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.

Today I put more window clings on.

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.

Merry Christmas from very cold and very snowy Minnesota, USA!

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.