Last year I put up some Easter window clings I hadn’t used in years. My granny heart thought our little grandson would get a kick out of them on the patio doors. Alas, the squirrels were far more exciting to him 😂 After Easter when I took the window clings down, birds started flying into the patio doors. Scary! I had to do something to protect them, so I went online and ordered one set of dragonfly/butterfly window clings. They worked! So I bought more for other same-facing windows. Life got busy, the birds seemed to stop flying into the windows, and I never put up the extra sets.
The migratory birds are back, and last Friday a bird flew into the window. I saw it stun, but then fly away. My husband and I both looked all around, and we could not find it.
Spring is in the air again and I am getting invigorated!
It has been a very long winter in so many ways, but the front door is open to the screen glass on many days now, the daylily seeds have been in the refrigerator for many weeks (stratification), the winter lanterns are off the shepherd’s hook, some Easter decorations are up in the house, and today the garden pretties started to go outside.
I particularly like this picture because it shows the shadow of the linden in the snow and exactly how beautiful it’s branches are. And of course a few cute little decorations in the rock have been put out today.
Up north there are literally thousands of shadows of trees that are absolutely gorgeous. The linden at the townhouse just happens to be right outside my office. It gets a lot more views by me, and others, than the ones up north, unless you count views by the birds, deer, foxes, coyotes, bears, porcupines, mice, squirrels … 🙂
Yesterday we WERE up north. We should have brought our new drone – lol – because, alas, we weren’t getting in. The snow is over waist deep at minimum and chest deep for sure at the entry. But soon!
For today it is the spring outdoors kick-off at the townhouse.
Hi there! I hope all is well, and you, and your gardens (if you garden) are safely tucked in and prepared for the winter ahead.
It has been a learning time here. A totally new phase. God, who I do believe in and fully count on, has undeniably tethered me to our townhome. Despite my efforts to change that, my husband has absolutely no interest. So I am nesting, and thinking (of course!), and continuing to declutter, and really enjoying the Grandma experience. Changes around our home have even been made to enhance the time with our grandson, and not just for safety.
And I have picked up an old hobby. No, not knitting, crocheting, sewing, cooking, baking, or card making. A hint – it integrates with all the pix I take. And my love of reading and writing. Scrapbooking! But with a twist. I love that our grandson, like our whole family (surprise!), loves books. So I am taking the photos and making him stories, staring him, and our shared time with him and our family and neighbors and friends. Wonderfully good fun!!!
How did this happen, you say? Well, let me share how it all came together.
I was decluttering one day and I thought, “Time to electronic declutter”. That led me to decide to print some faves, which lead me to decide it was time to make a photo book, which reminded me it was fun to make my own photo books, which sparked an idea to make a story book, and whalah! An idea was born! Story book(s) for our grandson, who loves time here with grandma and grandpa, who LOVES books, and who is (alright) not shy in front of the camera! This should be fun AND easy! And I have plenty of kid theme and colors photo book supplies – in that drawer, and that trunk, and … Declutter time!!!
It was a delightful day! No, I wasn’t up at the little house up north, peeking out the window at the sliver of Lake Superior, or watching deer, but I was blooming where I have been FIRMLY planted.
So, electronic clutter starting to be decluttered, scrapbooking supplies all in one place and organized, I waited for the prints to arrive. Because it was just way too easy to order off the app and membership where I store my photos. Ya, they got me there. Happily.
As I relaxed, and waited, my mind turned to another decision. Next “project”. I have a much loved decade and a half used, fleece jacket with a log cabin embroidered on the back. Yes, it is true. I was a grandma LONG before I officially became a grandma – hahahaha! No, I do not have the “exploded Easter egg” or the “urban camo” reversible blazer jackets any more 🤣 But I did, at one time, until our boys said “Ma, those gotta go. They are HORRIBLE”.
Back to the little log cabinet jacket. It is in rough shape. The lining is shredding, the fleece is seriously pilled, the zipper looks like a 7 year old’s school picture – you know, missing teeth – and still, I absolutely love it. I do not want a new one either. I want that one. But alas! It is pretty bad. Time to decide. What shall I do with the log cabin fleece jacket? Remember, I do not sew, or crochet, or make cute little throw pillows or purses or goodness forbid another blanket! out of old clothing. No, no, no. Not happening here!
Hang in there with me.
And then I came across an old magazine when I was pulling out my saved favorite holiday magazines. Don’t worry – they are finite, and containerized, and well culled. I pull them out every year, like a favorite holiday novel or movie. It is tons of fun!!! In there was, you guessed it, an old log cabin magazine. My heart did not delight. It did not spark joy. It felt old, and frustrating, and my instinct was to DECLUTTER IT!
And then it happened. The lightbulb moment! We do not live in a log cabin! We will never live in a log cabin! Maybe I love them because my great-grandparents had a dirt floor in their house and they swept that and I love that story but … I am a tech and finance analyst and consultant who lives in a townhome with carpet and tile and sheetrock and vinyl siding and battery operated candles with remotes and timers (ok, yes, with log cabin designs on them)! And yes, I do understand that modern log cabins have all the amenities and that people from all walks of life live in them. But clearly we have not prioritized to be one of them. So maybe I can declutter the jacket – take a picture and then responsibly and lovingly send it to textile recycling, and send the log cabin magazine off to recycling too. Cuz they represent a time when we thought a log cabin was what we wanted, but we did not make any steps to seriously pursue that, even when it was an option, so it is a “fantasy self”. We are not log cabin owner type of people.
Yesterday I made the “Halloween with Tyrannosaurus Rex grandson” photo album pages. I rearranged furniture so I don’t have to move the (head bumping when you’re a crawling/toddling person) coffee table any more. I washed up Sherpa blankets that are going to the dog shelter, and being replaced with cotton throws and blankets – another HUGE “what was I thinking, I know Sherpa pills quickly and even before that it is itchy feeling” moment.
And I decided, you can move on from the log cabin jacket.
This one deserved a blog. It is an example of a “pretty, and great reminder, but does not match me”.
I love the saying, and it is a very cute design, but … I like coffee cups that can go in the dishwasher. This one technically can, but .. dishwater seeps into the plug in the bottom (because it was supposed to be vacuum sealed, which I really don’t care one whit about). When we pull it out of the dishwasher, and turn it upside down and put it away in the cabinet, I forget it will have trapped water. When I go to use it, even when I think all the dishwater is back out, it is not, and it leaks out some more, all over my shirt, before a conference call, which is not my “wildest dream”.
Go forth encouraging saying coffee mug and find someone who likes to hand wash coffee mugs.
Two words that, if we heard them when raising the boys, we stopped everything and paid rapt attention, because if we didn’t, good things were not going to happen.
I cannot believe it, but I, myself, am bored. It is a not so great feeling. I am not at all used to it. It, in itself, tells me I absolutely need to find a new “wildest dream” to pursue. Like we knew our boys needed activity, I know myself. This is not going to go away. And it is not a “do the dishes, put in a load of laundry, find one thing to declutter” need. I need a “love it, inspired” … next step. You see how I avoided that “P” word, that has a “roject” at the end? Yah. Have a little aversion to those 😉
Yesterday we had a symbolic moment. I will give history for understanding. When we moved here we had a very different color scheme. That was a LONG time ago. I have kept some of those quality items, because, well, you know, you never know, they might stop making, well, for instance, seaglass colored bath mats. You never know. The three seaglass colored bath mats were sitting on top of the huge baby bouncer our grandson has outgrown. I was trying to decide – stay or go? For the bath mats, not the bouncer 😉
I was working in my office and heard some rustling. My sweet husband had previously had that “I am going to have some fun” look. I knew I better investigate. There was a bag in the hallway, ready to go out the door. What was in the bag? The 3 seaglass bath mats.
Now you may laugh, and it is kind of fun, and funny. But it was also a moment. The camper doesn’t need seaglass bath mats. The little house up north is sold, and it didn’t have seaglass bath mats even before we sold it. Nothing in our townhouse needs seaglass bath mats. Time to go. So off to donations they went, with the pans and kettles that came with the camper. They are now released for someone else to use and enjoy.
But it symbolizes where I am. Like that time of seaglass color scheme, which went quite a while ago, I loved the chapter we just closed – with the little house up north. And although others have made suggestions, I have absolutely no idea what God will have for us, for me, to do next. I am kind of out of “wildest dream” bucket list biggies. Although I would still love a little old house by a brook with deer and squirrels and bunnies to shoo away when they get up to mischief in the lawn turned to garden, that is not happening so far. Maybe. But not even a hint of it yet. So I do what I have trustingly done so … many … times. One foot in front of the other, keep busy with the daily things, and watch and wait.
The hummingbirds have been gone for a week and a half, the geese are flocking up and filling the skies with their wonderful honking, we have had our first frost, the shamrocks are out of the gardens and up by the patio, transitioning to their eventual move indoors for the winter, and the daylily seeds are almost all harvested, and in envelopes, safely stored until February stratification time.
We have also worked through a lot of what we brought back from the little house up north. Some was not worth sharing, but definitely needed purging. We are once again in a “manageable decluttered” state. Not perfect, but back to continual maintenance.
I recently planted the two hostas that were really struggling at that little house up north, back into the garden here, the last transitional piece. As a bonus, we hear from our former neighbors that the new homeowners are very nice. A match, and a blessing indeed. We were blessed to enjoy that wonderful home during its, and indeed our, transitional period, and had wonderful memories there to enjoy for a lifetime, including friendships we carry forward.
Now the fall things at the townhouse remain – cutting back the garden after the color is largely gone, balancing between enjoying the last bit, and getting winterized before significant snow flies. It is part of the cycle, and a good time to wind down the garden blog for the 2022 season.
So I bid you a fond adieu until the gardens pick up in spring 2023. I will post from time to time as “share worthy” things come up in the interim, and will catch up next spring for another garden season.
Kettles and pans – a big thing in this household. We had one very nice set for 20 years. Then we bought a new type, and donated the old set. Then I had an anniversary with a company and chose another set. Then we bought a used camper and it had another set.
Oh goodness!!! We are swimming in pans and kettles! The cabinets are jam packed, and still … a cast iron pan is always sitting on the stove, and my husband’s two favorites – a pan from IKEA and a stainless steel kettle, are most often in the dish drainer.
The camper kettles need to get donated, the pans and kettles that were at the little house up north need to go to the camper, and we need to settle on a few here. This took place during a weekend trip up north. Someone will be very happy with a full sets of pans and kettles.
Last Saturday we took our first boxes of “One Thing” donations to Salvation Army.
IT FELT SO AWESOME!!!
Keep going if you are joining along, and I hope you are seeing results too!!!
When we were getting unchipped “old chippies” pattern dishes safely packed, we were reminded we brought these ADORABLE dessert plates back from the little house.
I bought them when we realized we wanted the white everyday china we have here, up north as well. I had wanted these little Evergreen Ernie plates for two years and finally pushed “ADD” to the cart. Hint, they were open stock, not in a full set of dishes. We find we like open stock best. No coffee mugs, please.
These little plates were so fun up north, and now they are here 🤗
Oh and we discovered we had four coffee mugs that matched the old blue chippies pattern, and two ramekins (we never used any of them). In the donations they went.
Susan's Daily Garden 