P.S.

I had forgotten. Where the "pursuit of sunlight" also came from was the fact I was trimming gardenia branches so to let the light shine on the poor azaleas that had been overcome. They had been trying in vain to reach the sun but the gardenias had blocked off most of their vantage points. They are now stretching to the sun and I am right with them!

I've also finished LMSS's 1st sock and started on the other. Will have pictures posted soon!

Blue skies smiling at me

I decided something today while hacking the small trees that have decided to grow in my flower beds. (I say small trees as in they are actually my height; they've been taking lessons from my kids on how to shoot up 6 inches in a night!) I've decided the name of my autobiography/biography, if there is ever to be one. I don't know if I'd ever write it and I don't know who would want to read it but I would so that's all I need! :) It is "In Bold Pursuit of Sunlight." In light (haha, no pun intended) of all that is going on, Hubby and I have been working through our true priorities and have come to the same ones we had in the beginning: nothing is worth it if we aren't together, taking care of each other, no matter what the income is. We keep it simple, be happy with every day that comes, and know God will provide. And in saying that, while I was cutting the trees (nothing malicious but they really were trying to take over), I remembered that I've never asked for anything more than happiness. What makes me happy? Sunny days. Thus, the title.

Love it.

I'm almost done with LMSS's sock. I should finish it tonight and start on it's mate. It fits so good I might keep it but no, it's all for you, LMSS! :)

Random Tasks

I'm back from lunch and thought I would write some random thoughts that I had made a mental note to include the next time I blogged but ... well, I didn't. Here they are:

I think robins are cute. Hubby taught me how to mow and while I was mowing there were robins popping over to check out the bugs I was stirring up. They were just taking care of business, knowing these people with their noisy grass cutters make easy work of unearthing the little buggers. (Hubby was doing all the edging and weed eating. I got to use the blower after finishing the backyard and that thing is harder to operate than it looks!)

While mowing the backyard I thanked God that I am a knitter; knitting has really helped me work through large expanses of boring rows or rowing boredom, however you want to put it. We have a backyard on the long side and it was fun to have thoughts like "how many squares can I mow instead of doing rows? Would Hubby like it if I did an octagon instead?" instead of "when will this @#$%ing thing be OVER?!?!"

Patience is certainly a virtue.

Sunday was not only Easter and fun time for the kids, but I actually got a quiet afternoon to build my herb garden. Mom and Dad brought a lot of bricks from their house (knocked off the back of their house when they added on in '93; they've been living in a pile at the back of their backyard with some young trees and two snakes, Mom told me) and I used them to build a 3x4 ft box in the backyard and filled it with the dirt I had dug out of the front bed a few weeks ago. The kids think the garden box is great, especially since you can stand on the little walls. We bought our herbs and they seem to like it too.

I'm finding the better I get, the more I want to stay outside. This weather is gorgeous! I'm even contemplating what it will take to dig up the brush on the side that I would love to borrow a herd of goats to eat it. I guess it'll just have to be me and my shovel. And Ph-i-l, Hubby, and the chainsaw. Darn. I love watching goats more.

Nippy Noodles

SuperGirl helped me find the buttons and #3 has been coming along ok. I'm wondering if I'll have enough yarn but I did get gauge and the pattern says "yes." Hopefully it's not a compulsive liar.

I got the purple hat back from the Lovely Aide to fix and add to (she needs 2 more inches) just in time for the 40 DEGREE WEATHER HERE IN APRIL. I had to cover my brand new, just planted/potted plants last night! What the heck? The one time I actually get out and garden it freezes. Too funny. Thanks to Mom I found out about this weather attitude and whipped out the spare sheets to cover them. They looked just fine this morning and Piper (our orange cat) has a little nest of sheets on the front porch rocker until I decide to wash them or use them tonight if there is another freeze.

Now on to work. Drat.

The View from Saturday

Isn't it great? And you can barely see the ashy marks the gardenias had left on the siding (right side of the steps). I scrubbed and scrubbed trying to get it off. The small bushes in between the orange pots (which hold Meme's original plants, still here and ready for spring) are Indian something-or-other (shouldn't I remember that? maybe Hawthorne) and have little white and pink flowers, the flowers in front of them are Gerber daises (in honor of SuperGirl), and the bushes on either side of the steps are camillias (gorgeous in Jan/Feb). The azaleas, alas, aren't as pretty as they were 2 weeks ago but you can still see one of them blooming. That is LMSS's big fat bird on my steps (happy as always) and I couldn't resist taking pictures of SuperGirl's swinging turtle (those purple plants are also Meme's, happy and ready for Spring; isn't it great a part of her still lives on?). Yesterday morning we watered everything again and I buried 2 cans of cheap beer to dissuade the slugs from eating SuperGirl's daisies. We have some big ones and where I don't like killing nature, these are abnormally huge and healthy (I suspect they are the ones stealing the cat's food) and I would like my flowers to survive the season.

The trellis at the far right will have vining pink flowers (don't remember the name) and the potted plants on the porch are in honor of my M-i-l who loves those mixed flower-y pots and always has really nice ones. The green plant at the top is citrenella, dissuading the Louisiana state bird: the mosquito (just kidding, I know the state bird. Dodo, right? Heehee... and the brown pelicans and my elementary school teachers are screaming right now...) and I even included SuperGirl's big happy family picture for Hunky Hubby.

Life is grand. Yes, Hubby is a big baseball fan. I wanted to get the one that said "The [insert last name here]: putting the "fun" in "dysfunctional" " but we aren't dysfunctional and I sometime have people I work with coming by the house that wouldn't understand.

I'm finally not as sore as I was. I also have so much energy I have plans for the backyard too. Herb garden. I can taste it now...

Saturday is for...

I never thought knitting would have helped prepare me for gardening but it has. I have forearm muscles I never knew were there before and they came in handy yesterday. I have these gardenias in my front flower bed that are unhappy and UGG-LEE to say the very least and I am feeling so fabulous I totally redid the whole bed. I got out there with my hose, Ph-i-l's old jeans, a shovel, and had all the neighbors wondering what in the world I was up to. They were impressed once it was all said and done. It was great. And I even did it with no Hubby (he was at a wine tasting but I do have to say he did spend a nightmerish Saturday morning at Lowe's with the rest of Shreveport's population getting soil, mulch, and sand for me) and with 4 kids running around (cousins were over for me to baby-sit) and I DID IT!!! Now there are lovely happy plants with no mean-y weeds and I even did the rest of the front and the sides too.

Now the backyard... That one is going to take a full weekend in itself.

Pictures to come soon. This is a momentous occasion!

I have been knitting, meanwhile, even though in tackling the garden it nearly won and I am VERY SORE. The secret project #2 is 5 rows away from being finished and I will post it once LMSS receives it. It turned out great!