Happiness is something that can be a little elusive these days. Are you totally tired of being home and seeing the same things all day long? Obviously it is time to make something good smelling and yummy in the kitchen.
I also got my latest quilt finished early this week. It is now chilling at the foot of my bed where it makes me feel happy every time I see it.
Today the day started out a little gloomy with threatening rain showers. No. Just NO!! It was Earth Day and I was determined to break self-isolation to go to the local nursery to score some plants. So I did!
I had some ideas for putting new roses into the front flower bed and was on the hunt for small landscape roses that would bloom all summer. I hunted online, found some promising candidates, and then searched through the roses at the nursery where I found…
I loaded three of the rose bushes onto my cart, and dodging around other people (some of whom were not wearing masks… what is up with that?), I got though the check out okay and loaded everything up in the car. There were some Clorox wipes involved along the way as I handled the cart, keys, and door handles… Hey. In my case a little paranoia is a good thing. Big time paranoia is even better!
On the way home from the nursery I decided I might as well go wild while I was out wearing my mask and gloves, so I checked out the parking lot of the grocery store. It was almost empty, so I ventured inside, grabbed some groceries of the perishable variety, got gas for the car, and even put it through the car wash. Totally successful outing! While I was on the way home again the sun broke out and the afternoon became just beautiful. Sunshine! I can’t tell you how happy I was driving home with the sunroof open in a clean car carrying groceries and new rose plants. It felt almost normal. 🙂
Once I was in the house again (and all my groceries had gone through the Clorox wipe routine…), there was the monster orchid all lit up in the afternoon sunshine, glowing happily in the living room. The perfect happy lift at the end of a happy outing.
Good days in a sad time continue.
Have a good week, everyone. Be safe.
Afternote: Why all the paranoia and Clorox action, you ask? I’m an immunosuppressed senior citizen with kidney and lung disease thanks to my multiple autoimmune diseases. Still, sometimes you just need roses…
Yarn, Books & Roses 
It sounds like you had a stellar day. The plants look great!
Getting all your errands done at once was a great plan:)
A truly delightful post ! 🙂
But listen: you must be careful of that lantana, OK ? Down here it’s an invasive weed*, and families spend aeons trying to get it out of their properties. Long as you leave it potted you’re laughing. Not a very nice smell, though ..
You phally .. HONESTLY ! I have never seen a domestic phalaenopsis anywhere near as wonderful as yours. You are to be complimented on bringing up such a wonderful child !
*There is a very good Aussie movie called “Lantana”: the title refers to the character of one of the prootagonists, and it is a – how shall I say ? – a pejorative. [grin]
An invasive weed?!!! NO!! Okay, one year I actually put a plant into the ground to see if it could make it through the winter, and it didn’t make it. Thankfully it must not be able to handle artic outbreaks. I already have an invasive weed that is just horrible to control. I bricked in the entire flowerbed and it still is trying to come up between the bricks. It’s called creeping bell flower, which came from Siberia to make my life difficult here in Colorado.
Now if only I could replicate the monster orchid recipe with the other guys. I do have to say that I was so please that they all bloomed this year (except one… he has to grow in the corner until he starts producing!)
I’ll have to look for Lantana. Netflix carries lots of Aussie stuff. 🙂
Bread and butter pudding is the stuff of dreams. On ‘pie in the sky’ the chef main character used marmalade on the bread. I tried it and it was lovely. Have also tried raisin bread. Delicious too! Your quilt is very soothing to look at and relaxing. Lantana is indeed a bit of a problem here. However I have some in my garden and just keep trimming it. There are also some new colours available so they might be sterile and hopefully not a problem. Your phlox are so pretty. Is there a hint of perfume? I love stocks as well and swoon at the smell. Do you have some of those? My favourite colour is the creamy champagne one. Any progress with your kitten hunt? A difficult time for all the poor animals in shelters and their helpers. Keep cheerful.
Marmalade on bread pudding? Oh, I have to try that! I have to say that powdered sugar and a little maple syrup is really tasty too. I put extra cinnamon on top of the pudding before I put it in the oven and the smell and taste were just wonderful. I got that lantana at the nursery and you might be right. I’ve never had any new plants pop up from seedlings, and if I don’t bring the plant in it dies in the cold. My sister discovered that it is poisonous, so I was careful to make sure that the cats weren’t chewing on it. Nope. They preferred to munch on the poor palm plant in the front room. Some of the fronds are pretty ragged because of Yellow Boy. I think that the phlox have a faint scent. I’ve tried to grow stock as my mother had some great beds of them, but I don’t seem to have any luck with them. I specialize in yarrow. It grows everywhere and blooms like crazy. My niece has located some resources for the kitten, but no real contender yet. It may be a little early for kitten season; it seems like June is when the shelters are awash with them. I guess the smartest thing is to hang on a few more weeks to see how things are going. My state is now a hot spot, but is opening some businesses on Monday, and who knows what a couple of more weeks will bring us. 😦
What a wonderful day! Sounds like a perfect outing, and I’m so glad the weather cooperated with you as well 🙂 And your bread pudding looks so yummy and your quilt looks both springy and cozy. Happy Earth Day!
I’m so glad you had a wonderful day out and you could feel more cheerful afterwards 🙂
You got some lovely new plants.
I like your quilt very much!
Have a nice day, hopefully you will have a sunny day and feel well
Bread pudding was my Dad’s signature dish. Yours looks good. Happy gardening
I luckily had some great bread to use. This recipe is a keeper.
Got yourself some beautiful plants. Being in a nursery always makes me happy!.
It was just wonderful to visit the nursery. You’re right, it is just a wonderful, happy place. I was a little upset to see that the employees weren’t wearing masks or trying to social distant, so I probably won’t go back.
I see many people around town without masks. I have a feeling they think that when they are in open air, it isn’t necessary. If they could see how many people they come in contact with, mistakenly believing they are at least 6′ away.. Maybe they just don’t care? You definitely must stay away.
I think that they feel that they shouldn’t have to wear a mask since they feel fine, but that doesn’t mean that they are safe for me to be around. In sad moments I feel like I will never be able to leave my home again…
Ohhh bread pudding, I haven’t had that for ages! It looks lovely. I’m so glad you got some happiness and sunshine 🙂
I hadn’t made if for a very long time and now I am pretty much addicted to it! Perfect snack for the trapped at home knitter!
Your orchid is a showstopper! My two sisters are orchid-whisperers. They can get them to bloom and re-bloom. Me, not so much. In the other hand though, my staghorn fern is putting off new leaves and it is making me so happy. I love my fern collection.
All of my ferns died! I must have the wrong light or watering plan. I don’t understand what is different, but two years ago my orchids began blooming for me. I’m still thrilled about the monster orchid!
I had trouble with ferns to start but now I have gotten used to their watering cycle.
Maybe I will try again. I miss the plants indoors during the summer. I was thinking of adding a spider plant or two, but ferns would be great!
I have rabbits foot, kangaroo, staghorn and bird’s nest ferns. My silver dollar fern died. I’ll hive it another whirl after tax season is over.