April
They say write about what you know about
thus the title of this post.
There have been some things on my heart and mind lately.
Yes, it is spring,
and I see so many pictures of little sproutlings
wearing that tender green colour.
There is definitely something to the knowing the earth is alive
under the renegade leaves that are still scampering about
that have been hiding who knows where.
Spring is the time of resurrection or rebirth if you will.
It's almost a relief to begin seeing colours
that the eyes have been hungry for.
I get that, and I feel it too.
I always wonder at what many would call "coincidence."
I have heard or seen in print
"You reap what you sew"
at least a half dozen times just this week.
Maybe it's simply due to being springtime,
but . . .
I can't help but wonder.
I've also heard the word discernment a lot lately.
It really does make one wonder.
I don't think I've shared, but we've had several things happen
since the new year.
A storm blew threw somewhere in the Christmas to New Year
time frame.
It blew the summer kitchen roof up so everything inside got soaked.
I cleaned everything up and set the furniture pieces
such as shelving and bakers cabinet and harvest table
up on canning jar rims so they aren't much taller
but up off the wet concrete floor.
That took some doing but was finally done -
all during the cold of January to boot.
This room is like an extension to our house so
that was an event.
It was tarped until the roofers could get to it
which didn't happen until March.
Our house got a new roof at the same time.
We didn't know that was going to happen until we returned
home from work and there was half a new roof on it.
The summer kitchen was next. We thought is was just a metal roof
that would be replaced.
Evidently both the house and the summer kitchen
had three layers of old roofing (so wrong!).
One of the layers of roofing on the summer kitchen turned out
to be probably almost 100 year old asphalt shingles that fell through
the roof boards.
When it's that old, it turns into that crumbled glass-like yuk.
Here, let me show you.
I held it together though I could have cried.
Nobody mentioned that it was there and maybe we'd want to cover things.
So this awful material covered everything.
I took nearly everything out of there and began cleaning.
I can't express how bad it was.
I had white towels and sheets I use out there and to cover tomatoes
when a frost is predicted etc.
I did 9 loads of laundry (I think) and countless sinkfulls of dishes.
Hubby came home early to help me.
We were both trying to be cautious not to breath it
and mindful of which direction our dust went.
Needless to say it was a bit of an ordeal.
I have a few more things on the harvest table I am hoping
to clean up this weekend.
The good news is that the roof no longer leaks.
Oh, the other thing the wind did was pull up our canopy over
the back sitting area, mangled it and threw it in the front yard.
We no sooner got things cleaned up, and I brought the little green house
into the house to start the early seeds.
We've mowed the lawn twice and have been starting
to prepare the beds for the upcoming plantings.
I was telling a friend,
I'm not quite as antsy for garden season this year,
but I think it's because we didn't really get a relaxing winter
by the fire sipping a hot drink while leisurely reading something pleasant. (Haha)
And now we head into the busy season.
Through all of this, I've cleaned and continued to organize and declutter.
I've tried to remember what's important and that this has all been
a bit of a hiccup.
In truth, I didn't handle it all with grace and ease.
There were other things that tipped the scales a time or two.
I think it's called life.
We are all a work in progress and I'm no different.
Like I said above, that word discernment keeps finding its way to my ears.
Focusing on what really matters has been (yet another)
good lesson for me.
A mess to clean up is not fun by any means,
but set that next to what many others might be facing
and I'm sure they'd trade me in a heartbeat.
I get it.
But I do have to say, I'm glad to say it's behind us.
We still haven't decided what we will do for a canopy,
but that too will get figured out.
I'm thankful nothing was "really" damaged,
we are well, have plenty to eat, a new roof over our heads,
and we have folks who care about us.
That's what's really important.
May
And so.
About the time I finished writing the above,
we dealt with an unexpected death in the family.
We've had plenty of seat time over the past few weeks.
We attended the service which was good
but extremely sad, only 41 years old.
Then the following weekend a grand-niece's second birthday.
That was joyous - again plenty of seat time,
but at least it was a happy event.
The circle of life is such a wild ride at times.
I do apologize for the lapse in posts.
My heart's just not been in it.
We now have the garden started so are plenty busy.
I'm sorry also that this post is so scattered,
but that's about how my brain is working.
I hope you are all feeling blessed.
If you have folks who are or have been a positive influence
in your life, I'd like to encourage you to tell them so.
Tomorrow is not guarantied.
Enjoy this spring day we've been granted.
