Day 116 of 365

I realized the other day that I never went into our rose garden last year.

I'd had the knee replacement surgery in March and the rotator cuff surgery in July. I couldn't walk steadily, I couldn't use but one arm, and I couldn't bend over because of my back.

While this year I'm spending more time out there than last, it's still not even close to what I used to do. I used to go in there every day, bring in fresh roses every day, weed every day, and prune every day.

Now I'm lucky if I get there once a week. I now can go out there and sit thanks to the bench my daughter helped put together this past week. But work? Not so much.

This is the time that the roses are really taking off. Hybrid tea roses. Floribunda roses. English roses. Hedge roses. Climbing roses. They're all on their way to being spectacular.

Even the vegetable garden isn't doing too bad. Quite a bit different than on Day 64.

Day 115 of 365

I originally started quilting because of my Great Grandmother. Actually, more because of what my Mom said.

I didn't grow up learning how to quilt. My grandmother quilted in the winter in front of her dining room window, but I was in school all day and didn't ever really watch her. My Mom didn't quilt so I didn't quilt.

But several years back my Mom gave me some quilt blocks. Some quilt blocks that my Great Grandma Hudson had stitched by hand many, many, years ago. Probably even before I was born.

My Mom gave me the quilt blocks only if I would make something out of them. With the promise that I wouldn't give them away.

The quilt blocks sat year after year, just waiting for me to do something with them. Such old fabric, such handcrafted stitching in the hands of such an inexperienced quilter. I didn't have all that much experience sewing, either, so I decided I needed some skills before I risked doing anything with the blocks. I stopped the crocheting, the embroidery, the cross stitching, the candlewicking and started the quilting.

I've made wall quilts, lap quilts, baby quilts. You'd think with all the quilts I've made I'd be comfortable tackling those blocks by now. You'd think with all the quilts I've made I'd be hanging out in quilt shops.You'd think with all the quilts I've made I'd be going to quilt shows all the time.

Nope on all three counts. The blocks are still sitting there, I've only been in a quilt shop a couple times in my lifetime and only when we've been on vacation, and I've only been to one quilt show ever.

One of those things changed today.

Boise is having a quilt show today and tomorrow. My daughter took the day off today and we spent the day perusing (and photographing) the gorgeous quilts. Quilts more perfect than anything I'll ever make. I put the some of the pictures here.

So many to choose from for my picture of the day, but this one struck my fancy the most.

Day 114 of 365

Two things new and exciting happened today. I got to go out to lunch and we have a baby!

I never go out to lunch. My husband and I mostly go out to dinner only on special occasions and only with each other or our daughter. But today I got to go to lunch with someone I used to (and will again) work with.

We used to have lunch all over the place. We both started new jobs at the same time and these new jobs required lots of training. We've eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner together in:

• San Francisco
• New Orleans
• Philadelphia
• Hartford, Connecticut
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Anaheim, California
• Portland and Eugene, Oregon
• a few cities around Idaho
• and a few more places I'm sure I've forgotten about

So it was nice to see her again and catch up - even if we only ate lunch in Boise. A day out - in a restaurant - with another adult who is not my husband - was a nice way to spend a Friday. (Maybe not so much for her since I talked her ear off!)

The other excitement of the day is about a baby.

Yesterday I noticed momma hummingbird (from Day 91) wasn't acting the same. Every day I go sit on the patio and every day she's usually sitting on her nest. Sometimes she'll leave for a few minutes, come back, buzz near her nest, then settle back in.

But yesterday as I was sitting quietly on the patio she left for a few minutes, came back, buzzed near her nest, buzzed me (she's never buzzed me ever), buzzed near her nest again, then sat on the edge of her nest. And poked her beak down into her nest. Each time she came back to the nest she followed the same routine, including the buzzing me part.

Since our daughter was home we had her help us finish up the to-do list from Day 70. One of the last things on the list was to cut the branches back from the roof. We had her up there with the loppers and made sure she was ever-so-careful around the hummingbird nest.

From her roof view, she was able to take a look down in the nest and find a teeny tiny egg and a teeny tiny baby!

Exercise update: 68 days in a row. A little over 18 miles on the bike this week.

Day 113 of 365

My insomnia finally paid off.

Last night was the hottest day of the year so far - over 90 degrees. My husband was tired (and full) from his big shrimp feast at Red Lobster and went to bed early. It was quiet (and hot) in the house, so my daughter and I went and sat on the back patio under the shade tree. At this time of year it's light outside past 10:00, so we stayed there for quite a while. As we sat there talking and talking, a storm started rolling in. We sat out even longer watching the lightning.

My daughter loves storms, particularly thunderstorms. I don't like thunderstorms all that much. But since I was a kid reading my grandparent's National Geographic, I have always been amazed at pictures of lightning. Amazed that someone could push the button at the exact second the lightning flashes and have all these amazing branches of lightning appear. (I now know that's not how taking pictures of lightning works.)

As the storm was getting closer, I was telling her that someday I wanted to take pictures of lightning with my new camera. (Not all that new - I bought it way back on Day 13.) This camera has a setting for the night sky where the shutter speed is adjusted to keep it open longer, and I wanted to try it.

Not today, but someday I told her.

I had my camera with me out there, just in case, but it didn't happen. Just couldn't get it timed right. By then the storm was upon us and we headed inside. My daughter suggested we park ourselves in front of our big picture window in the living room and watch for any lightning on the other side of the house.

So we did. And I got my tripod out and aimed the camera across the river. And we sat there, pushing the button to capture a 15 second shot.

We booed when our timing was off. We cheered when we thought we might get something good.

We high fived on this one.