four things | fourteen

Spring has finally arrived. It was sunny and warm in my neck of the world. Cold and windy (enough to drag out the winter coats and hats) on Wednesday quickly changed to warm and sunny yesterday. In fact we had temperatures in the low 80’s! No humidity and no bugs…I’ll take it.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. It is a time to celebrate!

what I’m reading

My Book Club met at my house on Monday. We discussed Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Windspear. This is the first book in the series of 18 and though I read it several years ago I loved it enough to recommend it for the book club. They all loved it, too, and plan to continue the series on their own. The books takes place between 1913-1929 in England. If you like historical fiction, you might like this series that follows Maisie, a female private investigator and psychologist, from her adolescence to opening her agency and landing her first case.

what I’m listening to

About month ago Mr. Aitch and I had tickets to see/listen to the Airmen of Note, the Air Force Jazz Band. The concert was postponed due to bad weather but they came back last weekend to hold a band clinic for the area high schools and then preform for the public. We both love jazz and they did not disappoint. If you have to opportunity to hear them, please take advantage of it.

what I’m loving

These bunny racecars were stuck in the planter in front of one of the cluster mailboxes down the street. How sweet for Easter!

what I saw on my walk

This cute arched cloud…

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

four things | thirteen

We had every season of weather this week. Warmth, sun, rain, flurries, wind and clouds. I hope you had sunshine and seasonably appropriate days where you live. My lilac bush has buds and the sub-freezing temperature might have damaged them. Only time will tell.

I love lilacs. They smell so sweet and remind me of my mother. She had light purple and a white lilac bushes in her back yard. The light purple one that I have was a freebie from a neighbor at least 20-some years ago. It needs pruned and some suckers removed. Maybe I’ll get to that this year…

what I’m reading

Mr. Aitch got me hooked on the Babylon Bee satire site many years ago. They take no prisoners and are an equal opportunity offender of world, national and local news stories, religion, entertainment, sports, and the list goes on. Check it out…unless you are easily offended. Just remember it’s satire. Most of the time it’s funny but it usually brings a lot of truth to a situation.

I will be the first to admit that I don’t know the Bible. I’ve never read it cover-to-cover. I get most of my Bible lessons and history during Mass. A Babylon Bee story about Moses had referenced a person named Dathan. We know a person by that name so Mr. Aitch looked up Dathan to see what he was all about. Apparently he was a real bad-ass who kept agitating Moses and got what was due eventually.

Mr. Aitch asked me why anyone would name their baby after such a bad person. Maybe they didn’t know?

what I’m watching

Tombstone with Val Kilmer, Kurt Russel, Sam Elliot, and Bill Paxton.

what I’m eating

I made these sausage cheese rolls to try for the Book Club snack on Monday. I used a sweet Italian sausage instead of ground pork for more flavor. I loved them but Mr. Aitch thought they were just okay. Granted he wasn’t feeling the best when he tried them so that might have contributed to his not-so-positive opinion.

So I’ll serve something else…

what I saw on my walk

Since the weather was questionable this week Pepper and I only walked twice but I did see a cute bird house. Maybe a feathered family will move in.

Have a great weekend.

Patti nona

four things | twelve

It’s Saturday already?! Where does the time go?

what I’m watching

The weather this week has been up and down, warm and cool, windy and calm, sunny, cloudy and rainy. I’m usually a heavy sleeper but I woke up around 3:00 Friday morning by a thunderstorm. I could hear the rumbling but fell back to sleep quickly.

Looks like this coming week will be more of the same. Spring is like that.

what I did and didn’t do

I only walked three days this week. I’m a fair-weather walker. And so is Pepper. If it’s not raining today, I will get in another walk. I take Sundays off though getting outside and breathing in the fresh air would be relaxing.

what I’m working on

I managed to clean off my cutting table and cut at least half of the flannel for the 2-3 dozen burp cloths I’m making for a baby shower. I got seven pinned together and as soon as my sewing table is clear, I can start sewing them together in an assembly line.

another thing I’m working on

I found some flower seed packets we received in the mail from a realtor years ago. I had them tacked to a bulletin board next to my computer for awhile. A l-o-n-g while! One is an “Old Fashioned Mixture” of annuals for cutting packed in 2006. The other is a “Butterfly Garden Mix” packaged in 2010.

I will try to see if any of the seeds are still viable and plant them in a sunny part of the yard or some pots for the deck.

I’ve looked on-line about germinating old seeds by soaking them in a sugar solution of 1 cup sterilized water and 1 teaspoon sugar for a day. The next step is to scatter them on a damp paper towel, fold the towel over the seeds and slip it into a plastic bag placed in a warm spot. If nothing happens, I’m out of a plastic bag and a teaspoon of sugar.

Have a wonderful weekend.

four things | eleven

Pepper and I got four walks in this week. One of them was abbreviated. A new house that is on our walking route is almost finished and the couple who are building it asked if I wanted to have a look around inside. I hesitated since I had Pepper with me but since there is no carpeting, I said ABSOLUTELY! I love newly constructed houses and this one had some really cool features. Of course I have no pictures but two interesting things that I liked were the glass-filled gas fireplace set into the wall and the mirror in the master bathroom. This mirror has the on/off stitch, dimmer and anti-fog “buttons” incorporated into the face of the mirror. I’ve seen pictures of those but never in person.

Yeah, I’ve lived a sheltered life.

what I’m reading

Our Book Club was postponed on Monday. Since there are only four of us and two were unable to attend, we decided to wait until next month.

what I’m watching

Two brothers cut down some twelve dead or dying trees for us. This is tree number 1. The tree with the double orange stripes was the second tree. As you can see nothing grows around that area due to lack of sunlight reaching the ground and the crowded plant life. Plus we have shale and very little soil.

These pictures have the stumps of eight trees. You can probably make out some from the trail of sawdust where the trees were cut into more manageable sizes. Most of the trees were a small diameter 6-9 inches.

The guys will be back another day to take down the other seven trees that are much larger. Three are completely dead and the tops of the other four are dead. I think he called those “widow makers”.

what I’m loving

Both my son and son-in-law celebrate their birthdays today! Happy Birthday, guys!

what I’m working on

Not much. I am the biggest procrastinator. I bought flannel at Joann’s a few weeks ago to make several dozen burp cloths for a baby shower. I washed all the fabric (and got enough lint to fill a king-sized pillow! Well, maybe not that much). Anyway, the folded fabric is sitting on one of the guest beds just waiting for me to get started.

The cutting table has stuff all over it as does the sewing machine table.

Patti nona

Just clean it, Patti. Just freakin’ clean it!

I’ll let you know if I get it done next week….