The week ahead...

Welcome to this week's Happy Homemaker post...come on in to our world...

I've got sticks to chew up this week

The Weather in Aurora this week
We seem to be in Spring... at least rain is expected Wednesday instead of snow. I saw some daffodil greens coming up in someone's garden. Sunday it was lovely with warm sunshine all day. Temps are more moderate, even hot causing us to wonder if we'll have to go from heat to AC in a week.

Wearing
I'm used to changing the closet from season to season, and winter clothes are in it now... but... we've been hot this week and today I had to find thin leggings to pull on with a short sleeved tunic purchased long ago at an an art show. I must look funny to people here who wear understated hiking kind of clothing.

Looking around I see
the kitchen table has become cluttered again. What's the deal with horizontal surfaces? The gathering place for odd stuff. For instance I see, my computer and calendar, DH's Ipad, Milo's grooming box of tools, newspapers, library books, my pile of bunny pincushions awaiting their marching/hopping orders, a bag of ground walnut shells from the pet store, mail to be dealt with, info on an exhibit from UVA (Uni of VA, DH's undergrad alma mater)
Guess I might need to put all that stuff somewhere else.
There's an old movie on tv, and I'm on my first cup of coffee
I see green patches of grass in the back yard. The crabgrass. It's quite green and thriving!
Do you eat at your dining table? or like us, often in front of the TV?

To Do this week
I need to catch up on laundry
read some of my library books
sew a lot more
sort some boxes... I can only go through them now and then because all the decisions about where to put things makes me tired.
Resume grooming Milo as I left his hair long after his last bath, but now that it's hot...
change the bed sheets? I never remember how long they've been there
Attend the coffee group... the second one is really important  The first one last week, we met, but this one will be the real start to knowing each other as people not strangers.

Reading
The new Rhys Bowen book about a woman living in England during WW1
I'm into the book Stitch Fabric and Thread... and kind of want to try all the suggestions on art

I especially want to make that little fabric box at the bottom right

 I should Start the book about the purpose driven life


watching
Midwife is back, and good. I watched a new to me series on youtube called Modern History which is very interesting about mideval times. Love the American Idol show this season. New Amsterdam is returning.
On Friday nights I've watched My Lottery Dream Home on HGTV... so fun to see what people pick after winning a million or more dollars. Surprisingly meager usually.
We are in the middle of Murdoch Mysteries current season
I've found myself wanting to be outside more, watching the "nature channel" with Milo

making
I started some blocks using the color of the month for Rainbow Scrap Challenge, AQUA which required me to dig thru my numerous scraps to find Aqua. Surprisingly small amount. I then wondered about using turquoise, as that I have much of. I even looked into my yardages stash and found very few pieces of mostly Aqua.
I love color, so that made me take to the internet to see what the difference is between Aqua and Turquoise. One site was all wrong, but all the others said Aqua was half green and half blue. Turquoise vibrates more in the blue frequency but is also a mix of blue and green. Plus I think of aqua as almost pastel.
I'm finished with bunnies for the main part, and now must send them to friends. I found mailers at office depot, but they seemed kind of expensive, and DH looked to see if Sams had it and they were half the O.D. price. Yea!

I hope to uncover my sock knitting stuff soon, so I can knit some bamboo yarn socks, for summer wear.
 Tip or Trick

I found these aqua drawer bins on sale at Michaels and got the set of three. When I got home I thought how well they would work as project holders, you know how there are always little parts floating around while you're making a project?

Eating

for some reason I am craving citrus right now. Growing up we had the most delicious oranges called Temple Oranges but I can't find them around the country... anyway these are a good snack.
I'm also trying to make myself have a fish oil capsule when I give one to the poodle.

Beauty is inspiring...

going to Sam's club is a trek and dang near overwhelming anyway, but we went this weekend and I found these pink tulips. Since there were 15 stems per bunch, I put them in two vases to spread the pretty.

I won this mug at a party game back in MD. It's a good size to hold some beauty near the sink, so that every time I wash my hands (I do it too often because of a neurotic fear of germs) I see their delicate color.
I LOVE color, ironic that we moved to brown CO (brown is a color) but I realized color doesn't have to scream it's presence. Oh I love a bright coral, an intense red, a vibrant turquoise too but realized color can also be delicate, a hint of pink in creamy white. It can be subtle drawing you closer to see how it goes from white to pink, the blending is so quiet.And the soft color shows next to the vibrant spring green of the leaves.

Lesson learned this week
Call friends... make time... I got an email this week that my friend Pat had passed away unexpectedly  the night before. I loved Pat, a smart funny generous, accepting person. She lived in MD and as we know it's hard to keep up with people. I do my best to call friends regularly, but it's never enough is it?

Just before she passed, I had an out-of-the blue urge to call her but didn't... sensing it would be hard for her to talk.
So I mourned. I wrote a Sunday Story (read it here) in her honor. I sent a note to her family I never met but heard about.

I mourned my loss.

Pat accepted me as I am, and shared her real self with me.
This week, I also talked to my new friend Maudie for over an hour... she is also smart, caring, funny, artistic, understanding, and accepts me whatever mood I have. Because she accepts me, I can easily tell her of sadness, then share a laugh in the same conversation. I also called Mari who also has all those attributes. We share our real lives, which is a gift of connection.

So I will sorely miss Pat, but I will remember to call my other wonderful friends too.

Linking to
http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/
pictorial-tuesday
happy homemaker monday
https://comedy-plus.com/ Awe Mondays