The Shed Notebook: Mom's Memory Garden

I knew last summer I would acquire plants and garden decor from Mom's garden next door after her death. My brother and his wife weren't clear how they wanted to approach the backyard, so they generously gave my sister and me permission to dig up what we wanted. I also inherited some garden signs and decor favorites Mom had collected. 

As we sat in our own backyard last fall, JEJ came up with an idea of building one more raised bed in the narrow space on the side of the house so I could create Mom's Memory Garden. He got the bed built last fall. We are going to add a gate and fence to keep our canine "kids" out. I am now getting excited about planning and planting it.

I know a rose given in honor of Mom from the Pearson/Brown family will be front and center. I will include plants from Mom's garden, then fill it up with her favorite flowers. My friend Chris gifted Mom with a beautiful  yellow metal flower that will be placed in the garden, along with a perfect statue I found today with angel wings and a nice saying. It is also a vase and will hold flowers!

 I will be excited to post pictures when it is completed. 

The Shed Notebook: Glimmers of Spring

In north Idaho spring is a funny season. There are days you can enjoy an hour of glorious sunshine, but then have to run back in the house and turn up the heat. There are days you think it will work to begin garden work . Guess what? It snows . Today the sun shone, it rained, it hailed, the wind blew, and then the day ended with blue sky. See what I mean?

It is a good thing I can enjoy this fickle season inside The Shed. Today was a good day to spring it up and , even if the heater was blasting inside, I felt glimmers of spring. At least if it snows tomorrow, it will cover up the piles of debris I couldn't clean up today.

Another sure thing about spring in north Idaho. The debris, dead leaves, doggie doo, weeds, and spent flowers from last summer don't go anywhere. The wind doesn't even carry them away.

Darn.

The Shed Notebook: Beautiful People Do Not Just Happen

After Mom died my lifelong friend Kenna sent me a perfect gift. It is a book titled Daily Peace, 365 Days of Renewal, Photos and Wisdom to Nourish Your Spirit.

For each day there is a quote and a photo to match it. Every so often I am going to open a page and share the quote and pick a photo of mine that matches it post it at the top.

Today I picked the quote for March 19th. It is a powerful one.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

I have lots of those beautiful people in my life. I am blessed.
photo taken November 2017, Reeder Creek, Elkins Resort, Priest Lake, Idaho

The Shed Notebook: Bathroom Decor Overload

The bathroom remodel will start in about four weeks, which means Shawn wants to begin ordering materials soon . EEEKKK! Now I have pinned pictures on Pineterest, made an idea book on Houzz, and bookmarked items on Lowes, Home Depot, Amazon, and Better Homes and Gardens web sites. That doesn't mean I am ready. I continue to change my mind about certain things like colors, tiles, faucets, and shelving. Soon I am just going to have to make some important decisions.Houzz alone has 1,366,386 photos of bathrooms. That is way too many to process.
JEJ just keeps saying, "whatever makes you happy makes me happy." So much for a second opinion. Considering this is the smallest room in the house, I don't know what I am fussing so much. I know why. I sit in there many times a day! Okay, back to the ideas. I need to narrow things way down today.
I have to wonder if I had the walls painted in yellow and orange stripes if JEJ would be happy. We will never know.

The Shed Notebook: Daily Peace

After Mom died my lifelong friend Kenna sent me a perfect gift. It is a book titled Daily Peace, 365 Days of Renewal, Photos and Wisdom to Nourish Your Spirit.

For each day there is a quote and a photo to match it. Every so often I am going to open a page and share the quote and pick a photo of mine that matches it post it at the top.

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You want and watch and work; you don't give up."

Sibling Assignment #188: The Birth of MTV

I gave the third sibling assignment for February:

"Building playlists have become a part of our lives now because of the new ways we listen to music. If you could build a perfect playlist of ten songs, what would be the theme and what would on that list?  Explain the theme and why you chose those songs, or some of the songs. Sister Carol's is here and brother Bill's is here.

The summer of 1981 MTV was launched. I don't have a vivid memory of watching it right then. Maybe our cable company didn't get it in West Richland, Washington. I do remember when we moved to Kennewick in 1982 I began watching it. Twenty-four hours a day the station played music vidoes. The VJs were such a big part of MTV, especially Mark Goodman, Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, and Alan Hunter. Also, in 1984 MTV started Top 20 Video Countdown that was shown on week-ends. I loved finding time on Saturday to watch it..

The playlist I created is memorable songs that were launched on MTV during the eighties. The videos themselves really sold each song. I remember buying the cassettes often after I viewed the video. Of course, my list could be twice as long. If you want to reminisce and watch any of these videos, search them on MTV. You can also find the first Top Twenty Video Countdown here.

"Easy Woman"  Phil Collins and Phillip Bailey
"You Can Call Me Al " Paul Simon ( assisted by Chevy Chase)
"Walk This Way " RUN D.M.C. and Aerosmith
"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" Wham
"How Will I Know" Whitney Houston
"Built This City on Rock and Roll" Starship
"Billie Jean" Michael Jackson
"Power of Love" Huey Lewis and the News
"The Way It Is" Bruce Hornsby and the Range
" We Are the World" various artists

Here is the video that launched MTV. What music videos do you remember from that time period?