May 31, 2020 - Part 4

Foreground in focus...

 ...background in focus.

 Foreground in focus...

 ...middle ground in focus...

...background in focus.

May 31, 2020 - Part 3

May 31, 2020 - Part 2

I can't tell you how pleasant it was to lay in a hammock,

listen to an interesting story,

and take pictures of the trees around us.

May 31, 2020 - Part 1

Today was pleasantly mild and Tracy suggested we hang out on the back deck,

me in the hammock,

him reading to me.

May 30, 2020

Tile backsplash.

May 29, 2020

Look what we found on the sidewalk leading to our driveway!

A repair guy that was here when I found it says it's a copperhead skin.

Lovely.

May 28, 2020

 Decker graduated from kindergarten today!

Brad invited us to celebrate with them,

then uninvited us when he learned no one was allowed to attend the ceremony except parents.

Not even siblings.

I haven't seen the kids since February because of the lockdown.

It's hard to know what to do anymore,

but I took a chance and babysat the other three while Brad & Jenn went to the graduation.

Then we celebrated when she got home

with a biscuits and gravy and french toast breakfast.

It was so good to see them all!

Dyce came and got me in a panic, telling me the toilet was smoking.

This is what I found when I got to the bathroom. 

LOL

May 27, 2020

The afternoon sun hitting this Japanese lantern makes it glow.

May 26, 2020

These are the two little plants we used in our resurrection garden this spring

(you can read about that here).

They're growing!

I'm not known for having a green thumb,

so this is a little bit of a miracle.

May 25, 2020

A close-up of one of the birds on the new bookcase.

I love it that he's singing!

May 24, 2020

I've been needing a new bookcase ever since we moved last summer.

I left behind several bookcases because they were the flimsy things you get at Wal-Mart

and they were falling apart.

There's a cabinet in the dining area in this house that is large enough for all our homeschool books,

but I still had a bunch of books that needed a home.

I've been looking since last summer, to no avail,

but my patience was finally rewarded!

I found this bookcase for sale on a neighborhood website, for $20!

It's nice and heavy, and it's the exact same size as the other two bookcases in the livingroom.

The nicest thing is, it's exactly what this spot needed - even Jed said so!

May 23, 2020

When we were moving from Colorado to North Carolina last summer,

we stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Missouri for dinner one evening.

Jed and I were looking around at all the stuff on the walls,

when I was flabbergasted to see this painting.

It looked like a lighter version of the painting on a table

my great aunt used to have, that now belongs to me.

I couldn't wait to get our stuff unloaded from the moving truck 

so I could compare this picture to my table.

It's a match!

I looked all over the internet but couldn't find any information on the painting,

so I contacted the Cracker Barrel in Missouri 

and the manager took a picture of a tag on the back of the painting.

I contacted their headquarters to see if I could talk to the person who purchased it for the restaurant.

A sweet receptionist tried to help but the person she put me through to never called me back,

though I left a couple of messages,

and I didn't want to keep bothering them.

That was last summer.

I'm thinking I'll try again this summer.

I've never cared that my mom might be the only person who reads this blog

because I started it for her and my dad...

but right now I wish I had a huge following so I might be able to reach someone

who knows something about this painting.

May 22, 2020

I slipped out of the house early this morning

before 7:00 am,

 to get to the grocery store when it opened.

As I approached the end of my driveway I saw this car parked up the road,

where there are no houses,

so I drove down that way to see what was going on with it.

There was a young man sitting in the car, probably looking at his phone...

he did not glance up as I passed. 

I turned around and came up behind him

and took this picture of his license plate.

Tracy was going to be leaving for work in a few minutes,

and Jed was still asleep.

All I could think of was that he would see the second car leave the garage

and know no one was at home

(which would have been incorrect, of course, but not in a good way).

I tried to contact my neighbor to ask her to keep an eye out

but she wasn't available,

so I did the only other thing I knew to do...

I called the police.

I used the non-emergency number and asked if there was anyone not busy,

if they could just drive by to check on this car.

You cannot imagine how mortified I was when I came home an hour later

to find the car parked in front of my house, 

along with another car and a truck,

and several young men unloading lumber and taking it around to the back of the house.

The owner of the house had been talking about making some repairs to the back deck, 

but I didn't know any decisions had been made in the matter.

As soon as the cold groceries were put away,

I went outside to apologize.

His response to my apology was very gracious. 

I wish I had had the courage to just ask the young man if there was anything I could do to help him...

then I would have known he was just waiting for his coworkers to show up.

Lesson learned.

May 21, 2020

This little guy was a quirky gift that makes me smile every time I see it.  :)

May 20, 2020

 It snowed on May 21 last year while we were living in Colorado.

I figured we would be in the middle of summer by now in North Carolina,

so I've been pleasantly surprised with the cool weather this week.

It was in the 40s this afternoon,

so tea seemed like a good idea while we did our schoolwork together.

Jed tries to make it convenient for me to scratch his back while he reads.  :)

May 19, 2020

 It was raining off and on all day so we didn't do our schoolwork outside today,
but I was delighted to see this family of geese on the pond
and even more delighted that I was quick enough grabbing my camera
to capture a couple of shots before they dipped behind the hill.
Their nest must be there, because though I watched for close to a half-hour,
they didn't emerge from the hill again.

Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them

and see the babies!

May 18, 2020 - Part 2

I hope you don't hate this, because it's more
foreground in focus...

 ...background in focus.

Foreground in focus...

...background in focus.

Foreground in focus...

...middle ground in focus...

...background in focus.
Still loving it!  :)

May 18, 2020 - Part 1

Today was cloudy and just slightly drizzly,

thanks to Tropical Storm Arthur.

I love days like this,

especially surrounded by dripping trees.

I brought my camera out on the deck with me again this afternoon

while we were doing our schoolwork together,

and while Jed was taking quizzes,

I was taking photographs.

 

This is a close up of leaves from the same purple tree pictured above,

as seen in the upper left corner.

I suppose the red is a precursor to the purple.

This tree stands out from all the rest,

with its droppy leaves.

May 17, 2020

This is the shirt Jed's homeschool program director gave him
as part of a year-end exams care package,
which I mentioned in this post.

He loves it!

He does not love not being able to get a haircut.  :)

May 16, 2020

We've been doing some of our afternoon schoolwork outside on the back deck.
I'm a little fascinated with the variation in the boards.
I really love wood.

May 15, 2020

This is another froufrou lampshade,
like the ones I mentioned in this post,
but this one is much more understated
and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

May 14, 2020

I'm pretty sure I've posted pictures of these little jewels before,

but Jed was looking at them today and made the comment

that he thinks they're the most beautiful thing we have in our home.

I feel like this bowl might give them a run for their money.  :)

May 13, 2020

This is what our school days look like in the afternoons in May,

when Jed and I work together...

this mostly means I'm reading to him, which we both love.

Jed's not usually smiling quite that broadly though.  :)

May 12, 2020

Jed picked up this nut half recently when we were walking.

I love things like this and placed it on my desk,

but it wasn't until today that I noticed the hollow interior

was in the shape of a heart.

That was a fun little discovery.  :)