Buying Myself a Bouquet

                                   I love flowers

But I don't have a green thumb nor a good place to grow my own.

So, Shirley and I went to the End of Nowhere Flower Farm near where I live to see what they had in the way of cut flowers. The owner has this cute little stand that every Saturday during flower season she puts bouquets on the shelves for you to pick and pay sort of thing.

                    We'd never been so it was an adventure.

Out in the country, down a narrow winding road, farms on each side, cows and horses watching us go by. And, finally we come to the place. Isn't this just the cutest thing?

I snitched these photos off her website and they are not focused. Sorry

Shirley and I both chose mixed bouquets (sunflowers, sweet william, winged everlasting, and pincushion blossoms) 

Very summery, don't you think?

    I knew what the sunflowers and sweet william were but had to look up the other two flowers.

                        This is the pincushion blossom

and this one is winged everlasting

Did you know that? I didn't but now I do. 

I wonder how long I will remember which is which!! 

Sankaty Lighthouse and More Fun

 In 2004 Susan took me, Elbert, Brittany and Owen on an adventure. We went to Maine, Rhode Island and of course, we traveled through Conn. And, we spent several days on Nantucket. It was such fun.

We ate a picnic on the beach. It was a bit chilly but we enjoyed the food and companionship so much.

We visited Sankaty Lighthouse

explored some really rough terrain... it was a blast

So, the last couple of days I have been doing a watercolor of Sankaty Lighthouse using our photograph from there as a guide.

Key Lime Pie Cures Anything

 Feeling more upbeat today. It's amazing what an outing will do for you... not to mention the turkey and dressing. And, you gotta have cranberry sauce with it. We always ask for extra!! Besides, Cracker Barrel has rocking chair to enjoy. 

Getting new hearing aids turned out to be a bust! Shirley had tried to get in touch with them to make an appt but wasn't successful so we thought we'd just give it a try. Geez, we were in the neighborhood anyway. Seems the man who owned the audio portion of Sam's Club sold out so there was no one there. Well, it's not the only Sam's club in the area so we'll try another one. 

What are we going to do now! I seldom make suggestions which drives Shirley nuts. She says she hates making all the decisions but I think she loves to be in charge. I just always don't want to be a bother but I spoke right up and said, 'I want to go to Michael's crafts. I need new paint brushes.' Had a great time wandering up and down the aisles just looking at things that I would have scoffed up when I was younger. But, I just looked, got my brushes, a pool noodle and an American flag. 

I bet you anything you are wondering what in the world am I gonna do with a pool noodle! I can just hear those brain waves twirling! You see, I have this neighbor that lives under me who thinks if she hears one single sound out of my apartment it's cause for complaint. I've never had anyone else complain before so I guess it is her, I am not making more noise. Probably less. 

So, when I turn my Roomba on it has a habit of bumping into doors, walls, .... you get the picture. I thought if I slit that pool noodle down it's length and slid it around the outer part of my Roomba it wouldn't make as much noise. I just gotta figure out how to anchor it around that thing. Glue? Nah... tape maybe. We'll see. 

It was a gorgeous day and only like 2 p.m. so Shirley asked me if I was hungry. I mean, we just ate  but she's thinking dessert at one of our favorite eating places, Decoys. Oh yes... there's always room for that. We both got key lime pie. 

But, while the waitress was waiting on our order Shirley was muttering under her breath about whether to get pie or maybe some of their fabulous hushpuppies. When we got our pie, that sweet waitress brought us a basket of hushpuppies, too. On the house! I think I would have been happy just with those. They are so good. 

So, yes, I do feel better today. I do have to say that the sweet, caring, thoughtful comments I got on that last post made a huge difference in how I felt. Thank you, each and every one of you for caring. Love you girls!! 

Getting Out of The Dumps

 I was down in the dumps this morning, have been inching in that direction for days. 

1. I know that I am isolated too much

2. I know that I am stuck in a rut seeing the same residents and doing the same thing all the time.

3. I know that I see a slow-moving decline edging it's way into my life.

4. I know that I should be on top of the world that I am doing as well as I am

5. Now, what to do about it.

It helps that Shirley will pick me up around 11 tomorrow to eat at Cracker Barrel... It's turkey and dressing day!!

It helps that we will then go to get me some new hearing aids. Can you believe that I LOST my hearing aids at the wedding in Georgia? We never did locate them so I am in the market for new ones. 

It helps that I just watched a documentary on Grounding/Earthing. It sounds weird, I know! But, I asked ChatGPT about it and was told it isn't fully supported by the scientific/medical community. Well, duh..I've known for years that the medical field isn't interested in trying things that will take away their profits. 

Chatgpt said it would be beneficial to be outdoors. sit with my bare feet in the  grass, connect with nature. It can't hurt a thing and will get me out of this apartment. Now, if it will just stop raining! EVERY DAY THIS WEEK!

Writing

 This really made me chuckle. 

I have kept a journal (diary) most of my life. There are things in there that might not need to be read by others but mainly it's okay. It's just my life and how I lived it. But, I had wondered whether I should destroy my journals before I die or not. I finally decided to just either cut out or mark out what little bad was written in them and leave the good stuff for my descendants to enjoy.

Then, in this latest issue of the AARP magazine I found this: 

As I said, I really got a good chuckle out of this! 

The Correspondent

 I have had the best luck in my reading material lately. Thanks to my Susan who keeps giving me books to read. Last night I finished The Correspondent and was completely taken by surprise.

You see, I started that thing and just couldn't figure out who the characters were so I thought 'hey, this is a dud.' The whole book is nothing but letters different people have written to each other, the main one being Sybil. But, it all started making sense and before I knew it, I couldn't put it down. 

A completely original format.. well, maybe not original but certainly not the regular style of writing. I think it was refreshing to read something out of the norm.

And, you know what! I used to love to write letters and did so a lot. Then came email, then texting ... you get my drift. Letter writing is a lost art. But, this book put me back in touch with the feel I always got when I either wrote a letter or received one. I think we ought to bring back Letter Writing!!

I recommend this book. It's all about loss and grief, and joy and sadness, and adventure and love and finding yourself. Pretty much how life really is. Let me know if you have read it or when you do, I would be interested to know your take on it.