It’s May, but it doesn’t feel like it around here. We are on day 6 of dreary, dark, usually rainy weather. Ugh, ugh, ugh! Really, I am so very tired of it. When it is so dreary day upon day, it takes a real mental workout just to get out of bed in the morning.
One thing that I’ve started doing in the last few days is to count my blessings (and I have many) before I get up, so I can get up on the right side versus the wrong side of the bed. It makes all the difference to get out of bed with a grateful heart rather than a “woe is me” feeling inside.
Once I get up, this is how I start my mornings on these dark days–30 minutes of blue light (and a cup of coffee or tea 🙂 ). The blue light really make all the difference in how I sleep at night (as long as I remember to stay off of the computer a couple of hours before bedtime).
Just to show you how dreary it’s been… I think this was taken on Thursday or Friday.
In addition to the clouds, we’ve been getting lots of rain too. A mallard couple thought that our pool cover was a pond and flew right in yesterday. The feral cat was on the deck, the dog was barking at them, and they didn’t care; they stayed awhile and swam around.
One of the blessings that I took note of on Saturday morning was the sunshine we got at 5:00 pm on Friday. I know, not much, but I’ll take what I can get. I made sure my BJD resin dolls were out of the sunlight and opened the curtains in my sewing room. It was so nice and warm!
Unfortunately, my last doll outfits (the one I just finished for Sugar) and the one I’ve been working on all week are in blue. Couldn’t I pick something in yellow? It is really hard to work with blue when it is dreary. I think I will look at the weather forecast the next time I want to make something in blue. lol
Here are some photos from the last time I took a sunshine-y walk (last Monday). The violets were blooming; I love violets!
Even dandelions are pretty (I think so anyway).
These teeny tiny purple flowers bloom in large patches in the grass this time of year. They look like a carpet of purple. Does anyone know what they are? They are super duper tiny; you can see that they make the dandelion appear huge.
We are supposed to have a very nice week, so that is what I am counting on, but I am aware that you cannot count on the weather, so I had better prepare myself… just in case.
Cindy Rice Designs 
Good morning,
In Hebrew this flower called: נזמית
This flower belongs to this family:
https://www.google.com/search?q=%D7%A0%D7%96%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%AA+%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%AA%D7%AA&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQktiX-bjMAhUHGj4KHeO_D3sQsAQIGw&dpr=1#tbm=isch&q=Lamium_amplexicaule
I enjoy your blog very much. Thank you for sharing this beauty.
Best regards,
Orli
Hello Orli,
Thank you so much for sending a link to this flower which I now think is a weed, but pretty nonetheless. As it happened, just yesterday, I found some of the fuchsia colored growing in our yard. April mentioned that they are called Creeping Charlie here in the US. BTW, you have such a pretty name.
The weather is horrible here too! Today, it rains a lot and the temperature is very low for the month of May (5°at the time I write, it’s 4: pm)
Courage, the sun will be back soon!
Have a good afternoon!
Hi Catherine,
I am sorry that your weather is not nice either. I hope you have had sunshine today. We finally have a sunny morning; it’s been way too long. Now, I pray that it sticks around… Wishing you a very nice Monday afternoon and evening.
Hi Cindy and Orli,
I think the plant is actually the one I have linked below. It is in the same family “Lamium” but it grows in North America and the amplexicaule variety grows in Europe. It is an invasive weed but I have let it spread in my backyard which is on the wild side and I like it.
Sunny day here in Minnesota, Happy MayDay!
April
https://www.google.com/search?sclient=tablet-gws&hl=en&site=webhp&source=hp&q=creeping+charlie&oq=creeping&gs_l=tablet-gws.1.0.0i131l3.6450.9916.0.11827.8.7.0.1.1.0.422.863.0j3j4-1.4.0….0…1c.1.64.tablet-gws..3.5.872…0j0j0i3j0i131i46j46i131.1CegePvDMxo
Hi April,
Creeping Charlie, huh? What a cute name! Just yesterday, I found the fuchsia variety growing in our yard; the purple was from a street over. I saw in the link you sent that it was a part of the mint family. I will have to make a bouquet out of it. I think it’s pretty too… my husband doesn’t. 😦
We have a sunny morning!!!
Well at least the Creeping Charlie is good for something. Brewing beer! 🙂
Cindy, know you prefer the pastels, but I had this vision this morning. A coco woodland brown dress with violets or tiny blue flowers. Think it would be an amazing combination. Little Penny or Sugar could wear it and never be seen hiding in the grass. You know, with a little acorn style hat. Wishing you some sun soon.
Whoops spelled cocoa wrong.
Thought you were talking about Coco Chanel. 🙂 ha ha
Brewing beer? Ha ha! Maybe not something I’d be good at, but I am going to make a bouquet out of it today. I found some growing in our yard yesterday. (Yes, I was out in the dreariness.) Your color combination of cocoa and blues/purples sounds pretty. I don’t have any brown bamboo, but I do have a darker (than your dress) color called mushroom, which I’ve never used. Thanks for the idea! We DO have a sunny morning!!! Yay!
Cindy….Your orchids are wonderful….they must love dreary! They are beautiful colors and the leaves look so healthy on all of your plants!
Good morning Carol,
Even though this variety of orchid doesn’t need a lot of sun I think they will appreciate the sun we are getting today!!! We have a sunny morning! It looks so foreign to me. Thank you, Carol.
Hi Cindy,
You can hear the “dreariness” in your writing! We’ve got to get you some sunshine…and fast!
I’m intrigued by your blue light…tell us more about it. I’ve never seen one or heard of what you’re doing…
Your little blue violets look just like ours…
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne,
I am glad my post didn’t come off as whininess. It actually felt good to get all of my frustration out. Thanks for listening… Today, I am yelling that “WE HAVE A SUNNY MORNING!”
I have a friend who is very knowledgeable about healthy stuff. She told me about this blue light many years ago when I was having a hard time falling asleep. (That’s why I start trying at 9:00, lol) I used the light for a few years with success, then it got packed up when we moved one summer (I don’t need it in the summer). It never got brought back out when that summer was over, and I simply forgot about it. I’ve been having more trouble than usual sleeping this year. Once I finally fell asleep I was waking every couple of hours. I remembered this light recently and it dramatically improved my sleeping. For me, I need blue light in the morning to help me wake up and get going with my day, but not in the evening so I can get sleepy. When it is so dark outside I don’t get any blue light in the morning and my body clock gets messed up; that’s my theory anyway. A lot of today’s technology emits blue light and that is why they say we should stay off of the devices in the evening. I don’t think they emit as much as I needed because I am on my laptop every morning and it didn’t help my sleep like the blue light seems to do. My light is called a Golite which Phillips bought out since I purchased mine.