The Real Deal

The pear trees blossomed Tuesday and are now at full bloom.
We have settled into a warmer weather pattern which brings thunderstorms besides the flowers.

Today when I drove to Walmart there were redbuds to be seen as well. I took my electric blanket off the bed last night in exchange for a lighter blanket. My little pot of flowers on the porch is doing well. 

I have seen tulips, too. I hope to get to Peabody on Saturday; rain forecasted for tomorrow. Maybe we will go to El Mesquite, the Mexican restaurant in North Manchester, on Cinco de Mayo for lunch or supper. 

Spring is all around us now. A little late arriving, but we are happy to see it. 

Portulaca!

I braved the madhouse at Big R this morning to take advantage of the plant sales. I bought two pots. I will buy something bigger for my front porch later in May, but the small assortment pot will do for awhile. And they had portulaca! This plant is about the size of what was in the plot next to my patio when I moved into my condo in 2011. It will take a couple of years to reseed to what I had that died in the soggy rains, but I am giving it a try.

Since we have a chance of frost/freeze tonight, I have them sitting on top of my chest freezer in the garage. Next week when it warms up I will plant the portulaca.

This Is The Life

I went to the North Webster Friends of the Library sale yesterday. I bought 12 items (10 books, one large-print; 2 audio books) for the retirement library. I bought for myself 2 jigsaw puzzles, and got one puzzle for free as it had a piece missing. One of the puzzles is Christmas/winter scene so I put it away. The free 500-piece puzzle I started yesterday afternoon and finished this morning. I really like it. It reminds me of my beachcombing interests.

The daffodils are rampant around our neighborhood. Tomorrow is the Peabody Retirement Community tulip festival, but I have seen hardly any tulips around here, and those not open. Maybe the end of next week I can travel to North Manchester. We are to be in the 70s after Sunday. Our pear tree has lots of buds; they will probably open into a white canopy by mid-week. The weeping willows and magnolias have their new growth. 

My husband is starting on a big woodworking project for the Chime Choir. They need new tables. He is building a prototype and after he gets feedback, he will build 16 tables to hold the chimes. He did procure the wood for the legs. Next will be the plywood sheets for the tops. 

 

Tonight we will attend a recital at a local church of the students in Grace College's Worship Major program. This is a new program so we don't know what to expect. Grace College eliminated its Music Major program several years ago.

Our Carson's is shutting down (one of the Bon Ton chain stores) by August. So far the liquidators haven't marked down the prices much. I plan to go to the bigger Carson's store in Fort Wayne on Tuesday to see what bargains they have. I will be sorry to see it go away. 

I need to go to the AAA office in that city to make a payment on our 2019 winter cruise. Yes, we put a deposit on a partial-canal trip to Panama with Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Cartagena Columbia as additional ports. This will be on Princess, a new cruise line for us.

Other than a two-night stay at a B&B in South Haven, Michigan in July, we have no other travel plans. 

In the past month there have been over 720 views of my blog by sources in Italy. It skews the statistics terribly and has taken a lot of joy out of blogging. There is no good way for me tell if real people are enjoying and learning from my blog. I wish this robot viewer would disappear. 

Ah, well, at last it feels and looks like spring which lifts the spirits.

Daffy Days

We woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning, but slowly it has warmed up though with a cold wind. The daffodils coaxed by the sunshine have finally opened. Next week we are to be in the 60's. Finally more normal temperatures. This has been one of the coldest Aprils on record.

Next Monday the Grace Village Swap Shop starts. I saw an interesting jigsaw puzzle when I took over some things to contribute. You never know what will still be there when Monday morning arrives. Some people ignore the start time and take things early. 
I am grateful for whatever I find that will enhance my life. One year it was a big-numbers clock. Last year notepads for grocery list making. A few years nothing, but at least I did get rid of some of my clutter. 

There is a book sale at the North Webster Public library starting next Thursday. I will try to take a look as I do still have some money and some series gaps to complete. They often have jigsaw puzzles to buy as well; I'll do some personal shopping for me.

Our county participates in the Community Read program. 6 copies of this year's book, Frankenstein by Shelley, were given to us and placed in the library. 5 of the 6 have been taken which is encouraging. There will be a Shelley impersonator/dramatist next week I believe at a special dinner meeting in Warsaw, but I don't plan to attend.