Please Stand By...

 

Once again, I will have to take a step back from my online endeavors in order to manage the overwhelming personal circumstances related to my spouse's disability. I appreciate your continued understanding and patience with our situation and will see you again as soon as I am able. 

Take care and stay well.

(((hugs))), TJ

A Peek Into Last Week (September 9 - 15)~

 

image courtesy: graphics fairy

This past week was mostly spent resting and recuperating from being a bit under the weather. The fatigue was the worst of it so I didn't accomplish much more than the basic household tasks. You know, just enough to keep our home running with clean clothes on our beds and backs, and food in our tummies.

I did manage a bit of decluttering of the paper piles sort, as I was able to do a little here and there, without having to expend much effort.

Well, I'm going to get back to the heating pad and antibiotics now. I hope your week was productive and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by! 

💋xo,

TJ

A Peek Into Last Week (September 2 - 8)~

 

This past week, in between mostly gorgeous blue skies with fluffy white clouds, we had a couple of glorious rain showers! It was nice to not have to water lawns and gardens for a change.

There were a few dreamy, cotton candy sunsets sprinkled in as well.

It was a a quiet week, full of good. simple food made from staples we had on hand, that had been purchased in bulk and on sale in weeks previous...

relaxing music...

a garden with a bumper crop of fragrant basil mamas that have hundreds of self sown basil babies at their feet...

and just to keep things interesting, we had to make a quick visit to the vet for this fella...

I hope you had a a lovely week as well.

Thanks for stopping by! 

💋xo,

TJ

A Peek Into Last Week (August 26 - September1)~

 

Welcome back...to you and the month of September! 

While we have still been experiencing higher than average temperatures, I continue to find most of my entertainment and enjoyable pastimes Indoors. I have been watching All Creatures Great and Small on PBS (the book is in my reading list queue to read) and diving into season 2 of The Chosen.

a hint of clouds...no rain in sight

Even though it has remained hot and humid for weeks on end, and we've also been experiencing drought and red flag conditions, a few nice breaks in the heat have allowed moments for me to get back outside to play in the soil! Experiencing the wonders of my garden again after so long, awakened the sleeping poet within and inspired me to write a few lines about her. Even though she had been left to her own devices for many weeks, she seemed to do quite well on her own. I used to spend many sweet and solitary hours writing poetry, drawing and painting in my younger days. Sadly, I tend to forget those loves until some small something nudges them awake again. I will definitely be doing more of those things in the future!

I have been attempting, once again, to get higher quality sleep and have a better sleep schedule. I have attempted this a few times before, but end up getting discouraged when my mind refuses to cooperate and demands to stay up late. So, I have always thrown in the towel and went back to my night owl ways. This time, I am determined to push through the hard part. I have been applying every bit of good sleep hygiene advice that I have in my arsenal. It is still a work in progress but I am hopeful I will get there. Or...at least achieve some improvement. 

dim lights, candles, a cup of hot tea and a warm bath 

Our family had sad news this past week with the sudden passing of a close family member. It is still fresh and raw and we are in the early days of processing it, but we are a family of faith so that helps to comfort us in these dark days.

I hope your week was filled with pleasant weather, good news, garden blossoms, sweet dreamy sleep and a hopeful heart for bright days ahead!

Thanks for stopping by! 

💋xo,

TJ

My Garden {A Wild, Untamed Poem by TJ}

Inspired by the untamed and self sown beauty that is a small section of my garden, left mostly to it's own devices during our unusually hot summer. I am a wilting flower in hot temperatures so I was unable to tend and reign in much of it but...it THRIVED. And thankfully, these flowers aren't as delicate as their mama! All photos are unretouched and unfiltered, as the beauty of nature simply cannot be improved upon by such, in my humble opinion.

I present to you my wild, untamed, rambling thoughts that mirror the garden as I visited her at sunrise...

My garden is a wild child 

running free with tousled hair.

she has waves of flaming auburn,

and a freckle sprinkled nose,

ne'er a care, and burdens none,

laughing as she goes.

this moment is what she lives for,
tomorrow is not a thought.
my garden is a wild child,
her living not for naught.

today her flowers blossom,
tomorrow they will fade
it is her lot and all is well
as she rests beneath the shade.

will you let your garden blossom?
running yon and here and there?
living as a wild child,
like my garden, will you dare?

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my sweet garden!

💋xo, TJ 

A Peek Into Last Week (August 19 - 25)~

early morning dental appointment~thankfully, during one of 

the cooler times of the day!

It has been a while since I've published any APILW style posts. I have been concentrating on relearning the ins and outs of YouTube and digital content creation. I had gotten very rusty in the things I used to know and do with ease before, because it had been years since I last made any videos for my channel. All that to say, I miss writing the weekly posts that give you a glimpse into my life, and hopefully you enjoy them too. I'd like to incorporate some video content into the posts as well, but we'll see how it goes!

So, let's get back to it shall we?!

It has been one long, hot and humid summer. And the one day we got a bit of rain, thanks to Harold, it was just enough to create a sauna for us! Someone in our area said "you know it's bad when we're praying for a hurricane! ". Weather has been strange and extreme in many parts of the country and my heart and prayers go out to all.

With keeping cool as one of my top priorities, I have been concentrating my efforts mostly inside, with only short trips outside to try and keep our lawn and garden alive by watering and brief trips out to run necessary errands. One the rare days that the humidity is not suffocatingly high, I try to do "bonus" outdoor jobs, with seed sowing being at the top of the list, in hopeful preparation for a fall harvest. 

I still find ways to enjoy the great outdoors by watching the birds, squirrels and even wasps making good use of the little birdbath oasis I keep full with fresh water for them. All creatures are welcome at TJ's Sweet Birdbath Oasis!

I  have been whiling away some spare moments sipping on cold, sweaty glasses of iced tea while reading books I was able to download for free from OceanofPDF .  I mostly read nonfiction and have found several of the books on this site that I have been curious about.

In the kitchen, I have been having to be creative with meal planning and prep, as finances seem to keep getting tighter and tighter living on our fixed income in this precarious economy. I continue to focus on purchasing sale items in bulk and cook and bake as much as possible from scratch which seems to be our saving grace when it comes to keeping our bellies full.

on the way to the dreaded V.E.T. 

after surgery...woozy

Our senior doxie had to have her teeth cleaned and nine of them were extracted, which was an unexpected, but necessary and major expense. She's worth it though!

On a more dismal note, in winding up this week, I found out that some of my social media accounts were commandeered as a "prank", supposedly (not a very funny one). I probably would have never known except for the fact that the person (someone we know and who has since apologized profusely) picked the one Instagram account that hasn't been used in a good while to send messages. I began getting questions from a few folks that took the time to privately message me about comments made on their accounts, knowing I hadn't been using the account lately. Luckily, it was caught early and no real harm was done so...all's well that ends well. I have learned from this ordeal to never leave my phone laying around unattended! I will ask that anyone that may have received messages from me out of the blue, please know that this is what happened and kindly disregard.  The WWW and social media definitely have their upsides and downsides!

How have you been spending your summer?

Thanks for stopping by! 

👄xo, 

TJ 

 

New Video~Morning Routine and Where I've Been

 

There's a new "Morning Routine and Where I've Been" video up over on my TJ's Sweet Home YouTube channel! I'd love it if you'd stop by. See you there!