Simply Norma

Hosta Walkway, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

A couple or so weeks back, we went out of town for a few days. We had fairly nice weather at our Chicago destination but back “home” in Lake Elmo, it rained and rained.  And, rain in our area is not necessarily a good thing.

This year we decided to plant one tomato plant and surround it with marigolds as deer don’t like the smell of marigolds.  It should have been a good deterrent, right?  Wrong.

The deer hopped over our 3 foot mesh fence and ate the one ripe tomato from our plant in spite of the smell of the marigolds surrounding it.  It’s as if they reached right over the marigolds to get their fill of our tomato.  Sigh …

Deer Eaten Tomato Plant

So ~ I’ve given up.  No tomato plants next year. The sage and thyme plants weren’t touched as deer supposedly don’t like the smell of those herbs.

Deer Eaten Tomato Plant

Part of the problem is when it rains, you have to head outside and spray the outer area to keep the deer away.  Whether it’s hosta flowers (ugh) or tomatoes, the deer will chomp on things they find tasty especially if they don’t have repellent on them.

Deer Eaten Hosta Plant

And because we travel sometimes, we aren’t always home to spray the repellent on the hostas and surrounding area.

Deer Eaten Hosta Plant

So ~ no beautiful hosta flowers this year. No tomatoes.  The deer have won.  My garden will never look like this:

Hosta Walkway, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Next year, the hostas will grow where they are planted, we’ll spray when we’re home, then we’ll just let nature, er, deer, take their course.

Lake Kabetogama, Minnesota

Staring off into the distance on a stormy day, the gray and white clouds on Lake Kabetogama in Minnesota mesmerized me.  My mind wandered into nothingness. There was no need to think.  Devoid of thought relieved me of all the noise that the world throws my way every day.

Lake Kabetogama, Minnesota Clouds

The darkening sky did not deter me from experiencing the peace the sky afforded me.

Lake Kabetogama, Minnesota, Clouds

So I kept coming back to this spot to observe the color changes in the sky.

Looking to my right, a mixture of light and blue skies filled the sky.  Such beauty.

Lake Kabetogama, Minnesota

As I turned my head even more to the right, I continued to see more light. The contrast of dark clouds with blue skies made me reflect on humanity and how our lives ebb and flow with each day.

Lake Kabetogama, Minnesota

Each person has their own journey ~ sometimes it’s clear and other times it’s stormy. Sometimes it’s both. But, outside of stepping out of this world, we must continue on the journey keeping our eyes fixed on the beauty that exists in our current moment.

It’s not always easy.

As I enter my “golden years” I find myself reflecting a little more each day on this life journey. I am a changed person from who I was 10 years ago or even 50.

Almost Sunset on Lake Kabetogama, Minnesota

Stop. Reflect. Grow.

I wish I had had this wisdom many years ago as heartaches I held onto would have healed over quicker. I have learned though not to have regrets as each moment was a step to greater growth.

I received a call yesterday from a number I thought I had seen before that was a telemarketer. They called twice and left a message the second time that said “Stop calling me. I’m going to report you. Remove my number from your list.” The woman sounded upset.

So – I called her. An odd thing to do since she said “stop calling” but I hadn’t called her so wanted to see what she was talking about.

Come to find out the woman has been getting 6 calls or so a day from “my” number from telemarketers and collection agencies. She was so frustrated and didn’t know why they kept calling her.

I later found out that people can use other phone numbers besides their own to show up on someone’s caller id. It’s called spoofing and they even have apps for it.  What an unfortunate thing to have in our world ~ another tool for deception and pranks.

Last week I was lamenting the light snow that was coming down from the spring sky. Yet looking back on some of my posts, late spring snow is not uncommon.

Unfortunately, the older I get the more cloudy sky’s seem to affect me.   Cloudy skies bring me down.

Yesterday I worked outside for a few hours in spite of the copious amounts of tree pollen.   Then I noticed these beautiful flowers that have erupted into their beauty.

First, the daffodils. Daffodils are one flower that the deer don’t appear to like or eat – which is good because I haven’t found very many flowers that deer won’t eat.

Aren’t these daffodils beautiful?   They bring sunshine right into the heart.

I was surprised to see so many different colored tulips which I don’t remember planting.

Deer love tulips.   Fortunately the deer have not been around lately.   I do spray them with Deer Stopper and since the deer don’t like the smell they tend to walk on by.

But look at these tulips.   First there are the red tulips.

This yellow and red tulip makes me think it’s part daffodil and part tulip.  I wonder if they’ve ever combined the two and made a hybrid?   Hmm.

And then … a gorgeous yellow tulip.   Wowser!

But not to be outdone is this magenta tulip.

These tulips give me some ideas for possible quilt colors.

Are you enjoying your spring yet? Colors sure do lift my spirit.