A Cheerful Morning

Good morning!  My camera is charging even as I type, and hopefully I’ll be able to get out in the garden today and get some pictures.  We had rain, rain, rain yesterday and the garden looks like it’s strung with diamonds this morning.  Every plant is glistening with bright, shining drops of water.

Yesterday turned into a major teacher workday, but it’s just as well.  Princess of the Universe didn’t feel well again and I actually kept John home from school as he didn’t feel well either.  It seems that everyone we know is fighting a cold, John said many in his class have been sick recently, and I feel like we are just keeping our heads above water here in regards to viruses.  Hubby came home from work with a sore throat.

I went to the store early yesterday to get a chicken and some extra large dumpling noodles and we had homemade chicken and dumplings for supper.  Hubby spiced it up just right when he got home and it was so good.  Garlic, black pepper, cajun spices.  It made everyone feel better.

The quilt above?  Isn’t is gorgeous?  While out yesterday, I went by Goodwill to drop off the things I had bagged up the days before.  I walked in and there was a king-sized Dockers quilt for 4 bucks.  Joy.  I brought it home and washed it and dried it and it looks wonderfully bright and cheerful in our bedroom.

As far as school yesterday, we didn’t do so much.  We did an algebra lesson.  We read a bit.  We did some drawing.  We played a killer game of Scrabble.  John won.  We just enjoyed being a family taking it easy yesterday.  I went to bed last night thankful that we had the privilege of even taking a day like that.

On my stack of old suitcases acting as an end table in the living room sit a few favorite things: an old thrifted lamp that I love and a pretty little thrifted mirror.  My green tea keeps me company.

With my school planners and my drawing/writing journal, I sat and enjoyed silence, a clean house, the smell of chicken and dumplings cooking, my hot tea, and thoughts of the mountain bluebird.

We, of course, have the Eastern Bluebird here.  There are three species of bluebirds:  the mountain bluebird, the Western bluebird and the Eastern bluebird.   They are cousins to the American robin, sharing a family, but not genus.  During mating season, the male mountain bluebird will look almost turquoise.  Sometimes the female mountain bluebird will have a rusty-colored breast, favoring the western or eastern bluebird, but the mountain bluebird is longer and slimmer.

The above information was gleaned from several sources:

Birds of Carolinas Field Guide (Field Guides)

Peterson Field Guide(R) to Eastern Birds: Fourth Edition (Peterson Field Guides)

Birding (Nature Company Guides)

and a great magazine with a really nice website: Better Homes and Gardens’ Nature’s Garden

Enjoy this day,

Lynn