Good morning! I hope you are well today. I am feeling a bit sluggish. I believe it’s because I stayed up watching football. I ended up pulling out my colored pencils and coloring book during the Patriot’s game to alleviate some of the stress. I am going to try to complete coloring a page a week so that I can actually finish a coloring book!
I have included a few photos from my fall fairy garden. I first bought one for my father-in-law a few years ago so I decided to buy one for myself about a year ago. Three of the plants lasted from last year (I tend to neglect my garden between seasons) so I just added the flowers to the landscape. I would like to make a walkway for the little pumpkin house. But that’s it because I can go overboard. I have it on my deck right now but as it gets frosty out, I will bring it in for the winter.
Last week was very productive at work and with my genealogy research. I am still at what I call the beginning stages and continue to find inspiration and learn new information from the wealth of Youtube channels dedicated to family history research. My sister is even getting the bug and called me last week to tell me she is sending me a document she found at our family home regarding one of my uncles. Finding Your Roots with Dr. Henry Louis Gates has begun a new season and I just love watching them help people discover more about their family history.
On the health side of things, I hurt my knee working out last week and so I have been trying creative ways to keep my fitness program on track. Injuries seem to occur easier the older I become — grrrr. Today is my Meatless Monday and I am proud to say that I have been able to keep this up for several months now.
Yesterday it was fun watching Apollo and Leao working on some sort of circuit/computer set that Apollo had received on his last birthday. They get all into it and I love seeing them working together. I wish I had things like that when I was growing up. Very cool.
Well, I must go, I have a short work day today because I have to bring Nick to the dentist so off I go.
Have a blessed day my friends!
Belinda
Hello and happy Monday! I am getting this out late because I spent the morning nursing my garden. I say nursing because in addition to the funky weather this summer, our vacation getaways and my less than enthusiastic maintenance this last month and a half; my poor garden has suffered. So this morning after dropping off Nick, I decided to go salvage and care for my plants. My girlfriend, Ashley is one of my big inspirations and usually this time of year, I am sitting around a bountiful veggie garden and explosion of blooms and texting her about my daily happenings in the garden. But this year has to go down as one of much neglect when it came to the garden. So in the midst of my pity party, I put on my garden shoes and headed out to water and make adjustments, but I realized that despite the lack of care, there were so many things to be grateful for in my garden. Above is a Phlox that my former neighbor gave me before she moved. I just had to stop and smile at this delicate beauty.
This lovely yellow rose bush was ripped out of the grown when we had some major plumbing work done in June and I was so afraid that it wouldn’t last after being transplanted to another area in my garden. But today, to my surprise I peeked behind my echinacea and there this single beautiful bloom greeted me.
I don’t know if you can see what’s happening in this photo but I had my sprinkler on my side lawn and went inside my house to talk with my son while I waited to move the sprinklers. I had set a timer on my phone to remind me to go out and turn off the water. When I came to the door to come outside, I saw between 6 – 8 birds (mostly Robins) running in and out to the sprinkler and washing off. It was the cutest thing to see. So the total bird-lover in me decided to let the water run a few more minutes to let them cool off and play.
I wanted to share these photos because I wanted to show how small miracles are happening around us all every day and all we have to do is slow down and be open to receive them. I could have stood out there and grumped about the veggies that didn’t come or the excess leaves that are already falling from the trees but I chose to look at the beauty that exists when I open my eyes. I am grateful for the nature that I can come into contact with right in my yard every day and I do not take it for granted.
I know Monday can be stressful with all of our ambitious to-do lists but just make sure you pause for a few minutes in nature today and I bet you will be pleasantly surprised.
We woke on Sunday and went for a nice walk on the track and then headed to one of our favorite breakfast spots to eat all the calories we just burned and then some. It was quite yummy. It’s just so much fun to have time for just the two of us. We always appreciate it because we don’t do it as often as in the past. So we are always grateful for the time.
