Memos, Mail, Me: A Breath of Spring

Waving to Sian at From High in the Sky and other Memo makers this bright, crisp February morning.

This weekend brought a breath of fresh air to western New York. We had two days of temperatures around 60°s with abundant sunshine. Despite a nasty cold that attacked me on Valentine’s Eve, I got out for a much needed walk both days. The snow has finally melted from the roadways and sidewalks, but the ponds are still frozen.

As we walked from Brickstone Trail through the neighborhood, I got a glimpse of the landscape reflected in the lightbulb of someone’s outdoor lightpost. Too good to pass up as I’m practicing (once again) with the manual option on my camera.

Our other outing was to the Black Button Distillery. One of the men on Tracy’s reunion committee won a group tour and tasting, and nine of us took him up on his offer. I’m not one for spirits, so I skipped the tasting, but the tour was fascinating. I knew that Scotch had to come from Scotland, but I didn’t know that bourbon had to be made in the United States in order to carry that label. We all went out to dinner afterwards, which gave us a chance to catch up with one another since the big reunion in September. (No, those cute young things in the photo were not in our group; we are all old enough to be their grandparents.)

And there was abundant happy mail again this week. Several weeks ago, we noticed holes that appeared to be cut in our quilt. It almost looked like we had critters eating pieces from the quilt. There’s no explanation for it, but I started watching for something to replace it. A catalog from Pottery Barn arrived, and I found a comforter that was just the right colors for our bedroom—and a much more restful pattern than our previous quilt. It was on sale, and I had a “Friends and Family” coupon I could apply as well. I knew if it didn’t work out, I could return it for free to the store at the mall. But, luckily, we’re very happy with it.

And then on Valentine’s Day, what arrives but two valentines from blogging friends–Honorè and Alexandra! Ellen Huston had a sale, and I picked up two sentiment sets I’d had my eye on for awhile.

Schools are closed here for a February break, and both organizations where I volunteer are also closed. It opens up a good deal of time for some serious crafting and work on photography projects. My cold seems to be on it’s way out, so I’m hoping to be a lot more productive this week than I was on the weekend.