Pussy Willows.

Every weekend, we try so hard to not be busy, to have at least our Sunday as a true day of rest. But each week, we start to work on little projects or take the extra time to finish up things that need our attention. We do have time for rest and relaxing. But we still "sneak" tasks in and cross them off my list. This morning, as we worked awy in the garage to tidy it for Spring and break down the cardboard to take over to the recycling station, it struck me that maybe there are several reasons we do this each week. Not the cardboard, but the tasks! Maybe we recognize how short life is and that we only have so many Sundays in our lives. With grief all around us and a number of family members who have died young, perhaps we wish to fill every moment with work, tasks, fun and relaxation, so we have no regrets. Or maybe we just enjoy making our space look clean and tidy. Or maybe it's a distraction from life's worries. Or maybe a way to give back to the community. What ever the true reason, it's time to stop being hard on ourselves each weekend. We always feel sooo good after getting things off the list, so my guess is the idea that the day needs to be only full of rest and relaxation is not for us. For now, we'll instead embrace the idea of doing what we need and want to do, then rewarding ourselves with the nicest Sunday dinner, or an afternoon nap, or time to work on our art. I'm sure we'll figure it out but for now, no more beating ourselves up during and after working on our task list. I'd rather spend the time and energy on completing tasks, then looking around and not liking what I see around me! 

Last night, after a busy day of visiting an event, shopping for groceries, stopping at a 2nd store for fresh fruit and veggies, and a final stop to pick up some dinner, we settled in to watch the hockey game. I find it so stressful, especially now that we are heading in to the final games before the playoffs. So when I get stressed, I find things to keep busy. I ended up re~organizing our task cart, took all the new packs of paper out of the box and stacked them up neatly, took everything off the kitchen counters and wiped down every surface, unpacked the new towels for the half bath, and finally did a quick vacuum. By then, we were well on to a win and I could relax and watch the last bit. Then upstairs to bed.

Today, we did sleep in a bit, then got up to shower, make the bed, clean up the garage and loaded up all the cardboard we've collected since Christmas. Our County provides 2 huge recycling bins each month for 1 week, so timing is crucial. After dropping all the cardboard off, we did a little drive, marvelling at the snow that was deep yesterday and virtually all gone today. Home to sweep the garage, and then we cut down some pussy willows from the garden. I can't believe how big they are! Never had them this size before. I took a moment to decide where to display them and then settled on the dining room. They may move in time but for today, here they are. I love that we finally have a sign that Spring is finally on it's way. All week, we're supposed to have super warm days. The geese have returned, the buds are starting to appear and the ditches are full of water from the melting snow. Soon, our landscape will be green.

All for now. I'm off to work on our tasks!

~ Chy

Welcome, April.

Welcome, April. I so, so, so long for Spring! We had such a mild Winter, with very little snow and absolutely NO blizzards in our region, though the southern part of our province has not had it so easy. So it's been a bit confusing to now be in the season of Spring, with snow that has been falling on and off thru the week. It's not super cold and it will melt. But it is an odd experience so far. I want to see blooms and buds on the trees, green stalks emerge from the dirt, and birds return to sing. For now, we wait for the snow to melt and the sun to return. I will truly appreciate Spring, once it finally arrives to warm our Earth. Soon!

~ Chy

Goodbye March.

With more snow in one month than we saw all

Winter, it was hard to know if the month of

Spring, March, would actually become the

month it was supposed to be. Today, the sun

was out and the last bits of snow were melting.

Looking forward to the rest of Spring and no snow!

~ Chy

Right Here. Right Now.

What I'm wearing .... my favorite jeans with one hole in the one knee, socks with lace trim and my favorite cream colored long sweater. Earrings and matching necklace with a Celtic cross in a resin pendant. Hair is super curly as I had braids in from yesterday and took them out this morning. 

What I'm reading .... ADHD 2.0 .... yes, still reading it! Got distracted. Just kidding. I'm re~reading pars of it. Fascinating!

What's happening in my kitchen .... the dishwasher is humming away, cleaning our dishes so we don't have to! Dinner was a small roasted ham with pineapple, brown sugar carrots, mashed turnips and creamy coleslaw. 

What's outside my window .... a windy night, with some dark clouds that have moved in. It was super sunny and warm today. Just a bit of snow remains. We may even get some rain next weekend! Spring may finally be here!

What I'm thankful for .... my mom's cheery disposition, despite her disease progression. All of kids. And my dh for taking such good care of me, every single day.

What I'm smelling .... the apple pie I made for dessert. It's made our whole cottage smell warm and heavenly.

What I'm hearing .... dh is watching "The Curse of Oak Island." It's been a long series. I wish they'd get to the end so we can see if they found the hidden treasure they continue to seek.

What I'm crafting .... I made sweet Easter tags that the DIY Mommy posted on her site. This made the presentation of the Easter treats so much nicer. Everyone loved their tags!

What's on my mind .... World events, my mom, my lovey and all our kids. How to move forward. Planning our garden.

Words to live by .... the quote for today is above. So sweet! Hope you enjoy this week's quote.

Having an amazing week!

~ Chy 

Easter Love.

For those who mourn someone you love ....

~ Chy

Easter Weekend.

We are embracing this lovely, long weekend. Our building permit came through from our County this week and we should have keys in hand for our new space for our program sometime this coming week. It was clear as we worked towards this amazing moment that once those keys were in our hands, life was going to change greatly. And my time will become very busy and likely fractured as I navigate many meetings, deliveries, moving and deadlines. So much is going to happen in a very short time. This long weekend of 4 whole days (okay, we did start a bit early on Thursday, so we'll call it 4.5 days) has been amazing so far. We had some great meetings on Thursday in the morning, including a very long but productive session with our Health Inspector. He shared that most organizations or businesses do their reno or build, and then call him in for the final, so he was quite impressed we asked if we could meet before the build starts with all our questions. It turned out well, as there are a few small changes to make but if we had left this until the end, those changes would have cost some precious dollars! 

Thursday is Chamber of Commerce Breakfast that we attend each week. The Networking is so important as we build our organizations but even more important to us is the connections to each other as people. We have benefitted so much and it feels like family now. I made some great strides this week with a couple of important individuals who are key to our next steps. So glad dh suggested we start attending a year ago. After the meeting, the snow was really coming down so we did some quick banking and then headed home. The plan was to visit my mom but it would have been her lunch time and she doesn't like visiting then. We instead visited her today and it was a better time together, with no other distractions. She's progressing and is now in a wheelchair ~ hard to see, even though I've been the one advocating for a better sitting arrangement for her. She seems so much more comfortable. I hate seeing her progress though it is expected but its so hard to watch.

We drove home through the snow and the wind, and soon were cozy and comfy in our little cottage. I spent the rest of the day trying to put construction stuff and program stuff in to place. It's all coming together. And then we watched a few shows we are behind on and chilled for the evening. Yesterday, we got up earlier than anticipated as dh wanted to try to get the board and batten started in the long hallway that leads to our Art Studio. We actually did way more than we thought we would get done. Today is sanding and painting. It will be nice to have this one done. I'll post photos as we work away this weekend. Trying to get our cottage all done before the new space is opened. I won't have all the time I've had this year, though my intent is to get it open and operating and then ensure I never, ever get into a situation where my time is everyone else's. Never again!

Last night, we watched Corrie and then another show we needed to catch up on. Late bedtime, which was not the best idea as we were up so early this morning. We thought it might be super busy at the grocery store so we went early and that was a good thing as it was quiet while we were there but definitely got crowded after we left. We visited the bank to chat with our bank manager, visited our site, had a great time with my mom, picked up dinner, found the top piece we'll use for trim on the board and batten, then headed home in the gorgeous sun. Put the groceries away, answered some emails and after a quick lunch, now I'm off to paint the board and batten, while dh watches hockey with dd and dgs. After I'm done, I'm going to have a quick bath, then we'll settle in for dinner, a movie or show, and likely a bit earlier bed time tonight. No big plans tomorrow other than cooking Easter dinner and enjoying some down time. Monday is open as well ~ having blocks of open time is such a lovely way to spend a long weekend. With the sun and expected warm temperatures I do plan to sit out on the deck in the warmth. Soaking it all in!

What are your plans for the weekend?

~ Chy

Happy Birthday Dad.

My dad would have turned 82 years

old today. He died at a very young 60.

I often wonder if he and Bretton are

driving each other crazy in Heaven!

~ Chy

Bretton's Birthday.

Our tiny Angel would have been 28

years old today, if he had taken a

breath and opened his eyes. Sweet

and very tiny Bretton~Elijah Lucas.

~ Chy