Filling Up the Planters

I filled two outdoor pots with small geraniums a few days ago...

But they looked skimpy. (I know they will grow and fill out in time, but...)










 

Time to harvest some indoor plants to remedy the situation!

This one is lovely but it is getting too long... Maybe some cuttings can be added to each pot.














 How about a tiny new spider plant offshoot in each pot?! They usually do well outdoors.

There! The pots look fuller now...

Hope the new plants take root before squirrels start digging in the pots - which they inevitably will!

(Do I need to add some rocks to deter them?!)

Homemade Dandelion Salve?

Dandelion season is here...

Digging them out occupies hours of my gardening time every year. And with a field of dandelions next door, there is no end in sight!

Is it time to look on my gardening scourge in a new light? I read a while back that dandelions aren't native to North America. They were brought here by pioneers who planted them for medicinal purposes.

Maybe I should try harvesting them... for salve. (I don't stomach the thought of using the greens in a salad, another common use.)

The magazine Montana Homesteader, ran an article last year on how to made dandelions salve. It looks easy enough. The main ingredients are dandelion flowers, olive oil, coconut oil and bees wax. (I wonder if I could substitute melted Vaseline for the bees wax?!)

It's supposed to cure aching muscles... (Hmmm... Don't have those very often...) But maybe I'll give it a try!

Cat Soap

It's hard to use a gift like this cute cat soap... (Even when the vendor claims it retains its original shape even when worn down with use.)

When my son started to use this Christmas gift, I decided it needed a special "bed" (or dish) in the bathroom!

I'm always happy to find good use for my small pottery pieces!

Happy Birthday, Terry!

Today is Terry's birthday. We don't do a lot to celebrate family birthdays - unless everyone happens to be home. We will probably have a low-key celebration this year...

But a few years ago, we were able to bring family and friends together to celebrate a milestone birthday. Too bad that can't happen every year. Every year is a milestone!

That year we had a wonderful evening together, in Montreal. Some of us hadn't seen each other in years.

The party was a surprise for Terry. Afterwards he couldn't stop smiling for days!

Some people like to forget their age, but my new motto is: "Life is short! Celebrate more!"

Role Model

When my mother moved to Ottawa almost 13 years ago, at the age of 83, it was a change for both of us. For her, it was necessity that brought her here. She was clear about that: She was reluctantly leaving her comfortable home because she needed help: She needed me to help her... and it would be nice to get to know her grandchildren better...

I wasn't sure what help I could offer. I had a job. My three children (in their teens and twenties) still lived at home. I was busy... And, as Terry will attest, apart from when my children were young, I have never been a care-giver type. (We still laughingly recall him saying - early in our marriage when he was sick and expected me to look after him: Well, you're no Florence Nightingale...)

I really am no Florence Nightingale! 

I admit, there was some resentment on my part. You weren't here when I could have used an occasional baby sitter, I wanted to tell her. And now that you need help, you want me to squeeze you into my already busy life... (Not exactly what a loving daughter should say... but that's the way it was.)


The past 12 years have been a learning curve for both of us... But, I have to admit, that for me, her moving here has been a gift... Not a gift wrapped in pretty paper and bows, but a lesson in life.

I chafed against my new role in her life, a role doctors gave me, expecting me to enforce their decisions (which she angrily disagreed with...) when told she shouldn't be taking her own medication, then (a few years later) she needed a walker, then a wheelchair...


It wasn't easy. We both tried hard. She bravely tried to establish a new community of friends. I tried to help her as best I could.

Seeing her struggle with life's inevitable changes, I regularly came face to face with the fact that she was only 27 years older than I was... and in 27 years, I could be in her situation!

So, now when I see her at 95, in the nursing home, daily appreciate her life... (This is a good place to be when you need help.... The food is good... The entertainment today was wonderful - you should have been here... I can't complain - I've had a good life...)

She has become a role model for me. 

Trees... Beginning to Bud

Spring is my favorite season...

I always look forward to the budding of the trees, their new leaves fresh and pale green, one kind after another turning green.

Before long all the bare branches around us will have leaves that cover us with shade...










 

But for now, I take as much pleasure in their gentle budding as I do in the spring flowers around us.

In fact, I don't want spring to end!

THAT Old?!!

I was recently introduced to a new website that appears to be popular... (It has been shared on Facebook more than a million times.) "How old do I look?" uses a robot to calculate age.

I decided to give it a try, using a photo of me taken last year...

Oh, no! I'm not quite that old!!

I tried again... No better!

Hmmm ... How about my 95 year old mother?

I found this photo taken at her last birthday, together with my brother (who is 3 years younger than me) and his wife. I won't give away any ages! I'll just say, I was in my 20s when they were married.

(Not sure what their secret is! I'll have to ask next time I see them!)