B ~ Butterflies

     I have always loved butterflies, and always try to capture a picture of them whenever I happen to see one.

     Among my memories involving butterflies, I have three that stand out above the rest. 

    1. One lovely summer day I was in our backyard when I noticed some movement on one of the tree trunks. Upon investigating I found a butterfly sitting there gently opening and closing its wings. And then I noticed another butterfly emerging from under the loose bark. It was followed by another, then another, I sat on the grass as dozens of brown and blue, flecked with some orange butterflies emerged fanned their wings for a while before fluttering off, some landing on me before they journeyed on. 
    I had never heard of such an event before, and have never seen it happen since, but I treasure the memory of that special day!

    2. One evening our family went on a short drive on a narrow dirt road. At one section it was lined with trees, and the air was filled with dozens of white butterflies. It was one of those moments where everyone fell silent and simply looked at the beauty surrounding us.
    As we continued on our way one of the girls whispered, "That was magical!" I couldn't have summed the experience up better.

    3. Last year LV took me to a Butterfly Conservatory. It was everything and more I had ever thought a place like that would be with hundreds of butterflies flying and posing everywhere. Utterly delightful!

    

A ~ Arrowheads

     Every once in a while when Dad was reminiscing about his childhood he would tell us about how he would roam the bottom fields of  their farm and find arrowheads and beads. 
     He had quite the collection of both, but when he was fifteen they moved and his collection didn't make it.
    It used to be one of my goals while traipsing through our fields and playing at the creek to find some arrowheads to start replacing his long lost collection.
    I never did find any.
    Several years ago some of our history curriculum included a nice handful of new arrowheads.
    We looked at them and then tucked them away.

    I now wish I would have at least sent a few of them to him even though they aren't the real thing.
    I could send them now, but with him being steadily consumed by dementia, I'm afraid it would be unwise.
    And so I simply look at them and try to envision a barefoot little boy roaming the fields of his home searching for arrowheads to add to his treasured collection.

Currently

Reading ... in the Bible I read chapters 25 through 34 of Jeremiah today. 

In other books I have been on a bit of a classics kick, but I'm getting to the point where I'm almost classic'd out. 

I'm halfway through Jane Eyre, and once I'm done with that I'll be taking a break and enjoying some lighter reading. 

Earlier this year I had read The Last Bookshop in London which I had really enjoyed. In it the main character found her love of reading after being introduced to the book, The Count of Monte Christo. Because of the way she enjoyed the book it made me want to read it too. It turned out to be a hefty tome and the story not something I would usually choose to read, but I didn't mind. It kept me entertained the entire time. 

Writing ... I've been concentrating on doing a rewrite for a first draft. I have an epilogue in mind that I'm looking forward to writing, but I'm making myself do the rewrite first.

Watching ... the birds at the feeder outside the kitchen window. Seeing the goldfinches turning brighter and brighter yellow is a sure sign that spring is here, and I'm enjoying watching them before we pack the feeder up for the warmer months.

Listening ... to sweetly singing birds.

Baking ... most recently we enjoyed some sugar-free peanut butter cookies. We all liked them quite a lot. Using a combination of honey and maple syrup worked great instead of sugar. I can see us making them again.

Cooking ... on tonight's menu there will be Baked Pollock Filets, Copycat Red Lobster shrimp, coleslaw, and baked potatoes. 

Feeling ... decently good.

Disliking ... whatever this virus thing was we contracted. It had us in its grips for almost the entirety of March

Loving ... all the happy little signs of spring. The daffodils are budding nicely, the Coltsfoot flowers are blooming, the trees around the house are filled with singing birds, the air feels soft, and the temperatures so pleasant.

Playing ... Steven and I decided to go through all the little games we used to play often, but have somehow been pushed aside. Each one is making it to the table at least once and then we decide if we want to pack it away, or if we still enjoyed it enough to play again. 

So far the majority are still enjoyable enough to want to play occasionally when we're in the mood for a short fun game: Sleeping Queens, Top Trumps (all of them), Spot-it, Fruit Punch, Clack! Skyjo, Pass the Pandas, and Dragonwood.

The more educational games such as Bumper Car Math, and a few grammar games get to be packed away. It was okay to play them once for old times sake, but it's time to close the chapter on them.

Today ... I had to take our vehicle to my favorite mechanic to have the tires rotated. Did the Saturday cleaning a day early, and tapped away at my laptop.

Happy Homemaker Monday

 The weather ... is lovely this morning with the sun shining brightly and the temperature already in the mid-twenties. According to the forecast we should be getting a bit of a break from the cold, cold weather we've been having.

Outside my kitchen window ... the squirrels are enjoying their feeder.

Right now I am ... writing this blogpost while sitting on our ancient rocking recliner. I'm guessing it saw its best days over thirty years ago, but it is still comfortable even if its hopelessly ugly and outdated.

Thinking ... about some dreams I had last night. They were so vivid and interesting. Most mornings I remember only faint wispy bits of my dreams but occasionally they will stick around a bit longer.

On my reading pile ... The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, Embers in the London Sky by Sarah Sundin, and The Shady Hollow Mystery series by Juneau Black are next in line to be read.

My to-be-read pile is always quite large and I keep adding books to it.

Yesterday I read People Pleaser by Jinger Voulo. It was a quick read, had some food for thought, but I don't see myself wanting to read it again or adding it to our home library. 

On the menu for this week ...

Monday - Cream of Chicken Soup, Herbed Dinner Rolls
Tuesday - Meatballs with Orange Glaze, Asparagus Casserole, Ranch Potato Salad, Dinner Rolls
Wednesday - Mashed Potatoes, Sweetcorn, Potsticker Salad
Thursday - Jailhouse Rice, Loaded Salad
Friday - TexMex Potatoes, Lamb Burgers, Green Beans
Saturday - Hotdogs and Chili
Sunday - Meatlovers Pizza (homemade)

On my to-do list for today... clean the refrigerator, cook up a batch of tapioca pudding, do laundry, grocery shopping, and take care of the daily dozen.

Listening to ... Sharon play the piano. She plays beautifully and I could happily listen to her for a long time. Most of the time she's too busy studying to play, which makes it even more special when she does.

I'm thankful for ... red light therapy. LV has suffered a lot of pain with his ankle and foot since his accident almost three years ago. He would come home from work hobbling. On harder days it would be black and blue and swollen. In December we decided to give a red light therapy boot a try after hearing good things about it. 

The difference it has made in less than ten weeks is amazing. He no longer has constant pain. We are very thankful!

A simple pleasure ... playing games with Steven. This past week we've been pulling out Mancala quite regularly.

Currently

Reading ...  in the Bible, Ephesians.

In other books I am somewhere around a quarter of the way through Persuasion by Jane Austen. I felt this book started off slow for a Jane Austen book, which is saying something because none of her books start off in a gripping sort of way. If not for the fact that I determined to read  all of her books this year I would abandon it for something better.

I shall prevail. Hopefully by the end of the book I will think it was somewhat worth the time and effort it took.

Writing ... nothing exciting. More text messages, several letters, and a smidgeon of progress was made on my big project.

Watching ...  after organizing our DVD collection we discovered that we have several seasons of The Lucy Show we had never watched, so an episode or two have been enjoyed after lunch.

Listening ... to the noise of the ice falling off the trees. Everything was coated in ice this morning and now as the wind has picked up and the temperature has risen it is losing it's grip and falling in chunks taking lots of twigs and smaller branches with it.

Baking ... sourdough pretzel bites. They're so, so good! We've made four batches since Saturday. We shared batches two, three, and four with others, though we did sample some of each.

Cooking .. with the kind of weather that seems to be begging for soup it only seems right to be planning to make soup and grilled cheese for supper tonight.

Feeling ... a bit sore. I twisted my knee yesterday and it's still sore today. Regular walking is fine, but going up and down the stairs ... ouch!

Disliking ... mice. That's all I'm saying on this topic.

Loving ... the quick wit and ready humor that seems to abound in some of my favorite people.

Playing ... a variety of  games: Ice Cream Empire, Pass the Pandas, Top Trumps, and Uno No Mercy. We also did a 1,000 piece puzzle. Five hundred piece puzzles are my preferred size, but this one only took two days so it wasn't that bad.

Cleaning ... we are starting to deep clean the storage room today. I tidy and semi organize it quite often, but it's been quite a while since a proper deep clean has been done and I think it's time.