Ten Things of Thankful: The Calendar Almost Says Spring!

A glimpse across the valley shows snow-covered mountains providing a backdrop for Utah Lake

It's a bit chilly outside, but we are between "atmospheric river events" right now and the sky is blue and the snow is melted in our yard. (As an aside, I need to research the phrase "atmospheric river". Is it a new term for "jet stream" or is it a new creature altogether?) Anyway, the first day of spring is coming soon! I know that doesn't mean that spring weather will necessarily come right away, but it's just so nice to think of warmer sunny days and plants growing and flowers blooming. 

It's also nice to sit down and write down the things that I am thankful for this week. Won't you join me? I'll go first and give you time to think, and then you can tell me in the comments or in your own post!

Link up with on the Ten Things of Thankful blog, hosted by Dyanne. 

1. I'm thankful for little signs that tell me that spring is coming. 

A daffodil popping up from the earth

2. I'm thankful for time spent outside doing yardwork. I pruned the apple and peach trees, and one of my roses. I still have more trees and roses to do, but it's a start, and little by little gets the job done.

3. I'm thankful that some of the seeds I planted indoors are starting to sprout. It gives me hope that the others will follow suit shortly. It's hard to be patient. :-)

4. I'm thankful for clearance houseplants. I love to buy small plants (on clearance!) and watch them grow. And, if they end up not making it, I haven't spent much. I recently found a planter filled with various houseplants at Costco that was marked down. I bought it on impulse and then separated out the plants into their own containers. At a cost of less than $2 a plant, it was a good deal!

A polka-dot plant, one of the plants that was in the Costco planter 

5. And for my final plant-related item for my TToT this week (I think), I'm thankful for reading about how to overwinter geraniums last fall. My geraniums, with the dirt shaken off their roots, have been sitting in a dark box in my basement all winter. This week I took them out, soaked their roots in water, and then planted them in pots. I'll keep them inside for a couple of months until the weather warms up. Hopefully this experiment will work and they will start leafing out. 

6. I'm thankful for Zoom. I know we're on the other side of the pandemic now, but Zoom has been great. About 15 years ago, the church congregation I was in at the time got divided. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has its congregations set up geographically, and occasionally the boundaries get redrawn.) In order to maintain friendships, a group of us decided to meet for lunch monthly. As the years passed by, some of us moved out of the local area. Covid brought us all back together, though, as we realized that we could hold our lunch meetings over Zoom. With time zones from Pacific to Eastern (and everything in between), we sign on and just chat. It's not as good as meeting in person, but it is still wonderful. 

7. I'm thankful for family history and technology that can bring relatives together. Years ago, my great-great-grandfather's family would gather for an annual picnic. That tradition continued for decades. Even my children attended when they were young. Eventually, though, attendance dwindled and the picnic stopped. Thanks to social media, the reunion is on again this year! I'm trying to track down descendants, and this past week I found another 3rd cousin to invite! 

8. I'm thankful for the temple. It's a great place to feel the peace and love of Jesus Christ. John and I went to the temple this week, and we even ran into a couple that used to be in our congregation in California when we lived there. It was nice to chat with them afterwards. 

9. I'm thankful that, even though my washing machine is starting to throw error codes on a pretty regular basis, it hasn't outright quit yet. I'm also thankful that it started complaining now, instead of a year or so ago. It's much easier to baby an appliance when there are only two adults in the house. 

10. I'm thankful for John, who works so hard for a retired guy. He's thinned out raspberries, put up wires on the raspberry beds that didn't already have them, laid down bark around a garden bed, did diagnostic work on the washing machine (and ordered a part), and is currently getting things ready for an upcoming trip--more on that in a later post! He definitely speaks my love language! :-)

That's it for me this week! Have I given you enough time to think? What are you thankful for today?