Happy Weekend ----------

• Grass cut several times already
• Arbor, fence and gate re-painted and new white lights installed for Summer evening twinkling
• Azaleas blooming, bluebells 'ringing' all around the garden
• Birdhouse "Spring cleaned"
• Acer gorgeous after last year's professional pruning
• Red maple brilliant red, will then turn green
• Weeding, compost spreading, mulching being done this weekend
• Two new Boston ferns purchased for the front porch - last year's Swedish Ivy overwintered in neighbor's sunroom and now hanging on porch

Despite the recent ups and downs of life we are managing to get

 back to things requiring attention here at the cottage.  

Our neighborhood is looking beautiful.

March was a particularly tough month for us. 

Bob's brief hospital stay after a B/P-heart scare.

 Making the change to a new way of eating/cooking without salt has

 been a challenge. He's doing fine - I'm tired of reading labels to

 determine sodium content. Bottom line - DON'T eat anything that

comes in a box, bag, jar or can!

My ongoing herniated disc problem and leg pain preventing long walks.

Daughter had, and still needs, ongoing assistance/transportation

(we're providing) following shoulder surgery.

There are other serious family member medical issues to deal with.  

A nearby neighbor's unexpected death at home knocked us for a loop

and took us to a funeral.

 An amazing family member's death across the pond saddened us. . .

 but he was almost one hundred and five years young!!!

We felt doomed in March.

Life became a daily effort, just facing each morning was exhausting

 and, as you know, I became absent from here for most of the month.

We too are 'feeling our ages' but hoping with the arrival of Spring, better

weather, and plans for a short trip for a change of scenery soon will give

 us a lift. Then with a long-awaited trip home to England all planned and

 hopefully taking place after so many cancellations during COVID. . . . we

 will be 'up and running', or at least walking, for the remainder of the year.

Meanwhile off to tackle some weeding after the heavy rains of 

Thursday. . . . . then afternoon tea on the front porch, and this evening

 lighting the last fire on the hearth until next Winter!

Doing just a little Easter decor - will share in the coming week.

Thanks so much for your concerns - we are good and hope you are.

Enjoy your weekend dear friends.

Blogging news and an anniversary. . . . .

Carolina wren on my front porch last week.

Sometimes I too feel like I need more balance in my life! I'm finding at this age I am not so good standing on one leg! I struggle to get into a pair of tights now, usually ending up sitting down! Trying any type of physical exercise which demands balancing sometimes makes me dizzy. Lately even getting up too fast from bed causes me to be off balance. Blood pressure is good with a little medical assistance. Guess it's 'an aging thing', like kneeling - why is that so difficult also?  Oh these golden years, so full of challenges!

Anyway, not to worry. Here I am, past seventy and still blogging! Yes, today is my anniversary. Nine years ago today I put up my first post on my first blog named Across The Pond (still available via the link on the top of my sidebar).

My guess is anyone starting a blog wonders, what the heck shall I write about that would be of interest to anyone who doesn't even know me? Who would even want to look at tiny photos, most of which were blurry and nondescript as I'd never used a good camera or had any formal instruction.

Perhaps my saving grace was that I had worked in art and advertising for several years. . . . all before computers became commonplace. This had given my untrained eye a path to creating lovely things to look at, whether through a lens or on paper. I learned about design and color, I tried basic airbrush retouching - the old way with a huge tank of compressed air standing next to my desk. I did line drawings and calligraphy. I learned about typography and choosing fonts. I wrote copy for page layouts, edited copy, and sometimes assisted art directors with ads designed for national companies. I was used as a hand model (my other bits apparently not marketable!) as I have long fingers and always kept my nails looking good! I used hundreds of rolls of Kodak film in cheap cameras. Don't laugh. . . . . I was actually the studio manager/admin. assistant but I so wanted to be an artist like all the talented people I worked with! All those things brought me to the understanding that I loved to be creative with pen, ink, paper, and a camera, that I could do things without being a real 'artist', and that I had found my niche in the world of art. I enjoyed those years more than any others in the workplace.

I realized how much I missed that creative part of my life when I retired. But then I found blogging! Here was a platform waiting for me to step up on, a place which might allow me to become creative again. This time I would be my own boss, working at my own pace and on my own terms, but with the help of an amazing computer and digital cameras. So here I am, nine years later, still blogging with no plans to cease quite yet. As far as what I write about - anyone who's followed me for a while knows that can be just about anything and everything - and that I take a lot of photographs both here around town and the world.

Last, but by no means least, you are out there and actually reading my posts, and seem to like them! Because of this blog I have a wonderful relationship with each of you. I love learning about you, your lives, your loves, your homes, your pets, what you cook, where you travel, everything that makes you tick! Sadly, some of you I may never meet in person. Others I have met, several more than once, and we have done fun things together. I do hope to meet more of you this year - who knows where or when - but it may happen, it's one of the big perks of having a blog.

So here I am, often feeling a bit like the squirrel, off balance, feeling my age a bit,
 but still ready to climb a tree in the sunshine, take a trip to a new place to share
 with you, or go on an expedition. 

Thanks to each of you taking time to stop here, read my words, or perhaps just
 take a look at my photographs. 
I always love reading your generous comments and understand how much time
 it takes to comment on the many blogs we each follow.
 I cannot thank you enough for stopping by as often as you do.

Hope you are having a great day. I am - and I'm enjoying my 9th anniversary!

See you next time.