Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice yesterday, the shortest day of the year.  It's been grey/gray for several days. I was thinking of something, I don't know why I spell it grey, I just like it better than gray. I think I may have seen it spelled grey on a Martha Stewart paint chip...or some other paint chip at some point in time. I had to do a little research and found out, gray is the American way, and grey is the English way.  When I say "a little research"...I mean very little, just ask Google. Ha Ha

Anyhow, here is me yesterday, sitting on the porch with a cuppa joe, when the temperature was 54 and the sky was oh so grey.  Grey nails, grey clothes, grey day, grey mood.  My ensemble was not planned, just happened that way. These were in my stack of what I call "throw on clothes".

 

And I really had the blues, which I can't seem to shake, and it's more than the holiday blues.  Feeling physically worn out doesn't help.

Tomorrow I'm off to see the orthopedist for x-rays and evaluation of my hips and knees, which have been bothering me off and on for several months. I hope to get some news of things that can be done, other than knee replacement.  It seems, from what I've been told, that most Drs. take that approach pretty rapidly. So will see what comes of it.  My regular physician moved so I had to find a new one.  All my blood tests for everything they could test me for came back as normal range.  When I mentioned my joint and muscle pain, she said I just needed to lose weight and dismissed the issue.  So I decided to try and get some answers besides, "just lose weight". That wouldn't hurt of course, and I know that, but I'm pretty sure there is something else going on. The entire visit with this particular physician was really disappointing.  For every issue I brought up, she was ready to write another prescription. This was before any blood work at all.  I left with NO prescriptions, as I declined them all.   So she was probably as disappointed with me as a patient as I am with her as a Dr.  So I am still on a quest for answers, and I don't believe they lie within traditional medicine entirely. I'm very interested in integrative medicine, even alternatives, but the problem with that is, no insurance company will cover any of that.  So we are on our own in seeking any choice other than the traditional.

My Favorite Color Day

It's a grey Saturday, a bit between mist and light rain. 65 degrees. Had an early morning appt. with the furnace/air conditoner man, just to make sure the system is working. Our weather this time of year is use the heater one day, the A/C the next. A lot of people complain about grey days, but I rather like them. Hubby was out of town all week, and I have still been sorting and re-organizing. This a.m. we went out for breakfast and a few errands, then he headed for the golf course. I have the rest of the day to play, create, or continue organizing. Or a little of each. We'll meet back up later for dinner and a movie. I think it's a fine way to spend a Saturday.

Look at my Crape Myrtle, known as the Lilac of the South. In February we are advised to trim them back, since they only bloom on new growth. Some folks do, some don't. I like the way Hubby trimmed this one. There was a little nest that he didn't want to disturb, so he didn't trim those two branches. I always thought most birds didn't return to re-use a nest the following year. I have seen a bird perched on top of that tree every day the past week. It does appear the nest is getting smaller, so maybe she's is just going for re-cyled building material, and building her nest somewhere else.


I enjoy the bare branch trees so much because you can better see the birds perched in them.

Frosty Winter Grey

30 degrees this morning. Still sleeping with the windows open, we are brave, no? Both the man and I sleep so much better when it is cold, even though he probably wouldn't mind waking up with icicles on his nose...I draw the open window line when it gets that cold. The birds are huddled on the feeders, with Sammy Squirrel waiting on the fence. The neigbor's cat is watching Sammy. I like standing outside surveying the neighborhood before it wakes up. Coffee, newspaper, then later,CBS Sunday morning with Charles Osgood. Habits, routine. The things that lives are made of. Wrapping up January, in a warm and fuzzy blanket. Feeling aware of blessings, changes, hope.

Grey skies overhead, I love the bare branch trees


My Chai and I

After Hub leaves for the airport, I have a cup and the last of the Lemonade Girl Scout cookies, we bought just yesterday from the freezing little pink cheeked girls outside the Walgreens store. Well, there weren't that many in the package, really. Got to get off the sugar, somehow...