5 thing Friday - winery, cleaning, trees, Valentine's, home

I took an old friend to the pick-up party at Perissos last weekend:

We had a really good time - sipping and strolling through a tasting, enjoying a chicken alfredo pasta lunch and a cranberry/coconut cheeseball for dessert, sitting and chatting for four hours... 

The weather was gorgeous, the wine exceptional.

The music on the patio was an amazing backdrop to a beautiful afternoon.

And by yesterday evening, I had opened one of my favorites

Some weeks are like that.

Tomorrow my sister and I are going to help out mother with some housekeeping.  We have become increasingly worried about the state of her home. She can't smell odors and she doesn't see well.  And let's face it, she has never been one for housework.  But we want her to have a clean place to welcome visitors to her home, which is vitally important for someone in her circumstances and age group. She will be 93 in two weeks' time.  And we will try to convince her that more regular housecleaning help will need to be addressed.

I thought I had dodged a bullet and only lost a few branches off my trees - but no, there was more damage up there, just waiting for me to discover it.  I called the landscape guy that helps my neighbors, and he was out the next day, removing big broken branches from my trees.  I came home to an even bigger pile of branches, since the city has not come yet to remove all of the piles around my neighborhood.

  My poor oak tree out front - it makes me want to cry.  She looks so barren.

"What can you do?, it's nature" he said.  There was nothing I could have done to protect my trees, (other than keep them pruned) same for all of my neighbors.  But it kills me.

Valentine's Day passed without incident.

I didn't make any special treats for anyone, including myself.  Didn't go out of my way to decorate for it, except for this burlap banner I made years ago.  Didn't spend the day crying, didn't eat too much candy at work.

I call it a win, overall.

My home is my sanctuary, and that includes good days, and bad days, too.  For holidays.  Special calendar days.  Fridays.  I am lonely here sometimes, but I feel a warm glow remembering good times here as well.  And It makes me feel safe to be here at the end of a long day.  And really, always.

Happy Friday,

Gina