Today I noticed a post on my local town FB feed from a woman looking for donations of toiletries and other items to me put into gift baskets, a fundraiser for our regional hospice. I reached out to her and offered her 7 small pieces of my mother's work, which she said they'd be happy to have.
I packaged them up carefully and put them out in my Buy Nothing bin for her to pick up. I thought perhaps I was "over" this happening, but as I cleaned and then packed each item, I felt a melancholy come over me which has stuck with me all day.
It just makes me miss my mother.
I also gifted a few other items so I felt good about decluttering ahead of a possible move in a year or two (or three, if the real estate market doesn't open up).
I also made it to the gym and changed the bedsheets. With Luther not around, I am enjoying the luxury of having nice blankets and throws on the bed, something I didn't dare do when I had cats. Tonight after changing the sheets, I decided to bring out a throw that my mother made probably 60 years ago. I always liked it. The last time I had it out was about 15 years ago when I did a photo shoot with Waldo. But just having that blanket out, much as I enjoy looking at it, also stirs up emotional stuff.
Tomorrow's a shopping trip with planned excursions to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods after I get my first ever pneumonia shot.
So my father and I are back from a 3 day trip to visit our cousin. On the drive down, I got off on an exit where they indicated that restaurants and gas was available to either the left or right. Well, I chose left, then drove for many miles without seeing a single restaurant or gas station. We finally wound up in Shenandoah, PA, where we had a not very good lunch at a pizza joint, but the scenery was probably the best we saw on the whole trip. I was feeling "lost" at the time so I didn't stop to take pictures.
My cousin's grandson and grandson's girlfriend are also living in the house. We didn't really do much but we did have a nice dinner out at the Great American Saloon (great food, lots of taxidermy) and then breakfast out on the morning that we left. It was a loooong drive but really just consisted of 3 interstates and then a local highway. I think it took about 5 hours. Both coming and going, we stopped in Milford, PA where Dido and I have met a few times. Going down, I used the rest room and picked up drinks for us at the Wren Cafe, and on the way back, we had a pretty good lunch at the Apple Valley Restaurant.
October 31st, 2024 at 05:36 pm 1730396194
October 31st, 2024 at 11:40 pm 1730418036
Glad you and your dad had a good trip.
Good for you for making progress on the decluttering. Nothing wrong with a case of "the feels."
Nice to see a photo of Waldo.