Thoughts Rattling Around In My Head

There were only three other children, all 5-6 years older than our daughter, within several miles of the area in which we lived when she was growing up.  The older three were always so good in tolerating playing with her, and they were all close during those years.  One of the girls (grown now and a lovely woman) is the mother of two sons.  Her sixteen year old was just killed in an automobile accident.

The husband of one of my friends in my quilt group died suddenly and totally unexpectedly at home last Monday morning.

Our lives, our very lives, can change in  an instant.  We've got to make sure we appreciate all we're given, all the wonderful things we have in our lives, all we can do as individuals to make our lives, and those of others, better.  It's so unjustifiable to spend any time being negative or unappreciative.

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I spent nearly the whole day today going through my garden seeds and perusing the garden catalogs to find ones I needed to order.  Gotta admit it actually made me eager for this coming gardening season.  I'm avoiding planting anything extraneous this year (oh, will I ever need to find a big dose of will power to do that!) because of all the other items on our summer's To Do List.  Some corners must be cut.  Or at least rounded off a bit.

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My living room (or what was once my living room) is still functioning as a temporary bedroom for Papa Pea.  He's tried and tried to sleep in our bed, but the firm mattress makes his bruised body so ouchy and achy that he's given up trying to spend his nights there, at least for the time being.  Thank goodness we have a big, long couch where he is comfortable and is now sleeping well nights.

He's been walking around withOUT the help of a cane for the past two days.  In the house, that is.  He still takes his helper stick out with him to do poultry chores three times a day.  Scares the bejeebers out of me because we have so much ice around.  Actually, what really scares me the most is me walking on the ice out there.  I mean what a mell of a hess we'd be in if I fell and broke my whatever?!

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January, the long month of winter (ha!), has flown by and now we're tromping through February with me not finding enough time to spend in my quilt room.  (Anybody have a nice smoked cheese I can have with my whine?)  I keep dashing in there, pulling out one project or another . . . and leaving again.  (Do you notice a "messy" theme to these pictures?)

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I finally got a new book light.  This may not be a big thing to some people, but it is for me because the only time (almost exclusively) I read is when I get into bed at night.  (Or when I wake up at 2:30 a.m. and can't get back to sleep.)  It's an LED rechargeable (yay, yay!) light with a high and low setting (the low is totally adequate) and has a much more "pleasant" light than my old fluorescent book light.

This relic was powered by four AA batteries that lasted about as long as a lifesaver.  Plus, it was held together by electrical tape and a toothpick inserted in just the right spot.  (Don't ask.)

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Well, dear readers, that's the sum total of the thoughts in my head tonight.  Hope you all had a good weekend.  Let's strive for an upbeat, positive, kind, helpful and appreciative outlook on life for the coming week.