Thursday, June 24, 2021

Gratitude #53

I'm a bit scattered calendar-wise this week. I'd started this as I often do, a few weeks ago. Somehow the last Thursday of the month sneaked up on me even though I knew it was early. Anyhow, sit back and come along with me as I reflect on the past month's moments for which I'm grateful. You can hop over to Not Afraid of Color, LeeAnna's blog where you will find a group of us who write these posts. It is not a closed group, so if you want to sometimes or regularly scribble down things you like or love for which you are grateful, feel free to link up and share!

It is no surprise how much I love, value, and try my best to take care of Earth. Over the past few years, I have made a serious effort to curb my carbon footprint on her. Some of the things I've done is reduce plastic by purchasing Tru Earth laundry soap, which I've mentioned before, but feel it's worth mentioning again. One 'stick of gum' sized piece of soap does a load; if I have a small load I simply rip it in half. It comes in a thin cardboard envelope, which goes into the paper recycling. Love!


Something else I did several months ago and keep forgetting to post is to buy burlap wash pads from Saje Wellness. They can go into the compost when you are done. The burlap pad lasts longer than the soap beads inside it though, so I've just bought a bar of soap from them to use with the burlap pad. Recently I discovered that the store in Windsor where I buy Tru Earth also carries Rocky Mountain Soap Co products and so I decided to try some of their soaps, and a shampoo bar! No plastic at all, just a thin paper sleeve surrounds their bars. The shampoo is wonderful, lots of lather. I'm so pleased because that will eliminate yet another plastic bottle in my home.


When I read articles like this CBC article, I feel the tiniest bit better that there are infinitesimal rays of hope, though reading that scientists estimate we have lost 3 billion birds in North America alone in the last 50 years. BILLION. That is one thousand million. A number that is incomprehensible. And, that's within my lifetime! It's horrifying. And the main cause is loss of habitat.


Enter crowd-sourcing for habitat, like how cool is that? And also that some rice farmers actually flood their fields in time for certain species' arrival so they have an Airbnb lol en route to the western Arctic. Who knew that one of my favourite birds, the killdeer is in danger?

I am so grateful for a beautiful yard. I love summer, and I love how MacGyver has been busy extending the deck (as per my original plan, mwahaha, just takes him several months to see things my way which he then thinks he came up with) around the pool. I like our fountain that is now moved into the back yard from its original place by the front step. Now I can hear it from the kitchen, from my sewing room, and from anywhere in the back yard. 
My Hellebore isn't looking too happy... the impatiens are thriving, as is everything else.

Rufus loves the deck too, especially the lower one.
I like that we moved my tulip tree to a sheltered spot, as it nearly died over the past three 
I like my tulip tree which you can see in the left corner of the photo. It is a volunteer, given to me by a neighbour. We'd planted it in the front lawn, but the rabbits loved to nibble on it, the postman stepped on it, and it was in serious hurt. Now it is thriving. We'll let it get to about a metre tall or more, and then move it. Some of those leaves are as big as Rufus's head!

I like full moons. Today's is the last super moon of the year, and is called the Strawberry Moon. 

I like our new sectional that we got at the end of May. It's from Structube, a Canadian company out of Montreal, that started in 1974. They opened in Windsor about two years ago, and I've been curious about them all this time.It was weird but cool, to shop online (we took several months, looking and debating...) but finally, long overdue, we chose one, and it was delivered within a week, and easy to set up. I highly recommend the company. We also recently bought kitchen stools from them for the island.

I love catalpa trees. Their size, especially when in full bloom this month, astounds me.

There is nothing like fresh baby potatoes from the ground of your own garden. We enjoyed our first batch last weekend. Even better than those from the farmers' market.

I came across this on Instagram and posted it to my stories. It is so very true.

These two are, well, let's be honest, Xena, is now sharing Rufus's couch with Rufus. Ha. He's such a good boy, and has been so instrumental in her settling in. For a month she would only lie on her dog bed or in the Poang, but one day about a week ago, she hopped up onto the decrepit love seat, (huge disappointment, bought from Macy's Outlet, just nine years ago and the leather has just peeled off it, clearly not the quality of leather we thought we were buying), and has been spending the majority of her day and evenings on it now, sometimes with Rufus.

Poor Bella. Xena still barks at her, and hasn't adjusted as we'd hoped. However, it took Rufus a long time, probably a year, before we totally trusted him with her.

I like my two projects in purple for RSC.
Project 1 Bowties in strings

Project 2 Nine-patch

I like floating in my pool chair reading in the afternoons. That's where I'm headed right now. See ya!




8 comments:

  1. hello!!! I'm adding your link in now, sorry I forgot! Rufus has grown up so well! Even taking care of other pups who join your home. Love your garden and your care of the earth especially. I'm headed to see the furniture
    LeeAnna

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  2. Lovely gratitude post Sandra & enjoyed seeing the garden, dogs & RSC projects. Take care & hugs. Think our i'net is OK at the moment so shouldn't get too far behind on blog reading & posting as the storm damage is fixed in this part of Victoria.

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  3. Floating in the pool chair sounds delightful. Many blessings in the blog…thanks for sharing!

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  4. You have a beautiful place there, Sandra! The expanded deck sounds lovely and the new sofa is so pretty. Rufus is a gem to be so accepting of Xena! I love your purple projects, too. The bowtie block made of strings is a brilliant idea!

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  5. I am curious about the shampoo bar. It shouldn't take long for that tulip tree to grow, they have lovely flowers in the spring.

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  6. What an excellent set of likes! That fountain is so cool. That deck looks so inviting, too.

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  7. Oh, Sandra! That meme is just so, so, SO true. The grief is so profound yet the devoted love and trust and everything that is given is more than can be measured. And Xena and Rufus on the loveseat - aptly named, it seems. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne

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  8. Thanks for sharing your experience with the laundry strips. I've considered them, but wasn't sure how good they'd be. Unfortunately, they're A LOT more expensive than regular laundry soap, which has to be a concern when you're doing laundry for five :(

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