Time is just flying by!!

I'm not sure what it is about Spring… it always seems that come Spring there's so many things that need to get done & just not enough time to do them all well…  maybe that's just a result of living in the Upper Midwest where it seems like Spring comes & goes so quickly (it seems to be a short season here), and we want to have everything "Summer-Ready" as quickly as possible…


These days there's not much "new" going on except that I'm spending a ton of time in my gardens. Garden cleanup is going slow due to so many plants needing to be split… 35 bags of Cedar mulch so far, and I'm not even half way done yet…  Hope to be done with cleanup by mid-May so I can plant some annuals & get my vegetable garden going (seeds have been started indoors).


Don't get me wrong, not complaining about getting into the gardens… I love it!!  Its a peaceful place, and I get to see the immediate results of my work… Its not unusual for me, as I'm gardening, to be working through a problem or praying or singing praise songs - its my favorite meditation spot.  Today I spent a great deal of time & physical effort in the gardens, and my body is telling me about it… but I feel good!!


I think the critters that inhabit my garden sense my peace, since they frequently get quite close when I'm gardening.  Today the Chickadees were flying right by me as I did some work with a rake (picking up leaves & spreading mulch), and they were happy to be at the feeder only a few feet away… 


My friend Susan was here today, and I took her on a tour of the woods behind the house… something I only do with friends because my woods are a mad-mushy-mess…  I have dreams about what I'd like to do with the woods (a fire pit, a meditation spot, etc)… but time is short, I may never get those woods the way I'd like, I'm ok with that.  While Susan was out with me we saw what we think was a Bald Eagle flying through my trees carrying something (we have a nesting pair nearby)… that was exciting!!


I'm now on break from the Young Adult Bible Study I've been teaching, I won't be teaching the class again until Fall, I'm going to miss seeing them regularly (though I'm certain I'll be running into them at church).

A small group of us from church are learning some special music, one piece is especially difficult because its in Ukrainian… even once its in our Latin alphabet (original is Cyrillic) the letter combinations are completely foreign… but we're making good progress & its a beautiful piece. 


I'm also on break from my Jewelry Metalworking class, my instructor uses the Summer to attend shows where he can display and sell his work… its possible we'll have a couple chances to get back into the studio over Summer, but I'm not holding my breath.  It would be nice to get some time in the studio on a rainy day (when I can't get in the garden).


I'm still busy with my ongoing cooking efforts, I continue to try new things & come up with new recipes. Tonight Jeff & I had a variation of one of my concoctions, it got his stamp of approval, that always makes me feel good.  The concoction has been wrongly named, we gave it a new name tonight… Chicken Dumpling Casserole, it smelled so go coming out of the oven, and the flavor was not disappointing!


I am looking forward to Summer… hoping to have many opportunities to spend time with friends & family.   The nice weather offers opportunities to do things that get put on hold over the long winter - I wonder if I can talk Jeff into mini-golf anytime soon :)


Take care & enjoy your blessings as you gavot… I am!!