Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. I have had a really nice day so far, reading through blog friends' comments, opening e-cards from family, talking on the phone to family, and enjoying watching Lou sit on the love seat and play with his computer. He is home from the little adventure of pneumonia in both lungs which morphed into congestive heart failure and continued to morph into pancreatitis. I love my husband, but he is really trying to win the My Disease Contest, and I really wish he would drop out of this particular contest. However, he is in great spirits and had done a lot of cooking, probably out of self-defense. I did make burgers last night, the mixed meat kind that he likes, and I even shaped them like ovals so they would fit on the mini sub sandwich buns that were in the house. If we have spaghetti and meatballs, baked chicken, manicotti or stuffed cabbage, I will exhaust my meal expertise. He did brighter up when I offered to bake mandel bread or poppyseed cake, so I am redeemed.....

It's raining

and that is a good thing as it will raise the water table. Though thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon, right now it is a gentle spring rain with a soft breeze, and the sweet smell is drifting in through the open front door and mingling with the scent of freshly brewed coffee. It is a quiet moment of the morning, and I'm reflecting on how fortunate I am. I have a husband who loves me and continues to tell me even after 30 years. I have two daughters who have grown into young women I am proud to call my friends in addition to my daughters. They are caring, responsible, and join their father in bringing bright light to my life. I have two sisters-in-law that have never injected the "in-law" part into our relationships-we have always just been sisters. I am cancer free. I have old friends and new friends. I have hobbies that I love and keep me busy. I want for very little and I know that not many people can say that. I am very fortunate, and though I like to make light and joke about it, I never forget the blessings in my life. Thank you all for being a part of it.

Bonsai!!!

Once upon a time, we spent A LOT of money having a semi shade azalea garden put in the side bed by the driveway. We tended it, watered it, pampered it and did everything the horticulturist told us to do. It did not thrive. It was not happy. Lou and I later found an azalea farm with beautiful and more economical (cheaper) plants. We got two for the front bed on the magnolia side of the yard and they grew beautifully. So I said, Lou, we should do something about these plants, they look terrible. and he answered, well, I was thinking about moving them to the front yard, in the walkway bed and next to the other azaleas. So we did, and they are happy and thriving. A few needed pruning and Lou stuck them in pots, so we have two pretty bonsai azaleas on the deck, enjoying the sun. And the side bed? Well, we took in a tortoise looking for a new home, and the lady giving him away (it had been her son's, he was off at college, and she didn't want to deal...) was thinning out her pachysandra and just going to compost it and I said I'd be glad to take it. It loves the side bed, and in another year or two will probably take over most of it.

Lou is recovering and gaining strength every day. Today I asked if he cared if I went down to sew for a little while. I am 3 months behind on the bee blocks. So, since Lizzie had been waiting the longest, hers was first. she sent us a brown and white print, and asked us to incorporate it into a block that said something about us. Here's what I did:
The springlike flowers represent my love of the outdoors, the two space prints stand for Lou and Lilli, the scientists, and the last print represents Sarah, the soon to be Asian Art authority. I picked a circular pattern block because I believe in the continuity of life and its cycles. though a fancy symbolism for the white and brown print strips would be nice, it doesn't exist-I was making borders to get the block to the size needed.