7 Quick Takes (Vol 63)

1.
You know what is one of the more painful aspects of selling the house. No it isn’t that I have to keep everything clean. Or the inconvenience of having people come to see the house.

It is the fact that I have had to take down all the bird feeders. Birds are not neat eaters. They scatter seed hither and yon. They poop and eat. They are perpetual teenagers. They make a mess. And so the feeders all had to come down. And the birds just don’t understand.

I have spent the ten years that we have lived here cultivating the birds. In a nutshell they bring me joy. Heck, it took two years of putting out the hummingbird feeders before I had one stop by. I knew they were there but it took TWO YEARS. And now, I can’t hang the feeders out.

The birds fly by and stop on the deck railing and look around for the feeders that are no longer there. And that just makes me sad.

2.
HHBL has taken the blogging plunge! You need to go over and see what he has to say. He has been mulling this over for a long time. Welcome to the world of blogging my HHBL!
The Spoorts Page.

3.
I will let you in on a little secret. I may be the only person in the world, certainly the only person I personally know, who absolutely loathes the smell of Easter Lilies.

I know, I know, how can I possibly not like….no really actually loath, the smell of those lovely plants. I didn’t start out that way I can assure you. And I really wish it wasn’t the case believe me. I love the look of those things. But there is just no way that I could have one in my house. I even hold my breath when I walk past a big display of them. It was being totally immersed in the smell for weeks and weeks, without respite, ad nauseum, that did it to me. I should back track.

I have a BS in Nursing (aren’t you thrilled). My area of expertise is oncology (cancer nursing) and…..I had this patient. No names needed and you wouldn’t know her anyways but she needed A LOT of care, all the time care. Enough care that on a 28 bed unit that was always full we still had a 1:1 nurse/patient ratio for her. And it was Easter time. And her room was FILLED with Easter Lilies. Every surface because it was Easter and these were her favorite and she was a pastor’s wife and…you get the picture. And I was her nurse for a long time before she went home to the Lord.

Easter Lilies filled my nose….and I just can’t stand the smell now. Sigh.

4.
Today I start working in the garden. And that seems strange this year because I don’t feel as emotionally invested in the garden this year because I am moving. And shall we be frank here? I am ready for a new gardening challenge. I have been working on this landscaping for 10 years now. There have been highs and there have been lows. And some of the lows have been doozies. Like the time that TruGreen killed off $2000 worth of ivy. That was a bad day.

I am ready to get back to veggie gardening. I miss that A LOT. But it just isn’t possible at this house and believe me I have tried.

But I still have to do some work around the gardens. And I still have to weed. And I will still find weeding strangely satisfying.

I just imagine certain politicians faces on the weeds that I pull. Oh if it were only that easy to get rid of them….the politicians I mean.

5.
The Engaged One is here for a visit this weekend. Let us not be fooled. She has come back primarily to attend a wedding shower for her best friend and Maid of Honor. But she gets to visit with the old parents while she is here. We will enjoy it while it lasts.

6.
My group of walking buddies and I are finally back to walking at the local park after 4 months of walking at the outlet mall. We managed to walk at the park into the month of December despite it being REALLY dark at 7am but then the ice on the path became an issue so we switched. It feels good to have only one circuit to go around to make two miles rather than 2.5 times around the shops. I was really tired of that place. We swore this winter that we wouldn’t walk outside if the temp was less that 15F but….we lied. I think we walked even when it was 2F. That was cold walking let me tell you. 

7.
In the past month, because we have been so busy getting the house ready for sale, I have read exactly one book. That is unheard of as I usually average around 6-8 books a month. I have felt the lack of reading time believe me. And now that Spring may have sprung and I have garden work to do it may be a while until I am back into my general reading schedule. I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.

Have a wonderful Good Friday all and a Blessed Easter.