April 22, 2012--Vacation Planning

It’s mid-April and our families (mine and my sisters’) are already “knee deep in the water somewhere.”  (Borrowed that from the Zac Brown Band, it is a song my son adores and played every chance he got—based on the dictates of his sisters and their level of patience, last summer.)  We are trying to make plans for our family vacation. 

What are you going to do?  Hang around the house and try to get some projects done?  Visit the beach? Take a trip to the family home?  How do you decide what you’ll do? 

Sometimes out of necessity, our plans are determined for us; then others, we get to choose.  This year we all want to be together and were creatively planning to make it happen.  I, inevitably, encounter at least some stress about planning our vacation time. 

Of course, there are always the money concerns—can we afford it, but also, can I afford to be away from the shop?  Then, this will be the first time, in a long while, that Kendall and I have been away from Hodgepodge and ARTifacts at the same time—we usually travel on separate planes, just like the President and Veep.  Well, not quite, but there is a lot of coordinating involved when both of us are out of town at the same time.  Then, shortly after we return, I’ll have to turn around and head to Atlanta for the market.  So, that builds the stress, too.  It usually takes about three days to get back into the swing of the shop and through all of the junk mail—which, by the way, is getting more difficult to distinguish from the “real” mail.  Then I will hop in the car and leave again.  (Thank goodness for a phenomenal staff!)  It will, naturally, all come together and we will make some great memories—that is the best part, making the memories!

Memories can fortunately be made anywhere.  You don’t have to be on a beach or in the mountains. While I have found that it’s easier to sit still and relax when I’m not in close proximity to my house or shop, I do enjoy being at home.  Accomplishing projects around the house or shop is not only satisfying, but reinvigorating.  There is nothing like the sense of accomplishment over a chore or elective project.  Do you agree?

I’d almost rather use the money spent on vacation to add a permanent improvement to the house.  I wonder if my brother-in-law and nephews would consider it relaxing to make memories with us building a car port here at the house.  He could bring his boat and they could take it out on the Cumberland at the end of the day.  I’d even pack some sandwiches for them to enjoy.  (Hey, I’m a giver!) 

The view from my favorite place in the world--our back patio.

Nah, I enjoy time spent with our entire family on the Nomini Creek in the Northern Neck area of the Virginia coast.  It really is my favorite place—heck, a photo of the sun setting on the creek is the wallpaper on my phone.  

Sunset on Nomini Creek--checking our pulse rate . . .

I guess I need a little balance.  Time away is good, but the memory making can happen anywhere.  So we’ll go to VA and have a great time, and while there, after a few beers, I’ll plant the car port seed in Bill’s subconscious.

April 1, 2012

April 1, 2012
Why is everyone so pleased about this early spring?  I’ll tell you why—it’s because they haven’t thought beyond to the mosquitoes that are coming.  I admit it, when it comes to summer . . . my glass is half empty.  I’m already looking for methods to do battle; building my war arsenal.  Perhaps you don’t have a difficult time with those little guys, but they are ferocious around our place.  Darren’s birthday was yesterday and honestly considered giving him a fogger.
We have been working in the yard a little.  Generally, that means I buy the stuff and Darren does everything else, but I did manage to pull a wheelbarrow load of weeds and trim back the dead stuff I missed last fall.  Oh, and I filled a couple of the planters on the front porch.  Darren has already saluted them and told them he appreciates their impeding sacrifice.  Funny guy.

 (Not much to see right now--I left my asters and pansies, but added the lavender.  The pot of wave petunias are new, too.)

We've enjoyed a meal or two on the patio, but we haven’t had a large group yet.  We need to do a couple of clean-up activities around the party patio.  I hope to add some new shade plants this year—a real challenge for me.  My parents and aunt are great with shade plants, as is my sister, Nikki—in Virginia.  I think it’s because they are in older homes with established trees and, out of necessity they learned to cultivate flourishing shade gardens.  While we’re in an older home, we still have a lot of sun in our yard; the patio area being the exception.  
While visiting with a client/friend, Debbie Underwood, last week, we took a brief walk around her backyard patio garden.  While she apologized for the things she hadn’t done, I marveled at the lovely relaxed feel I got while wandering the path.  She had all the elements I loved—pavers and bricks with moss growing in between, iron patio furniture and a sturdy pergola to support a large wisteria vine on the verge of exploding—just to name a few.  After seeing her Lily of the Valley which was popping up, I made a beeline for the garden center to purchase some for our garden.  She offered to share some her prolific old fashioned Columbine, which has an eye-popping shade of orange and I’ve already decided to where to add it to our garden.  
Their garden embraces the back of their home—it appears to be an extension of their home.  I love that!  Our patio requires a bit of a stroll, but geography dictated its location.

(The walk way to the patio.)

  Our patio allows for a seasonal view of the river (in the winter) and plenty of shade when most needed.  The western side still gets a fair amount of sun, so we have daylilies lining the sloping edge.  The rest sits comfortably in the shade of several hackberry trees, a struggling red bud and my beloved, but detested mulberry.  Such a lovely canopy, but incredibly messy tree!

(The offending tree.  With this view--I'm noticing quite a few dead limbs--with makes me irrationally sad . . .) 

It is finally leafing-out (usually the last one to get leaves in our yard)—shortly, it will be dropping its berries, which will attract more flies than the house at 112 Ocean Ave, Amityville, NY!  The berries will stain the chairs, feet and carpets (when tracked into the house on the bottom of shoes).  It will then start dropping its huge yellow leaves as early as August.  Did I mention the lovely canopy?