Rosie's Replacement

 

Rosie graced the sunroom for 3-4 weeks. Now she is tucked back in her home (bureau drawer) until next Easter. In her place sits the wooden rabbit I bought many years ago at Kohl's from its big discount shelf. His hat and bowtie lend him charm.

The springtime blooms are abundant. I saw some tulips in the neighborhood. My daffodils are blooming. The pretty little coral quince flowers are abundant.

This morning I had an infusion of Reclast for osteoporosis. It was done at the local hospital. I just barely edged from osteopenia to osteoporosis on my last DEXA test. My doctor decided it was time to be more aggressive. This drug is given just once a year. I am taking it instead of Fosamax because of my stomach/esophagus issues. Some people feel like they have flu pains as a side effect. So far, I am lightheaded and sleepy. Time to take a nap. I have about an hour to recline in my chair before my husband has the Cubs game broadcasting from the TV. 

I bought a Home Chef kit from Kroger for tonight's supper. Chicken street tacos. They can be warmed in the microwave for an easy meal. We have not tried these before. I will add the shredded lettuce salad left over from a few days ago. Relaxing today in case the Reclast effects kick in. 

I tried to sit on the porch Thursday afternoon, but without any breeze the 80 degrees were too hot to be comfortable. I will try again next week after our rain and cooler temps have left.

Spring Goodies

 

Rosie the Bunny is ready to greet Easter. She says, "Help yourself to some peanut butter cups."

Today I bought at Meijer some tete a tete daffodils in a pot. I intended to buy tulips but did not like the selection nor the price. 

I can no longer find the dark chocolate Godiva bunny, so I bought a Lindt one instead. I once did a "test" comparing the two and the Godiva was definitely my favorite. 

At least Easter is later this year; maybe we will have a warm day. We can always hope. Spring is very up and down in Indiana.

 A tornado went through nearby Bourbon, Indiana Wednesday night. My sister-in-law lost power but has a generator. She had no damage to her property, but Bourbon had structural damage to homes and businesses as well as fallen trees. We heard on the weather radio alert that a tornado was headed toward Bourbon and Etna Green. Our family members answered the text we sent, and they said they were sheltering in the basement. We had rain, wind, light hail but live further east than the tornado path. 

Feels Like Summer, Looks Like Spring

 It is 78 today. We will be crashing down to high 30's on Monday. That is the high for Monday, not the low. 

My patio daffodil blooms are drying up. I bought a little bouquet at Martin's for $2.99 using a digital coupon. The pear trees are all in bloom now.

It is that confusing time of year when you don't know what sleepwear to use nor whether to keep the electric blanket on the bed. Often that comes in May, but we are having this warm spell in April.

We got 90 cents per gallon off the normal price of gas today using the grocery rewards card. The price jumped from $3.55 to $3.75 early last week. The dollar amount of grocery purchases to earn points has not changed and with higher grocery prices, it doesn't take very long to reap the rewards.

Prices on non-food services keep going up. The Fort Wayne paper weekend subscription didn't go up, but there is no Sunday paper, just Friday and Saturday now. We get more things in the Saturday paper than we used to, but I do miss not having a Sunday morning paper. Now starting this week, we were told they can't find anybody to deliver the paper in our area. Our paper is being delivered by the USPS. Yesterday's came OK; today no paper with the mail. I hope the postal service doesn't think it is acceptable to deliver a Saturday paper on Monday. Again, I miss not having a morning paper on Friday and Saturday.

The New York Times has notified us that our monthly rate will go from $17 to $20 starting in May. The games module which is an add-on subscription will go from $19.97 per year to $30 per year. Our subscription is digital only. Being able to access those games during the pandemic when the public library was closed was a blessing. We only started subscribing in 2020. Before that, we photocopied the games from the library newspaper. 

I gave the book review Wednesday at Winona Literary Club. The book I chose was The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street. It is targeted for tweens, but I enjoyed it and think other club members will too. One lady took my copy to read; another said she would like it next. It is available at the public library and on Hoopla. The part of New York City in which they live is a charming multiethnic section of Harlem.

No Godiva Bunnies

I brought a few of my daffodils inside to enjoy this Easter weekend. They probably won't last more than a week outside anyway. The pretty card is from my sister-in-law who lives in Wisconsin.

I looked for the chocolate Godiva bunnies in 4 stores (3 that had them last year). I didn't get to Walmart so maybe they had them. All I could find were the Lindt bunnies which after my previous "taste test" I had decided were not as tasty. So this year we have Godiva candies in a bag instead. They were sitting in the Easter candy aisle at Walgreen's and were on sale. They will probably be more interesting than the chocolate bunny.

Usually, we have scrambled eggs on Sunday, but tomorrow I am going to bake an already-prepared quiche Lorraine. We also have some chocolate chip scones which were substitutes in my on-line order/parking lot pickup groceries. I had ordered vanilla scones. I also ordered strawberries which were out-of-stock re the Kroger employee. I debated whether to go to a grocery store today to find strawberries for tomorrow's breakfast but decided I don't want to be in a crowded store. We will have the Mandarin oranges by themselves. 

Have a blessed Easter celebrating our Lord's resurrection. 

Sunny Yellow Daffodils

 I have about two dozen daffodils in bloom now. Today was warmer though windy. Whether the flowers will survive the wind and the colder temperatures of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday remains to be seen. I snipped a few daffodils to bring inside so I will have something to enjoy if the others suffer harm.

With the vase of daffodils on the dining table, I moved the Easter lily and the Godiva bunnies to the sunroom.

The lily blooms are starting to open and heavily perfume the air.

Speaking of bunnies, I visited our new Rural King store this morning. It had a mini Rex of brown and white and a white rabbit that wiggled its cute pink nose at me. This store reminds me of Big R which closed down in our town. Rural King is in the old K-Mart building. We have had quite a few business closures the past few years: Hallmark store, K-Mart, Pier One, Carson's, Ace Hardware, Big R (though it was purchased by R and P--I have yet to go into that store).

I knew from the ads that they had baby chickens in Rural King. The store painted yellow chicken feet on the floor to follow to the pullets. There were many tubs but only two had heat lamps. The first tub only had two little chicks, but from the tub across the way I could hear lots of peeping. Yep, that tub had dozens of baby chicks crowded together. I don't know why the two in the first tub had been separated from the others. They looked slightly bigger so maybe they are all that was left from an earlier batch. 

I knew they would put a smile on my face; I haven't had much to smile about lately. The daffodils also perked me up. Sometimes you just have to go out and seek sunshine and smiles.

Have a blessed Easter. 

Rainy But Good Day

 We had rain start up last night and now it continues on and off today and probably thru Saturday, except on Saturday snow might mix with the rain at times. 

The grass has greened up and I see flower buds on my daffodil plants. Today is still fairly warm (around 60), but we could see highs only in the 30's as the week progresses and into next week. 

We went to Creighton's Crazy Egg cafe for lunch today. We had eaten breakfast here before, but this was the first time for lunch.

 On the way home we stopped at Meijer to buy some grapefruit that had been advertised. My husband is the grapefruit eater. BOGO free so a good deal. I half-heartedly walked to the back of the store where the soft drinks are. They had some caffeine-free diet Pepsi! I have been trying for over a month to find this in several stores. Snapple was also on sale. And we even managed this shopping while the rain was stopped. We turned onto Highway 30 from the parking lot and drops started falling all the way home. 

I have been coping with lower back and hip and thigh pain for several years now. It has gotten worse in the past few months. I can only walk about 4 blocks before I need to find a place to sit to relieve the pain.

On March 4th I woke up with a stabbing pain on my left hip. When I lifted my leg to put my sock on the stab was terrible. I managed to communicate through the portal with my primary care doctor. She said to see an orthopedist. But since she thought all of the pain was related to the back, I saw the nurse practitioner of a back specialist. I will be starting some PT next week. However, the stabbing pain which is different in nature than the deep aching pains, the NP thought was bursitis.

 Last Monday I saw a hip specialist. He did X-rays and an exam. He also thinks it is bursitis. I am to take a strong anti-inflammatory prescription med and do some PT related to the hip. 

Falling apart is not fun. 

Windy Walk

 

That is not snow on the ground; it is pear tree petals. I walked today in the wind because tomorrow we may have snow on the ground. I am wondering how the tulips and other spring flowers will fare when we get down into the 20's the next two nights. 

Anyway, I enjoyed them while I was able and they were available.

The Grace Village landscaper got into rocks in a big way last year. They are attractive on Sunset Dr. We did not have phlox until this spring.

This group of phlox and daffodils are near the main entrance.

These tulips in front of Assisted Living have been blooming for at least a week. I saw them last Tuesday when walking to choir practice but did not have my camera with me. I also took a photo with my new cell phone camera, but I am still very awkward doing that. 

My backdoor neighbor has some pretty tulips that opened last weekend.

My flowering quince bush has blooms since last week. That is about two weeks earlier than last year.

Over by the pond there are wild violets and hyacinth.

It was not a good time of day for pond photos, but I couldn't resist trying to capture an image of the baby goslings. I think I counted 8 bobbing yellow heads.

Some flowering trees and tulips around the neighborhood round out my sharing today.

I was planning to grill some Impossible Burgers tonight, but around 4:30 p.m. we had some sprinkles and now the grill cover is wet and it looks like we have more rain coming. As a part of my grocery order (pickup), I included some corn on the cob. The first I have seen in the ads this year. Time to get supper started. Hope your spring is beautiful now, too.

What's New in the 'Hood

 My daffodils are open! I see them throughout my neighborhood as well.

There are 3 condos vacant on my block. The one directly across from me has no sign, but the others have "For Lease".

We have some critters on the loose: a black bear and a white rabbit.

The Winona Literary Club meets in the community center; the condo residents have a monthly lunch together there, too. Our family has rented it for reunions. A local church group has Bible studies. It is booked up most months.

These hellebores bloom at the corner plot of the community center.

As long as I am showing you my neighborhood, I will include the workshop where my husband does woodworking and other projects; two other men are there regularly doing stained glass and furniture refinishing.

This is the type of mailboxes we have. The acrylic holder has the weekly announcement sheets and event circulars from the retirement facility. The wooden boxes are for newspapers, but the local newspaper has switched to mail delivery rather than by carrier. We still get a weekly free paper, mostly ads.

My irises are starting to emerge. They won't bloom until mid or late May, just about the time of my surgery. 

When I started my walk this afternoon, it was sunny and mild. I joined a neighbor on her porch and before I knew it 90 minutes had gone by. We had quite a chat. It was cloudy and a cold wind arose. Now at 8:30 tonight it is raining and I hear rumbles of thunder. The cold front will mean temps in the 40's tomorrow compared to 66 today. I will have to bundle up in my winter coat to go to church. Yes, we are going to attend in person for the first time since March a year ago.

 The pandemic seems far away, but I see that the cases are starting to rise in our county again. Indiana has opened the COVID shots to anyone 16 and older; yet only about 12 per cent of the county population is fully inoculated. Hope they hurry up. I am starting to get used to a new normal of visiting folks, going to a birthday party, singing in the choir. It could come to a halt. 

Stirrings

 After eating a burrito at El Mezquite in North Manchester and a nice country drive, I decided to take a walk this afternoon. People are stirring about: a group of kids playing basketball in the driveway, a man washing his car, a bicyclist, kids on a trampoline. 

I saw one planting of daffodils with open blooms. A few leaves that I think are tulips.

A dozen geese were taking turns swimming and splashing water off wings.

I sat on the bench next to the pond. I am so out of shape. I need to concentrate on walking the next several weeks so I will be ready to do some hiking at Starved Rock Park in Illinois. 

I downsized my bouquet yesterday. I may get 1 or 2 days more to enjoy them before they wilt away. Wednesday will be two weeks since they arrived. 

The folks with the nice winter mailbox cover have changed to something less seasonal.

I sometimes click on an ad in my Facebook feed for stores I know like Macy's and JC Penney. Last week I clicked on an ad for Appleseed's; I had never heard of this company. They have been in business about 70 years in the Boston area. I ordered a closeout dress. The shipping costs about half the price of the dress. I figured if the dress didn't fit, I would donate it to Goodwill since the return shipping would be about $7. However, it fits fine. I plan to wear it to Wednesday's funeral.

I received a "welcome back" offer from Time magazine. $15 for 1 year. I subscribed for many years, but I felt the quality of the stories and the layout had declined so did not renew. However, I would like something to read as I recuperate from surgery for a few months. I'll see if the magazine is better than I remember. 

Not much leafing out nor blooming, but it is a wonderful spring day. 

A Smile On My Face

 Even though I didn't go somewhere warmer this winter, I have some blooms to cheer me up.

I bought this calandiva (a variant of Kalanchoe) at Meijer about a week ago. I needed some printer paper and decided to shop in-person after many weeks of not being in a store. Meijer often has interesting potted plants.

I have had my amaryllis over 9 weeks. It finally looks like it might bloom in another week. Oddly enough, I noticed another flower stalk this week; not sure how long it has been growing. It certainly will not bloom until long after the first stalk has bloomed.

Starting to bulge open. A flower next week maybe?

Second stalk near the bottom.

Grace Village still has no monthly birthday party, but it continues to send over a birthday carnation and a muffin (two muffins for us so I guess the activity director thinks my husband needs one). It arrived today via a volunteer messenger.

The thing that really put a smile on my face this week is what I saw when the snow melted away and the sun came out yesterday. Daffodils! I know it won't be until at least March when their sunny little faces appear, but now I feel winter is waning and spring will come before too long.