SPORADIC

Between iffy weather, lack of sales and gardening chores, my garaging efforts have definitely been sporadic of late. Then of course there is the truism that the older you get, the less you need to buy – and living in a house 1/3 the size of my last one definitely affects what I can bring home! The creek right outside my back door makes up for it though, and this is the season of baby birds. We’ve had three sets of goslings on our section of creek, and last week 10 brand new baby ducks paraded by. There’s also a robin’s nest in my birch tree, which is exciting but not as up-close as the nest they built last year. That one was on top of the light fixture on my front deck! We only used the back door while the babies were being hatched and fledged, and I got to watch the whole thing from my kitchen window. Unlike newly hatched ducks and geese, baby robins are naked and primitive, looking more like baby dinosaurs than birds.

I did turn my (aching!) back on the weeding and planting on my to-do list this morning and went out to a few sales. At the first one I met up with friends Robin and Ken, though between masks and hairstyles that have changed while we all stayed home it took a moment to recognize them! Didn’t find anything there (I think Ken made off with all the good stuff!), and the next stop was both picked over and overpriced.

Next stop was the second day of an estate sale, so a lot had already left the house. But it was in a beautiful older neighborhood near downtown (same neighborhood the governor’s mansion is in) and was supposed to have a lot of art. And art was indeed what I came home with – a couple of pieces for my growing collection. (Will she run out of wall space one of these days? Not yet, but stay tuned…) If it hadn’t been half-price day I wouldn’t even have considered these, though I do think having so many fewer sales to go to makes me feel I can splurge a little more on something I love. And love them I do – a framed applique 

(I'm a sucker for things acorn-related) 

and a gardening woodcut.

I also picked up some gardening magazines 

and a cute little handmade-paper accordion book that opens out into a Christmas banner. It's the sort of ornament I can use since I can hang it out of Millie’s reach. 

(That cat! You would never know she’s such a scamp when you see her like this!)

Made two more stops and found nothing, but I really enjoyed the fun conversation with the young lady about to leave for grad school in New York. She’s getting a master’s in public administration, and I'm sure I was chatting with a future city manager.

So today’s adventures were mild, but after the past year of being home alone so much it’s enjoyable just to be out and about. Now that we are fully vaccinated, my friend Lysa and I have had to laugh at ourselves for our excitement over a couple of trips to nurseries - In the same car! Without our masks! Whee!