June - A Look Ahead

The calendar says that it’s June! So it’s time, once again, for me to mentally take stock. And how well did I accomplish all my lofty goals for May? It was a mixed bag. I really need to learn to have smaller goals! Greater success through lower expectations, so to speak. Ha-ha!  And, I confess that I allowed myself to have a full month to recuperate from the long working contract and slip back into retirement mode. That’s all code language for saying that I let myself be a tad lazy! 

Sadly, I didn’t get far with the organization chores. I weeded out a few clothes from the master bedroom closet. The unpacking of boxes in the storage room didn’t happen. The leftover paint consolidation (from the house building) didn’t get accomplished either. So those tasks get added to June’s to-do list. 

The month of May had some highlights. I got to visit with several dear friends last month, including Miz Jenny, her husband, and one of her daughters. Mr. Jim printed out several of my photos on his special photo printer, and I got them framed up. They are now hanging in my office (images of doors) and the upstairs hallway (landscapes). Pretty! The new trees were planted and settled into their new environment quite well. Yesterday, the landscaping crew completed the irrigation system adjustments and applied fresh mulch. (So I can finally share before-and-after photos of our flowerbed hardscape addition.) The daylilies and lavender plants are blooming, so Grey Havens is decked out with beautiful waves of color. 

We got bids submitted for the staining project on the front of the cottage. We’re going to select the company that proposes to not skimp on the prep work. It costs more, but the end result will last the longest. We’re going to have a solid stain applied, and we’ll pick out the precise color next week. We’re leaning toward a mission oak color to complement the brick and the architectural style of our cottage. The work should be completed during June, if the weather cooperates and the work crew doesn’t incur schedule delays. 

I spent a lot of time immersed in Photoshop CS6 training during the past few weeks. I’ll continue the training through June. If you have been following along, you know that I recently entered a photo contest. The results should be announced next week. I’m not counting my chickens, but it was a good opportunity for me to critically select some photos and do some new edits in CS6 for the submission.

Thank you for your kind compliments on my blog improvements! More changes are in the works. I'll be setting up a blog page that lists recommended photography-related sources, including links. I didn’t quite finish the Katmai brown bear series (three more posts to go!), but I have been featuring some Canadian maritime images in my Wordless Wednesday posts. You can look forward to more of these mid-week posts. I quite like them because I get a needed break from a lot of writing! And you are guaranteed some photographic eye candy on a weekly basis too. I still owe you a post about the touching story of kindness and wonderment when we visited Kentucky in April. (Hint: The Mother’s Day photograph was actually a teaser.) I didn’t forget. But time got away from me, as usual! 

Oh yes, one last thing. This is my 600th post! So please be looking for a bloggy celebration next week!


Correction: I misspoke on my post count. I have exceeded 700 posts! You see, it's gotten so high that I can't even keep track of the numbers, LOL.