leder legends

We celebrated our 42nd anniversary yesterday! Really? 42 years already? We have moved countless times and lived in a few different cities and survived. The major ones: Grand Rapids; Trenton, Ontario; San José, Costa Rica; San Juan, Puerto Rico; back to GR; Toronto; and Grand Rapids. Full circle, I guess.  We went out to Judson's for a very nice dinner. During our conversation we decided we really did not need or want another 42 years...haha! Can't imagine celebrating 84 years of marriage nor being 108 years old! How did those Biblical people do it? 

I got up at 5:15 this morning..could not get back to sleep. So I cleaned up the kitchen, even mopped the floor, read email, got caught up with facebook and then I was going to watch the morning news.  I saw a blanket and got sidetracked. Coffee in hand and wrapped in a throw, I am outside, listening to the early morning sounds of nature mixed with the traffic from 32nd street. It's so peaceful I might make this my new normal.  Just so you know...I am not a morning person. There are so many things to do (which is probably why I can't sleep) that my mind races around going over plans and then readjusting again and again. Yesterday we decided that the roof at Aaron's and the roof at Plymouth are going to have to wait for a few months until we have a bit more cash .. .everything is tied up in Topper's. The loans were finalized yesterday...yikes!  So 138 is going to get the cosmetic facelift it needs in order for us to get tenants in there. The only thing that is giving ...

I've decided to stroll through the yard with my morning coffee every day with my phone in hand.. The pictures won't be the best quality but that's okay. This morning I had to put the coffee cup down every time I took a picture. Tomorrow I might have to do it differently.  A few surprises today! new iris My favorite clematis!

My yard is a place I love. It's large and verdant, alive with birds songs and the buzzing of the bees. Each part of the summer new flowers are in bloom surrounded by about 15 kinds of hostas.  The trees are large and provide enough shade to allow for pleasant meals out on the pergola. Unfortunately as each new summer begins I tell myself I  should just plow it  all under and plant grass just so that I do not have to tackle the weeds. When I got back from Alaska I was dismayed to see little maple tree seedlings EVERYWHERE!!! Apparently the good weather last spring and the great snow coverage this past winter produced the perfect condition for the bumper crop. I guess mowing them down a few times will restore the lawn but the flowerbeds are another matter. They have to be pulled one by one or handful by handful! All this before they get too big. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/05/explosion_of_new_maples_on_sou.html Not too many of these this year ...

It's May 24 and I've been back in GR for three days...Anchorage seems a very long ways away in time and space.  I arrived the same day as little Storman Patrick Norman...he just arrived a few hours before I did. I got to go straight from the airport (where I was exuberantly  greeted  by his big sister  ) to meet him and to see the rest of the family.