Gardening Time

May 23, 2022 By Carole

This weekend was all about gardening and that’s the best kind of weekend. My friend Doreen came up from the Cape for our annual plant shopping trip.

We hit two nurseries on Friday, with a terrific lunch in between. And here’s our haul from that day:

We hit two different nurseries on Saturday, after a delicious breakfast at home. And here’s our haul from that day:

In both photos above Doreen’s plants are on the left and mine are on the right. I got several varieties of coleus, a few perennials (coreopsis, a hellebore, and a gaura) plus petunias and geraniums for my window boxes, lavendar and stock and sweet potato vine and other things that looked beautiful or interesting.

It was super hot here on Sunday so the only planting I did was to get the window boxes done. I’ll share a better photo of those in a future post but for today I thought you’d get a kick out of my Project Supervisors. They were quite interested in the process but, without opposable thumbs, they weren’t much help.

That’s my gardening update for late May. And now I’m off to a two day conference of the Massachusetts Library Association, the first one in 3 years. I’m ready to gather with my colleagues and talk libraries and books!

I’ll catch up with you here later this week.

Eye Candy Friday

May 20, 2022 By Carole

Coffee on the deck season is back and I couldn’t be happier! Well . . . I’d like less pine pollen, if I’m being completely honest. But still, coffee on the deck. Hurrah!

And hurrah for the weekend, too, friends. Cheers to a good one!

Three On Thursday

May 19, 2022 By Carole

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and today I’m sharing 3 things that are on my mind about mental health.

I have seen a therapist off and on since I was 18 and a freshman in college. At that time, my brother had just died, my mother was borderline suicidal, I was terribly homesick (it was actually displaced grief) and I pretty quickly recognized that I needed help. I’m so grateful that I was able to talk with someone on campus, not just because it helped me with my mental health at that time, but also because I learned at an early age that therapy is a game changer. I also saw a therapist after my mother died, Dale and I worked with a marriage therapist to help with issues as we blended our family, and I started seeing a therapist again shortly after Randy committed suicide. For me, therapy is the work of a lifetime and it’s something that not only helps me, it’s something I enjoy.
Everybody can benefit from therapy. Yes, I said everybody. You don’t have to have gone through terrible things, although I have. You don’t have to be plagued with anxiety, although I am. You don’t have to have been through divorce and grief and trauma, although those are all things I have experienced. You simply have to have a brain. When Dale was in the hospital after his accident, the social worker came to his room to see if he wanted to discuss his feelings about what happened to him. Dale told her that he really didn’t remember what happened and that he didn’t therapy. She point blank told him: everyone with a brain needs therapy. It’s something that has stuck with me ever since.
We need to be open about our experiences with mental health. I’m not saying you need to write a blog or a book or go on local cable and discuss your trauma. But I am saying that sharing your experience with a trusted friend or family member is a good idea. Not only will it help you to process your feelings, it may also help them to understand you better. And it will illustrate to them that you aren’t afraid to talk about your mental health and, in doing so, it may help them to open up about their own struggles. I was so proud of my sister-in-law for her honesty and openness about Randy’s suicide. We had many many people reach out to us and thank us for being truthful about how Randy died and then going on to share about their own family or friends who had also committed suicide. Getting it out in the open is freeing. When someone we know is diagnosed with cancer we are immediately on board with cards and a meal train and tons of support. If that same person is diagnosed with a mental illness, we either don’t know because it’s private, or, if we do know, we feel awkward about addressing it. Let’s end the stigma and talk about it.

I’m not a doctor and my experiences as described here are all first hand and anecdotal. I hope you will consider what I have shared and use it to enhance how you deal with mental health . . . either your own or someone else’s.

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About That Tree

May 18, 2022 By Carole

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I showed you the photo of my flowering crabapple tree? And I mentioned that it looked good from the angle I showed you? Here’s the photo in case you forgot:

Well, some of you, <cough>Kym<cough>Bonny<cough> asked what I meant. Today, I’m coming clean. I showed you the view of the tree from my deck. This is the view from the other side:

And this is a side view, showing the gorgeous flowering part on the left and the . . . errrr . . . rather flat side on the right.

We planted this tree over 20 years ago, it was a Mother’s Day gift from the kids and Dale. Obviously we did not choose a great place to put it; it’s overshadowed by a huge black walnut tree on the right and as such it has grown slowly and lopsided.

Live and learn, right? Or . . . laugh it off!

Prom Time

May 17, 2022 By Carole

If you’re reading that title you’re probably confused because who would I be sharing prom photos of these days? I’ll tell you who in a moment but I will say this . . . if you’re a long time reader of this blog . . . you might want to sit down before you scroll further. You see, this little baby, just went to the prom.

Gulp.

She has grown into a beautiful, smart, and extremely talented young woman. Here, let me show you.

That dress, right? And the wind blowing her hair? And the back drop. It’s a stunning combination, but mostly I just can’t take my eyes off of her.

With her amazing mom. I couldn’t even begin to tell you the things that Heather does for Ambrynn. She blows me away.

And her dad. I don’t think Dale will mind me telling you that he got pretty verklempt over this photo.

I consider Ambrynn my granddaughter and she calls me Nana but we aren’t actually related by blood. And yet, this smile that’s almost a smirk? So.much.like.me. It’s all in the attitude and we both know it.

Dale and I miss Brant, Heather, and Ambrynn so much and we are so grateful for the wonderful visit we had with them last summer. Thanks for indulging me as I shared these photos.