For the good of the ecosystem

The photo above says: 'I told my suitcases that there will be no vacation this year.  Now I'm dealing with emotional baggage.'

So my friend came by on a hot, sunny day.  She was dropping something off and we chatted outside socially distanced for a short while.  I didn't notice her husband until he got out of the car.  In truth I was surprised to see them together.  They tend to do things separately.  It turns out he had a bout of gout and she had to drive him to the doctor as it is his right leg and he cannot drive himself. 

I was weeding and seem to have missed a spot in a garden bed as I mostly focus on the lawn.  These weeds had been thriving for weeks and I saw insects buzzing around them in the heat.  I decided to leave them be, for the good of the ecosystem.

Gone Overboard

If you have trouble reading the above photo:

First owl says: 'Whom..whom...whom'
2nd owl says: 'of all the owls in this forest, I hook up with an English Teacher'


A family friend recently had a baby at around 37 years old.  The baby is 6 months old now and I heard that she has enrolled him in a preschool that is a lot more expensive than daycare.  The father is maybe 45 years old.  Apparently this school has a structured curriculum and every kid who went there is now bilingual.  They want the baby to warm up to other people and kids, as he is just at home with his parents right now.  There is one teacher per 2 babies, and no parents are allowed inside.  They do activities like  finger painting.  We saw a photo of the baby playing in a pot with dry pasta sticks and some dried beans.  The teachers wear masks with visors, the babies aren't masked.

For one thing, beans can get stuck up kids' noses, there I go being judgemental.  I told the mom she should speak to the teachers but she trusts them and won't interfere.  Another thought -  'is it the best time for preschool, aren't schools generally closed at this time?

The trend seems to be that older, more established parents can afford more and want the best for their babies.  Let's hope they have not gone overboard.  What do  you think?

My mother's mac and cheese recipe

One of my sisters unearthed my mother's old mac and cheese recipe. It inspired me to make the one above. Hers is different in that she topped hers with tomato slices and breadcrumbs. The challenge for me is to always make a good cheese sauce, it takes patience and stirring for many minutes.

A Special Birthday

Husband M celebrated a special birthday on July 1st, Canada Day. Daughter L brought over this delicious cake that was not easy to make. I personally ate two slices, it was so good!

Paint Party Friday - Cut Flowers ACEO

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! I did a 'cut flowers' ACEO, based on an actual arrangement I made by cutting some lavender and coreopsis from my garden.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Fairy Tales

Here is my ACEO piece (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") for Rain's 'Fairy Tales' theme today.  As a child I loved all the fairy tales, they were so magical.  Of course I was partial to happy endings, I still am.

Sunflower Seeds and Iodide Pills

sunflower seeds

iodide pills

I received these freebies in the mail on the same day, always fun to get freebies! There were some packets of sunflower seeds from a Cheerios cereal offer. It is to help the bees thrive. I will definitely try planting them. They are annual flowers and drought tolerant.

Then there were these iodide pills to be taken in the event of a nuclear emergency to ward against thyroid cancer. We had a false alarm in January of this year and I had forgotten we had taken advantage of this government offer of iodide pills.  So they finally arrived.  The pills were offered to those who live within a certain range of the nuclear plant.  We are not that close but close enough I suppose.