I’m Right. Again

Well, I’m right again. And “they” have confirmed it.  This is the WORST spring we’ve had in the Puget Sound, since 1948!!  Until Monday, April 18, we’d only had 2 days with a high temperature above 55 degrees.  Last year we’d had 26 days with temps above 55 degrees!!! Yes, I’ve been whining about this lousy weather and I was right.  It’s been incredibly lousy!

But what a day today!  Oh, it wasn’t an entire day of wonderfulness.  There were a couple of short rain squalls but they managed to control themselves, do their business, and move on, letting the sun came out again. And it wasn’t warm, maybe it didn’t even officially make it above the magical 55 degrees, but the sun was out for most of the day and I’m lovin’ it!

Just to top off my euphoria, it’s supposed to stay sunny and “warm” for the next couple of days.  This is the life!!

They’re Back!

They’re back!

I put up the hummingbird feeder a week ago.  They’d about emptied it for the second time, so today I mixed up more syrup, or whatever it is you call their food, and took it out to fill ‘er up. While I was pouring the elixir into the bottle the little bugger flew over and buzzed my head, cussin’  me out for taking so long. Then, just in case I’d misunderstood him he in hung in midair, inches from my head, saying more bad words.

Well, maybe he wasn’t cussing.  Maybe he was expressing his undying gratitude.  But it sounded like cussing.

Then he dove in and swigged a beak-ful.

They Say Opposites Attract

They were both male, both American, and both at the Easter program.  And that’s where the similarities ended. One was short, the other tall. One was white, the other black.  One was balding, the other had very long dreadlocks.  One was 80 years old, the other in his 20’s. One was Christian, the other was undecided about his faith.

And there they were,  strangers to each other,  having just met because they sat near each other at the Easter program.

I was too far away to hear the words but I could see their faces and their body movements and I sat transfixed. Who would think these two men, from different generations, different ethnicities, different life styles would strike up such a happy, friendly, animated, joyful conversation.

It was a beautiful thing.

Help Me With My Potting Bench Dilemma

I need your help!  I love to garden as my patio, with its mess of pots and plants and dirt, can attest.  I need to clean it up and a potting bench would be the perfect solution.

In this month’s Better Homes and Gardens, on page 218, is a picture of a woman and the potting bench she created out of a dresser she bought at a thrift store.  She painted it, added a glass-tile top, and then changed out the mirror with a perforated hardboard to hold tools.

Here’s the deal–I have an old buffet.  It has a couple of minor water stains on the top.  Nothing serious.  It could be sanded and restained pretty easily.  On the front of the buffet  a couple of small (2-3 inches) pieces of decorative wood have broken off.  I took a picture of it to a nearby antique store and their assessment is that I could maybe get $90 for it should I try to sell it.  A small potting bench will cost me more than that.

So, should I transform this buffet into a potting bench?  I could paint it with a sealant and maybe put some tiles on top to protect it.  It would work.  But it seems a bit sacrilegious to do this to a buffet that isn’t in that bad a shape. What should I do?

When I Grow Up…

We visited the grandkids in Reno this past week.  The grandkids who, at ages 7 and 9, want to be an astronaut and a weather prognosticator. When I was their age, so I am told although I don’t actually remember this, I had one goal in mind.  And that was to be a Grandmother.

One would assume I made this noble life-choice because I had a great relationship with my own grandmother. But that isn’t the case. I never met my paternal grandmother who died before I was born.  And I only saw my maternal grandmother for a week or so every other year.  Probably because my maternal grandmother and I share a similar personality, tending to be quiet and rather shy, we never really got to know each other. Grandmother was certainly nice but not the kind that held us grandkids on her lap reading silly stories or took us on a walk to the park.  Our times together were those of strangers thrust upon each other and we kept our polite distance.

Rather,  I can only believe that my earliest life-goal of being a grandmother was decided upon because of my great intelligence and insight (at which point you are probably saying, “What happened to all of that intelligence and insight?”  But that’s a blog for another day.)

I was intelligent and insightful enough to choose a life-goal that will never be removed from the realm of possibility by funding cuts, like becoming an astronaut, or be replaced by bigger and better technology, like weather prognosticating may some day be.  My goal requires no special training or education, no particular location or amount of money. You don’t even have to be a parent first, or at all!  You can “grandparent” a child from your neighborhood or your church.  The only real requirement to being a grandparent is to first achieve a Certain Age.  Yes, grandparenthood is here to stay and is achieveable by all.

We got to visit our grandkids this week in Reno.  Then we came home and saw our “grandkids” at church.  It’s a life-goal, good forever.

Sun, Glorious Sun!

It wasn’t warm but who cares? After 41 sunless days in the Puget Sound the sun finally made its appearance. The clouds parted, the sun came out, and I felt like singing.  My apologies to Oliver, it was Sun, Glorious Sun.

My husband hopped on his “tractor” (the John Deere riding lawn mower) and created some of that wonderful, fresh cut-grass smell.  My garden is coming alive.   The daffodils and blue bells are in full bloom  The day lilies are coming up and the forsythia is budding out. It was the kind of day that gets me thinking about getting my hands dirty, planting seeds, pulling weeds, dividing daisies, and trimming roses.

But alas!  There was no time to play in the garden yesterday.  And tomorrow the prediction is for Rain, Glorious Rain!  Take a hike, Oliver.

Betting on the Puget Sound’s Sun

My husband and I just returned from a 3 day visit to Reno to see our son and grandkids.

And the celestial sun!  I’m sorry to report that the Puget Sound has about as many dreary, overcast days as Reno as sunny days.  Seeing the sun in Reno this week was almost as much fun as seeing the grandkids!

This wasn’t my first trip to Reno but it was the trip when I made a discovery about myself.

I whine a lot about the dreary, gray days we have here.  And I will continue to whine about them.  There are way too many overcast days and they wear me down. But I discovered that I’ll place my bet on the Puget Sound’s limited sunny days, over the sun of Reno.

Because along with the sun I need some trees and green and flowers and the ability to be outside enjoying it all.  The desert has its own special beauty and I saw some of it this week.  But as the sun revs up in the coming weeks and lasts through the  summer it gets hot in Reno and the sensible hide in their air conditioned houses, cars, and offices. And even if they should be brave enough to go out into the heat, there are only so many rocks, and sagebrush bushes, and barren landscapes you can appreciate.

Coming home last night, through the cold and the rain, was disappointing. And waking up to the clouds today was depressing.  But in the past hour the sun has come out and is shining on my yellow daffodils and my green grass and my stately maple and hemlock trees.

And it is outstanding.