Thinking ahead

The Wednesday photo is a piece of lamium that I brought from the town garden. I'd found it growing as a volunteer in one of the containers - not sure how that happened but there it was. It had three or four leaves on it when I tucked into a container to bring to the city and it is doing well in that raised flower bed. It spreads quickly and I'm hopeful that with more mulch cover, it and the ajuga (bugleweed) that I planted in the spring, the plants will overwinter and fill in that bed over time.

We had a visitor to the front yard a couple of times this week. It appears quite small, so I'm assuming it is one from this years crop. The trees have been full of grackles too, which happens every year as they migrate further south. I'm not feeding the birds this year but they are clearly finding something to eat. The leaves aren't yet changing colour but it won't be long.

It's been a mostly normal week around, some yard work, some housework, some shopping, some knitting and crocheting. Nothing terribly exciting but routine can be a good thing. 

I did get out to stitch and chat on Wednesday. There were four of us there and it was terrific to catch up with everyong. I met my friends K and L at a coffee shop on Friday morning.  L and her family spent two-three weeks vacationing in Europe this summer. They had planned to attend the Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, but of course, that was cancelled because of the serious bomb threats. But they had a wonderful time visiting Italy, Greece and Austria regardless.

I'm starting to think about my cruise (just over 2 weeks away) and went through my toiletries to ensure I had what I needed. The only thing I was missing was conditioner - which is odd because I had shampoo. The ship supplies all-in-one shampoo/conditioner in the shower, but I don't care for it and always bring my own. Sometimes I just grab whatever is at the hotel the night pre-cruise as it is usually better than the cruise companies version. I think I'll be doing that in the future as the small bottle I purchased at Walmart, (of all places) was priced at $3.67!!! Or I'll pick up some dollar store bottles and fill from my home supplies. Either way, I won't be paying for travel sized products like that again.

Something I wasn't certain about was clothing for this cruise. We'll be at sea for six days and I anticipate the temperatures will be cooler than when we visit the ports. Information I located on-line suggest daytime temps around 60-65F while at sea with light winds, and about 10 degrees warmed while in the ports. I'll keep to my summer clothing for the most part, capris and tees for daytime wear, jeans for cooler days, a sweater/hoodie, a lightweight rain jacket...just in case, and of course some nicer outfits for evenings. Oh, and a bathing suit for the hot tubs. I avoid the ones by the pools as some people tend to park themselves in there all day. I know there are two in a quiet area that few people find. 

Today, I'm expecting a quiet day at home. I'll likely get out to do more weeding in the backyard at some point. We've had a wee bit of rain, so the ground, though still hard, has loosened up a bit making it easier to dig out the roots. There is football and baseball, and possibly even curling to watch. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!