Sunday, June 9, 2013

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2008. Mattie loved all sorts of experiments. In fact in front of him was a chemical experiment in the making, using one of my Pyrex baking trays no less! Mattie loved mad science toy kits and he appreciated understanding how and why things worked the way they did. I have no idea what would have been Mattie's favorite subject in school, we never got that far along. But Mattie was able to use both sides of his brain very easily. He understood the logic and mechanics of things which are so left brain, yet he also understood the art of creativity and emotions which are definitely right brain tasks.


Quote of the day: Too many people seem to believe that silence was a void that needed to be filled, even if nothing important was said. ~ Nicholas Sparks

I am happy to report that one large closet has been tackled and accomplished this weekend! That may not sound like a fun way to spend a weekend, but getting reorganized is important to me. Being without Peter in DC this weekend has been enlightening for me. Such enlightenment is best kept to myself and not worth discussing publicly on the blog. 

Spring and Summer are very good seasons for our home! They are good seasons because all our house plants return to the outdoors and we reclaim space! I refer to our living room as our "room with a view!" I just love all the LIGHT and seeing ALL the GREEN plants and trees! Some of my faithful readers may recall that I met an artist named Maxine Russell in Swansboro, NC, during our trip to Emerald Isle. This beautiful pinkish/purple vase sitting on our English Card Table is a Maxine piece. When the sun shines into our room, you should see how this glass glows! It reminds me of our trip to Emerald Isle.

I spent some time out on our deck today. As you can see our deck is in full bloom! We have been working at it for months now. How on earth we painted the deck and planted while planning the Foundation Walk is SO beyond me. But certainly I am happy that we did! The birds love stopping by and today while I was watering I got a lovely visit from our resident Jack Russell Terrier, JJ. Mattie and JJ grew up together and JJ still comes into our deck space in hopes of finding his buddy! JJ is not my dog, but I know how much joy JJ brought Mattie, so in essence he is special to Peter and me.

Incorporated into our deck are butterflies, suns, and moons. You will find them, you just have to look! The new addition to our garden this year is this amazing morning glory vine! This vine is virulent and it is taking over. In a matter of weeks it has grown FEET! In so many ways our deck is my secret garden, one doesn't expect to see this in the middle of the city, and it is why (I HEAR!) our neighbors above us love looking down and sharing in the greenery!

This afternoon, I went back to the assisted living facility to visit my friend Mary. When I got there, Mary was in a complete state. In addition to her emotional state, she was also freezing. Though it may not seem cold to the staff, when you are sedentary and living in air conditioning, it is VERY easy to get cold and a chill. You don't feel it as much when working and moving around, but if you aren't moving, you feel everything. I learned this first hand while caring for Mattie in the hospital! I was always, always freezing. So much so that my friend Junko would bring me hand warmers to put in my pockets to try to keep me warm! I spent quite a while getting Mary back up to room temperature and with me I brought homemade banana chocolate chip muffins. I baked them this morning and I figured I would share some of them with Mary. Mary, though mute, made it clear that she wanted to try a muffin. The irony is after getting her warm and feeding her a muffin, she pronounced that she was "MUCH BETTER!" So I would say this was a very successful visit.

With the power of technology, Peter sent me this lovely photo this evening of Boston by water! Peter has several client meetings in Boston tomorrow. Actually he is all over the map, with a client meeting in North Quincy, then another client meeting in Wellesley, and finally with a third client meeting in Boston proper. Peter returns back to DC Monday night!