Little Things Mean Alot

A little sun, some grass seed and a cover of straw and look what we have created! Or rather, the earth has given forth and I am once again amazed at just what goodness the world can wrought.

Oh, I know growing grass is a little thing.

But that is what this story is about – the green green grass growing in our front garden!

And sometimes pictures speak louder than words.

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Daffy in Spring

It rained all day today.

It rained yesterday.

And there was snow and sleet the day before.

But when the sun came out for a second

there was another sign of Spring!

 

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You Are My Sunshine

“Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.”
– Helen Keller

There are times when I forget I am dragging around a foot with an injured bone – moments when I despair of lurking dark places.

But not today.

Today BigFoot-Dor is smiling.

Cindy of Mama’s Empty Nest nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award!

This special award is as inspirational as a warm sun-shiny day.

Thank You Cindy for the reminder to keep my face in the sun to avoid seeing shadows.

And the Sunshine Blogger rules include:

• Thank the blogger(s) that nominated you in the post and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
• Nominate 8-11 bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award Logo on your post and/or in your blog.

Now here are Cindy’s questions for me with my answers in italics:

1. Honestly now, could you live without your cell phone?  Why or why not?  I could live without it but must admit it would be sorely missed.  A few times I have driven away, forgetting the little darling and as soon as I think about it, I panic.  What if something happened?  Where would I go to call for help?
2. If someone were to name your greatest achievement in life, what would you want to be remembered for? My kindness and contagious laughter.
3. When you smell your favorite aroma, what does it make you think of? Hearty bread like the kind you get in Europe (or Whole Foods).
4. What is the most vivid dream you can remember? It was a nightmare of my whole family drowning.
5. Have you made a bucket list and if so, what is the #1 item you want to cross off? I have not made a list but I know I would include a month at a beautiful beach.
6. What is your best personality trait and your worst? My best personality trait is my eagerness to help when anyone is in distress.  My worst trait is a tendency to worry too much.
7. What would be your ultimate dream career? I already had that dream career travelling overseas as a kind of tour guide.
8. You just won $10 million, what will you do with the money? I would begin to give it away to family and friends to help them fulfill their wishes and I would fulfill a few of my own
9. Where is your favorite vacation spot and why?   I love it here for the mountain views, the wildlife and forests. It is where I am the happiest and most relaxed.
10. Which do you prefer, reading on an e-reader or reading a book with paper pages?   A book with paper pages, but I am getting used to the e-reader too now.  I am an ambidextrous reader.
11. Country life or urban dweller? What’s your preference and why? Country life!  I love it.  I love the quiet, the simplicity, the friendly people, the lack of traffic, the creatures, and more.

Now – Nominating cyberspace friends to be Sunshine Bloggers is the challenge of this award.

Over the years I have come to know and love more and more of you and to appreciate your wisdom, humor and talent. Also, I know many of you hate these award things and if you are one of those, consider this simply a nod of admiration and recognition from an awed and avid reader.

If you are not on the list and would like to be, please feel free to join the “team.”

But here are the fellow bloggers I think might respond – those who never fail to shed  sunlight on my days.  There are more of course – lots more.

Age Before Beauty

Andrew’s View of the Week

Dianna

Emjay and Them’s Blog

I choose how I will spend the rest of my life

Living and Lovin

Mehrling Muse

Musings of a Horse Mom

The Mountain Kitchen

Views and Mews by Coffee Kat

And here are your questions:

1. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?  Do you wish you were the other and why?
2. Are you an animal lover?  What pets do you have and love?
3. Who was your favorite teacher and why?
4. Have you ever had a bad habit you  broke?  What was it and how did you change it?
5. What is your favorite place to relax?  Explain where it is and why it helps.
6. What is your favorite movie of all time?
7. Do you love to travel or do you hate it?  Why?
8. Are you an organized or a disorganized person?
9. Are you always late, early, or right on time?  Are there any advantages or disadvantages to your timing?
10. Do you create lots of blog posts in advance of publishing or do you do one at a time?
11. What inspires you to create a blog post?

If you did participate in this rather insightful exercise, I thank you.  If not, I thank you anyway for shedding sunlight on my days!

 

 

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Regarding Regression

Books, Diapers and Vitamin D

We seem to be going backward in time.  Hurrah!   Well, at least Hurrah for some things.

REAL VERSUS FAKE?  BOOKS THAT IS.

There is a pending sense of relief that “real books” (the kind where you physically turn a physically real page) are back in style.

• I still get caught up trying to tap-turn a page in my E-reader with a too heavy hand that flips three pages at a time.
• Besides, E-book editions are now oftentimes higher priced than good old paperbacks.
• E-readers are sending me odd messages too. “We are unable to download the book you just ordered.  Please return to your Library and try again.”  Huh?

What are your gripes about e-readers?  We could write a whole post about just those irritations..

Is there anything good about them?  Maybe we could write a whole post about that.

SUNSHINE VERSUS VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS

The trend is toward natural sunlight which they say encourages your own body to manufacture its own Vitamin D! The benefits of supplements are now listed on the “iffy side.”

I now aim for  20 minutes in natural sunlight with unprotected skin to help Old Sol along.

Falling asleep out there however, is not a good idea.  Just ask my grandgirl, Jess.

CLOTH DIAPERS VERSUS DISPOSABLES 

 

They say disposable diapers are now clogging up the environment with all that in-disposable content.  But cloth can be washed and rewashed.

I didn’t really know it but I used to save the planet like that but almost traumatized my infant son with extreme diaper rash. Are you ready for a Dor-story?  That’s D-O-R – not, D-O-G.

In those ancient days of yore (before Pampers), I was hysterical about poor Corky’s terrible suffering with a constant diaper rash.  Eventually I conferred with an expert.   “What are you washing them in?” asked a helpful friend (mother of 6).  “He has perfectly clean white diapers,” said I, “They are washed in soapy water and bleach!”   And that saved our boy from further agony because my friend said, “There’s your problem!  Urine and bleach don’t work.  Better to have slightly stained diapers.”

Assuming most new mothers today are savvy, the trend toward cloth diapers makes perfect sense doesn’t it?

Meanwhile, I am hoping our son (now a fine man) was not emotionally marred by those early days of a young mother’s ignorance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Walter and Me

This looks like Walter but the image is from en.wikipedia.org

I wasn’t ready to believe it but the sun came out yesterday – all day.

And I found myself reclining on a deck chair with bared arms and legs in way of confirmation.

They say twenty minutes of exposed skin to sunshine helps your body create its own Vitamin D.   Ahhh – warmth that seeps into your bones and Vitamin D too!

Yes, it’s here!  

   It is truly summer!  

It must be summer because the sun is shining.

Even our resident groundhog (who I secretly call Walter) came out of his underground den.

I could not get a closeup shot but I saw him all stretched out on the warm concrete pool deck.

At first I thought Walter was dead and was making plans for a decent burial.

Can you see Walter?

Then Walter stretched!   It was one of those big luxurious catlike stretches.  Walter was lying flat on his back and his little legs came straight out and he looked soooo happy.

Then there are the summer shadows and shady places that take me back to childhood somersaults and playing in the grass.  Those were the days when Mom urged us to get out of the house (unsupervised) and “Don’t come back until I call you for dinner!”

Childhood Memories Under the Maple Tree

I’m too creaky for backbends and cartwheels, roller skating and climbing trees.

But it’s summertime in Virginia now.

I think I will join Walter in another big sunny stretch.

 

 

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Good Morning Glory

I must have taken these pictures during our trip to San Diego.

 Isn’t it too early for Morning Glories here in Virginia?

But I love their happy faces greeting the sun.

 

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Now for Peek-a-Boo Sunshine

There is something about the light this time of year that signals the change in seasons.

Even the sun casts a different beam and the forest is thick with autumn’s shadows.

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Drifting Into Sunshine

I am sitting by a wide-open window now. I thought it would be a sun filled, air warmed day.  The breeze is calculated to delight but still casting a little chill.  I should close the window but never mind.  It is springtime.  Isn’t it?

The Sunshine Season

Yesterday I noticed the beautiful Lungwort/Pulmonaria is blooming once again in my front yard.  A friend came by and said, “I love that plant,” so I gave her a cutting.  I didn’t realize that Pulmonaria should  be divided every few years anyway or it gets leggy.  The sunshine reminds me to read up again on gardening.

Company is coming.  The house is tidy and the redbuds are beginning to show their pastel pinks.   Virginia redbuds form corridors of beauty all over our county.  Maybe the corridors will be in full bloom by the time my friend arrives on Monday.  What a greeting she will have!

 

I pruned the crepe myrtle yesterday.  I tried to follow the advice of a fellow blogger on how not to scalp the poor thing.  Actually, my crepe myrtle is taller than I am, so I managed to do some circumspect pruning among the lower branches.

I still have to put the umbrella back on the deck and tie the cushions to the wrought iron chairs and chaise.  My friend will want to read out there.

I am moving winter woolens aside in favor of linen.   Those suede boots look big and cumbersome and useless now.  Bring in the sandals.

How quickly I forget comforters and gloves, scarves and hats, hot chocolate and cozy fires.

For now, for this brief moment in time, only the sunshine is the light of my life and I am getting ready.

 

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Sun Seeker Beach Combers in Clearwater, Florida

Lessee, where was I in the Sun Seeker saga?  We had just checked into our luxurious villa, experienced a day of rain and were ready to set off on an adventure.

One of the staff who could be heard through the chaos recommended Clearwater Beach as the loveliest of beaches an hour and a half away.  We decided to go there on a fishing expedition – no not real fishing for real fish – just an exploratory run to see if we wanted to go back for more sunning or more of anything.  Clearwater is on the west coast of Florida.  I was born and raised on the east coast, so this was relatively uncharted territory.

And off we went for a delightful trip until encountering Tampa traffic, but eventually we came upon the loveliest of wide white sand beaches with a grand walkway and lots of things to look at and admire.  We walked and walked, stopped for lunch at a loud, crowded diner, and visited a tourist center.

Baby Bungee Jumping at Clearwater Beach

“Yep, we said, we can come back here tomorrow and

change into our swim suits and bring a picnic, etc.  This is the life!”

“You have come at the absolute worst time of year to Clearwater,” said the volunteer at the tourist center, “Because it’s spring break!”  Uh oh!  We never thought of that.  No wonder everything is so crowded and the traffic is so bad.  “I would advise you to get out of town before 3:30,” he also said, or you will be in horrendous rush hour traffic going back through Tampa.”  Uh oh!  Never thought of that either.

“When is the best time to come to Clearwater Beach?” I asked. 

“April,” he said.

So my advice to you dear blog-us-fear friends is to consider Clearwater Beach, Florida as an ultimate destination, but only in April!

Stay tuned…..

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Adventures of the Sun Seekers

Heading South

“Let’s go south,” said Bill.  It was a bleak frigid morning with yet another forecast for plow-worthy snow.  “Great idea!” I said, “But I don’t want to go to Disney World.”  And we agreed, “Been there, done that.”

And off we went on a car trip to Kissimmee, Florida.  Guess where that is!  Almost next door to Disney World.   But we could get a luxurious villa there via our timeshare exchange and with steeled resolve we set off driving to the sunshine state determined to avoid Disney.  Well, maybe we would go to Universal Studios.  Maybe.

We stopped en route at a recognizable motel in South Carolina.  The sign was welcoming but the room reeked.  The paint was peeling.  And the john only worked with 5 flushes!  “It has to get more magical than this,” I thought and asked Bill, “Are we there yet?”

Not our Motel, but the Next Door Neighbor!

Next day we arrived via hoardes of traffic at an enormous resort with thousands of people checking in.  Crowds tend to make me nervous.  A bit on edge, I managed to keep smiling and acting cooperative as we were  herded in bank-type lines from station to station, asked to produce identification and credit cards at least three times, were numbered and given official looking papers to sign.

 

Timeshare Check-In Place – Note Blue Sky

The noise was so deafening from all those people it was hard to understand any instructions (if there were any). And in spite of pre-registering via email, the check-in process was something like going through Check Point Charlie before the Berlin wall came down.

Finally we were escorted to a beautiful villa.  And lo and behold, the weather was warm enough for short sleeves and I could feel the sun healing my frozen face.  “Ahhh, this is the life!”

It rained all day the next day.

Each day thereafter was filled with sunshine and blue skies and so began our adventure sans Disney.

Stay tuned…..

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