August Moments! 8/18/2016
Each and every day something incredible "happens" around here!
I look outside the family room patio doors to witness "critter activity". Current update: one young mother deer and her one fawn enter the yard to check out the crab apple tree's booming crop of crab apples. They spend a lot of time scooping up mouthfuls of small red fruit. Their tails in down position flick back and forth when all is "safe" Their tails "alert" to "up" position if some other critter (meaning me) knocks on the glass patio door. Off they go to scout out the entire neighborhood for more evening deer fare!
In "all the years" here (nearly 40) I have never seen a ground hog! I couldn't believe it! A ground hog! Angel Lois had a big ground hog at her home on Carterway Drive, Milford, Ohio. She took pictures of her ground hog and fed him, too.
"My ground hog" seems to be a youngster. At first I though I was seeing a big squirrel, but its fur was brown and its tail was shorter than a squirrel's tail. It was sitting at the edge of the patio in front of a large grass plant. It didn't move and was giving me "the fish eye". I finally moved and it saw me move. That's when it jumped off the patio ledge and disappeared. I hope it has a cozy home nearby and keeps company with all those chipmunks that live under the patio, too.
For my contribution to the butterfly population, I've planted butterfly bushes and milkweed. All are blooming nicely and plenty of butterflies visit these plants. I hope a few monarch butterflies find the leaves of the milkweed to be a comfortable wrap as they go into their next phase of development!
For those who believe in "Spirit", I call the little white butterfly that follows me around, Mrs. Garrison (my late mother-in-law, first marriage to Harry). Mrs. Garrison loved butterflies! She really LOVED butterflies! She had butterfly "this and that" everywhere! And so, I figure that little white butterfly IS Mrs. Garrison.
The cone flowers (Echinachea) are prolific this year and offer plenty of seed picking opportunities for Gold Finch (Angel Loise loved gold finch and purple finch, too). The finch seed that I used to put into feeders dropped to the ground and grew into a huge "garden" of thistle! The thistle plants were removed - they are just too thorny!
There are other creatures of nature that do a lot of buzzing about around here, around this time of year: locusts (cicada - not the 17 year ones), bees, hornets, wasps, dragon flies and some no-see-ums!
There are plenty of crickets, tree frogs and bigger frogs, toads and other creepy critters that surround this neighborhood that I call "home".
I certainly know, for sure, that I am not here, home alone! Not for a moment am I alone!
Onward!
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Monday, August 8, 2016
Motivate! Inspire! Just do it! 8/8/16
I'm tempted to slow down to a lazy pace and just absorb life, moment by moment. But, something "inside" says "get with it"! It's the constant, it's the demanding, it's the requiring of myself to do what needs to be done in spite of the urge to stop, just stop and give myself a break! (How's that for a lot of cliches?)
Each morning I add a few more check marks to my daily list of "to-do's" Sometimes I give myself a "star" for a "job well-done". I'm following my mother's habit of list-making. (I wonder if her mother was a list-maker, too.)
My daily "to-do" list is logged into a Mead 5-Star notebook about 5"x5" square. I now have stacks of these notebooks. They serve as a good record for tasks that I have accomplished - household and personal.
I start with the date on the left side top line and draw a smiley faced sun or a somber cloud to represent each day's weather. Today it is overcast, so I will draw a cloud with the sun peeking out behind it, or maybe do it in reverse order.
In the blank space above the date, I put "key" events. Today I will be attending a Meetup group called WAG (Writing Accountability Group) - so I will write WAG in that space.
Here's my list layout:
B_L_D_ (breakfast, lunch, dinner) V_(vitamins)
EM/FB _ (email/FaceBook T _ (tea)
PCA _ MB (put clothes away, make bed W - (water)
TT_TTB_RO (trash trashed, trash to bins SWIM _
recycles out) WALK_
DI_ DO_ RD_ (dishes in, dishes out, run PILATES _
dishwasher) PMT_(put me together)
CC_ (counter cleanup) SPF (sort, pitch, file) T/G_ teeth/gums
The rest of the page is left to describe further important tasks:
WRITE _ PAINT_READ_
I also report in on my Facebook group called Homemaker's Encouragement where we list our tasks by number and add onto each other's list as the day goes by to see how many tasks we can complete. I am amazed by how much we all accomplish and how much we encourage each other. Having a place to share the "daily doings" helps me to realize the importance of being a "home manager". It is business, a business of managing and running a home from daily maintenance to major projects.
We share ideas and give each other loving support when something happens that "throws a monkey wrench" into our daily lives. We've shared news of new babies being born, health matters and death.
We've complimented each other on our progress and successful completion of long-term goals.
Today I have already had breakfast, vitamins and green tea. I swam ten laps, "put me together", scrubbed my teeth, put on makeup, made my bed, trashed trash, put dishes in the dishwasher and now I am writing! I am writing because I like to write and consider myself a writer!
Now I can go to the WAG Meetup group and report in that I did WRITE something this month! And, I certainly hope to do more writing before next month's Meetup!
Each morning I add a few more check marks to my daily list of "to-do's" Sometimes I give myself a "star" for a "job well-done". I'm following my mother's habit of list-making. (I wonder if her mother was a list-maker, too.)
My daily "to-do" list is logged into a Mead 5-Star notebook about 5"x5" square. I now have stacks of these notebooks. They serve as a good record for tasks that I have accomplished - household and personal.
I start with the date on the left side top line and draw a smiley faced sun or a somber cloud to represent each day's weather. Today it is overcast, so I will draw a cloud with the sun peeking out behind it, or maybe do it in reverse order.
In the blank space above the date, I put "key" events. Today I will be attending a Meetup group called WAG (Writing Accountability Group) - so I will write WAG in that space.
Here's my list layout:
B_L_D_ (breakfast, lunch, dinner) V_(vitamins)
EM/FB _ (email/FaceBook T _ (tea)
PCA _ MB (put clothes away, make bed W - (water)
TT_TTB_RO (trash trashed, trash to bins SWIM _
recycles out) WALK_
DI_ DO_ RD_ (dishes in, dishes out, run PILATES _
dishwasher) PMT_(put me together)
CC_ (counter cleanup) SPF (sort, pitch, file) T/G_ teeth/gums
The rest of the page is left to describe further important tasks:
WRITE _ PAINT_READ_
I also report in on my Facebook group called Homemaker's Encouragement where we list our tasks by number and add onto each other's list as the day goes by to see how many tasks we can complete. I am amazed by how much we all accomplish and how much we encourage each other. Having a place to share the "daily doings" helps me to realize the importance of being a "home manager". It is business, a business of managing and running a home from daily maintenance to major projects.
We share ideas and give each other loving support when something happens that "throws a monkey wrench" into our daily lives. We've shared news of new babies being born, health matters and death.
We've complimented each other on our progress and successful completion of long-term goals.
Today I have already had breakfast, vitamins and green tea. I swam ten laps, "put me together", scrubbed my teeth, put on makeup, made my bed, trashed trash, put dishes in the dishwasher and now I am writing! I am writing because I like to write and consider myself a writer!
Now I can go to the WAG Meetup group and report in that I did WRITE something this month! And, I certainly hope to do more writing before next month's Meetup!
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