Word picture from this morning:

Sun rising as a glowing orange ball. Dark shapes of trees and bushes. A calm pond reflecting it's surroundings. A solitary deer silhouetted by the edge of the pond getting a morning drink.

My morning bus route especially often leaves me longing for the ability to draw the scenes I see as I drive through the countryside. So far I've always been too much of a perfectionist to attempt to translate what's in my mind's eye to paper. But maybe someday...In the meantime I seek to remember the words to describe what I've seen.

I am thoroughly enjoying no longer having the kindergarten shuttle to run - not because I minded the little ones but because it's really nice to have 5 hours time at home during the day. I feel like I'll actually be able to get something accomplished during the day. So far today I've cleaned and cleared off all the kitchen counters and most of the dining room table. Laundry is put away (at least in the owner's rooms) while more is done in the washer. My bedroom is finally getting some much needed attention as is the family room. I've also laid down and closed my eyes for a bit, dealt with a couple of phone calls and looked at recipes for apple butter (canned) and apple pie filling. I have 4 good sized bowls of mealy looking apples on my counter top waiting to be dealt with. There are plenty more on the trees mostly out of my reach - the hope is to get at least one batch of apple butter and enough for several pies put up. I'm honestly not sure what type of apples these are - some look a lot like granny smith while others have a reddish tint to the skin....We will see how they turn out.

I've been busy picking out colors for the house - it's not ready to be painted yet. However I've had several people ask me about how I'm going to decorate it so I figured I'd better get some ideas going. (B has said painting and color choices are completely up to me!) It really is coming along - and is exciting to watch. Saturday B and I put wood panels (otherwise known as car-siding) up in the 3 season room. We got one wall done and another one partly done - the panels are pine and really light in color. I will seal them somehow which will darken them slightly. I really like the way it looks already - even with power saws and other construction equipment still in there. And it was really a lot of fun to learn to run two different kinds of power saws - I've always wanted to learn to work with wood. The challenge was just getting stuff cut exactly right - fortunately it wasn't too difficult most of the time.

Yesterday afternoon on my bus route I was handed a bag from a couple of the moms along with a note. It was a wedding and appreciation gift for my putting up with their kiddos on the bus - beautiful handmade ripple pattern throw - just perfect size to snuggle up under on the porch or in the 3 season room. The ripple pattern is my favorite crochet design and one that I've never successfully made.

Ok...time to scoot. I really want to get a bit more done on my bedroom before time to get on the bus this afternoon. We are in the final countdown for the wedding and things are still very much in progress rather than finished. I've delegated more stuff to more different people - and am having a relatively easy time saying "ok it's yours - I'm not going to worry about it now except to answer questions".