Drip Drip Drop Little April Showers…

April is certainly living up to its reputation in Kentucky.  As long as we don’t turn to desert this summer, we will have the most beautiful fall ever – and I will head to the mountains to hike with camera in tow!!  That is the thought that’s getting me through the cabin fever.  That and the fact that the sun did bless us with its presence all day yesterday.  My daughter had a soccer game, and while the teams warmed up before the game started,  I revolved my chair to the light, leaned back and basked in the warm rays…aaah.  Nothing in nature feels better than sun and wind on your skin – preferably at the same time.

Another thing that has helped is my new obsession – poscard trading!  I can’t seem to pass up the possibility of a trade, so I’ve got so many in the works that it’s practically a full-time gig to keep up with them!  LOL  I’ve got trades in the works from Northern Ireland, British Columbia, Ontario, Italy, Taiwan, and several US states!  I think the best part, though, has been the email communication with these people.  That will make receiving the cards so much more special.  After much thought and discussion about the ways to store our collection, we’ve decided that a photo box is best, so that we can categorize, always read the back, and not have to be concerned with the card fitting in the slot like we would with an album.  We also think it’d be cool to cover the box (eventually) with stamps.

It was nice to write, but laundry and dinner beckon once again.  That’s the story of my life.  Guess it’s song-quoting day in my head.

Oh, yeah, just saw Disney’s Bolt – excellent!  And Bedtime Stories last week – absolutely hilarious!

TTFN 😀

Up to Speed

To bring you up to speed on a bunch of things I’ve mentioned and left you hanging on…

My mysteriously missing “indoor” letterbox – the owner who was so gracious and seemingly anxious to house my box in the store display case never responded.  I’m giving up and planning to recarve and make another hand-bound logbook to replace the precious plant.  Until I get that done, I’ll have to leave it marked “unavailable”.  As dumbfounded as I am about this whole experience, I’m not giving up on having that box – it was a “planter’s choice”!!!

Newbie boxers recruiting effort – My sister-in-law contacted me to plan a letterboxing outing this time, which proves that they are successfully recruited 😉  This time they came to my town, and I went with them to boxes that I already had logged, so although it didn’t result in any new finds for me, it was wonderful to spread the love of the hobby and a perfect-weather day in which to be putzing along the trails!

Stumped on a stamp image – I finally managed to complete the stamp that conveys what I think is beautiful about KY.  It ended up being a sort of mosaic of images that fit nicely into the basic outline of the state, rather than one single image.  There’s just too much that I think is beautiful to put into one image, and even then, I only concentrated on the natural beauty (because I love nature), but it would have been impossible to express all the beauty in this state…the people, the culture, the history, the tradition… so I had to pick something, and the nature seemed most appropriate. 

It’s a spoiler, but the decision is yours… but first read the insert that went in the logbook – the image will make more sense…

“My task for this stamp was to carve what I thought was beautiful about my state.  The first thing that came to mind was the Red River Gorge area, where I love to hike, with it’s incredible rock formations, natural bridges and acres of deciduous forest.  Then other images immediately followed:  the foothills of the Appalachians where I was raised – making me take a deep breath every time I visit them; Cumberland Falls – a simple falls, but one of only two places in the entire world where a moonbow occurs; Mammoth Cave – the longest cave system in the world; all the lovely rivers and lakes – making up more miles of coastline than Florida.  When I couldn’t choose, I incorporated them all, including the marshes of the western part of the state, whose beauty I have seen only in pictures, but have on my list of places to see.”

My “Beautiful KY” Stamp

 

In other news, I’ve been fillilng my garden beds.  They are home to Rosemary, Basil, Cilantro, Italian Parsley, Plain Parsley, Garlic, Thyme, Chives, Red Bell Pepper, Yellow Bell Pepper, Green Bell Pepper, Jalapenos, Sweet Texas Onions, Scallions, Big Boy Tomato, Roma Tomato, Cherry Tomato and Green Leaf Lettuce!  Oregano to go and I’ll be done with the planting.  I’m having so much fun with it – I hope it all grows beautifully and that I don’t fail to put the roofs on when we have a cold spell…

I planted a Jack-in-the-Pulpit in a shady bed today, and some pink Primrose seeds…tomorrow I plan to plant Purple Coneflower, and two varieties of Poppy, along with about 1/2 a flat of annuals.  When everything’s grown enough to justify pictures, I’ll post some 😉

My “Sensational Educational US Passport Postal:  Kentucky” made it back home this week, after traveling through the ring.  It has visited Alaska, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Virginia, New York, New Hampshire, and Maine.  Too cool!!  Once the rest of the ring postals have completed their journeys, I’ll most likely use mine as a postal single – my very first 🙂 

Well it is quite past dinner time, and we’ve had none, so I suppose I should mosey on down to the kitchen and see what I can fix…or find dh and see what he can come up with 😀

Adios!

Spring Break Happenings

I finally got to begin exercising again today, and boy does it feel great.  I had purchased My Fitness Coach for the Wii a couple of weeks ago, after reading some great reviews, but had pain in the area of my surgery from just doing the fitness test, so I had to wait awhile longer.  It’s been very frustrating recovering, because evidently when the Dr says it’ll take “a couple of weeks” to recover, he means that after a couple of weeks you won’t be needing pain pills for the pain you have just sitting on the couch – not that you won’t hurt when you get up off the couch and do something.  Surgery sucks.

Anyway, I have worked in the yard and not hurt, resumed all regular activity without pain, and even did a whole lot of painting over the course of 2 days without anything but some soreness not related to surgery, so I can finally begin to work my butt off again…literally 😀

I did my first workout with Maya today, for half an hour, and it was really the perfect amount, intensity and everything.  It was a good workout – but not too hard or too easy.  I’m going to walk or hike every day as well, and watch my body get back to normal!  Hubby is on board with me, and we are both motivated and excited to get back in shape (he isn’t as out of shape as I am).

It’s Spring Break around here and my dd and I spent the first 3 1/2 days of it with two of my aunts, uncle, and grandma up in Ohio.  The plan was just to hang out and visit, but that changed when a bunch of women congregated in a newly constructed home with white walls in which one aunt was unsure where to begin decorating.  We had a blast, but we did work hard!  We painted the kitchen, dining nook, living room and half bath, and shopped for curtains, rods, dish towels, cloths, heat mitts, and general decor.  It turned out beautiful!  We sat up until around 1 am every night and were up before 8 every day.  Some work was left for my aunt and uncle to do, but we certainly managed to get the bulk of it done.  We filled our bellies with wonderful home-cooked meals and laughed until we cried.  It was great!

One aunt and I tried to find a blue diamond letterbox, but it was a puzzler to which I just didn’t have the time or energy to devote brainpower to once the painting was underway…but I’ll try again on the next visit 🙂

I’m back home and still have a few days left of break, in which I’ll hammer out a fitness routine, do some scrapbooking, begin mailings for the postcard exchange I’ve gotten involved in and finish planting in the garden and do the spring flowerbed/yard maintenance. 

I do love being able.