And Just Like That It's June....

 

Like the roads to Nod, however, the road to summer here has had its ups and downs.

Summer, it seems, is a timid bride this year.

We have a handful of summer-like days...where we go from 50 to 90.

And then we are back to mid-60's, and very low 40's for lows.

And wind...lots of wind.

And you know how I feel about wind.

But, slowly, things are greening, and plants are blooming.

The first bridesmaid is always the always-flamboyant rhododendron.

The others follow toute de suite in a pink and purple explosion.

{Weeping Tina Crabapple}

{Volunteer Vinca growing in the patio stones}

{With a slow, cold, spring, the blooms of the lilacs were more abundant and sweeter.}

And avian coteries welcome the newcomers with bursts of song.

 

{Look closely...a cardinal's camouflage.}

I think this year is the year I finally will be making good on my vow to forgo annuals. Bitterly bittersweet.

It's a good thing I am easily amused by nature as my "crafting" (is that what we are still calling it these days??) mojo has gone on another walkabout apparently.

 I started stitching another larger piece, but there is no progress worth posting at this point.

I did venture to the Island of the Unfinished and was not inspired to attempt any rescues other than finishing this one little piece I had finished the stitching on a year ago:

{"1776" from the talented Marly of Samplers and Santas.}

I couldn't seem to capture the true colors (and, yes, there is some distressing to it), but they are somewhere between the above photo and the photo below.

I am not impressed with my finishing and will not point out all the shortcomings....you likely can figure that out for yourself.... 

So, I abandoned the Island.

*******

I think I have missed sharing a few reads with you (I've been MIA a while, no?), but I don't believe I shared this one with you yet.

This is the third book by this author I've read.  I fell in love with her debut book, "The House Between Tides," about which I previously posted.  This book, however, I am a bit equivocal about.  I enjoyed it, but it was a transparent "clone" of her first book. While I somewhat felt like I was being able to continue the reading adventure I had enjoyed in the first book, this was not a sequel of any sorts...yet the main plot and subplots were just too similar.  I actually started confusing a few things between the two books while reading.  (No comments re the ease with which that confusion thing is accomplished these days...please.)

She even used some of the same character names....but they weren't the same characters.  😧 

Anyway, do with it what you will.  If you liked The House Between Tides and would like another "fix," have at it.  I am not the one who enjoys Hallmark movies with the same repetitive themes, so I give it a "meh."

*******

Well, I'm off to finish assembling a wheel barrow.  

Who has more fun than me?

Have a good new week ahead everyone.

Marly's Minestrone & Other Stuff

I am still holed up at the lake. 

The snows have stopped so I will need to take my leave while the leaving permits.

But it is cold...wretched, burn-your-nose, make-your-eyes-water, skin-sticking, cold.

So I believe I will wait this patch out and hope for a warm-up. Just thinking of loading and packing makes my teeth chatter.  I only hope it doesn't get colder yet and those "feel like" temps become the actual temps...'cuz you know what will happen to the "feel-like" temps then.

To me, cold weather and soup go together like dandelions and daydreams (and, where I live, there is much more of the former than the latter). So soup it is. 

As a disclaimer here, I am a bit of a soup snob.  My mom made the best soups in my world.  So while I LOVE soup, I expect 2 things from them:  (1) That they be homemade; and (2) that they be good...really good.

(Throw in a hunk of good homemade crusty bread and you will have a pal for life.)

I decided to finally try Marly's (Samplers-and-Santas) "Upstate Minestrone" soup.

For some reason, I have never been a huge fan of minestrones but, oh my heck....this.minnestrone.I.LOVE!!!

An unassuming tomato and beef base, complimented by hearty Italian sausage, zucchini, cabbage, and beans, quickly and effortlessly secured it a spot in my top 5 of soups.  Added bonus:  It reheats wonderfully and, like many soups, gets better with each reheating.

You really need to try it if you're a soup person.  You can find Marly's recipe here:

Marly's Upstate Minestrone Soup.

It's hard to believe I have been here 2 weeks (??) already.  Time seems to evaporate here.  I did bring my hooking project along with the thought of, if not finishing it, getting close to finishing it.

But I haven't even put it on my rug frame.

This is where I left off:

{"Simple Santa" by Therese Shick.  Sorry for the wonky photo but it is laying on the top of a curved trunk and I was too lazy to move it.}

I did start a new stitch:

{"Noel Sampler" by Brenda Gervais - With Thy Needle & Thread}

It was a gift from my sister-in-law and I am joining her in a "stitch-along."  Those participating stitch on this design from the 25th of each month until the month's end.  Those participating started already on December 25th (it's a Christmas sampler...get it??), but since I did not get the gift until after the new year (and since I stitch like I do most everything...slowly...) I decided I was entitled to "catch up" out of synch.

And, of course, I'm reading.

I am not certain what drew me to this book as it is not the genre to which I would typically be drawn.  I guess it goes to show how eclectic my taste can be.

It is the, unfortunately, true story of the Galvin family - a seemingly "all American" family with 12 children.  However, over time, 6 of the 12 children are diagnosed with schizophrenia.  The story interweaves the family drama and struggles (and, trust me, there IS drama and there ARE struggles) with the medical field's quest to unravel the how's and why's of the disease in the hopes of developing an effective treatment, if not cure.

I am nearing the end, though, so another reason I need to leave.

But not tonight....not tonight.

Stay safe and warm...and thank you for your companionship during my "purdah."

The Mind is its Own Place

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven." 

This is one of my favorite quotes from John Milton. 

I typically dislike it when authors mess with perfect quotes, but Sarah Collins made me make an exception when she elaborated on this one in The Confessions of Frannie Langton by saying "How does it do that? By remembering or forgetting.  The only tricks a mind can play."

These words have settled in the hinterland of my soul and I know them to be true...so very true...both Milton's and Collins'...and on any given day, I can be both in Heaven and in Hell and usually am, albeit more in the latter than the former it seems.

Snowdog can no longer travel comfortably (even if I can get him in the vehicle), but I felt the need to take him to the lake he has come to love at least once more.  So he and I headed north last weekend.

{One of the eagles was waiting to welcome us...and all the time we were there entertained us by dropping from a tree far above us to snatch a fish from the water in front of us.}

There was both Heaven and Hell there as well.  Another story for another time...or perhaps not.

Other than that, little is new.  I have wanted to do a post for some time but it seemed I had no words.

It seems I have not found them still.

I have stitched only a little, and hooked not at all...and finish/finished anything? Ha! Don't bother wondering.

This is about all I have accomplished:

It is a quick little stitch from our own Marly of Samplers and Santas.  I need to antique/distress it some so the numbers stand out a bit more and then, yes, FINISH it.  But Independence Day is past and my mind and ambitions have already begun to wander.

I have little else to show or say, but wanted you to know that I am still here and think of you all often.  I will leave you with a few photos of some of the more "heavenly" moments of my days.

Otherwise, there are days that are someplace between Heaven and Hell...where we neither remember nor forget....we just are.

If only we could be whole there.