Mimosas and Memories

I wish we could have today's weather everyday. What a beautiful day in Central Kentucky. We really learn to appreciate something when we don't have it everyday. But we have had several like this, I just know that I won't be complaining anytime soon. We've made out so much better than those who are farther down south. It's just unimaginable what the tornadoes have done in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. We'll have to remember to keep that part of the country in our prayers.

I really didn't intend to watch very much of the Royal Wedding. I knew it would be on all the news programs, so thought I'd just get up at my normal time. Well, I woke up at 5:17 Friday morning, then after trying to go back to sleep, woke again at 5:40. Figured I was meant to watch the live wedding coverage, so I turned it on. It was fun watching Kate in her wedding dress, especially when it got to the part, where you knew that even William hadn't seen her in it ,yet a couple billion people worldwide, including me, had. I think I've seen all the highlights dozens of times now. After what Diana went through, I just hope that Will and Kate have a really happy and successful marriage.

I have been trying to continue walking everyday. It's really nice getting the dogs out. We've seen all kinds of critters. Most recently we've spotted a couple different snakes, several turtles, deer, turkey and many different birds along the way. I might add that turtles are really easy to avoid hitting. So, if you see a turtle in the road, please try to not let your tires run over it. It's always so sad to see a crushed turtle in the road. I've seen plenty. The one we saw this week looked to be a young one, as he was really small, but crushed and dead. Again, very sad. Walking in Henderson County once, I was looking pitifully down at a crushed turtle, thinking how awful it was.........when he actually looked up at me. That was really devastating to experience. Please watch out for turtles.

Speaking of little critters, I was amused to see one of the chipmunks out back this morning. It had a chipmunk baby with it. Talk about cute. They skittered off together into the rock wall.

We will be finishing up our Lenten study tomorrow during Sunday School. It's called Shadows, Darkness and Dawn by Thomas R. Steagald. I had difficulty devoting the necessary time for the daily readings most of the forty days. However, during Holy Week, I really appreciated having someone help me focus my attention on the final chapter of Jesus' human story on earth. It was also good to watch some programs on the history channel about the Shroud of Turin and also, for the first time, I watched a recording of The Passion of the Christ. With the help of these things and my Jesus Christ Superstar music, I am motivated to research a personal Bible study of how Jesus spent those last tumultuous days.

Also, over the last week, I have learned that a couple of my brilliant ideas have gone out to the masses. Last year, after Easter, I was able to get a lot of peeps. ( Yes, those brightly colored marshmallow sugar coated Easter chicks. ) I had them in every color that they're available. So, I opened the packages of each of the six colors. I then snipped the five peeps apart and rearranged them so that each package had all six of the colors, a virtual rainbow of peeps! I repackaged them and gave them to my children and my parents. I got a kick out of the rainbow peeps. I kept my package until much later in the year. I might add that peeps are no longer edible when they become rock hard.....you really don't want to even try that. So, this year, I am told, that you could actually buy all the colors of peeps on a stick. I never saw them, but my sister did. She said they were sold out when she went back to get some. I'm afraid I wasn't in the mood for peeps this year.

The other idea I had was concerning the litters of puppies that I helped raise. After the first litter of two, and especially after the next litter of three, I realized that there was nothing more fun than watching the puppies and their interactions with their mom, dad and especially their siblings. I remember telling others that everything they do is sooo cute and so easy to just waste away the day watching them sleep, eat and play. I inquired about how to set up some sort of video feed, but never went beyond asking questions. Well, I saw this past week on the NBC Nightly News that someone has a live feed for some puppies and it has become a really big hit. The puppies were cute that they showed, but not as cute as my little Malti-poos were. Oh well, Taffy is now fixed and I'm out of the puppy business for now.

Guess we're about to wrap up April and head into May. I've got a few things yet to plant. After the daffodils and tulips, we had lilacs and Iris bloom in our yard. After two years of failing miserably at a hydrangea plant, I'm giving it a third try, hoping this time it'll be a charm. I'm going to plant some Hollyhock seeds and also some Mimosa seeds. Since the latter is a tree, not sure what to expect there. But, I always enjoyed the Hollyhocks at my grandma's house in Illinois and I climbed my Mimosa tree in Texas just about every day while we lived there. So, thought I'd give them both a shot.

I'll also be filling hummingbird feeders today. I've been watching the bluebirds and can't yet tell if they have a nest in their box or not. Too many variables going on out there. A couple flycatchers are about to hatch their babies and I'm afraid they may be harassing the bluebirds. I just pray that God will allow them to both have their families out in our yard. Sometimes Mother Nature can be brutal.

I need to go take clothes off the line. Glad I can finally do that on a regular basis. Take care and enjoy this wonderful season. luv, Susan