Sunday Happy

So much nice weather this week. I spent a good chunk of time in and around the garden, getting everything planted (it's all in the ground) setting up a kinda fence of driftwood and yarn, running a strip of cooper around all the beds to keep the slugs out, and mad running with stick in hand screaming at all the squirrels. It's been a lot of work but so very very satisfying. The only sucky part is  with all this nice weather comes those stupid f-ing mosquitoes.  I have already gotten my allotted bites for the year. Back to wearring heavy carports and hoodies while I garden, or walk out the door. Meh. 

Other then all the gardeining, the week was productive. I did a lot of baking (cookies, banana bread, bread, hot sauce, some other shuff as usual), I picked up the last winter farm share (summer share starts in 3 weeks!!!), purged a bunch of crap, repotted plants, and finally got the taxes DONE. The big goal of the week of was for the mr and I to pick a paint color and buy primer and paint for one of the  buildings in town we are repainting. We were close. We kind of picked the color but are going to wait until next week to make sure we really like it so we didn't buy the paint. But we will so we are on track. As for the primer.. A whole day trying to track down what we needed and no one seemed to carry the product that we were looking for. Everyone said it was a  special order and it will take forever to get. We did manage to find  a few gallons so it's a start. 

And I still have not found the vacuum attachment which I keep looking for. I really should just order a new one, but I know as soon as I do I will find it. Life without the attachment is getting pretty dirty. Gurrrrr. 

Then the littles slept There was more hole digging (because why not), pizza with Barb, tandem bike riding, and apparently while I was inside cleaning up food messes, there was a bike, rope, and scooter thing that only stopped because of a cop?.... Yeah.  I also taught Judah how to play the amazing card game of solitaire. He was at it all night then after a breakfast of 10 pancakes, went out to the front porch like an old man and contuined to play. He is obsessed and its awesome. And I think I have got the Miley hooked on NPR. I was able to listen to Morning Addition through Wait Wait Don't Tell ME without complaint. She even asked me to turn it up. That right there is win for the week.

I am hoping that today is not all rain, although the garden is loving it all up and I could spend the day doing inside things.  I wanted to go for a bike ride or maybe a little hike of some sort. Going to have to wait and see. Other then that, no big plans. Probably make a few more phone calls about primer, doing a little weeding, drink a pot of coffee, and definitely take a nap. I need to reinstating summer weekend nap time. I end up staying up later during the long light hours so naps are greatly appreciated. 

Interent links from the week. 

-Are octopuses aliens from outer space that were brought to Earth by meteors? I mean, this just makes you wonder right? 

-For Animals, Plastic Is Turning the Ocean Into a Minefield. Plastic is just not good. Not good at all. 

-Avoiding Plastic When Grocery Shopping. Learn how to go grocery shopping and stock your kitchen without buying any plastic products. Lots of good advice here. Again, think of the animals.

-It's ok to eat romaine lettuce again, for now. How salad became a major source of food poisoning in the US

-Would Your Cat Choose You Over Its Food?. The stereotype of cats. Yes is the answer. I know that Only's one true love in life is food. 

-This is my kind of Earthship. 

-Food as art when there are starving people... Something to think hard about. THE RISE OF THE EXPERIENTIAL FOOD MUSEUM

-Some of my best memories from my childhood was when my mom would blast music (usually Whitney Huston or Toni Braxton) and make us dance with her. Good good times. The Surprising Benefit Of Moving And Grooving With Your Kid

-Frozen Food Fan? As Sales Rise, Studies Show Frozen Produce Is As Healthy As Fresh. I always have a bunch of frozen veggies in the freezer. 

-Delicate Accumulations of Colorful Spring Flowers Installed in a Historic French Home Just lovely

Pictures from the week

Sunday Happy

What kind of bees give milk?

Boo bees. Hahahaha....hahaha

I know, what an awesome joke. When I heard it, it sent a deep ripple of laughter through me. Who doesn't love a good bee joke right? 

Anyways.  How did your week go? Are you in shock and awe that it is actually finally spring? I have been. Every morning I wake up and expect to see a new coating of snow, but no, it has been ever so pleasant and warm. And raining, which makes me happy because spring rain is the best. Everything is all of a sudden  green and growing and the flowers and it's just all so freaking magical and awesome and so so needed. The winter almost broke me. I'm so much better now. And so are my feet. Chacos or barefoot all day long. I have spent way to much time in shoes this year. 

And the heat is off and all the windows are open. Ah, freshy freshness. Good stuff.

This spring week has brought on a lot of outside stuff.  I spent a good day turning over the garden beds and started to rake up the leaves. I need about another day to finish that and to dig up all the baby thistle that is covering the lawn. Although what I really need to do is get over to al the apartment buildings in town and tend to the gardens and clean up around the outsides. That's probably what I am going to be doing this coming week.  I did manage to plant some greens and peas in one of my newly turned beds, but I am having a slight problem with squirrels right now so I didn't plant any more then I was able to cover (I need to get more chicken wire). 

The mr and I did trip out to the NEK for a day. We stood by a rushing river for a while waiting to see the trout jump (we didn't), then we went to meet the piggies at Jess's farm, and installed the farmer lady a hot water heater (It's actually a water heater, not a hot water heater, but I can't stop saying hot water heater) The trip out of town and into the lushness of spring nature had me even more excited about the weather. Soon there will be days of hanging out by the river, the mr fly fishing,  and me hiking around, looking for rocks, and reading under a tree. Oh so soon. So so soon. 

We had the littles a few times. and did a sleep over the started with cupcakes and ended with Barb and pancakes and now my sprinkle stock had dwindled drastically. We watched a movie (I read, they watched), trashed my house, ate all my peanut butter, and crawled onto the new couch in the morning and feel asleep. Highlight was Judah and I got into a debate over the  pros and cons of a magic carpet vs a magic couch. I said I wanted a carpet because you can roll it up and put it away, but Judah was all about a couch because it would be more comfortable, turn into a bed, come wit pillows,  and because it was magic, you could still fold it up and store it. That kid, he got me on that one. Now I think I want a magic couch instead. 

The agenda for today. I finally broke down and bought myself new running shoes (my toes are breaking through my old ones) so when I go to the gym this morning, I am going to be breaking the new batboys in.I  know, big plans right.  Then up until like 10 minutes ago, I thought it was going to be a cool and sunny day, and I was going to be able to spend the day doing yard work.  Turns out  it's actually going to be raining and cool. I guess that just means I will have  to spend the day on the porch, wrapped in a thick sweater, reading, napping, and enjoying the coolness before it gets to mother find hot next week. 80 degree days... Now I am going to be bitching about how hot I am. Ha. 

Things that I actually spent the time to look at  on the internet.

-Homes Or Gardens? Developers And Urban Farmers Grapple Over Vacant Land. There is a need for food and a need for housing, it's a hard one.

-I didn't realize that there really was anyone that really believed the earth is flat. How to argue with flat earthers

-When I fist saw this, I thought it was fake and a little creepy. Spectacular Fans of Feathers Define the Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise Courtship Ritual

-Always thinking about what the bees will like. Make Your Yard Bee-Friendly

- Cozy 250-Square-Foot Cabin in the Pacific Northwest. Just the right size for me to escape to. Or this Joshua Tree Shack would also of the trick. 

-I check this every few days to see what the pollen count is and how miserable I might be. 

-The Tweeting of the Lambs: A Day in the Life of a Modern Shepherd. This dude takes care of 500 sheep. Thats freaking nuts. Much respect. 

-The latest star map from the Gaia spacecraft plots 1.7 billion stars. Thats a lot of stars. 

-I am either really good or really shitty at mindfulness. Mindfulness Meditation Advice for the Anxious and Distracted

This Healthy Convenience Mart Aims To Take On 7-Eleven Think this is pretty neat. 

Pictures from the past week. 

Sunday Happy

I don't know if it's because it's spring and the days are longer and we getting more sunshine, but I am feeling good and feeling like anything and everything is possible. Like I could take on the world and do it all. What all is I am not sure yet but I am feeling it. The winter thaw, the spring awakening. Only complaint I have is all the dog poop that is now surfacing from under the snow. And maybe the crazy ass dreams that I have been having. Does anyone else have crazy dreams in the spring? I think it's a thing because it happened to me every year. 

This past week was all about the littles. Coco was in the hospital with some nasty bronchitis shit all week which means we had Miley and Judah for the week. We had pretty good routine going on. Wake up, make breakfast and beat on the mr.  Off to school they went and we had a few hours to do what we could do (like chop apart huge trees, sew chair cushions, stock up an food because they eat A LOT, and clean their house and bedrooms).  Then pick up and conversation on the way back to our house, snack time, homework, drawing and game playing, make dinner, go for a walk, watch some Iron man (they had a Iron Man movie marathon going on), nighttime reading, brush the teeth then bed. And that was not just the littles, that was all of us. We function well together. Then Coco the hulk (the meds they had him on made him into hulk monster.. it was amazing) was released from his hospital room and is doing great and the littles are all at their home and now I miss them. But at least I don't have to sit through any more Iron man so I am ok with that. And the mr and I deep cleaned the house yesterday of all the sticky..... How do they make everything sticky?  Those littles. They are freaking awesome. 

Today, we are childless with a clean house and it's Sunday so Yeah!!!! The mr is probably going to go off and work on his fly fishing cabinet and I need to go through all the seeds we got at the seed swap yesterday. Plus I rented like 10 books from the library and have been getting back into painting with acrylics  so I think I am going to spent the day doing just that, planting some seeds, reading, and painting. And we have plans for a good long walk. It's all about taking it easy today. And hey, it's spring so it's time to spend all the time outside!

Interneting from the week. 

-Hundreds of Thousands March For Gun Control Across The U.S. The message is simple. Never again. These young people are amazing. 

-As soon as the weather is nice enough, this will be my new project, seriously. Couple builds tiny A-frame cabin for just $700

-What’s the Deal With Olive Oil’s Shelf Life? I think I have kept a bottle around long enough to go rancid.....oops. 

-This show was one of the best growing up. Guitar rift here. Explain It All: Why Was it So Easy for Sam to Climb into Clarissa’s Window?

-What Ever Happened to Colored Toilet Paper? It always seemed wrong to me. Glad it's not around much anymore. 

-To all the people who think they know me so well, you are delusional..haha..Invisibilia: We All Think We Know The People We Love. We're All Deluded

-This is a good thing to know. I have definitely used unactivated baking powder and it's a bummer. The Surefire Way to Test Whether Baking Powder Is Still Good

-I just really liked this. The Acrobatic Entanglements of Everyday Objects

-Doing my research on insects in the garden for. I get ladybugs, but I also get aphids. Let them eat each other I guess. Ladybug Patrol

-Why Do Cats Have Whiskers? Every now and then I notice how freaking long Only's whiskers actually are. Like really long. 

Week in Pictures 

Have a great day.

-C

Sunday Happy

Did you get to enjoy any of that spring day where the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and all the snow melted? I busted out the sandals, broke a sweat on a walk, and picked up some garbage that was living doormat under the snow and ice. That was one excellent spring day, and was well needed, and now I am ready for another snow storm because we all know it's going to happen. And I want it too because spring winter, with clean fluffy snow and blue warm skys is the best. And then real spring will be even better. Ah the weather. Never a dull moment. 

As weeks go, nothing out of the norm this past one. There was some work, some play, lots of baking, and some feeling like a crazy person. It's that time of year when things are kind of slow but about to get crazy and we know it, but there is not a whole heck of a lot we can do to prepare so we just do what we can and wait. And plan. And plan an escape. We need to escape, at least for a little while. And the west coast seems to be calling our names. So we shall see of things to come.

 I did spend a good amount of time trying to finish up the star cave in the kids room before Friday because we had a planet pillow making sleep over party and I just wanted it to be done. (it pretty much is, I just need to do a little touch up)  The littles (Miley, Judah, an Sophia) slept over, Barb came too, and we spent all of our time cutting fabric, playing with filling, and eating and leaving popcorn all over the house.  They all used their newly made galactic pillows and got to experience the awesomeness of sleeping under the stars in a heated room(I think I really outdid myself with this paint job. And all for a kids room in our house when we don't even have our own kids. Can we say #1 aunt and uncle? I think so).  They got to wake up to pancakes, more pillow making, dropped clothing in the toilet and Sophia brushing her teeth 4 times because she said if she does that she would not have to brush her teeth again for a few days. He logic makes perfect sense but luckily Miley was there to straighten her out (I just told her that she was so smart and what a great idea. HAHA) And then they left and we spent the afternoon cleaning the filth off of every surface because kids are gross. 

Not sure exactly what the plan is for today but I would like it to involve some kind of seed and or plant shopping which is the only kind of shopping (besides food) that I like. Other then that, a coffee nap (maybe under the stars) , maybe clean the car out if its not raining and brush the cat out because he is looking a little mangy.

Some of the Internet I looked at  this week

-The World's Most Colorful Natural Phenomena. I must visit all these places.

- It happens to me all the time with the weirdest things.  Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon.

-I love a perfectly made bed. Expert Advice: Proper Bed-Making 101, How to Make Square Corners, Step by Step. It really does make me happy. 

-Like Lemons? Quinoa? Thank This Food Explorer For Bringing Them To Your Plate

-I have a Le Creuset and Martha Stewart and a Lodge. II want a Staub.  And I love them all in different ways.The biggest difference to me is that the cheaper I tend to chip the enamel on the cheaper ones.   Are Lodge Dutch Ovens Really as Good as Le Creuset and Staub?

-The loveliest chapel ever. .  A National Park-Inspired Chapel Composed of Branching Fractals by Yu Momeoda

-MAKE A DURABLE DIY HALF APRON FROM A $4 PLACEMAT Thinking of this next time I see a sweet ass placement

 -About to get my seed starting on. Vermont Garden Journal: Seed-Starting Problem-Solving

-Can Being Cold Really Make You Sick? And when you are sick Tea, Honey And Lemon: Does This Classic Trifecta Actually Help A Sore Throat?

And pictures from the week

Sunday Happy

Both of us have been on all week while both of us have been fighting off a something that wants to invade our bodies. We have tried not no let it slow us down too much, but I tell you what. I, and the mr, are pretty fucking sick of feeling like crap. We have been pumping so much elderberry, zinc, teas, and witchcraft. We WILL get rid of this shit!!!

 Even though feeling like ick, we powdered through and did life. The mr bought me a scroll saw for spoon carving (which is now his and I am getting a band saw instead)  We had a dinner with the mr's  family, Qui, Adriana, and Evan came over for cookie baking and spoon carving and there was a pizza party with some littles and the bionic woman. Oh, and let's not forget the tea party that included a horse and fake tea. Next time I go to a tea party, there better be real tea or I am out. The mr has had a couple of bigger jobs that he was doing and I had (still am doing) the stupid taxes to finish. Doing a lot of paper work really gives a lady who needs glasses a big freaking headache. I have been procrastinating the inevaadable for a little too long. I need to start wearing my glasses all the time in order to see like, a lot better. Problem is that the procrastination in me is strong. I have had this new prescription for 2, maybe 3 months, but seriously, finding glasses is such a bitch.  I am doing it though because I need to see, which lead me to Costco. Costco, the land of giant sized tubs of mustard and 10 lb bags of organic carrots (I buy them both), which also has an optical center (what don't they have?)

Got to Costco, took a look, got annoyed and stressed and walked away. Figured I was already there so might as well walk around, spotted a friend being a pharmacist, cruising the isles,  and that's when I saw it. The display of 10 lb bags of lentils. No joke, I have been waiting forever for this day to happen. I was so freaking excited, like way, way more then anyone should ever get over a bag of lentils, but I was. I mean, come on, A giant bag of lentils ... it is just so fantastic.  I grabbed my bag of lentils and  bounced out of there with a smile on my face and  thoughts of  dinner and large Costco sized pickle jars full of goodness. (I had already forgot about the glasses) I am already planning on another Costco trip just so I can but 5 more bags.... You can never have too many lentils. And I did end up buying glasses, I just ordered them off the internet. I figured I don't care what they look like, I would just like to see. And I will, in like 1-2 weeks or whenever they come in the mail.

Last night Jeff Dad came to town to take some more care of his bionic daughter, although the lady is walking like a champ already and probably could start training for a marathon now. (You can go home now Dad, haha)  We did dinner with him and her and missed out on the him that was suppose to be there, but at least we got to see Jackson with his arms full of a suit and tie on the way to the ball.  Jackson just loves dress up and high school dances.  He lives so hard for them. 

Today is all about watching the ice melt away from the skating rink in front of the house that we call a walkway. I spent a little time chipping away at the thick sheet of ice with a spade shovel and am now determined to get at least a narrow path of safety for not just us, but the poor mailman that has been risking his life to deliver my junk flyers and sign up cards for AARP. It is suppose to be above freezing all day so I have a good feeling about it. While I watch and wait I will probably be reading, carving some wood, or napping. But it will all be productive because I am making sure the ice melts. I am doing it for the mailman. 

The places the internet took me this week. 

-Is it even possible? How Do I Avoid Catching Cold or Flu From My Sick Partner? 

-Starlings Perform Acrobatic Life-Or-Death Dance With A Hungry Falcon. My mind was blown. I have watched it many many times. 

-Are Biscuits and Scones the Same? I have always thought them interchangeable. A, Call them what you will, type deal. 

-Holy shit Nutella.France Descends Into Chaos Over Nutella Sales. 

-Sunday Reading: In the Air. Probably not great reading if you are afraid of heights. OR maybe it is. 

-Kind of fantastic why you know why they did. The Guggenheim Offers The White House A Gold Toilet.  

-The Far Out History Of How Hippie Food Spread Across America. I spent a good amount of time with the Moose Wood Cookbooks when I was a teen. 

-I have killed at least 10 mosquitos in the past week. I think there is a nest in the house and they are waiting for warmth to attack me. How To Teach Mosquitoes To Leave You Alone

-The Imaginative Powers of a Brain on Autopilot. It's when all the creative stuff happens. 

And pictures from the week.

Have a great weekend.

-C