""Be grateful to everyone" means that all situations teach you, and often it's the tough ones that teach you best."
~Pema Chödrön

This is one of those no brainer things.  I try to remember that I learn something from everyone but often walk away from situations feeling like it was a waste of time.  It's often only later that I realize that I am looking at a situation differently because of the encounter.  Now if I could only remember that sooner.

Blogger is messing with me this morning.  When I went to New Post, I got the full line of options at the top, which gave me hope that I would be able to write a post with photos.  But somehow it won't work.  I should have known better but Hope Spring Eternal.....

Ha!  Where there's a will, there's a way.  I did an end run around blogger and voila.

These are some rogue daffodills.  That's the edge of our lawn.  There are a crowd of daffs up by the house but these few are starting a colony of their own down by the sidewalk.  Every year we say we will be bringing them back into the fold but someone forgets and mows over them.  And these are some tulips from an Easter past.  When I look into the garden bed, I can see the ghosts of Easters Past.  We don't have too many tulips left.  I love them.  We are planning to put some roses in this bed but since we know virtually nothing about growing roses, it will be a slow process so we can learn as we go.

Our weather has been so eratic.  Yesterday the high temp was 47 degrees (8.3 C) and today it's supposed to hit 74 (23 C).  That's a 30 degree difference between the two days.  It's impossible to dress comfortably and we are always checking the weather to see where we will be on any given day.  Layers are my friend.

We celebrated my brother's 45 birthday last Friday (his actual birthday was the 14th but everyone was busy).  I invited him and his family to pizza and wings and we secretly brought cupcakes and candles and a present.  He called and said that due to circumstances beyond his control he wouldn't be joining us.

We ordered food to go and descended on him at home.  It was fun.  We don't live too far but time and circumstances often conspire and we don't see each other as often as we could. 

We gave him a set of Pk's salt and pepper mills (the ones in the front).  Peter Kevin is getting good at making these and I'm so proud of him.  The ones in the back are pear wood and are rather heavy.  You could bean someone on the head and knock them out but they feel so smooth and warm in your hands. 

His next project is to learn how to make pens.  I'm not sure why he wants to make them.  I guess it's like learning to knit lace or to spin a certain kind of yarn.  It's the learning how that's the interesting part.

I am experimenting with a sock pattern.  I know I've spoken of Pk's favorite commercial socks.  He lovesloves Thorlo socks. 

He likes the cushioning on the foot and the fact that they are ribbed on the instep to make them fit better.  I have made a pair of socks that I ribbed on the instep and will try to add some extra padding on the foot by "darning" some yarn into the existing stitches.

The photo is a bit dark but you can see the instep pulls in with the ribbing.  They are the strangest looking socks I have seen. 

When I finish this one completely, I'll take a better photo.  For now, it's an experiment in progress.

This coming weekend is Clean the Curtains and Windows weekend.  As much as I love the clean bright windows, I don't look forward to it.  It makes me feel accomplished when I'm finished.  I ought to sweep and wipe down the baseboards, too but I don't want to be too ambitious.

But now it's time to get to work.  I have treatment plans to write and some charts to close and a client to chase down.  I'd rather sit here and watch the clouds float by and watch the leaves grow on the tree outside my window.  (Did you even wonder at how fast leaves grow?  It seems like one day the bud is just opening and the next, the tree is in full leaf.)

Happy Wednesday y'all.