Is Spring spreading to your area?

“Like a sound, spring spreads and spreads until it is swallowed up in space.  Like the wind, it moves across the map invisible; we see it only in its effects.  It appears like the tracks of the breeze on a field of wheat, like shadows of wind-blown clouds, like tossing branches that reveal the presence of the invisible, the passing of the unseen.” ~ Edwin Way Teale

I went to Philly for a week when #1 daughter and Sir T welcomed grandson Baby B into the fold.  He weighed 8 lb 11 oz and was 21 inches long.  He is Baby O’s identical twin born 23 months late!  Baby O or more aptly Toddler O loves him and hopefully they will be very close and have lots of adventures together.

I arrived there on Friday, April 5th with a winter coat on and by Wednesday it was 89°.  The forsythia, swamp marigold, magnolias etc were blooming and I was afraid I missed spring arriving in my own backyard.  But I should have feared not as we run about 2-3 weeks behind them.  Spring is making herself known this year.  There is no jumping over her and going head first in to summer up here so I have been thoroughly  enjoying it.

I returned home just in time for…

…two trips to town for #2 daughters pre-op paperwork and blood work, then she had surgery for pilonidal cysts and subsequent return doctor visits.  The surgery is deemed a success and the final stitches will be taken out in two weeks.

…opening day of trout season were several trout were caught.  My brother has contributed to filing my freezer with some larger than my husband or children have caught but he grew up here and has more experience!  He tells them they go fishing and he goes catching!

 …opening of turkey season….well let’s just say I will be raising some turkeys this year or the Thanksgiving table will be empty.

…#1 son’s  bachelor party to which I provided some food.  They had a high stakes poker tournament but none of the monies made it home….They must play as well as they hunt.

…the bridal shower was held in the Delmonico room in the historic Hotel Fauchere.  (some pics taken from their website) 

 

 

It was a beautiful day, guests were dining on the veranda and the private garden is just starting to come to life. 

The food was delicious, the coffee was strong and excellent, but the cake was too die for.

 …final shopping for #2 daughters prom and the prom it’s self.  In an attempt to curb the consumption of alcoholic beverages by the seniors, the prom is held on a Sunday.  They must attend (allowed late arrival 11:15) school the next day or be suspended. 

…and my favorite niece unexpectedly stopped by for several days with her children.  She is ten years younger but her oldest and my youngest were born three months apart so we deal with the same child problems at the same time.  We can go months without talking and pick right back up when we see or phone each other.  We have tried convincing her to move closer than 6 hours away but a husband and her schooling prohibits that. 

…#2 son’s entry in the Home and Garden Show.  He and four class mates in building construction class built a playhouse to enter into a competition.  They had to present it at the H&G show for two days where it was voted upon.  They were later raffled off and all proceeds went to local children in the Make a Wish program.  Their entry was a barn which took second place to a log fort with water guns mounted on top.  As they were competing against playhouses built by area builders, I think they did a remarkable job.

Along with all that we have finished cleaning up the garden, have a rough draft of this year’s plants, transplanted several blackberry plants and flowers, painted the barn, moved some fences, straightened out the greenhouse to accommodate the numerous flats of tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cabbage along with some lupine, lavender and horehound that we started.

With all the social/medical activities, the man’s work and #2 son’s return to his seasonal job after school being back in the garden and greenhouse is very cathartic for me.  I have been day dreaming of all the rewards to come from that one little seed and this morning I was able to pick the first asparagus of the season.

Needless to say fiber arts have taken a back seat once again.  The man sheared the sheep while I was away but I haven’t found time to deal with it yet.  I have continued to spin and I am working on a shawl that you start at the bottom and knit until you run out of yarn.  A friend asked me to make a little bolero for her daughters  6^th grade(their junior high) graduation so I have one on the needles. But I think I need more therapy so I am headed back out to the garden to listen to the bee's work the flowers of the nanking cherry trees.

Random

 “So much of life, it seems to me is determined by pure randomness”~ Sidney Poitier

Sometimes you have nothing to write about and then others you have so many random bits and pieces that you don’t know where to start.

Maybe I will prioritize them…

Number two grandchild is to be delivered in four days…unless he or she decides to come earlier.  I get to spend a week with Baby O and several days with Baby A or B.  As much as I can’t wait I am sure #1 daughter can’t either!  I started packing so I would remember to bring some mail that still gets sent here, some requested canned goods and the baby afghan along with some knitting projects to work on.
I have my dress for #1 son’s wedding!  I hate to shop but I found one I like, within price range, fits well and doesn’t look bad either.  Now to find shoes, jewels etc.

The other day I was outside stacking firewood when I heard an odd noise.  I looked up in the trees trying to find the source only to realize it was the frogs in my pond croaking away.  I walked down and saw four of them jump in the water to hide.  

I was over at my grandmother’s house looking through some books.  I found one she had given my grandfather for Christmas, 1927.  The name of the book was Troubled Waters.  She wrote notes on the envelope that holds her marriage certificate that leads me to believe this book was a cryptic message to him! Sad but funny at the same time.

Another book that caught my eye was  the 1907 edition of the 20^th Century Family Physician’s Manual.  Opium was not to be given to babies under three months unless the doctor told you it was okay…that was the advice for an infant with diarrhea.  And they say doctors go overboard now with medication!!!

Stuck within the pages were old cigarette silks and railway tickets from 1912. 

In the age of waste not want not, I read they made quilts from these little bits of silk.   The tickets make me wonder who took that trip and why.

This is a picture of New England Kitchen from the 1885 edition of A Brief History of the United States.   

The department of child protective services obviously had not been started yet. 

After sitting in her home which had no indoor plumbing, where she cooked and heated the place with wood or coal stoves and only got electric sometime in the 60’s, I came home to find the current issue of Hobby Farm Home magazine  stating you can go to their site and down load an infographic on how to line dry your clothes because so many people don’t know how.  It was like traveling through a black hole in time.  

While at Gram’s, I found some cake plates.  Of course to do them justice one must make use of them….so for dessert that night we had cheesecake with some homemade cherry pie filling to be added to each slice.  Easter found one holding Italian Easter bread. I foresee them getting used often which will make the man and kids very happy.

#2 daughter went to a surgeon for removal of a pilonidal cyst.  As she is 18 I have been making her fill out paperwork.  This one shocked her as it asked if there was violence in the home, did we own a gun, 

has she had sex, was it with a man, woman or both, preferred method of birth control etc etc etc.  I would say 9/10’s of the questions were medically unnecessary.  

And I think that sums up the utter randomness in my life.  We had a great weekend/Easter.  The man worked Saturday, we got the garden burned off, a cord of wood split and stacked and yet it was one of the most relaxed weekends we have had in a while.  Hope to start seeds today so from now on most weekends will be spent in the garden….yes it is finally warming up!  Hope everyone is outside enjoying it.