Dried Lichen

I've resorted once again to a little dish of things I have picked up over the years. Among other things it contains a stick with plaque lichen and dried moss, this lace lichen that hangs from our oak trees (even the blistering weather doesn't phase it), some small bones, an owl pellet containing mouse teeth, seed pods of unknown origin, acorns and feathers. There's also a dried dragonfly and a dried and faded swallowtail butterfly. Most of these things have been there for years, but I still add to the collection from time to time.

This morning I revisited my search for a padded ottoman/table to replace the cement one with sharp edges and corners that was becoming a hazard. I looked fruitlessly through thousands last week and gave up because the ones I liked best were too big. This morning I was waiting for our Pilates class to begin, had a quick look, almost immediately found one that looked pretty good and ordered it. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow which would be amazing if it actually happens.

I ordered some shirts for John for his upcoming birthday, thinking as I did so that before we moved here, I never ordered anything from Amazon or anywhere else. Santa Rosa has never been a shopping mecca and now, with the few shops I liked gone,  I get almost everything online. I would much prefer to see and touch things before I buy them, but have had surprisingly few disasters and find that although I used to enjoy shopping, I really don't anymore. Another way in which Covid has affected my way of life.

Our cold rainy winter followed by a heat wave has turned our glorious spring garden into a rather tired  post-summer one. We're being kept busy pruning, trimming, deadheading and replacing a few things that bit the dust. It's more satisfying than weeding, and Spike will come outside if we're both out there.