Addiction Remedy

It has been four and a half years since I've quit smoking occasionally the time arises that I still want a cigarette. I discovered right away on my first attempt at quitting, that I used cigarettes as a reward. I'd wash the dishes, have a smoke. I'd make beds, put away laundry, come downstairs and have a smoke. You get the picture. It is still a trigger for me when I've really worked hard and for an extended time.

I am having a dinner party so I first began the work in the kitchen. A friend who has an allergy to cats is staying the night. Every time she visits I vacuum everything downstairs. I did that and since she is staying the night, I thoroughly cleaned a bedroom - washed sheets and hung them on the line. I mopped the whole downstairs which worked my way outside where I gardened!!!!!! All that work without stopping really triggered an urge to sit down and relax with a smoke.

So I'm here...

It is beautiful, sunny and twelve degrees. It feels cooler though as there is a north wind chasing the day. The cats have loved it as I have all the doors open. My daughter's dog clawed through a screen door last summer. The door is still not fixed so the cats are having a ball coming in and out all day. I'm sure they would prefer I kept it a permanent feature to the house.

I am expecting guests soon so must make this quick. Music. I'm featuring duets today. Bing Crosby and Les Paul are singing It's Been a Long Long Time. That's to acknowledge and celebrate my ending cigarette smoking. Anne and Pete Sibley sing Pick Up These Chains. You see, besides thinking of the chains of an addiction, I was moving all manner of rusty metal things around in a garden today. The photo is of a few of the pieces last year.

Sprung

See how many seeds are on this dandelion plant? That's how many household chores I did today. I'm exhausted. I should have had an afternoon nap to revive myself but didn't. I'm almost too tired to type. I've been waking at 4 am the last little while. A couple of days last week I went back to sleep around five-thirty, my usual time to get up but not this week. It makes for a long day when the day starts at 4 am.

I plan to do something fun tomorrow. If the sky is blue I may drive to an abandoned house to see how it survived the winter and visit a local nursery for some bedding plants. If the sky is grey I'll head in the opposite direction to a little photo excursion and visit a different local nursery. In either direction, at either nursery, I'll enjoy the day. I have a fellow coming to cut some trees for me in the morning. I hope he comes early.

Spring is coming to an end and summer arrives this weekend. A couple of spring songs are asking to be played. They do, yes, they do ask to be played. They pop up on the ever-changing playlists in my brain. There is hardly a moment music isn't accompanying my every thought. I've asked other people if this is the case with them and have usually heard that it is not. A couple I've asked are like me though, and life is accompanied by music. Tchavolo Swing by the Hot Club of Cowtown is one song asking to be released. If you like Joe Venuti or Stephane Grapelli-type jazz violin this song is for you. Another song crying to be heard is Gone Fishin' I wanted to post this Bing Crosby song a while ago but though I knew I had it, I couldn't find it. I forgot that it is a duet with Louis Armstrong and that's where I found it, in my Louis Armstrong file. It was going to accompany my Father's Day post with a photo of my dad fishing. Heck, I can still put the photo up, to accompany the song. When I added this second photo the font or size changed and I can't seem to get the original back.