Welcome Sights And Sounds…
Today there are welcome sights and sounds in my world. The red cardinal is always a welcome sight, along with his lady love.
Cold weather & gray skies:
We went from the sixties on Friday to really gray and cold yesterday. The pupsters stay snuggled up to me, and I am grateful for their warmth.
I tend to my house plants and frequently stand at the patio door looking out, watching the few birds venturing about.
I can see this morning that I’m going to have to reduce my computer time because lately my wrists are tingling again like when I had carpal tunnel problems (I had bilateral carpal tunnel surgery 20 years ago, and do not want to go there again.)
Morning coffee:
A hot cup of coffee is most welcome on these cold mornings. I take mine with a bit of sugar and Coffee Mate. How do you take yours? Or are you a tea drinker? I’ve never liked hot tea for some reason. But I adore iced tea.
Another thing I welcome and am grateful for is hearing the heat click on. Oh my, with no insulation in these apartments, I don’t know what I’d do without automatic heat.Â
I don’t want to clean when it is bitterly cold. You’d think my body would push me to move about to engineer warmth. Some sort of primal urge that kept prior generations, way back when, alive.
However my cold is much different from their cold, because I live in modern society and have central heat and air.
House plants:
Another welcome sight during these cold February days are my house plants. My nurturing of nature inside while I wait for spring so that I can enjoy nature outside is important to me.
One little pot of variegated ivy is fast losing its leaves. It’s too sad to show right now.
Yesterday I put it in the bedroom, hoping the change of scenery, being closer to a window, might perk it up. That window is sort of my “plant hospital” where plants go when they’re a bit sad.
When the top is dry, I stick my finger down about an inch to see if there is deeper moisture underneath. I do tend to over water if I don’t catch myself.
Books:
And always welcome in my home are books. Books of all varieties.
This vintage box is filled with craft and decorating and other non-fiction books. No novels here. These are the books I select and thumb through occasionally.
Speaking of books, I finished “The Hope Chest” (I was literally crying at the end) last night, and began “This Is How It Always Is.” This last book is about a family with four boys, hoping this last pregnancy is a girl.
But it is another boy, and they name him Claude. Claude is extremely precocious.
From what I’ve read so far:
When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.
I think both you and I can see where this is going.
I can already tell that this book is going to make me laugh and cry. Heavens, isn’t life hard enough without being born “different?”
“There’s a gender in your brain and a gender in your body. For 99 percent of people, those things are in alignment. For transgender people, they’re mismatched. That’s all it is. It’s not complicated, it’s not a neurosis. It’s a mix-up. It’s a birth defect, like a cleft palate.”                                                                         – Chaz Bono
Atlanta weather is in the high 60s all week. It’s no wonder everyone is getting the flu and head colds. The fluctuations in temperatures is crazy in the south.
I confess my love for flavored coffee along with flavored creamer. It is one way to get my sweet tooth satisfied. I just finished a cup of Chocolate Caramel Brownie (now doesn’t that sound wickedly delicious).
Brenda, have you done post on growing herbs inside the house? I’d like to give that a try this spring and I’m definitely buying a prayer plant. Thanks! Carol
Beautiful shot of the cardinal! 🙂
I had carpal tunnel surgery many years ago on my right hand
If anything bothers me nowadays I just put a brace on it ( sports brace etc. that I pick up at the local drugstore )
Am I the only one wondering why a woman would come to Oklahoma to manage apartments when her husband lives in Texas? lol
I love my two cups of coffee in the morning with a tad of half and half. I also like iced unsweet tea. I’ve begun drinking a lot more water lately and I’m trying to cut down on my sugar intake considerably. It isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.
Hope you can take care of that “feeling'” in your wrists without actually getting carpal tunnel. Just hold on spring is coming soon!!!
I have been looking at things for a new fairy garden. This will be my third. My hands get so cold, then I am cold all over. Can’t wait for spring. I also have house plants all over the house. Keep thinking spring is almost here.
This weekend has been beautiful here in northeast Florida; it is 80 degrees today and sunny. But the forecast is for several days of cloudy rainy weather; thankfully, we do not get the bone-chilling cold that you and so many of your readers experience. I am grateful for this because I do not like being cold; seems like it is so much harder to get warm again as you age. These rainy days will be perfect for writing in my three new purchases from the bookstore — new address book, internet passwords book, and a gardening journal.
The birds have been busy at the feeders this past week. Dove, cardinals, wrens, tufted titmice, and blue jays. And of course, those crazy squirrels are enjoying the sunflower seeds.
A few of my flowering shrubs (that I thought were dead after the last cold snap) are now sprouting tiny green leaves and it makes me smile. I am so ready to plant new annuals and tend to my garden. Surely spring is close by!
A warm drink (tea for me) an extra sweater and heavy socks chases chills here in Mt. It is extra warming if working on an afghan on my lap and my Sheltie on my feet.
Hey gal wear a wrist splint when you type !!!!! Doc
Whatever would we do without cardinals?
I’ve come to love houseplants more now than when I was young, maybe because we had so many of them in the house when I was growing up that I took them for granted. My father for many years bought them for the Kroger stores in middle TN and then later during my teenage years and older he owned two garden centers.
I really prize them now. For the first time ever I have an orchid to rebloom, one my son gave me last year for Valentine’s Day. I was more excited about that happening than if I’d been given a diamond bracelet!
I hope you don’t have bad carpel tunnel problems again! I’ve never had it but if it’s anything like the tarsal tunnel syndrome I have in my foot–electrical shocks feeling keeping me awake all night–then I really pity anyone with it. Do you have the arm braces that people who have it wear while typing? Maybe wearing them while online will help it heal.
Brenda, it’s good to catch up with you. Did you know I’ve realized your blog doesn’t update on my feed?
Happy Sunday Brenda.
I saw yesterday in the midst of all the snow we are getting a male and female cardinal. The male was as bright red can be against the white snow. Very pretty site. Have a great start to the new week.
Kris
Gorgeous photo! I am watching birds feed from the ornamental pear tree outside my picture window. Mainly sparrows, but also cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, and purple finches. Hope to see the robins soon!
The cardinal is beautiful. It’s one of the few things I miss out here on the West Coast. Eastern Blue Jays and Cardinals.