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Showing posts from April, 2012

Lazy Weekend

I feel as though I hibernated all weekend.  It was so cold I just could not force myself out the door at all on Saturday.  I spent the day in yoga pants, which is about like wearing pajamas all day.  I do notice that lots of people have no problem going about their public business in actual pajama pants.  Fortunately for the world and those who might run into me, I am not among them. On Sunday we did go out for breakfast.  We have the habit of full breakfast on Sunday mornings.  It was nice to have a good breakfast (I had scrambled eggs with spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes with two slices of bacon on the side) and not have to clean up afterwards.  It is such a messy meal to cook, which is why toast or cereal works for me the rest of the week.  However, we did notice that the days of going out for a ten dollar breakfast are no more. I read two books over the weekend--Nicholas Evans: The Lucky One and Tina Fey: Bossy Pants.   I'm not saying that I am proud of this accomplishmen

Oh, No! Snow!

Every one has been saying there was no winter in Vermont this year.  Maybe so, but we are having typical April weather--which means no one would be surprised at the freezing temperatures and the sleety snow fall. I spent the afternoon working at the library.  I met with the state librarian consultant on Wednesday and had a quick tutorial in pulling books off the shelves for de-cataloging.  Our small library probably needs that done more than most because space is so limited.  Of course new books are coming in and there are always donations that need sorting through. Once the books are pulled I have to take them off the computer record, pull the bar code, mark the book as 'withdrawn' and then box them all up.  I can see where this is going to be a long time until completion. I spent the morning sewing some new curtains for my bedroom.  I am about half way finished with that and will maybe get more done later tonight.  Or maybe I will just have a glass of wine instead--to cle

Playtime

It looks like my poor grandson has inherited the tendency for wicked morning bedhead from his maternal grandmother.  (So sorry, Dane) His Uncle Kevin (my son) brought him a box of heavy cardboard spools from where he works.  Now when Kevin was this age himself, he would open birthday or Christmas gifts, leave the toys on the floor in a forgotten corner, and play for hours with the empty boxes.  I was not surprised that he thought this would be a great play option for Dane. And he was right.  These spools were made into castles and tunnels and roads and people and served for hours of quiet playtime. And, of course, the box they came in went to good use as well.

Detective Work

A while ago, I noted that I had not been able to identify this flower.  Two readers offered guesses.  Linda thought it was chionodoxa   and Tabor suggested Scilla siberica.  I looked them both up--very similar plants.  Some botanists do not even acknowledge them as a separate genus, although others do.  What cannot be seen in the pictures (I am not much of a photographer) is that the stamens in the plants that I saw are flattened and form a tube.  That suggests that they are chionodoxa, also called "Glory-of-the-snow."  I am sure that they escaped from a nearby garden.  Some may just escape from the roadside and into my garden. Walking in the woods and fields is now officially over for me.  I pulled a tick off my grandson's chest during a bath after a walk in the field behind our house and Mike pulled one off his own leg.  I'm sure that I got to Dane's quickly, but Mike's bite spread over his whole inner thigh.  I'm hoping they were not deer ticks be

Liebster Award

I was surprised to receive an award!  Thank-you Muffy! Please visit Muffy at muffysmark.blogspot.com .   My First Blog Award I thought at first that I was going to be treated to a lobster dinner, but no... Liebster is a German word that translates to; dearest, beloved or in this case favorite.    The idea of the Liebster Award is to give it to an up and coming blog with fewer than 200 followers.  – in order to create new connections, and bring attention to their wonderful blogs.  When  you win the award there a few details that need to be attended to: Thank the Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog Link back to the blogger who presented you the award.   Copy and paste the Liebster Blog Award on your blog.    Present the award to 5 bloggers who have a following 2 00 or less, who you feel deserve it.    Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog. I usually avoid things that require sending on to others, but I like the idea of sharing favorite

Spring Walk, Part II

A moose has been known to visit this swamp... but not today. When I walk by myself I go pretty fast and I get a good amount of exercise.  When I walk with Mike, I go much more slowly, but I do see a whole lot more.   I walked with him and saw a beautiful purple trillium, but of course I did not have the camera with me.  I could not find it again when I went out with camera in hand.   Would you guess that this hill is a covered landfill?  The white pipe (If you scan really hard) is a vent.  There are many of them scattered over the area. I am quite certain that fairies live here, but I did not see them today either.  A red squirrel was on guard duty and he told me to move along. This area is now town recreation land, but it was once all part of a large working farm.  It's kind of funny that part of the land became the town landfill for a while because there are areas that were obviously a family based dumping area.  This mountain bike trail has been named the "

Spring Walk

It's early spring in Vermont and that means woodland wild flowers are in bloom. These bluets don't look very blue here. Pushing up through the forest mulch. Spring beauty Trout lily Yellow violet Hepatica with sharp=lobed leaves and fuzzy stems Now these flowers are very pretty, but i have no clue as to what they might be.  I've looked in two different wildflower books so far, but I have not been able to identify them.  Any body know? They were along the road, not in the woods.  They could be escapees from some one's flower bed.

Pinecones

There seems to be a bumper crop of pine cones this year.  My next door neighbor's trees are surrounded by fallen cones. This sight cracked me up, I must confess.  When my grand daughter was only about two, her parents took her on a picnic.  They discovered that their usually sunny and happy little girl shreiked hysterically at the sight of a pine cone.  Later that same summer, I took her for a walk in the woods and she had to be picked up and carried around any pinecones we came across.  It made for a pretty short walk. My theory is that she had overheard the expression about bears doing in the woods and in her two year old mind, that is what she was seeing.  I'm sure she must have been wondering why the otherswise sane and sensible adults in her life would think it a good idea for her to set foot near such disgusting piles,

Tomato Tunic

I sewed this tunic on Sunday afternoon.  I may save it for next halloween and dress up like a tomato. Actually, I have made a couple of this Kwik Sew pattern.  Easy and quick--comfy and casual. Yesterday, the temperature reached 86 degrees -- one degree shy of the record set in 2002.  I remember that heat spell of April, 2002.  I was teaching and experiencing hot flashes.  The PTO bought fans for all the classrooms at our school.  The next week was a vacation week and I (foolishly) went out and bought garden plants and (worse yet) planted them.  Of course by the following weekend the temperature dropped and it started snowing.  All my plants were killed.  I'm not falling for the tease of some warm weather this time.  It was in the 40's this morning, so not much chance of that anyway. Freak warm days like yesterday always mean the local paper will feature lots of picutes of sunbathing co-eds.  Our own little version of the Sports Illustrated swim suit edition.  Or evidence

Uh-Oh

Uh-oh.  I just realized that the doctor's appointment I thought was in mid May is actually tomorrow at 1 p.m. Darn!  I have not lost that pesky ten pounds my doctor has been harassing me about.  In fact, I think I may have put on a few pounds extra.  Lots of good food, specialty markets, restaurants, and such in Florida.  And one of the things I did not make a point of going out to get in the furnishing process--a scale. Sure, I could reschedule the appointment, but I might as well admit that the extra time is not the issue.  Enjoying good food and an accompanying glass of wine is the issue. I have noticed that every woman's magazine at the supermarket checkout touts a "NEW" diet miracle that will take pounds off practically over night.  The next week or month--a totally "BRAND NEW" miracle diet.  They all come down to eat less and exercise more.  Among my problems is the fact that as soon as I say the word "diet" to myself I feel inordinately

Friday Fluff

It was a fairly nice day and I got out to do some yard work.  Mike went off for his exercise walk.  When I finished in the yard, I noticed that he hadn't yet returned.  That was two hours for a 2 1/2 mile walk.  I got a bit worried and went to look for him.  I should have realized he would have stopped at a neighbors for a catch-up chat. I decided to have a fruit and yogurt smoothie for lunch as a change of pace from the salads of the past three days.  I had the hardest time trying to find my blender.  This adjustment thing is going on a bit long this year. I noticed while sipping my lovely blueberry-raspberry-mango smoothie that the color matched my raspberry-pink shirt.  Then, when I was washing the glass and blender I noticed I was using a raspberry colored dish cloth.  I am just so matchy-matchy today. Note the cheery daffodils.  They are blooming beside south facing walls.  It is supposed to warm up over the weekend so I expect the yard will be decked out in yellow by ne

Springtime in Vermont

Lots of rain on Wednesday, which our neighbor says is badly needed.  The noon weather report promised that the sun would come out at 3:00pm on Thursday.  I am amazed that the meteorologists think they can pinpoint it like that.  I decided to take a ride to Gardener's Supply where I spent a couple of hours wandering around the shop and the conservatory.  This was just a reconnaissance visit.  I didn't buy anything, not even a packet of seeds.  I can get so impulsive in that store that I had to leave my purse locked in the car. I was mightily inspired, though.  This morning, even though it was cold and windy, I went out and raked out the flower bed along the garage wall and the herb patch by the wood shed.  If I was a more clever and productive person, I might use all those coreopsis stems to fashion little brooms because they do remind me of broom bristles.  Instead, I will start a knitting project and hope my hands and wrists hold out. I have discovered that I really did mi

Home Again, Home Again

Our trip went without incident and we are once again back in Vermont...where the rain has been steadily drizzling down and temperatures are hovering in the high 40's.  Our car was actually clean until we crossed the VT border on route 4.  It seemed like on cue that it started raining and the trucks passing by started splashing the mud. The house was pretty much as we had left it. (We have a new thermostat.)  The daffodils are starting to pole up and some have even bloomed.  I can see buds on the lilacs and the crab apple tree.  The grass is actually green.  We went through some gorgeous spring weather, in reverse from late to early, as we travelled north. I am getting quite bored with the long car trip between here and there.  We made it two extra times in the past year and maybe that accounts for my boredom.  Reading the bill boards felt like leafing through a magazine--ad after ad after ad.  I kept nodding off. A billboard for the open heart surgery program at a certain hos

Hitting the Road

We are just about all packed and ready for an early start tomorrow morning.  We'll have coffee and and bagels, do the last of the tidying up in the kitchen, pack the last minute items, cover the toilets with saran wrap, unplug appliances, set the AC, and turn off the water. I haven't thought about our house in Vermont much at all, but now I am starting to look forward to our other life...at least for a while. Hope everyone has a pleasant weekend.

Leaving

We had lunch with friends at our favorite lunch place where we can sit outdoors on the intracoastal waterway, feeling a cooling sea breeze and watching the boats cruise by while sipping ice tea or a refreshing gin and tonic. For a couple of hours there, it was not at all hard to imagine that we really had ended up in paradise. We are in the process of saying good-bye to friends we've made here.  We'll see many of them again next year, and we'll meet new friends and neighbors as well.  Still, we are at that time in our lives when we realize that there are some we are just not going to see again.  That holds sadly true for the home front as well.  There will be too many get togethers and events where one or more of the friends and family members we looked forward to seeing will no longer be attending. It is easy, sitting next to gem-colored waters and listening to the shore birds calling, to be grateful.  And then there is the nudge -- don't take it for granted.

Kale

Kale is a leafy green vegetable and you know we should all eat leafy green vegetables every day because they are so good for us.  You can read more about the health benefits of kale here .  That's where I learned that kale has been on the menu for over 4,000 years, but I have to admit I have never tried it.  I'd probably like it.  I like cabbage and broccoli and spinach and chard. The subject comes up for me because I just read that the chain Chick-fil-A just received a preliminary ruling that a Vermont folk artist has infringed on its trademark.  Apparently the restaurant chain has trademarked the slogan, "eat mor chikin."  Vermonter Bo Miller-Moore sells T-shirts that say, "Eat More Kale." Well, that just frosts my cupcake. This is kale.  How likely is it that it would be confused for a chicken sandwich?  Plus, if you look carefully at the slogans, you'll have to admit that the Vermonter is a much better speller.  And the Chick-fil-A slogan is pa