60th on the 25th

 From 1899 until 1961, Kuwait was a British protectorate.  It became independent in June of 1961; however, the date of February 25th was chosen to mark the day since it was that date in 1950 that Sheikh Abdullah Al Sabah came into power.  (Plus the fact that temperatures in June are pretty hot so not ideal for outdoor celebrations .)

Normally we travel this time of year to escape the hoopla, but due to covid restrictions, there are no street celebrations allowed so it will be very quiet, which is just fine with me.

My mood yesterday and Tuesday matched the weather we were experiencing ... very gray, very dreary.

But thankfully my mood has brightened, my energy has returned with today's blue skies.

While my husband enjoyed riding his "new' used bike, I enjoyed a peaceful neighborhood walk.

And found a little something on the ground.

A reminder to:

Smile, breathe and go slowly.

(Thich Naht Hanh)

Sunday Strolls and Tiny Fridas

 Hello Friends!

How are you?

There's been such terrible news over the past week of the hard hitting winter weather that caused havoc in some states/cities.  Sometimes it seems there is just a never-ending cycle of bad news when the past year has already caused so much hardship for so many, in so many different ways.  

Even though I'm mostly hanging out by myself, I find that there are days when I draw inward even more and require extra quiet time to process all that is happening all around the world.  Thankfully our weather is still quite mild so I'm able to walk it out and walk it off; and today was actually able to walk three different times.

I've never seen a duck at the park before.  Sure hope his home is somewhere nearby.

Feline friend, Woody, kept me company while I picked up litter.

Last Wednesday I did something I haven't done in a year ... I actually met up with a few friends (one of them being Aruna, and the other two are craft group friends),  We met at Art Cafe and were able to sit outside while we chatted and got caught up on how we are all doing and feeling.

I knew I wanted to give them gifts so finally made these cute little Frida hand sanitizer covers, a pattern from essiebirdies that I've wanted to make for awhile.  I couldn't find the same type of container as she wrote the pattern for, and when I asked my husband to bring home three small bottles of hand sanitizer, instead of bringing three the same, he bought three different ones which was different from the one I had at home that I'd already adjusted the pattern for,

That meant each one had to be changed accordingly.

Basically, I just winged it since I was working on them the night before we were to meet.

At one point I thought I'd make them for our craft group but after crocheting these 4, I'm not so sure.  Doesn't seem there will be any large group gatherings anytime soon anyways.

For a few weeks now, hair salons and gyms have been closed completely and all other businesses have been required to close at 8:00 p.m.   There's talk now of a daily curfew for everyone; we are just waiting for the final decision.

Take care of yourselves.

Stay safe.

Wednesday Walk With Me

 Hello Friends!  I hope you are well;

staying safe ... (and warm, if it's cold where you are).

I spent Monday and Tuesday doing some cleaning and rearranging (which actually means making messes and breaking things :), so today decided it was time to head out for a neighborhood walk.

February 25th and 26th are Kuwait's National/Liberation days so flags have been going up all over the place since the beginning of the month.

I met my feline friend, Bailey, at the walking path so gave him a little food and sat to have a chat.

He has a particular spot where he normally waits for me every evening, but I wasn't able to go for my usual late afternoon walk because of road construction on our street so I'm glad I saw him earlier in the day.

 When I went to take a picture of this very large, drooping sunflower head, I was quite surprised to see a bumblebee.

I've seen honeybees, worker bees and sweat bees, but don't think I've ever seen a fuzzy bee here before.

I've noticed with the blogger changes lately that it's only my signature graphic showing up in blog sidebars.  It used to be the first photo of a post that would come up as a thumbnail.  Blog friend, Mariette, addressed this in a recent blog post, so I'm going to play with the scale of photos (and leave off my usual signature) to see if that will change what pops up.  It's not that big of a deal, but it is irritating when they keep upgrading things (and not always for the better if you ask me).

Hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday!

A Beautiful First Day

 Today's weather was absolutely gorgeous to welcome the first day of the new month.  In Celtic tradition, this day is celebrated as the halfway point between winter solstice and the spring equinox.

And since it is Monday, I was once again on the lookout for all things yellow.

I took a different route through my neighborhood and was delighted to see so many flowers in bloom.

It seems many states are in store for a whole lot of snow so if you are in line of the Nor'easter then take care, stay safe and warm.

I wish you much peace, joy and love.

Happy February!