This and That Thursday

I have a few things to share. Some make me happy, others, not so much.

1. I brought down the boxes of Easter decorations. But that was right about the time that we decided to self-quarantine. I decided that I wasn't going to go to the trouble of decorating since no one would be around. 

 

Still, I did put out my Easter pillows since this was the very first time I was going to get to use them.

They make me really, really happy!

2. After all our hard work cleaning the porch on Saturday,

All of these tree seeds are all over. I knew we were doing the cleaning a bit too early. At least I just have to brush them off the furniture. That little tiny one on the bottom is from a maple tree, I think, but the ones we had growing up were way bigger than this. We used to throw them in the air to watch them "helicopter" down. We don't even own a maple tree. I have no idea what those other seeds are. 

Could they be from the dogwood tree that is currently in bloom? It is located right next to the porch. I tried to get my plant identifier app to tell me, but apparently it doesn't work for seeds. The dogwood in full bloom makes me happy. The seed all over the place---not so much.

3. On Monday, while cleaning the garage, I noticed the wonderful smell of my lilacs that line the drive. I just had to cut some.

 I made three arrangements. One I delivered to a friend who could use a little cheering up. One I gave to Mindy when she came by to pick a cleaning supply up.

I don't think lilacs were really meant to brought inside since they don't last long as cut flowers. You can tell by the fact that you cannot buy lilacs at the florists. Still, I wanted to give them a try. They made my whole kitchen smell divine.

Since they are on woody stems, I decided to crush them to see if I could get the flowers to last longer. So far, as of this writing 3 days later, they still look good and haven't made a mess dropping petals. The fragrance has diminished but if you stick your nose in them, they still smell good.

I used my meat mallet to smash the stems. They have made me happy.

4. We're getting ready to have our 50th class reunion in September. I was really looking forward to it, but as it turns out, the girls and I will be in New York---assuming this quarantine is over---surely!

So, one of my grade school classmates posted this picture. In a way, it makes me happy--to see our uniforms and the back of our school building from the early 1900's. She wrote the name of the nun pictured, Sister Richard Maureen. Then in another way, this makes me unhappy. It reminds me of, when in the 6th grade Sr. Richard Maureen slapped blue striped masking tape over my mouth for talking. The whole class couldn't stop laughing, so she put out in the hall and promptly forgot about me. Twohours later, the entire school filed out to go home and there I still stood. Sister came out an hour later around 4:00 and saw me. She gasped and sent me home where I got in more trouble. Of course my siblings couldn't wait to get home to "tell" on me. Those were the days that built character!

5. And then this made me REALLY happy! My friend, Nancy E. 

Delivered farm fresh eggs to me along with a puzzle. The puzzle is wooden. We've never done one like that, so we're starting it next.

And that blue egg couldn't be more appropriate for Easter! I don't have any idea what I'm going to be making for Easter yet. I thought I would just order something takeout for us. It's just the two of us, but most restaurants seem to be doing take out for 4. I just might have to do something with some of these eggs instead. We'll see!