A Saturday afternoon

Yes, it's been a minute.... a rather long minute. And I so want to say that I'm settled, and the blue giraffe blog is back with a vengeance, but it's not quite there yet. I'm tiptoeing back into it - because its time - and there's so many new stories to tell.

As I'm writing this, it's a sunny afternoon in August, everyone is mowing their lawn, and mine is looking more than a wee bit abandoned . The lawnmower doesn't work, so I'm relying on a nice guy called Wayne to mow it when he can. Between the rainstorms and excessive heat, he's dashed over to trim the edges, but with all the rain it's becoming so overgrown that I even felt the need to apologize to my neighbors. And, by overgrown I mean waist high weeds and an old (used-to-be) pond filled with something that tempts the local cats to sit and peer down into it for hours at a time. My trick is to just avoid looking at that side of the house, and I don't even want to know what the cats find so interesting.

All that aside, it's simply beautiful on a day like today - windows are open, the trees are holding onto summer, and I can still peek through them to catch a glimpse of the lake, twinkling with the ripples of water from a duck who's just passed by.

I'm in the sunroom, which gets some sun, but not too much when the trees fill in.

I was hoping that my makeshift indoor veggie garden would have enough light to bring me some carrots, strawberries, tomatoes, and peas, but that's looking unlikely. No worries - the fun is in the trying, and who'd have thought that those straggly, little green seedlings would bring so much joy and decoration to my new home. 

This home is tinier than anywhere that I've ever lived (smaller than most apartments) but it's a lovely space, with all that I need. Believe me, there's been a lot of editing over the last few years, but what I finally ended up with were my books, some art and photographs, a few favorite pieces of furniture, the most sentimental of treasures, and a whole lot of cozy.

I remember asking my Uncle Peter one day, how was he settling into his new home, and did he miss where he used to live. His answer surprised me. Without missing a beat, he said that he was settling in quite nicely, because wherever he is he just makes it his home.

I've never forgotten that, because I always believed that our home should be our sanctuary, but his sureness touched me so unexpectedly, and I just knew that he was going to be okay.

Those were very wise words that popped up in the middle of our chat about chocolate, microwaves, and not eating our vegetables.

Life is funny like that. You go along, there's a lot of twists and turns, you call to say hi to someone you love, and they unknowingly remind you of what's important - and how lucky you are.