Sit a Spell

It seems like getting the porch ready for summer has taken forever!!

With all the rain we have been having I have had flowers sitting around in their containers, with planting spurts in between rain spurts.

I have needed to clean the carpet and get all the dust bunnies vacuumed up from the walls and windows.

I also needed to find my decorations that had yet to be found from when we moved last summer. I literally looked in at least 60 different tubs (some of them twice) looking for the summer porch things. Back to the (some of them twice) comment. I don't know if you ever do this......but for some reason.....I will look in the tubs and then go back to them and look in the same ones again....I don't know if I didn't trust my first look or if I think they are going to magically appear between the two looks.....but I catch myself doing this and laugh at how ridiculous it is......but do it anyway!

I planted a little flower garden around my light pole. I had to dig up the grass and put in some good planting soil, peat and manure and then had to plant and mulch. It wasn't hard to do, but did take longer than expected because of the need to do it between rain showers.

I didn't have any hanging baskets, so that was a bit of a chore. I had a hard time finding ones that I liked. I scored big at Menards. I found some on an end cap that were on clearance. I loved them and they had exactly the amount I needed and although they were regularly priced $25.00 each, I got them for $4.00 each!!! Pretty much my find for the summer.

The little coffee cup I have in the garden was almost not there. I had spotted it at an arts and craft fair and thought it was sooooo cute. I had forgotten my wallet so I had to come back the next day to get it. When the next day came......it was pouring out.

Cats and dogs pouring.

I gathered my umbrella and Dave and Gregory came with me. We walked to the art fair and looked everywhere where we thought it would have been......because we couldn't remember....and for some reason in the onslaught downpouring of rain grenades everything looks different.

I was about to give up and then I came upon a booth that I thought might be the booth, but they had nearly everything packed up and were getting ready to head out. I asked if it was them, just to satisfy my curiosity.......and it was!

She immediately began unpacking boxes and throwing newspapers around. After several different boxes, and me telling her it really wasn't necessary, yet her insisting "she knew right where it was" :) she did come across a box full of newspaper wrapped mugs. She found the one I liked.............at the bottom of the box..............of course.

It is now full of blooming flowers and planted in my garden :)

I am so happy to say....I finally have everything planted, cleaned, found and in place and can now spend the rest of the summer (don't I wish that statement was true.....but at least when I am able ) on the porch sitting a spell and enjoying it.

FYI: I am always interested in exactly where a phrase came from or what it means. I was curious about "Sit a Spell".

The "True" definition:
Originally it meant; "to talk, narrate, tell stories." and then the meaning became "sit for a talk," i.e. stay and spend a significant interval of time with someone". Those were back in the days of the "charmers", thus the word "spell". Somehow the word "spell" shifted to an interval of time (such as in a spell of bad weather, a rainy spell). Following that it took on a meaning of a bit of combination of both "An interim of relief at some task or chore", which was found to be "enchanting" (small reference back to the "charmer" definition").

Another place I looked up the definition I had to laugh. The question was posted "What does Sit a Spell mean. I am from New York City and do not understand it when I have been traveling and heard it". The definition was provided to him by someone else from New York City: It's Hillbilly: For "sit down and rest for a little while".

I guess I'm Hillbilly......because that's what it means to me......and that's what I am looking forward to doing as much as I can this summer. I hope y'all get plenty of opportunities to sit a spell this summer as well!!