I'm Back

I really needed this past week. It was so nice to have Harold at home with me. We got a lot done. Oops - I mean he got a lot done and I watched since I am still pretty much on "light and easy" duty until my surgery.

While shopping one day, we ran across a new shipment of River Birch trees! Why was I so excited? Because this tree was the first item to be listed for my in progress Memory Garden! Naturally, I looked at DH with sad eyes and told him I could do without it if he thought it was too big to fit into the car. He rolled his eyes and said he would find a way to get it in the car somehow. And he did! It will definitely have a special home in my garden!

All the rails and columns on our front porch were in desperate need of being replaced. Usually we do that kind of work ourselves to save a few bucks but with all that has happened lately we decided to contract the work out and we are so thrilled with the results! We will paint it ourselves in a few weeks but we now have a porch that will probably out live us!

Harold stayed busy by repainting the hall bath. He made a major job of it all by replacing some of the hardware and fixtures but the bathroom certainly does look wonderful now! I bought a space saver for the hall bathroom about 15 years ago and we finally opened the sealed box and put it together then set it up in the bathroom! Even though I wasn't able to do a lot of physical stuff, I was able to tag along and pick out colors for paint, new bath rugs, shower curtains and such. Whew! Hard work!
There are still quite a few left chores left on our "to do to the house" list but we are getting a start! I would so so very happy if we could have all the inside stuff finished by the end of the year but that may be a little too hopeful.

I was able to spend some more time with my stitching. Not much but every little bit is another step closer to finishing! I also spent some time walking around the yard with my camera looking for some surprises. I haven't done this in quite awhile so it was an enjoyable experience with a familiar comfort attached to each step. I was thrilled to see that Autumn is just around the corner. The leaves are beginning to slowly turn and the mornings (as you can in the picture) have a definite briskness which makes me want to sit out back with my coffee and enjoy all that nature has to offer me.

We took several days to go up to see my step mother. She is like me and doing a little better each day. Since I will be unable to come back for awhile because of surgery and some other obligations, we went through a few of my Dad's things for me to bring on back home. They are mostly things I can remember being in our home since I was very little and I always admired them (even as a little girl) so it feels a little funny to have them in my home now. I'm sure that I will be going back after the surgery to help out some more.

We had a nice anniversary and went out to eat that evening. It was a very nice week and a large portion of the tension and anxiety that was such huge part of my life for quite a while finally washed away and I feel more at peace with the loss of my Dad. I know I will always miss him and there will still be hard days but for the most part, I do feel much better.

Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart. Thank you for stopping by to visit with me and for all the support I have received during this time!