There is no theme and no topic and no inspired message today. Our afternoon was about an hour “off” because Dan had a quick, no big deal, simple repair kind of appointment with the dentist. But that did cause our wander to be delayed, which then caused the food gathering errand to also be on the tardy end. All I can share is some pictures of where we trudged (deargawd it was a mountain goat death march) before my camera battery died, and show you what our card says.
Oh, and Max stopped by. But I had no way to photograph his super cuteness (phone pics are unreliable indoors up here in the damn forest). So I am going to use one that I have left over from his last visit. (Yes, I have “stock” images of my GrandDog. Don’t you?!)
The news from that group is bordering on good. Still no resolution to the living situation, yet. But Empress did see her new alternative health care practitioner today and this may actually be working. Yipee for almost-pain-relief and the genuine hope of true jaw/back/neck alignment-with-no-surgery! Thank you all so very much for the loving healing energy.
We went on one of HIS routes this time. Very much uphill to start with. Not quite five miles (4.44 to be exact) but wow is it ever steep.
When this sidewalk went in the girls were right around middle school age, our Hurricane had a friend who lived around that top corner up there. (And Emmy was my constant, as well as uber efficient, co-pilot.) We laughed because the grade is nearly straight up, the first solid freeze and this would turn in to a sled run.
At the end of the block you get homes like this. Nice neighborhood, huh? The one place I love more than all the rest looks like an upscale version of the Addam’s Family house. I was distracted by something Daniel and I were discussing, so didn’t get a shot of it. We’ll be going back that way again though, there are several side streets we now want to point and stare at investigate.
Two reasons to show you the above view. First, that flowering shrub (center, slightly left) is SO sweet smelling, reminiscent of my beloved honeysuckle. We are familiar with it and would really like to have one in our yard. Sadly, we don’t know what the official name is. Donny (friend and former K-9 guy) refers to them as Mexican Orange, we’ve always just called them Freeway Bushes, because they are commonly planted near exits and on-ramps around here.
The other reason was because I thought the yard was so nicely arranged. Wind chimes, uneven pavers as a softly meandering walkway, artistic elements to the fencing and house entrance, all made it such a welcoming home. Next time we go past I’ll try to get a closer up picture of the leaves and blossoms though, the better to nail down its exact classification, or at least narrow the possibilities some.
One more bit of shameless self promotion news then we’ll get to our card, after that, I’m off to the Crafting Corner. I’ve almost finished Emma’s “PooP” sampler, and am about to begin some very subversive (I Hate Fucking Cancer, perhaps) prototype designs for (local) Karen and J.D. (Half-Assed Is Good Enough, roughly translated in to Latin).
I don’t have any commissions right this second, but I AM still searching for a pattern that Carol and I can agree on for her trees. Be sure to check out the February Specials here, in case you think your home is missing a bit of hand-made-fun and you’d like me to stitch you up something.
(Julie‘s patterns are way simple and go freakishly fast. Or, if you’d like a custom charted graph [from THIS Julie] let me know. Don’t forget, they make great gifts!)
“Time ~
Schedule a sacred date with yourself.
You deserve time for your life.”
Personally, I’d just like a few bonus hours in the day (night, whatever) to get all the crap done that I seem to constantly be chronically behind on. But ya know, that might just be me.
Today’s Deck:
Self-Care Cards by Cheryl Richardson
LateNight Ridiculous Injury Update: the stupid bruise on the end of my left big toe is healing very quickly. Tomorrow after the class I’ll get a new shot of it for you. Also, once we passed about the first mile, it was very well-behaved on our earlier up-the-damn-hill adventure.
I am totally in awe of your commitment and perseverance to your exercise regime! Even with a poorly toe, bad weather or lack of company. Go you.
Definitely second more hours in the day!
Thank you. I’d like to say that I’m committed, but truly it’s more about my OCD and addictive nature. But ya know, play to your strengths… or, try turning them into opportunities perhaps.
How can we FIND those? We can’t be the only ones needing them.
Whew – I got my what-was-Julie’s-day-like fix. I read a weird book and had a weird half-asleep dream so I needed some I-am-not-abnormal affirmation. Got it. Thanks.
I feel the time thing, too. Especially today since it’s my second day off and I go back to work tomorrow. Ah well, not until 8pm. It will almost seem like a third day off.
Oh I love that summation! What my day was? Pretty damn entertaining, and only slightly damp.
ABBYnormal? (Young Frankenstein fans will get that reference.) You are amongst friends here, a clan of anti-normal individuals.
Time? hahahahaha. Sure, let me get right on scheduling that spa retreat for myself. how’s about Fall of 2018? *roll eyes*
On the other hand – honeysuckle? YUM. So can’t wait for honeysuckle, lilacs, and magnolias!!
Lol, yeah I wondered if maybe you might be able use some of these bonus hours we are now in search of.
And, hello? Did you miss the lecture about applying ALL of these messages to ALL of us? Three minutes, that’s all I need you to give. If you can do #JustOneMore, do those minutes for YOU!
Once we find out what that plant is, we’ll share. Ya know, just in case you need one for your yard.
I’ve been partial to the very simple and direct “Fuck cancer” for some time. Also makes for a good toast. This was, in fact, the number one toast at the last funeral I was at.
Also, I don’t actually remember if I paid you commission for the piece you made for me. And I totally intend to pay you for the family motto one, as well. Now, if only I could figure out what should go on our family CREST. That would make for a good piece!
The possibilities for a family crest are intriguing. I and I do like “Fuck Cancer” as a simple but direct statement.
Well said. There should be a cure by now!
J.D. wow, what WOULD a family crest of ours look like? Bourbon bottles in knitted cozies perhaps? With baskets of odd food alongside?
The one I was working on for myself was sable, azure fess, with llama statant, purpure, over crossed axes, purpure. Or, in (modern, non-heraldic) English, black with a blue horizontal bar, and purple llama standing calmly over crossed purple axes. But I was never fully happy with it, and it wouldn’t be quite right for our whole family.
Yes I do recall the beginnings of this design. True though, not QUITE right for the entire clan. And that’s kinda key.
(Thanks for the translation.
)
I think you should drop a note in the mailbox of the well-landscaped yard. Everyone appreciates a compliment, and you could ask them to email you the name of their freeway bush!
We have remarkably similar neighborhoods for living on opposite ends of the country! Our town has several of those mansion-y neighborhoods. Whenever my children become friends with someone who lives there they go on and on about the houses, and how rich they are…blah, blah, blah. I keep reminding them that you never know anyone’s personal circumstances, and we should all be grateful for what we have. Even I need to be reminded sometimes!
Off to do laundry, one of the tasks that eats up a lot of the extra time!
We all need those reminders, don’t we?
Laundry is never ending, even when all your kids move out.
(Yes, that IS my own fault, I happen to LIKE doing it.)
Time … when I was a kid I had plenty of it. Now an hour, thanks to reverse inflation, is only 20 minutes. That is the only explanation why I can just look at the computer for a few minutes and yet a whole hour has fled the scene.
Only one? Well, damn. I keep losing 3 or 4 at a time. (which is why I am forcibly reducing my ‘reading’ list, sigh.)
Fokker, that must be the answer! Reverse inflation has ruined the value of our time.
(By the by, your answers, elsewhere, have been life saving for many of us today. Just thought you needed to hear that.)
Yay for your walk! It looked pretty and pleasing even if it was ‘up the mountain’.
Should I have my daughter grab her Latin teacher for a translation of your family motto?
Time. Oh my. But I think we were supposed to pay attention to the part that meant us -making- time for ourselves, not our crap.
I would actually love to see what her teacher comes up with, and compare it to how J.D. worked it out.
No, no. We can interpret our messages however we like, and if we go off and wander away distractedly in another direction, also valid.
Given how slangy the original motto was, the phrase that I actually translated was “incomplete and lazy is sufficient.”
I’ll talk to my daughter.
dh is gone this week and I am positively luxuriating in the extra minutes that provides. I miss him, I really do! But he is so much more type A than I am, it is also nice to be able to just kick back for a week. So the reminder for me in this card is just to be grateful and appreciative of the opportunity. and p.s., on Fitocracy you get way more points for steepness than you do for length of walking, so even though you didn’t make your usual 5+ miles (which still stuns me every time I think about it– I’m doing well to make 2!), maybe you got an even better workout than usual.
Being on your own is a mixed blessing isn’t it? Well done, finding that lesson in there!
Oh oh oh, then I get tons of virtual points! It was SO much more steep than I’m used to. And hey, speaking of “used to” how freaking long did it take me to WORK UP to five miles? REALLY! That’s how long. A really really long time.
You know, I’ve been squandering my time this week. Don’t know for sure why, just a general lack of focus. This card is giving me a swift kick to get back to being more organized. Even though that wasn’t the cards intention, thanks.
Funny, as I said to Robin, no matter what the original intended message, we gain from it what we need most. And that was what you needed!
Thea, you got tossed in to the SPAM folder. Maybe because you arrived here this time via WordPress?
JulieLanders, here is Thea’s comment:
Sage is often planted with flax, which is what the other plant is. But I can’t get orange scent out of a sage. So do take that closeup shot and share, please.