Mother's Day -

MOTHER'S DAY 2022

Wishing you a lovely day. . . . . . . . and recalling

 with love mothers no longer here to be celebrated in

 person, but always remembered, such as my own.

Beautiful May morning -

I don't know why Blogger plays around with us just when all is

 running smoothly.

I haven't been able post here for a week and quite honestly,

 thought my poor little blog had died and gone wherever old blogs go!

Now it's back, I'm able to post, however commenting formats on

 other blogs seems to have changed and I'm not certain if 

comments I've left have ever published.

So, if you're wondering where I've been here's at least a few pix 

showing I'm mostly at home, working nonstop on house and garden

stuff. . . . . . always so much to do once Spring arrives and Nature goes

 berserk in the garden.

 In between I've been my daughter's taxi service several times a week

 for a month to get her to PT and doctor appts. Following a big shoulder

 surgery she was unable to drive, thankfully she now is permitted to

 get behind the wheel again.

The garden is looking awesome and we are getting kind compliments 

from passersby and neighbors.

Above is the back where roses, jasmine, honeysuckle are vigorously 

clambering and blooming. . . . . . . the evening perfume is especially 

lovely. 

Mowing days come around quickly now!

Peonies already budding - hoping to have showtime soon!

Snippets from the garden.

New cushions for the porch chairs - all got a good wash 

this weekend when I removed everything to the lawn and got busy

 with the garden hose.  The pollen is just about over at long last.

Gentle rain last night washed everything else - a clean start to another

 busy week. April and May are the loveliest, and busiest, months

 for gardening here in the southeast US. . . . before the intense heat 

and humidity hit and things start to require constant watering to

 keep growing and remain green.

Hope your week will be great.

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.

Refreshing the front porch -

Yesterday I went shopping. 

No, not grocery shopping which seems to be what I've done mostly since

 the pandemic started. This was real 'go with a girl friend' shopping to a

 store well known here in the USA, HOMEGOODS!  

We had a ball - the type of fun one can only have with

 a true friend of many, many years.  A friend whom you know so well

 and are so comfortable with, you can share all and anything, laugh,

 giggle, shed a tear, and on looking back you've done it all and more in

 thirty five plus years. . . . . . that's how I feel when with Loretta. 

She has been an awesome friend in so many ways and I love her dearly.

Our small house has a small front porch. It's nothing spectacular but it is
 a place to enjoy the outdoors. Bob and I sit out there a lot, especially in

 the late afternoon at this time of year - usually with a drink, sometimes

 a snack, and something to read. People stop to visit now and then. 

With distancing of the past months we have felt safe entertaining

 one or two at a time with a cup of tea or glass of wine in the open air.

We do a lot of waving and have short chats with passersby - usually the 

younger neighbors who pull off their earbuds and pocket their phones

for a few minutes which is appreciated. The cul-de-sac stays busy 

enough with turning delivery vehicles, dog walkers, a few younger

 children on trikes, and some runners usually in the cooler air of

 morning.

So did I buy anything?

Just this all cotton, woven in Turkey, casual mat. I like the pattern and

 blue and white colors, and think it just brightens up the concrete floor

 of the porch for these summer afternoons. It's machine washable

 if necessary, however I think I'd probably just hose it off and let it

 dry in the sun. It's a bit hefty and might finish off my aging

 washing machine!

Have a feeling the hydrangeas may require a major pruning soon - or we'll be 

invisible on the porch - or rather too secluded and will miss all the action 

in the street. . . . . . .or perhaps be forgotten about, lol!

Do you have a front porch?

Do your neighbors stop to chat?

What would you enjoy drinking on the porch on a

 hot summer afternoon?

A nice French rosé is chilled and waiting!

 

Another week.......and all is good!

A very good morning dear friends on another beautiful day in the

 neighborhood.

This past week we've had awesome weather so time in the garden

 has kept me busy, weeding, pruning, watering and just fiddling about.

Occasional sniffing of the now blooming peonies, and sticking my

 nose in the huge waterfalls of jasmine and honeysuckle pouring

over the fences around the back garden is a lovely pastime, 

especially in the evenings when the fragrance peaks and I swoon!

I've been getting up much earlier and sitting on the front porch with

my favorite mug full of steaming coffee, a throw, and a camera of

course. It's still cool then but soon warms to a comfortable 

temperature as the sun comes up.

I'm also cat sitting Ms. Nala next door for a week while her 

person is out of town. Twice a day I pop over to do the necessary

cat chores, and in the morning allow her onto the enclosed 

sunroom which she loves as she can watch birds, squirrels and

 that fat rabbit who seems to have moved into the garden.

I did make a side trip to AT HOME whilst out grocery shopping - 

and bought a new candle, yes another, really for the kitchen.

It's a lovely soft, mellow fragrance of Lime, Basil & Mandarin .........

and last evening I actually moved it into the living room for 

a while when we flopped down to watch a bit of TV

after supper in the gazebo at sunset.

I'm still following the Low Histamine diet however, as you can see here,

I cheated last night and had a glass of rosé with my salad and veggies!

Rosé is the wine lowest in histamine and I really needed a treat after so

much boring eating and no drinking!

Enjoy your Sunday and let's all catch up next week.

I'm feeling a lot better thankfully and hope to get a lot done around

 the house . . . . . . especially some much needed spring cleaning!

 

Cabbages and roses -

Changes in one's eating plan can sometimes make amazing differences. 

Many of us have tried diets of all kinds for reasons from wanting to lose

 weight, gain weight (though I admit never had that problem!), treat digestive

 problems etc., and apparently to address issues with food allergies.

The Low Histamine plan is completely new to me and, after doing

 it for four days, I have to say good results are already seen. 

I have dropped 3 pounds of that 6 pound COVID weight gain, don't

 feel hungry, and actually feel quite healthy. It's extremely restricted

 though with no dairy, no fermented foods, no alcohol, no citrus, no

 bread or baked goods, no sugar, limited vegetables and fruits. . . in

 fact limited everything really!

All meals must be freshly prepared at home - which fortunately

 is what I'm used to doing - and leftovers have to be discarded.

I don't advise anyone to follow this diet as a way to lose weight,

 and please remember any new diet you consider following

should always be discussed with your physician.

When this recent Polymyalgia (PMR) flare started, my own physician

 decided I should try this eating plan along with the Prednisone as I was

 possibly having reactions to fresh strawberries which I'd been enjoying for

 a couple of weeks as they are in season here and being sold at roadside

 farm stands! Also, it might help with the inflammation caused by PMR.

See that gorgeous Savoy cabbage waiting on my dining room table.

I used it as a centerpiece with some garden roses for the weekend!

It's one of the vegetables allowed - yes, there are even veggies, and

 fruits high in histamine which I cannot eat now!

The weekend weather was perfect here. Other than picking up fresh eggs

 at the Saturday Farmers' Market and taking a short walk, we stayed home

 enjoying the garden, front porch (above), and suppers in the gazebo while

 watching and listening to many birds now with chirping youngsters in tow. 

We have a nest of four baby Carolina wrens tucked into the urn by our

 front steps, and another with five Black-capped chickadees snuggled in

 the old wooden nesting box hanging in the fig tree. 

The jasmine is now in full bloom along the fences and the perfume 

quite intoxicating in the evening air. Hydrangeas are opening, peonies

 and roses budding, grass thick and green, basil, parsley, dill and sage

seeds all germinating in their sun-kissed pots along the front walkway.

Such a lovely time of year.

Enjoy this first week of May.

What's become of fashion?

It's Summertime and the living is easy.

Extra easy for many of us perhaps.

My type of Summer clothes - casual, comfy, linen and cotton.

All from Poetry.

Are you getting dressed?

You know, dressed as in going through your closet, picking out an outfit, 

accessorizing same with cute shoes or sandals, perhaps a summer straw bag, 

a hat, snazzy sunglasses . . . . . . and of course a coordinating mask!

If you are, I admire you. . . . . and I am trying to do better, getting out of

 gardening gear, cooking aprons, lounging in old leggings, and doing grocery

 runs in yoga pants.  I do enjoy a good hat often - see why below.

Have you bought any new clothes for Summer?

I haven't, and probably won't this year.  

I did dash over to J.C. Penney when I heard they were closing before the

 pandemic hit, to stock up on their $7 classic cotton tees in black, white

 and navy, because I've always found them to be the best, and can replace

 them annually without feeling guilty.

Why anyone would pay $70 for a plain 'designer' T-shirt I've never understood.

The only times I've been out, as in away from the house and garden, or along

 our street, for three months, is for the weekly grocery shop, a few Sunday

 afternoons in my daughter's garden, and a trip to nail salon and hairdresser

 when they re-opened because I looked and felt quite horrible! 

I am now a reddish brunette with a couple of inches of grey silver (sounds better)

 hair. No more hair coloring, I'm going cold turkey with the growing out while I don't

 have to travel.  Keeping hair professionally trimmed and in good condition is

 a must, and although it's not going to be easy I'm thinking it's now or never! 

I really don't fancy myself as a redhead once I reach my eighties!!!

 I'm also somewhat curly/wavy now, and have grown out my bangs - no more

 blow drying whilst "locked up", just a little scrunching with a gel product - it's

 easy, takes no time, and does help disguise the roots a little better than

 a stick straight bob. . . . . . and I'm ready to go right out of the shower - except

 of course there's really nowhere to go!

The most 'dressing up' I've done was for Father's Day out in the hot garden - my

 cool and comfy zebra print caftan, wide-brimmed hat, sandals, and elephant

 print mask. . . . . . and I actually remembered to wear earrings.

Being 'fashionable' really is the least of concerns these days, after all who even

 knows who you are behind the mask, sunglasses, hat brim, let alone if you are

 wearing makeup or have curled your lashes.

Have you tried red lipstick with a mask, not a good idea!

We are no longer perfectionists trying to impress. Now we just want to show we care, 

both for our own health, and for that of others who bump into us in the snack foods

 aisle because they didn't see the directional arrow, or still insist on standing too close

 in the check out line, sometimes without a mask which is really pushing the envelope.

😷

You are trying new snacks aren't you?

Healthy ones of course such as quinoa and black bean tortillas - so good

with olive tapenade hummus. . . . . . and of course a chilled aperitif 

these lovely late afternoons on the porch.

Porch update -

I've just purchased a console-style table for the 'dead space' at the end

 of our small but much used front porch.  Some of you may recall I used to

 have a vintage potting bench there which eventually became too shabby

 and had to go.  I've missed it though as I enjoyed styling it in the summer

months with birdhouses, plants, lanterns and candles etc.  
I don't buy a lot online, however when browsing outdoor tables, this
 cedar-stained eucalyptus wood version, which matches our front door, 
popped up on sale, perfect measurements, can be used outdoors
 under cover, and lots of room for display and holding snacks, drinks etc.

As it has rained many days, and been very humid, we haven't sat outside
 for a while, however dry sunny days are back and we'll be out there often. . . . .still

waving to passersby, enjoying a late afternoon aperitif, and admiring our work

in the garden as we continue to remain at home most of the time.

Cheers!

Chickadees - they're back!

Recently, I mentioned it appeared the Carolina chickadee pair had decided

 not to nest in the little 'Home Sweet Home' box on the porch this spring. 

Wow, how wrong I was, and how these tiny creatures never cease to amaze me.

There is now daily activity.

Quietly, the pair of tiny birds have built a nest!  

After cleaning the front porch, the pollen season just about over,

 we've been sitting outside on the last couple of beautiful calm, warm

evenings - sipping an aperitif after several hours working in the garden -

and watching this little guy bringing green grubs to the nesting box, 

obviously feeding the female who must be sitting on eggs.

Before popping into the box he sits here, makes a tiny chirp to advise her 

of his arrival, flies in and then back out in about 30 seconds and takes

off to resume his search for supper.

Note, no Boston ferns in my hanging baskets yet!

This is probably the fifth year the chickadees have nested in this now

somewhat weathered little house!

"In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence."

. . . . . . Robert Wilson Lynd ~ 1879-1949