Catching up...

After last week, I am ready to spend some time around the house. 

This week may go as planned and then again, it may not. 

We are retired, and we may just load up and go somewhere.

Spring is trying to come up in my flower/vegetable beds and green is slowly becoming our outdoor color. I get so tired of the color brown during the winter months. Here in Missouri we get all four seasons, and sometimes all four may happen in one day. A friend of mine refers to our seasons as bi-polar, just last week we awoke to 68 degree weather, and by noon it had dropped to 34 degrees.  The saying is "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute, afterall you are in Missouri".

Last week:
We spent a couple of days in downtown Little Rock and came back through the Ozark Mountains thru many small towns. The views are beautiful and in a couple of weeks they will be gorgeous. 

Downtown Little Rock
The submarine and maritime museum.

Uncle Carl fished a bit this weekend, the cousins rebuilt the bearings on their zero turn lawn mower, and thehubs  and I cooked dinner for everyone (only 10 this time). Our neighborhood is made up of family, so we get together often. I love having family and friends sitting at our table laughing and enjoying each other. Mom will be turning 89 this spring, Auntie turned 76 this week, and the youngest J.T. is just 8 months old.

Outside my window:
The wind is blowing from different directions and the sun is shining. I had planned to work in my vegetable/flower garden but the wind is gusting too hard today.  Two Northern Geese have been here non-stop for the past three days.  The pond is full and a bright blue today even sparkling like diamonds in the wind, so pretty to sit and watch the birds playing. I am blessed with many windows (27 total in our cottage home), so it feels outside even when we are inside.

The herd of cows are in the east pasture so I can not see them out my window except  in the morning when the feed truck comes, then they run and chase it. It is a beautiful sight.

This week:
We have two birthdays 74 years apart, great grandma (nanny) and little Charlotte. The hubs has school 2 days, if the weather is nice, he will be disappointed that he had to spend those days inside.  A spring cold has slowed down two friends this week, cancelling our girls day out trip to the big city. We will give it another try next week or the week after.  We have a dinner out birthday party, a game of Wahoo with friends, and lunch in town this week.



On my mind: 
I am excited about getting our vegetable/flower gardens going and especially the time change this sunday. We will be traveling next week for a few days, so I am looking forward to seeing how spring is turning the countryside green. Last week I took a walk thru our woods after a rain and found several rare stones and many animal tracks, coyote, raccoon, possum, deer, and lots of birds. We live in an old mining area, so each time it rains you can find mining tailings, drilling stones and many kinds of ore. If we head down to the river, you can find indian arrowheads and some tools after a good rain. 

It is also time to look out for Morel Mushrooms, a delicacy that only grows when we have cool damp nights and sunny days. They are delicious!

My mood:

Inspired by:

Looking Back:
2017 was a restful year for my body and my soul. I found myself sitting quietly a good part of my time. I was so tired, both mentally and physically.  I had prayed for peace, solitude and to be able to pay real attention to my life, to hear more, to listen better, and to spend more time with the people I love. I feel that my prayers were answered and I am grateful.

2017 also brought us a new stray kitten, the hubs found her up our road in our dumpster. She was covered in ticks and fleas, scared of her own shadow, timid and afraid. A trip to the Vet found she was microchipped. A trip to the Humane Society revealed she was abandoned by her owner and her recorded name was Princess. She is no princess, she is a tom boy. A year later, she is part of our family, isn't so scared anymore, has her own bed, lots of toys, and can eat anytime she wants. She also has her own kitty door and private bathroom. We call her Kitty as in Miss Kitty from the tv series Gunsmoke.   We had to say goodbye to our 17 year old cat named tater Pie and Kitty soon appeared out of nowhere. Blessings come in so many different ways.

Kitty

I started bullet journaling in 2017, forcing myself to be a bit creative. No pre-printed pages this time, I wanted this journal to be about the relaxed and creative side of me that I was struggling to find. I began with a very soft flexible cover filled with blank pages and one set of old wax pencils and a new set of fine line jell pens. It has been fun, but just like my blog, I found that I can easily head down a path of self judgement. Even though my bujo is private, I found myself trying too hard. I also discovered someone I am not sure I had ever met before, my true self.  Perhaps my true self only lives in the present.



Time to say goodbye. Till later...

Linking up with:
Sandra over at
Happy Homemaker Monday