Tree, Dishes, Shogun, Reading

In my last blog entry, I mentioned the flame thrower redbud tree Charlie bought and planted. Here is a picture of it in our yard:

 

 

I told Charlie recently that I'd like to plant a couple trees in our backyard kind of near our property line with our neighbors to our left (as you face our house) and not directly behind our house so that they can be seen from the road and front yard. I don't know yet what kind, but nothing big. And I told him yesterday that I'd like to plant a bunch of purple flowers. (Purple isn't my favorite color and some things I don't like in purple at all, but I love purple flowers.) Don't know if that will happen though.

 

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Over the past two or three years, we've had a few plates to break - two red Pioneer Woman plates (which chip easier than I like) and a white plate with floral trim. I wanted to get some new plates to replace them, but couldn't find anymore of the red Pioneer Woman plates or any plates I like at Walmart or Target. (The ones at Target were all plain and boring.) 

 

So I went to World Market a few weeks ago and saw these blue plates that I've actually loved for years, but they don't "go" with my other plates or my kitchen. I decided that I no longer care about that lol, so I bought two of them and then my mom bought me two more last week.

I think they're so beautiful and I'm glad I got them. If I had the cabinet space for the bowls and saucers, I might get them, too. But I do not. :-\

 

The pattern is called "cherry blossom".

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Several weeks ago, a remake of the Shogun series (based on the book, which I haven't read) aired on FX and Hulu. It seemed like it could be a good show, so I watched it. I loved it! One of the best shows I've watched in a long time. The acting, locations, sets, costumes, plot were all fantastic. I don't really care about awards shows, but Shogun deserves every award they could be eligible for.

There was no sequel to the original mini-series or the book, so this was supposed to be a mini-series as well, but apparently there might be two more seasons. Without a book to base it on, I don't have high hopes for it. But I reckon we'll see.

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Back in my teens and twenties, there were these chocolate candies that my mom used to buy and I loved them. For the past several years or more, I've tried finding them in stores whenever I'd think of it, but I couldn't find them. So I checked Amazon and they had them, so I ordered a box. Mon Cheri by Ferrero. They were kind of expensive, so I'm taking my time eating them.

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A few days ago, I told Charlie that I'd like to get another really good knife for cutting/chopping food. (I only had one.) He almost immediately got on Amazon and ordered a knife for me. He paid almost $200 for it! I was shocked. I would never pay that much for a knife. lol That may not be a lot of money for a knife to a professional chef, but it's a lot to me. Charlie said he looked at reviews and people said it was a great knife. 

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The past couple years have been terrible for me when it comes to reading. I used to love reading so much, but I hardly ever read anymore. I mean, it doesn't help that I can barely get through a few pages without falling asleep. *sigh* Middle age, I guess. I recently started reading again, but I'm not doing it every day. I want to get back to that eventually though.

I've about decided to dnf The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I started reading Anglesey, book eight in the Surviving the Evacuation series (zombie apocalypse) by Frank Tayell, on April 11th, but I haven't made a lot of progress. I've liked what I've read so far though.

Lydia, Easter, Aurora Borealis, Mother's Day, Etc.

I've been a little neglectful of my blog lately. I usually like to post once a month, but I just didn't feel like writing last month. There's quite a bit to catch up on. I'll try not to be too wordy though.

 

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Tuesday, March 26th, Lydia came home from the hospital. She had finally got the hang of eating (something the nurses said takes preemies a little longer to learn) and was putting weight back on after losing a little.

They had detected a heart murmur when she was still in the hospital and they could still hear it in the weeks after she went home. On April 29th, she had to go to the cardiologist to have that checked and they said there's nothing to worry about. At that doctor visit, she weighed 10 lbs. 11 oz.

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Easter was March 31st. I wore the yellow Talbots dress I had bought from someone on Poshmark back in February. I wore nude heels with it, a white shrug, and carried a light blue straw Talbots tote that I had bought from someone on Poshmark in May 2021. I really liked the outfit and got compliments.

I don't remember much from that day as far as what church was like because I waited too long to post about it. lol We had a good crowd though and the weather was beautiful. Sunny and in the 70s.

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Sean's birthday was April 9th. He's 27 years old now. Seems crazy to have an almost 30-year-old. I had remembered that he had said something a few weeks before his birthday about needing new church shirts, so I met him, Ashley, and Lydia at Belk on Saturday the 13th and bought him a couple dress shirts.

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Saturday, April 13th, Charlie bought a flamethrower redbud tree for our front yard. He couldn't find an eastern redbud at Lowe's or the nursery that's near our house, but the nursery had a few other kinds of redbuds. He texted me about it while I was getting groceries at Walmart asking me which one I wanted. I looked them up and chose the flamethrower. The other two were called hearts of gold and ruby falls.

I'd like to get a dogwood in the fall. Our yard has looked so sad since we lost our trees in a storm on August 15th. But I don't want anything big enough to crush our car again.

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Monday, April 15th, I got our taxes done. I went to the same lady I've been going to for the past few years. We're not getting a big refund, but enough to get a new mattress (it's time).

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Our pastor announced at church on April 21st that his daughter Savannah and her husband Jonathan are expecting their third child! Exciting news! Their oldest (Vincent) is almost 3 years old and their youngest (Valentina, soon to be middle child) is several months old. A friend of mine told me that Savannah wants five children. I wonder if they'll all have V names.

 

Our youth leaders (Jerry and Jessalyn) announced a month or so ago that they're expecting a baby girl. I didn't even know she was pregnant. Also exciting news! They have a boy (not even a year old, I don't think) named Ronin.

 

Jessalyn is Savannah's husband Jonathan's sister. She has a twin sister named Joelle. Joelle is married to a man named Ross. They have a baby boy named Abram.

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Friday, April 26th, I went to urgent care because my right arm, which I hurt on October 18th, was hurting really badly and the arm braces didn't seem to be helping. The pain was getting worse. The doctor told me that it seems like I hurt it in multiple places (wrist to shoulder) and gave me the number of an orthopedic doctor to see. I need to call them this week. I had to put off calling because I didn't know exactly when AF would start and didn't want to schedule an appointment only to have to reschedule. And then I got sick and have been sick all this past week. :-\

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This past Friday night, the aurora borealis was visible for much of the US. Including North Carolina. Well, not that visible to the naked eye, though I could see it a little bit, but if you put your phone camera on night mode, the colors show up. It was beautiful! And at times, we could see this white pulsating - like streaks or streams of pulsating white light - with our naked eye! It was so cool! I was bouncing with excitement every time that happened. lol

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Yesterday, Sunday, May 12th, was Mother's Day. I slept maybe 15 minutes Saturday night and couldn't make it to church. I hate missing church! :-( I was so sad about that. I finally fell asleep around 8:30 in the morning and slept off and on until about 2:20 in the afternoon. I also wasn't feeling well still. But it was such a beautiful day - Carolina blue skies, a few clouds, and temperatures in the 70s.

Sean, Ashley, and Lydia came over this past Saturday and brought me flowers and a card. I wish I could've held Lydia (I love that sweet baby so much!), but I don't know if what I have is contagious (I'm thinking sinus cold), so I didn't.

I also got flowers and a card from Charlie, a card and money from my mom (we gave her a card and a purple orchid - her favorite color is purple), and I bought a couple dresses. We gave Ashley a card and money to buy a new dress. (Charlie transferred the money to her account.) She had said to me a few weeks back that she needs new dresses.

 

Flowers from Sean and Ashley.

Flowers from Charlie.

 

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Purchases since my last blog entry:

Boden dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their picture.) Originally $198. I paid $71.52 after shipping and tax. More than I normally pay for dresses these days, but I had been looking for this dress in my size for at least a year.

 

Modcloth dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $150. I paid $36.24 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Modcloth dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their picture.) Probably also originally $150. I paid $46.94 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Calvin Klein shirt dress. One of the dresses I bought for Mother's Day. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally over $100. (Could be between $120 and $135.) I paid $40.54 after shipping and tax.

 

Tommy Hilfiger dress. The other dress I bought for Mother's Day. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. I don't know the original price. I paid $35.20 after shipping and tax.