Day 364: Delightful Items on a Delightful Walk

August 21, 2021August 22, 2021 ~ Dona ~ 1 Comment

I awoke refreshed today, despite my watch telling me my sleep was worse than yesterdays (although still “good”) so after coffee I took a walk around my neighborhood. Many years ago I determined that if I walk the perimeter of our neighborhood (except for a couple busy streets) I’ll have walked a mile. It doesn’t seem like much, but I am terribly out of shape.

I did the perimeter today and snapped some photos of delightful things along the way. (which is probably why my watch didn’t consider it exercise!).

I saw some fruit that I’d seen before but I didn’t know what it was. The crows were gobbling them up. Turns out it’s a non-native (Kousa) dogwood. A few houses later I discovered Brickhenge! On the next street was a sign in the grass which read “The Poo Fairy doesn’t live here. Please scoop your dog’s poop! Thank you.” Then, on the same lawn was a tree made from a metal pipe, wire and fairy lights. I need to visit it at night sometime. A few doors down I saw some Japanese Maple leaves and whirligigs (seeds) in the sun. The photo does not do it justice until you really zoom in. While not new to me, I saw that the chimney without a house now has some scaffolding. As I walked on another street I noticed something orange in a tree branch. At first I thought it might be a group of early autumn-colored leaves, then I was disappointed that it was a balloon, but finally noticed it was a ball. Finally, across and down the street from my house was a huge mushroom whose cap was the size of a dinner plate.

Days 334-341: Back to Normal

July 29, 2021August 16, 2021 ~ Dona ~ 1 Comment

We spent the past eight days settling back into our normal routines. Dean working long hours, me puttering around the house. There were a few delights though:

Getting texts from Clare on her westward train trip — the photo at the top is from her trip from somewhere in the Midwest.
Hello Fresh meals. The buffalo chicken was really good.
Atypical — we really like that Netflix show and [gasp!] sometimes watch more than one episode a night!
Weeding the wildflower garden. I finally figured out what was a weed and what was a wildflower and pulled up the weeds. Unfortunately I accidently pulled up some phlox so I put it in a small bud vase (actually old medicine bottle) and took a photo of that. I also cut some black-eyed Susan. (photos below)
Organizing — I seem to be in an organizing groove and have gone through a few boxes that were cluttering up my study. I think this will last, as long as my languishing stays away.
Sleep — I’ve gotten some really good sleep lately and only twice neglected to sleep through the night.
This blog — after this post I will be caught up.
Making arrangements to visit people on our trip to the Midwest — I’m lunching with two favorite cousins, we’re meeting up with family friends (and showing Alex the alpacas) and visiting with our nephew, Danny and his family.
Talking to Clare on her actual birthday.

Day 313: A Missing Delight from the Previous Post, Alex’s Parents, and a Surprise Wildflower Arrangement

July 1, 2021July 6, 2021 ~ Dona ~ 3 Comments

When I wrote the last post I think I forgot to mention that Alex and I went shopping for the engagement party on Monday, June 28. It was delightfully enjoyable to spend the day just with Alex. I can’t believe our luck in having her as a future daughter-in-law. Unless everyone finds it too schmaltzy, I may use the term daughter-in-love, as my friend Mindie does.

Today, I had the delightful pleasure of hanging out with Alex’s parents, John and Lisa Guyton. We toured the proposed wedding venue and then took a walk on the C&O Canal at The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (which I have always referred to as Great Falls). After that we had an impromptu lunch of cheese and crackers because the weather turned nasty. (We didn’t know, but there was a tornado warning for our area at the time). John and Lisa are such fun. Again — I cannot believe our luck.

Finally, our egg couple went above and beyond with a flower arrangement that dazzled us all. Rick delivered it along with my egg and greens when Lisa and John were here. Our jaws dropped when we saw it. I was expecting something much smaller, and without a vase, but since I’d mentioned it was for the engagement party Valerie and Rick made it extra special.

Days 284-312: A Month of Delights

June 30, 2021 ~ Dona ~ 2 Comments

This is the longest I have gone without writing in this blog which makes me think it is good that I am only doing it for a year. The biggest delights were having Dean’s sister’s son and his family visit for a few days, hanging out with Alex and Andrew for Dean week, visiting a wedding venue, and preparing for the engagement party. It has been a very busy month, and the summer will be busy as well.

I’ll try to not let a month go by again without documenting my delights.

Delightful wall shadows

While we watch television in the family room this time of year the setting sun shines through the western windows, making patterns on the wall.

Cicada Love

A couple of cicadas doing what they were born to do.

Indoor Cicada

This fella or gal flew in the bedroom window while I was trying to take a nap.

Fairy Garden Flowers Blooming

The fairy garden flowers (from the seed packet Alex gave me) finally began blooming.

Nick and Nora Manhattan

I bought a set of two Nick and Nora cocktail glasses and served manhattans one evening

Eggs for Dinner. Eggs for Breakfast.

One night we ate eggs and sausages (and beans, mushrooms and tomatoes) for dinner. I made egg in a hole one morning too.

Sparkly Rain

One morning as the sun came up I caught these rain droplets in the sun.

Visit from C&S and Fam

C&S and Fam were supposed to visit last summer, but we all know why that was not possible. They visited this month and it was delightful.

Great Falls

Since no museums were open during their stay, C&S and Fam and I went to Great Falls National Park.

National Zoo

We needed passes to get in, but we got them and went to the zoo. We even saw the baby panda!

Baking a Cake with G.

On the way back from Great Falls I asked the kids if anyone wanted to bake a cake with me. Everyone said yes, but only six-year-old G followed through. He wanted to do it all by himself (and he did most of it). He decorated it with flowers.

Introducing G to Rupert and Chum

The morning the C family was getting ready to leave, G and I played with Rupert and Chum. At one point G decided that Rupert and Chum should bake a cake — Rupert (who G was in charge of) told Chum (my charge) the steps to make a cake that sounded a lot like our day before. It was very sweet.

Father’s Day

Dean wanted to go to Cunningham Falls for Father’s day (the official beginning of Dean week) so we did.

Our 36th Wedding Anniversary

We ate at a local French restaurant. The food was very good, but we felt out of place.

Finally a use for the star and moon light!

I bought this thinking it would be cool — and it is — but how many times can you use it for just a two person party. We’re going to use it for Andrew and Alex’s engagement party. I took a video to show them.

Dean’s Birthday

The official end of Dean Week, his birthday, was nice. We’d made plans to go to an Indian restaurant but the reservations were not correctly made (my fault) so we at at a Laotian restaurant near Andrew and Alex’s apartment. Great food! We had pie and other treats later at their appartment.

Insects and Arachnids

The cicadas may be gone, but I saw some cool critters about the house and yard

Bumble Bee — we may have a colony under our deck

Day 264: Happy

May 13, 2021May 14, 2021 ~ Dona ~ 2 Comments

As is my semi-regular habit I awoke in the early hours of the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. I went to the living room and poured myself a large glass of water and looked at my phone and then read more of Life After Life. I’d not read in a while, so it felt good.

After a couple of hours and more glasses of water I went to bed to read a little more and suddenly realized I was very happy. It could have been the water — perhaps I was very dehydrated. It could have been the reading. Perhaps it was having gotten out of the house yesterday. Whatever it was, it was delightful.

When I awoke a second time, this time at a more reasonable hour, I still felt happy.

Another delightful thought is that as of 12:30 pm I am fully vaccinated. While I received my second dose on the 29th, today marks the end of my two week waiting period. And as of 2:00 pm the CDC stated that fully vaccinated people can lose their masks in most cases, inside and out.*

The peony bloomed. That’s a delight!

*This is a double-edged sword of a delight. It goes without saying that many, if not most, anti-vaxers are likely to also be anti-maskers and since no one knows if they are vaccinated or not, they might not wear masks either. This is a problem for children (who at this time cannot be vaccinated) and many other people including those who are immunocompromised. While I understand that the CDC is only stating facts and is not a policy making organization, hopefully individual jurisdictions and businesses will either keep the mask policy or require anyone who doesn’t want to wear a mask to show proof of vaccination.

Day 258: Friday Delights

May 7, 2021May 8, 2021 ~ Dona ~ 3 Comments

The landscaper finally came back and has begun planting the Skip Laurels in the backyard. He also placed the French drain in the lawn.

I bought a bunch of cinnamon ferns from my egg farmer folks to plant around the deck since my lady ferns were not available. Rick, the egg guy, dropped them off and we had a delightful chat.

We had The Last Word Cocktails for our Friday cocktails.

Day 255: Putting a Slant on “Delight”, Plus Two New Stores

May 4, 2021May 8, 2021 ~ Dona ~ 1 Comment

This morning, on my way to the garden beds to snap a photo of an iris in bloom, I twisted my ankle in a hole in the backyard. It didn’t hurt that much when I twisted it — I fell so maybe that helped. I did feel something snap, though which is worrying. While this is not a delight, I am delighted it wasn’t worse.

I took the photo of the iris, then immediately iced and elevated my ankle. I took it easy, then elevated and iced it again. I wrapped it and did some shopping. While it was tender, it never really hurt that bad. Time will tell!

For over a year I’ve been wanting to stop in at an Indian grocery store called Guru Groceries and Chaat House but never remembered it when I needed something they might sell, plus parking is not so easy at its location. We needed naan (normally these days I make it, but didn’t feel like doing so, especially after the ankle incident) so I thought I’d stop by there and buy some naan. I ended up buying the naan, a mango and some spices I was unable to find at Penzey’s.

Just around the corner is a Japanese grocery store that I’d not heard of. I stopped in there, but didn’t buy anything since we’re flush with Japanese staples.