Coffee Chat - Maybe it's a late April Fools Day?

Come on in out of the wind and chill air....Feels more like autumn doesn't it, than Spring.  I have to join in with the man who recently said he wanted to be a weatherman.  "It's the only profession I know of where you're paid good money to be consistently wrong!"  Amen!  Today was supposed to be a lot warmer than it's been.  In fact, it's been downright cool in the wind and shivery chilly cold if you happened to be standing in the car wash trying to spray the dust and cat paw prints off your car.

The weather's been funny since Sunday.  It was cloudy and cool very nearly all day long that day.  Cool enough I changed my mind about yard work.  I'd meant to take it easy a second day, but then I looked online at the forecast (humph) and with 90's predicted for the rest of the week it seemed the wiser and cooler option to work and take one of the warmer days off.  So out I went to work and work I did until I felt tired enough to want to stop all work altogether.  It didn't seem I accomplished much either but my body said it had definitely felt the strain  of digging up spider wort that has taken over the back flower bed and the lifting of the rocks I'd used as border (buried under the plants that took over!). 

I managed a good housekeeping day as well, but I was so tired!  No encouragement needed to go to bed nor to sleep either.  I was in bed a littler earlier than usual and out like a light. 

I got up Monday morning and it was still cool and cloudy and I figured I might as well get out there and DO something.  So I hauled off the last of the limbs and did the raking up of seed pods under the Sweet Gum tree, did a bit of weeding, then cleaned that old glider I plan to refurbish with new nuts and bolts and paint. I also loaded all the rocks into my wagon...big mistake.  I can't move it now because it's too heavy! Another day of working until bone weary then back indoors to tend to tasks in the house.  After showering, I settled down to sew and then went on to do a good bit of housework.  I found it harder going yesterday. I pushed through and worked and sewed off and on all day long. 

I'd had open windows all day Sunday and meant to do the same yesterday, but about noon it began to rain a bit. It would rain five minutes and then quit, get sunny and chilly and cloud up and rain all over again.  I finally tired of jumping up to shut windows and just left them closed.  I was so weary I decided I really needed to follow up on my promise to rest for thirty minutes every day and I went to bed and lay down.  I stayed there for 30 minutes and got up but I honestly didn't feel less tired.  I made my way through one more minor task, then sat down in my chair to do a bit of writing and lo and behold dozed right off to sleep and slept 20 minutes.

After that I pepped up a little and went to sewing more, since all the housework but vacuuming had been done.  I did get finished with one of the front porch pillows...well technically I finished two but it turned out that the first one was all wrong and I had to rip those stitches out.  Thankfully I discovered my mistake and could correct it on the second pillow before I stitched it up. Chance came in just as I got it pinned together, so no more sewing for me.

We had a quiet evening.  It was Harvest night in our home.  We've three pay periods this month and tonight we had a little more extra to put towards our car loan.  That was nice to do, knowing when the next payment comes in our balance will be still lower.  I totted up the checkbook and was proud to see we're holding our own.  We discussed a couple of  issues and set up two more of our mini funds for expenses that are coming up next year.  Then we put away all the paper work. 

Chance listened to a church service in England on the computer, I had music playing softly from the TV.  I read blogs and played a game or two and finally went off to bed.  I was beginning to feel not only weary but irritable.  I don't like it when I feel like that.

Chance wanted to talk last night and since we'd barely spoken of anything except bills,  I listened and when he rolled over to go to sleep, I read a bit.  I think it was just after 11pm when I turned out the light.  For some reason we were both wide awake at 3:30am but apparently we both had the same idea: it was too early to be awake, so we went right off back to sleep and the next thing I knew Chance's alarm scared pooh out of both of us!  It's seldom he actually sleeps right up until time for his alarm to go off.  He usually wakes a few minutes before and then shuts it off, in a sweet attempt to let me sleep.

I had no trouble at all going right back to sleep and was scared by the sound of my alarm going off.  I know I slept really well and you would think I'd have felt better than the night before, but I didn't.  I got Chance's lunch packed up and made him breakfast, and I sat with him for 15 minutes of morning news (ugh) and then saw him off.  It seemed extra cold this morning and it went right through me for some reason.  Perhaps I should have had on slippers...I don't know.  I just know when I came indoors again I crawled right into bed and pulled covers over my head.  I didn't even take off that thick housecoat I'd had on either.  I was so cold I was shivering. 

Chance called in a few minutes time and suggested since we were going to be getting my car serviced later this week I wait and we'd shop for groceries then.  I scanned through my mental list and agreed readily.  When he hung up the phone, I burrowed back under the covers and went right to sleep.  I usually have to woo sleep, seldom do I just fall asleep readily, especially after I've been up nearly an hour, but this morning that didn't seem to matter in the least.

I woke at 9am with a raging headache, and a sense of panic. I don't know what the panic was about.  I just know I tumbled right out of bed and walked all around the house trying to shake it off.  Perhaps it was related to a dream or one of the dogs barked or the cat jumped atop the AC unit outside my window.  I made fresh coffee and took two Tylenol.  I had a bite of breakfast and went into the craft room and ran up that last pillow for the front porch on the sewing machine and then repaired a shopping bag that had burst it's seam.  I loaded the dishwasher and then set it to run.  My head stopped pounding and just ached. 

I pushed myself to shower and dress and went off quite late, after lunch, to do the few things I'd left on my to do list of errands.  I washed and vacuumed the car at the car wash.  That's where I got washed (and waxed too) by the wind and mist and then I went to the bank and stopped by CVS to pick up some things that were specials this week.  I walked about in my wet shoes with my wet pants slapping against my ankles and the longer I took to do my tasks, the worse I felt. I felt weak and shaky and weary beyond words. I drove home feeling as though I just wanted to cry. 

When I got home I put on my pajamas and robe and curled up in my chair.  No naps this afternoon, however, as poorly as I've felt.  I have only two ideas of what it might be: hormonal or viral.  I'm hoping for the hormonal as that is usually over and done in a days time.  I'm far far too busy at the moment for the viral, no time for that whatsoever!  I am knee deep in projects and Chance is about to start his week off (with extra days this time) and there's all that work in the yard to be worked at a little each day as well. 

The yard is in no shape to be photographed at present.  I'm not sure when it will be to be honest.  I realized that I've got to do this job the way I do my deep cleaning and other work.  A little time devoted to it every single day.  Some days that will mean a full hour's work and hopefully at some point it will be 15 minutes work daily for a bit.  But this business of leaving it until Spring is simply not working for me at all.  A lot of the work I am doing now is maintenance, not planting and such which is typically Spring yard work.  No point in procrastinating on these jobs any more.  I need to just do them.

I photographed the pillow covers I made for my bed and posted them on Monday's Make Do and Mend.  I've decided I want some nice big buttons to go on the open end so I can keep them shut over the pillows inside.  I'll have to look at the fabric store next time I go out that way.  I checked and I have more than enough to make another pair of shams and valances to match.  Maybe I'll find some coordinating fabric or something with a pattern that will look nice on the reverse side?  We'll see.  I'm not ready to add yet another project to my list of things to be done just yet.

I looked the glider over well yesterday as I cleaned it up.  I think it needs only a couple of nuts and bolts to be repaired properly.  With a fresh coat of paint it will be perfect for seating on the deck.  I know just the color I want to paint it, sort of a light olive green color....Maybe...Or a pretty bright turquoise blue... Or...I have commitment issues with paint. 

I meant to pot up the annuals and herbs I bought Friday but no, I haven't done it. That has been put on the list for tomorrow. There are projects for both porch and deck and potted plants too to be taken care of. I've got pillow covers for pillows for the deck (to be used on the glider) but no pillow forms to go in them at present. I did use the two pillow forms bought at Goodwill last week. One was a little smaller than the other but they worked out just fine. Here's my new pillows for the front porch:

Oops!  Trudy decided to be photogenic today.

She's laughing at getting in the photo...

No, Trudy I'm not mad...

Yes, Maddie, I'll take a photo of you too.  And thank YOU for posing so sweetly.

Finally!  The pillows.  Remember this was my second selection of fabric.  My first was a blue and white gingham check but it turned out to be more like a thin silk fabric.  Not rugged enough for outdoors.  I found the strawberry fabric in my bin with a border print of tea cups on one edge and teddy bears at a tea party on the other.  I believe it was a Daisy Kingdom fabric scrap.

See the pretty border on the blue napkin?  That's what drew my eye in the store. It didn't hurt a bit when I saw they were clearance priced for just $.98 each.  Since there were only two, I almost didn't buy them...then I thought of Susan in SC who is always making pretty pillows for her home using place mats and napkins and such.  Thank you Susan for inspiring me!

Good profile shot, Trudy!

I've been jotting down ideas for the past two weeks for things to reuse, repaint, move, etc.  As I said, I've got so many projects ongoing just now that I can't add another start up to my list but I don't want to forget these great ideas that keep coming up. Like how to use scrapbook paper to make those two plates work on the guest room wall...how to make two old wooden bar stools work for me...a room rearrangement, rethinking a previous plan for the breakfast area...Oh ideas! 

Wanted to share as well that the Margherita pizza I made yesterday was AWESOME good.  I couldn't believe how delicious it was, so fresh and tasty.  It helped tremendously I think that my crust turned out thin and crispy and that the tomatoes had a nice sharp acidity.  So good!

I apologize for the lack of baking this week.  I'd planned to make a chocolate pound cake yesterday but I really just didn't feel up to a long drawn out mixing process.  I did make yogurt yesterday, but it looked awfully thin when I removed it from the insulated bag last night.  I'm hoping it firmed up some in the fridge overnight.  I haven't checked it today.  If it didn't set up I'll use it as a substitute milk in baking, but I'd prefer to have yogurt.  I think my error came in not wrapping the pan of warm water with a towel.  Instead I used a fleece throw. 

And I did make a double recipe of pizza crust.  I par baked the second crust and put in the freezer.  It will be a quick pizza dinner one night when we're super busy.

I hear Chance coming up the road, so I'll end here.  So good to see you!