Category: Front Porch Musings

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Upon reflection…

It was a very good week.

Work went very well with much accomplished and I am so excited about the next phase of work!

Auggie and Bear are both doing very well: Auggie survived the week :) … and Bear continues to seem more comfortable courtesy of the revised diet and herbal supplements.

Today started gray with the promise of rain, but ultimately just a few drops and then it cleared and was beautiful…but more like Fall than Spring…I am NOT complaining except for the lack of rain.

Out the sunroom slider this evening…

…reflections from the screen and the setting sun, but a beautiful end of the work week.

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Midweek

End of Wednesday and “ALL IS WELL” !!

I’m still working on a synopsis of last week, but this week is flying by.

It was supposed to be cool and rainy.

We got barely a sprinkle yesterday and now, it is a tiny bit cooler, but no rain in sight. We really need a good rain. I know that I should probably be careful what I wish for, but at this time of year, I’d rather it be too wet than too dry.

However, it is not something I can control.

Meanwhile, all is very well in the fambly Summers.

Here, there and everywhere…

All is good this Wednesday evening.

Midweek.

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Kalispell Farmer’s Market: Opening Day 2015

Today’s first Kalispell Farmer’s Market had a beautiful opening day. Obviously, it is a bit early for produce in Montana, but the vendors who WILL have produce eventually, mostly had starter plants for home gardeners. The craft vendors were there as well as the cheese folks from Polson and other food vendors. The sun was shining, the temperature at 9:00 a.m. was 51F and everyone was smiling and greeting one another.

I bought the above jellies. The folks with this booth do a great job of display and also offer tastes of everything. One of the things I enjoy most about the market is talking with the vendors. I didn’t hear the whole story here, but I know I’ll be back for more…good stuff!

That yellow and red area on the near corner is home to Shelly’s Jelly’s (www.shellysjellys.com). Shelley and Al have done a great job of putting together their selling venue and website. So much fun!

My other find was fuschia hanging baskets. I was thrilled to find the fuschia. On my mostly shaded front porch, fuschia do very well, but they are hard to find. In fact, I have NOT been able to find them for 14 years!! The women who have the greenhouse that grew these fuschia said that they started growing them because one of their father’s also had a spot that only fuschia could handle. And like me, he also loved them. They had 3 baskets and I bought all 3 … for less than 1 basket at a regular nursery. Obviously overhead costs are less for the market, but I was so very happy to find these beautiful baskets!

The green top “tent” is home to the growers I bought the fuschia from. They were fun to talk with also. I asked if they took credit cards as I had only enough cash to buy the baskets which would leave me nothing for anything else. Many of the vendors do take credit cards via the little swipe things that go on smart phones and thankfully, they were set up for that. Both women were laughing at me conserving my cash as they do the same and said that their challenge was not spending everything they made at other vendors at the market.

The market happens in 2 parking lots on the campus of Flathead Valley Community College. It is quite a pretty campus with lots of green space and attractive buildings. The College provides access to rest rooms as well as Wi-Fi for the vendors. Parking for buyers is ample and close. I think it is an impressive market and it is only one of 5 in the vicinity: Whitefish, Bigfork, Columbia Falls, Polson and this one in Kalispell. Additionally, the markets all run on different days, so vendors are able to participate in all of the markets, if they choose.

One of my baskets hanging…they are still smallish, but hopefully, they will do well on my front porch.

A beautiful day and a fun first market!

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May Day: Redux 2011

Today, May Day 2015, I looked through some previous May Day posts and found the one below. I decided to re-post it. It ties in with some things that I read and experienced this week (Bear and Auggie are FINE :) !) … experiences that I will share – hopefully this weekend. (*** For new blog readers and/or reminder…Karl, dog of my heart, passed on 4/18/2011. Bob, my marmalade Garfield lookalike was my cat-boy then.)

This was a very good week in so many ways.

And tomorrow is the first day of the Kalispell Farmer’s Market! Bear and I plan to be there for the 9:00 a.m. opening. Hoo-RAH!!

Meanwhile, Happy May Day to all.

May 1.

This past week was as varied in my heart and soul as was the weather in the week’s photos.

Monday and Tuesday…after walking the loop…”crossing the Rubicon”… – Monday and Tuesday were good work days and a bit of normalcy returned to Bob’s and my life. And then, taking the motorhome for service, running out through the woods to catch the light – WHAM!

Loss and grief are experienced by each one of us in ways unique not only to our own experience but for me, every loss I have ever experienced is different. I spent the last 8 1/2 months with Karl focused on enjoying and staying hopeful and positive – for both him and for me. I did not want to waste a moment of whatever time we had together in anything other than joy.

I wish I could say that I accomplished that, but I can only say that most of the time I did and I’m grateful that there were only a few moments lost.

So…now, I don’t feel like I need to NOT grieve. I cry when I feel like it. I let the bits of panic and anxiety come and go. I sit still and let memories come and bring me back to a point of Joy. It is neither good nor bad, it just is.

Everything changes – always. The Road Home…it is always changing. It is greening up at the moment – this May Day.

Bob and I. We’ve changed. Our routine has changed and is changing.

I miss Karl with a fierceness that makes my chest ache. And I am glad for that. I am glad that I am capable of loving so deeply that I can ache. And that gladness turns the ache to joy.

Karl and I started our lives together on May 18, 2001. The photo above was about 9 weeks after. He looks so serious … I have no idea why my one leg is extended except that the camera…my first digital camera…was on a tripod with a timer and I had a 16 week old puppy in a down stay while I set up the camera and hurried back to be in the shot :)!

So this week as my emotional state slid from ok to not so much… I started thinking about another dog. …after all, I found Karl, just a week after losing Zack and Karl brought Joy back into my life then, even while I still grieved for Zack. I believe my life will always include a dog. It is part of who I am.

I found a Karelian breeder in WA that thought she might have puppies in mid-June, which would mean they would be ready for homes in mid-August. That seemed like good timing…far enough “out there” that I might be ready. I sent an application, even though I was unsure whether I could really have another Karelian… Karl.

The week progressed. Work did not go well. I spent a lot of time on the front porch. Bob started looking at me somewhat aghast as I was picking him up every time we passed. If you’ve ever had a cat, you are well aware that when they want lovin’ they want it now, but otherwise, not!

The details of Friday I’ll write about at a later time but the bottom line is that via an accidental google and click a website was found. A day was spent in research and soul searching. A phone conversation followed. A deposit has been sent. And not a Karelian Bear Dog, but rather an English Shepherd puppy may become part of the fambly Summers sometime in early June.

Some of the time I am “over the moon” about this. Some of the time I am scared and feel like it is too soon because I just want Karl. Just like the moments of grief, I let all of it just happen and trust that all will unfold as it should.

I got out all of my puppy training books. And I found the puppy leads and collars from Karl’s puppy hood.

It was not sad. It was fun. I feel like I’m taking Karl..and even Zack and Gus…along with Bob and I on this next part of the journey.

I said that to my friend Judy, in an email, and she responded:

of course they are with you on this next journey – they always have been and will continue to be! In my mind’s eye, you may have one dog on the leash, but the rest are romping along with you, too!

I am so grateful for that picture… for her mind’s eye view – it suddenly brought the JOY I’d been struggling to find – back to me. All of my dear ones, always with me.


May Day.