Spring Has Arrived (Finally!!!)

It has been an awful long time since I last posted here and I have no excuses. I was kept away by a combination of laziness (there I admitted it), lack of anything to say that was worthwhile and then there was a general spiritual malaise and struggle that had me securely locked down in the emotional pits. And while it's possible to keep going and getting the day to day stuff done, anything beyond that is just as likely to get put off until never. But I think I'm finally getting to a point where the misery that I chose to wallow in, is becoming manageable and I don't feel so paralysed by it. Ask me in a week and I may have a different story to tell but that's life, a never ending process of change and change again so we'll see how that goes. For the time being, I'm here, my camera is working and the spring has sprung and I'm going to make an effort to keep a better record. I've chosen a few nice pictures here that just show how things are coming along with the 'old homestead'. The trees are still bare but you can see that the flowers had begun to bloom when I took these and my chickens were finally safely confined. I was letting them run around the whole yard, but then they discovered how nice the soil was in some of my flower borders and their freedom became problematic. I wanted them to be able

to roam and do chicken things, but I also want to have a nice yard and not have to follow them around replanting everything they scratched up. So I moved my garden boxes, then set up a fence and now they have an area that is about 30' x 30' plus of course, their little roofed in cage and their chicken house. Now they can search for bugs and seeds in the grasses and amongst the trees, take dust bathes to their hearts content and my garden is safe. Win, win for us all. Frankly, if I was a chicken, I would want to belong to me because they have it really good. So for now I'm going to sign off, let you take a peek at the few pictures that I could round up and I promise to be back later this week. The weather is windy and cold today, but the next time we have some sunshine, I'll pull out my camera and go on the hunt for some more photos to share with all of you whom I love. Til then, take care my dears and don't let the zombies get you. In fact stay away from Miami, I hear they found one there. Toodle-loo for now!

Craft Closet Compact.....

I used to have a full size closet in a seperate room for storing all my craft goodies in, but since we've moved, the areas of our house are having to do double (triple?) duty. So our guest room, which is only used occasionally for guests is my music room, yoga studio and now also my craft room - in the closet! So I've had to sort and organize my odds'n ends to the 'nth' degree and now I'm ready to show it off.

I made a little card today in it and one thing I've realized from the experience is that I'm going to have to really clean as I go. Tidy, tidy, tidy!!! My mantra. So here are a few pictures for your inspection. Do you think it will do?

Kid Pictures for Great Grandma and Everyone Else

I just thought you might like to see a few more pictures of the weekend. Playgrounds, beaches, and just plain cute kids. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

Can You Hear the Punkin People Laughing?

I know that this is pretty much a family blog and so I'm not interested in drawing strangers into it's sphere of influence (pretentious aren't I?), but I'm still having the hardest time trying to figure out how to get going here. I think it's a little like the artist who stands frozen in front of the huge, blank, white canvas, unable to make that first mark. I think all of us have these kind of moments. Fear of failure, rejection, fear of being the boring guy that everyone loves to avoid......how many ways are there to overcome this kind of anxiety? There must be some tried and true methods and one day, maybe I'll do a little research and tell you what I've found, but for today, maybe I shall be happy enough to quietly sidestep into this post, as I've done here.

The marks have been made and they all lead back to one thing. They take me back to the weekend, they take me back to the sound of Liam, happily announcing from his place beside his Pappa, "the punkin people are lauging" and followed by his little example giggle! So adorable and so wonderful how he insists always on sitting by Pappa. And those brush strokes that are the colors of my memories, take me back to the sensation of little Elsa, reaching up with chubby baby hands to pat my cheek as I snuggled her close and absorbed her sweetness. Surely moments of pink and gold amidst the feelings of love.....we were wonderfully blessed by spending time with Kim and Oliver and Liam and Elsa.

One of the nearby towns decorates every Fall with 'Pumpkin People' which are really just scarecrows with pumpkins for heads. But not just one or two, here and there, but large groups, with themes, and all over town. There was a Transformers group, and a wedding party, and the standard scarey Halloween bunch, and knights and horses and robots and moms shopping for groceries.... and Liam wanted to stop and see every one. And some were too scarey, but some were ok, and I think we stopped to see a lot of them and soon even the scarey ones weren't so bad.

There's a beach near our house, covered with the most fascinating collection of rocks that have speckles and streaks and crystals of color. We spent a couple hours there, filling our pockets and a rather large plastic bag with tiny treasurers. Liam didn't collect, but he threw rocks and he threw more rocks and then even more rocks. I don't think he stopped the whole time we were there and he had a ball because for a change, no one was telling him not to throw rocks. Apparently that's one of his favourite things to do right now. Who knows, maybe he just amazes himself with the prowess of his throwing arm and it makes him feel like he's strong!

And then the weekend was over, and they had to leave, and the house seemed so quiet. But November is coming and Elsa's birthday and we plan to be there for cupcakes and baby hugs and little boy wrestling matches.

All my darlings are getting old(er).......

It's 5:30 in the morning and I can hear the birds staking their claims, warning off rivals, expressing their joy at simply being alive. It rained hard during the night but now the air feels fresh and clean and the dirt that was so dry and powdery is a dark chocolatey brown and the sound of myriad tiny drops of water falling down, from leaf to leaf is the chorus behind the bird songs.

I'm out early this morning because there's no hay left in the feeder and I want Ambra and Sierra to spend a few hours out on the grass before the heat of the day brings the flies back out of their hiding places. They just watch me as I pass their stalls on the way to opening the gate. I expected that they would follow after me, eager to get out to the grass after the long night of taking refuge from the rain but they don't. Strange. So I've had to go back and lead them out.

But as I take the bottom of Sierra's halter and begin to lead her I realize one more time, how old my darling has suddenly gotten. Her steps are halting and she moves each foot with hesitation. I'm reminded of the old people that shuffle behind their walkers. When did this happen? When did her bones begin to ache so much that it takes her time to warm up and begin to move easier? Because she will warm up, and her movements will become more fluid and it will be easier for her. Ambra doesn't seem to suffer like this as much, she walks easily still.

They are both 21 years old now and I thought that they had many more years ahead of them and yet here are the signs of that old age that I didn't expect - yet. The one downside to this paddock that they live in now is that it is a bit of a hillside and I wonder how they will navigate this in the years to come. But one thing I have learned in the past fifteen years of having them in our lives is that it is senseless to worry about tomorrow or next year or......I'll figure that out when it comes. In the meantime, I will make a point of spending a little bit of time each day, encouraging them to move, encouraging them to get a little exercise, encouraging them to keep on living.

Early Photos of our New Home

We love our new home!!!! We love the house, we love the area, we love the weather, we love the lack of bugs, we love the birds.....we love our new home! Yessiree, this last move was a good one. The only downside is that instead of it taking only two plus hours to get to Kim and Olivers, it is now about five hours if you take the ferry over to PEI. That makes me sad, because it would be so great to see the kids (big and little) more often. But it is what it is and thank goodness for cheaper long distance rates, especially when Liam eventually is more willing to talk on the phone and of course, Elsa in her time.

But as for our new home, I thought that I would put some pictures up here, so that you could see them. Now keep in mind, these pictures were taken about two months ago, just after we moved in. I would have posted them sooner but I couldn't find the little wire for connecting my camera to the computer and so any pictures I took were 'stuck' if you know what I mean. But I finally accepted that I might never find the wire (which I really should have tucked away in an obvious spot for the move) and I bought a new one and so here we are with those photos. I should maybe have taken some new pictures, but my house is a bit messy because I've been spending more time outside trying to get things squared away with fences and so on, so for now these will have to do. And maybe next time I put indoor pictures up, the curtains will be hung by then. I'll also get some outdoor pictures for next time, but today the weather is grey and overcast and not good for pictures. Anyway, here we go.....

Moving, Pain and Beautiful Views.

I've been sitting on the couch for most of the day, leg elevated, periodically freezing it with a bag of peas and yes, today we were loading the trailer up yet again with boxes to take over to the new house. Actually, let me correct that last bit, I was helping load the trailer until I missed the last three steps as we brought down a mattress from the guest room. The only injury was my ankle, my teeth and my face are intact and no broken bones. Just my ankle and my composure suffered. So here I am, laid up and in the midst of a big move that Don and I were very nicely managing on our own. We've already brought over most of the outside stuff and now it's time for house things and then this! But I iced and elevated it immediately and I think that even as soon as tomorrow it will be much better and I will be able to get involved again.

As for our new house, it is fabulous. Frustrating as we found the process of choosing fixtures and so on, it has all turned out really well. And the light, oh my gosh! the light is lovely in there. Even on a gloomy day it is bright and we love it and we're looking forward to living there so much. Once things have settled down, I'll post some more photos. The one this is included with this post is the view from our living room window. It is not a very large pond, but it is currently home to a pair of mallards and in a couple months will have both pink and yellow water lilies adding to the prettiness. So whether it is winter or spring or summer or fall, it will be gorgeous.

Our contractor Darrell was also wonderful to work with. We've all heard contractor horror stories, but this is not one of those. He's been great, totally capable, efficient, is willing to work with us on 'ideas' and on time. The worst part of this whole process has been the difficulty that Don and I had in choosing things. But we're almost done and then the work of prettying up our new place begins. Such fun!!!!