my boxes are sorted and I have less stuff.  This coming week though will be a regrouping.  I don't want to lose the momentum, but I also don't want to completely burn out.  When we started this I feel that I was mostly on top of the things I normally do.  The last week or two things have started to slide.  The pile of boxes in my bedroom has grown because I have put trash or recycling in boxes and then left them in my room instead of taking care of them.  After a week of playing catch up and cleaning I will get back to the boxes.  I am so thankful for the friends who suggested getting rid of things for Lent.    Other things I am happy for today:

• Today was National Find a Rainbow Day.  It is all about finding beauty, hope, or wellness.  My kind of day.  Here is more information on the holiday.
• For the month of April I joined with a group of people to do a pilgrimage.  We each log how much we walk and see how many miles we can do.  I went on a short walk around the property today, only three fourths of a mile.  I decided to cut through places that have no path again.  The little brook was babbling so I stopped for a moment to listen.
• Standing still I can listen.  The sounds of cars and children playing fade toward the back and what comes forward are the bird song and dried leaves rustling as the breeze carries them to somewhere new.  

• The cats are getting along today and they are super cute.

• The geraniums are starting to look like geraniums and not just leaves popping through soil.

I know it is hard to see, but some leaves
are getting the right shape to grow into a geranium.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Stay safe.