Mostly pictures...

YaY! Guess what??? My sister and her wife are coming to visit.  She has been wonderful, talking to me every day since Tim died.  People wonder what in the world we can talk about every night.  Uhhh, we're sisters, and that just about says it all. We could talk about the same thing over and over again, but if it's what we want to talk about, who cares?  Anyway, they are driving in next month and we are going to do a little vacation, going up (and down) the east coast.  The plans are just in the beginning stages, but the things that we have planned to visit will be fun.  There will be nuns and dogs and artists and abbeys, but not necessarily in that order. 

I have been buying new traveling clothes and some jewelry and shoes and all things that "vacation" gives me an excuse to buy.  I have been trying to eat a bit lighter and keep the weight off that I've lost this year.

One of my favorite quick lunches is grilled chicken strips and salad.  Brew up a quick batch of green sweet tea and you're good to go.

I'm trying to stay positive with all the snow that we have had this winter and spring, so it is with a snarky little laugh that I show you my only outdoor spring flowers...

I'm still babying and nurturing my house plants and they seem to be responding.  I had one that suffered badly from my blundering re-potting, so I got yet another pot and am trying it again...

I added a pink polka dot plant to take up some of the room for the portions that didn't survive, but I'm optimistic, and have high hopes.

Speaking of house plants, I have several violets that I have been doting on and I wanted to move them into my kitchen window sill.  I had them on a wicker table close to the window, but it just didn't seem right.  I was dreading getting out the saw and trying to find a board and cut it to the proper size.  This is  something that Tim would have done immediately for me, no questions ask.  I even went on line and looked for a pre-made shelf and just couldn't find what I wanted.  So with an elaborate sigh, I got out the tape measure and measured the window and suddenly realized that if I found just a regular board, it would sit nicely under the curved thingy on the window and all I had to do was cut it to 34 inches.

I knew that Tim had some extra lumber under the deck, as I had straightened it up one day, long ago (last week), when we had a ray of sunshine.  I went down to get the board and remembered (yay) to take the yardstick with me.  I want to say that I was surprised that the plank waiting for me was the exact length needed, but in a way I wasn't surprised at all. 

Last April when I went to meet my sister and ride the train back, Tim stayed home, I left him little love notes everywhere on index cards.  This plank, cut to the exact size to fit the kitchen window reminds me of those cards that he kept finding.  Those colorful index cards that said I Love You in lots of different ways. This little plank, already cut to the perfect size, feels like a love note from heaven.  I feel like he is watching me and finding little ways to help me do the things that he always did for me.

Remember to say safe and creative and know that God is there for you.  God's ways aren't always mysterious, as some say, but He is there. Try to keep your eyes open to this, so you can see the ways that He is helping you. 

Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Happy Easter. 

This came today...

Today is the 26th anniversary of when I met my husband.  I thought it very fitting that I received this medallion today.

Next month I will receive a book that has pictures and bios of all the donors in our area. I submitted a great photo of him for that.  I'd like to think that my doing this (the donation) would be something that Tim would have approved of.  I feel like his spirit of giving, one that was quite heartfelt, lives on after him.

I'm missing my hubby

Yeah, it's been gloomy here today and I seem to miss Tim more on gray days.  The weekends were always so special for us.  Here is a picture of us last year on my birthday...

This is one of my favorite pictures of us.  Not that great of a picture, but we were so happy.  There is a series of about six pictures with him trying to do our portrait without using the timer.  I cropped this so you can't see his arm that was holding the camera.

The other thing that is funny is the money that is in his pocket.  He was going to take me shopping and one of the places he said he wanted to take me was "Birdbath and Beyond".  He was funny that way.  We had been giggling about that. Maybe for my birthday this year, I'll post all of the silly shots that we took that day.

I miss him.

Hey there...

I'm combining self portrait with haircut and therefore bring you this...

Funny, the older I get the more I look like my mother.  My eye lids are getting droopy.  I hope that it's just gravity and not something else.  Oh, well...we'll see.

That's it for today, just stopping in to say hello and to let you know that I'm doing fine.  Oh yeah, I did do something today, I ordered a Life Alert system.  You know the pendant that you wear around your neck and if you fall and cannot get up, they will send someone or call your  neighbor.  Since I'm alone now and seldom carry my phone with me (I wear yoga pants with no pockets), who knows what might happen.  In any event, I signed up for it.  With the money I'm saving by changing my cable bundle, I'm breaking even.

Now that's it for today.

More pictures...

Can it be that I have less time to do things like blogging than I did before?  Well, if you count the time I spend watching television, add to that the time it takes to babysit Tim's friend who is a sweet man and a hard worker, but a total brat, while he moves the inventory from our basement and storage locker, toss in time used for online shopping and real time shopping and... yes, it seems I really don't have any extra time on my hands to blog.

Now that I've had several months to get used to this new way of life, I'm thinking of adding in things like meeting the gals for lunch and possibly taking some classes in who knows what.  Being bored will not be a problem for me, but then it never has been.

I'm starting to cook again...

Made a tasty beef stroganoff one week for dinner...

Drink lots of tea, brewed using a variety of techniques...

If truth be known, I'm still a simple tea bag dunker.

I'm doing my banking online and some shopping also, but I still need to do things  that require physical work, like rearrange furniture and pack away pictures and put them in the basement. As soon as the record collection is moved I will have plenty of room...

 I've hung some new curtains...

I'm learning about plants...

I've even splurged on a Ribbonwick candle...

I'm settling in to a new way of life.  I'm staying busy, but still doing the things that I enjoy.  We have had snow or a wintry mix almost every week since Tim died and I am looking forward to some sunshine.  I've been talking to Peri about container gardening and I ordered several books from Amazon this evening.

I love to sew and crochet and plan on doing more of that.  I'm on a bit of a break from jewelry making right now, but that's temporary.  I'm thinking about learning more about home improvement and decorating.  There is no shortage of interesting things to do, but I'm saving plenty of time to reflect, read and relax, too.

I'm still a Survivor junkie, so I'm off to catch this weeks episode.  Hope you all are doing well.  Keep hanging in there with me and I'll get back in that groove soon.  Love you all.