April showers bring May flowers...

I was outside in the garden last two weekends, the A/C went on for the first time this year when it got up to 92, and the cats were just lounging around. Then last weekend it was in the 60's and windy but still nice to be outside. Today...50 and rainy.


This is one of my many "garden cats" since my cats don't go outside, there are lots of cat statues in the garden to make it "furrendly"...

I like shopping at this place called Marshall's and always find unusual garden cats to "adopt", real cheap, as well as wind chimes, cute birdhouses and garden tools. In the past couple of weeks, with the weather finally warming up, just like so many others, I visited a couple of nurseries and came away with over $150 worth of plants, that I hope will survive my brown thumb and the first load of paving stones to enlarge the patio off the walk-out basement (yes, that one I am finally cleaning up!)




I mean, who can't grow Hostas--they multiply and people give them away! You guessed it...Me! But I bought some replacements, some more bush roses, a bleeding heart (because I keep seeing them on Cris's header Cris, Artist in Oregon and love them) and a couple of columbines and a few nasturtiums, mint (for Mojitos) and catnip (for the cats, silly!)


I came into a little inheritance from my grandparents and was talking to my therapist about wanting to fix up my backyard a little bit and she said "If it will give you pleasure to look out on it and enjoy it more...then by all means, set a little aside and do it! I should get a nursery to come out and give me a "free consultation and estimate" and see what it would run to enlarge the patio area at least, though I think my wish to have it terraced and rock retaining walls might just use up all of the money I received.


Then I was over at my petsitters Friday, watching Avatar and drinking Mojitos, and gobbling down S'Mores (which we did quite a few times last summer--making S'Mores out on their patio). They showed me the new patio they just put down, in one day, so they offered to help me with mine! They are good friends (helped me big time during my flood in 2008) and so together we'll get it done! I even found a pretty cafe' table and chairs for the patio, although someone mentioned a hammock and that sounds very relaxing!


I had a wonderful time at the Pet Blogging conference, as my multiple posts on my cats blog will attest, and am so glad I went. When everyone sees the photos of me, they say I look so happy, and in my element and yes, it was good to see those pictures of me with a big smile...I still don't seem to do enough of that!





I finally joined NetFlix, since Blockbuster changed their rental policy and have a queue of about 20 movies I want to see, and will look for more and arrange them in some kind of order of what I want to watch first. That's kind of hard for me, as I never know what kind of mood I'll be in, but I'm sure I'll get the knack of it down before long and just be happy with whatever arrives next...


My therapy is going well, I've started working on my basement and I'm feeling like my "down" times are manageable and I let them happen, contemplate my feelings and then they pass. That happened when I was gardening last weekend. At the end of the day, I was hot and tired and not done yet and I sat on my porch steps and just deflated--thought why am I doing this? No one to share it with! And still more work to do, why?!

I thought of the email I had just gotten from my mom, who just celebrated her 80th birthday, where she said 'I am weeding my rockery beds and not enjoying it. I wish I liked gardening more! Whenever it's time to weed the place, I think it would be a great idea to move into an apartment! I am ready to harvest my Grape Hyacinths and will save some seeds for you. The plants really multiply and they are so pretty. My irises are finally doing well this year, after years of not producing blooms.'


So we all think those 'downer' thoughts from time to time, and as long as they aren't too long and too often, and give us pause to consider and learn from them, all in all, life is good. And like my mom's thoughts, that end with joy at the iris blooms and sharing seeds with her daughter, reflection often shows us where happiness lies.

I always enjoy reading Six Senses Sunday on m. hearts blog Secret Notebooks, Wild Pages, because it makes me think and be mindful, and I love the 'I love that, too' feeling I get when I read her thoughts, and all I have to do is read an post from Patti Dighs blog, 37 Days, and it shows me a different way to look at the life I have..."always rent the red convertible". Go to her blog, you will understand :-)