Anticipation

Good morning, my friends. We've reached the worst part of any journey. It's too late to start anything. It's too early to pack. We're in sit-and-wait mode. I'll say, however, that I made reservations for two more stops along our upcoming journey. We're keeping the trip flexible by not reserving ahead. A fellow traveler recommended a stop at some hot springs in Canada, though. As I looked at options for camping, I got a little panicky and decided to reserve two more spots. Now, we're set for the first week. After that, y'all can decide if you want to continue on with us. I'm thinking those hot springs will help you decide.

But there I go...getting out there ahead of myself. Let's talk first about what happened yesterday. As you already know, we were out early to drop off Mike's truck off for some service. We had some breakfast and did our grocery shopping. When we got home, I headed out to fill the bird feeders. Smitty walked with me. He was hunting squirrels.

The last two rhododendrons are blooming in profusion now. This one is next to the driveway.

This is its dark purple neighbor across the sidewalk.

Backing up a little, you can see the two together. Also, see that hose in the background of the image below? I stepped over that hose just before I fell on Monday. I'm sure I cleared it with my foot. You don't suppose it jumped up and tripped me on purpose, do you? Well. I'll just say I'm suspicious.

As for my fall, except for scabs all over my nose, I'm feeling pretty good. My right hand was hurting pretty badly yesterday. Later in the afternoon, I took some naproxen for it, and it feels completely better today. Thank goodness. I needed a bit of good news. Fortunately, I can't see my own nose, and so it's almost as if it didn't happen. If I look in the mirror, though, yikes. It looks pretty bad. Oh well. You can count on me to photoshop any pictures we take at dinner on Thursday. Or maybe I'll leave at least one unedited for comic relief.

Moving on, our dappled willow is doing the thing I always hoped it would do. Mike pruned and shaped it pretty severely last fall, and that seems to be what it needed. It appears to be in bloom, but that's actually its new growth...pinkish-peachy new leaves.

Back inside, I had the ingredients I needed to make another small batch of cookies. I'm trying to use up little bits of things that have been sitting for a while.

It was a slow afternoon. I'd missed my slow-stitching in the morning, and so I did it later in the day. Just a little bit of the balls of yarn are left to stitch, and then, just the words. Probably I won't finish this today, but tomorrow is a pretty good bet.

And that will be good timing. By tomorrow we'll be close enough to leaving that it will make sense to start packing some things. 

Surprisingly, my sewing machine is ready for pick-up. When I left it last time, it took almost a month before I got it back. This time...just a few days. So, we'll pick that up tomorrow. Possibly, I can do a little sewing. If there's time, I can finish the small Spring Flowers quilt top. 

This one is just about mug rug size. It might end up going with us in the camper. They make good hot pads for our table.

Today, I'll be doing the last of my cooking-ahead cooking when I make some frozen breakfast burritos. They'll get us through breakfast on our driving days through Canada. Also, I'm getting my final pedicure until mid-August. I'm told it can be warm in the summer in Alaska, and so I suppose the wearing of sandals is a possibility. Aside from that, there's nothing on my agenda. I might start doing a little packing.

Just before I sat down here, I ventured out...as I do every morning...to see if the flowers had bloomed. Of course not. Silly you. 

It's looking like a nice day, though. Maybe some warmer weather and sunshine will bring them out of their shells. They are such teases.

So there isn't much more to tell, but before I go...has anyone seen Smitty? I can't find him anywhere!