Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
The aftermath...
This post has been edited to include photos... and a bunch more words.
The baptism, chrismation and party all went swimmingly well. Son #2 did NOT come up out of the water swearing to kill us all, so what more could we ask for? Well, we had beautiful weather and a lot of people survived the entire 2 1/2 hour service -- yikes! Many people came to our house for the huge amount of food we laid out and we're still working our way through it. The first set of pictures has been delivered and are fantastic reminders of the day. I'll pick some and put them in another post. But here's some FOOD pictures:
I'm typing this at the table on the deck. A wonderful bowl of pansies with curly edges is in the middle of the table — a last minute find last weekend. I don't remember ever seeing these unusual pansies before. Today, I added six creeping phlox to the border of the middle garden... They always need a little refreshing... I couldn't resist a packet of sunflower seeds — the giant variety — and so planted those here and there. Always fun, if they work out. Then I distributed two bags of top soil on the middle grassy area from where I got lazy last fall and stopped putting up the fence after the lawn guys mowed, and so it was peed on by the dogs. Then I spread all of an old bag of patch master grass seed and then spread two bags of old grass seed around all the grassy areas. Better on the lawn than in the bag, I thought. I also couldn't resist two flats of lettuce and set them out in two small terracotta planters... The place where I put the planters was a little unbalanced, but I discovered that a crushed soda can under each was just the right amount of lift for leveling them.
All the pansies from preparing for the party are doing really well. Various other things are coming to life. It really IS spring! But when the only thing at the garden shops are pansies, it's hard to restrain yourself and remember there will be other things you might want to buy LATER.
 |
| Tosca and Jago... Jago is air-scenting passersby... |
 |
| Pumpkin mini-muffins |
 |
| 4 loaves of Amish White Bread |
 |
| Apple cake and rice crispy squares |
 |
| Vanilla cake (two layers) with lavender-tinted dragees |
 |
| Whole house is freshly painted! Someone even came in the front door! |
 |
| No idea what it is, but it was brightly colored. Placed by the front door. |
 |
| The curly pansies |
 |
| Lettuce! |
 |
| Son #1 always chooses YELLOW, his favorite color... |
 |
| Slight purple tint on some, purple centers on all |
 |
| Two more pots-ful |
 |
| This wagon was in a 4th of July parade and then became a plant pot... |
This morning's dump run included unloading a complete set of four place settings of blue glass dishware -- plates in three sizes, bowls and cups. We've had them since we were married and they are in mint condition. Also six wine goblets, same vintage. Another item not likely to ever be used around here. And I passed along a set of five wooden salad bowls made in Fairbanks, Alaska, to an Alaskan friend. With a few minutes to spare before the dump closed, I tackled the disintegrating wooden planter alongside the house, which mostly meant pulling out the big weed clump growing out of the middle of it and then piling the pieces into a big tub and hauling it all to the van. Still need to shovel the rest of the dirt away.
I remember my neighbor's self-imposed rule of dealing with everything she's bought before buying anything more. I'm good to go for the next step! All plants are planted and all bagged dirt is distributed. But I think we need to wait and see what comes up... At most, I could order a half yard of stone to replenish in the various places the dogs pee.
A couple other stray things... I am the mother of a kid with severe ADHD! I may not have it, but some qualities of it are definitely contagious!
After the baptism, etc., we kept the twins (our nieces) and what with one thing and another, had them through Friday! I guess that made spring break a little more interesting for the kids. Son #2 and the twins love to play imagination games with Angry Birds plush toys and foam blocks and can do this by the hour.
While I was rummaging around in the basement for vases and dishes to serve food for the post-baptism party, I cleaned out a box and rediscovered some favorite glassware... And why not USE it? There are two glasses engraved with "K" from my grandparents...
And three of these adorable little bubble glasses in green:
Next up, though... Jim Malcolm in concert NEXT Sunday evening!! April 28 at 7 PM.
I remember my neighbor's self-imposed rule of dealing with everything she's bought before buying anything more. I'm good to go for the next step! All plants are planted and all bagged dirt is distributed. But I think we need to wait and see what comes up... At most, I could order a half yard of stone to replenish in the various places the dogs pee.
A couple other stray things... I am the mother of a kid with severe ADHD! I may not have it, but some qualities of it are definitely contagious!
After the baptism, etc., we kept the twins (our nieces) and what with one thing and another, had them through Friday! I guess that made spring break a little more interesting for the kids. Son #2 and the twins love to play imagination games with Angry Birds plush toys and foam blocks and can do this by the hour.
 |
| Son #2 and the twins... |
 |
| K is for Kinne |
 |
| Milk tastes best in green glass! |
Next up, though... Jim Malcolm in concert NEXT Sunday evening!! April 28 at 7 PM.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Spring fling!
It's been a whirling dervish of activity around here! A few months ago, a postcard arrived in the mail suggesting that we might want a housepainter. Well, actually, yes, we did. And the painter was someone we'd interacted with briefly under very positive circumstances, and his quote was very fair, so we agreed to go ahead. He showed up last week, and has been working away with two-three guys helping every day. He encountered some wood rot and so we called the carpenters who not only addressed the wood rot but also installed the last bits of kitchen trim and one replacement cabinet door, and will be back to try and shore up the stockade fence. And the landscapers came by and dueled with the painters for footspace to do spring clean-up.
Meanwhile, I've spread around ten bags of river pebbles, which I only use in the main flower garden —3/4" stone delivered by the yard is good enough for other areas, and then I spread around 3-4 bags of topsoil, filling in holes the dogs dug, and three bags of bark mulch. And planted a whole flat of pansies into various pots. As usual, my ten-year-old son chose some bright yellow pansies, and those are in a hanging pot. I did have some crushed stone delivered and while it wasn't what I thought it was going to be, it did happen to be something we needed in an effort to keep weeds from growing along the fence line of our back yard. And then ever-so-kindly, our neighbors to the rear installed a tall wooden fence immediately alongside our chain-link fence, so suddenly we both have privacy and our respective dogs don't have to see each other any more! There are three dachshunds over there that are of a typical yappy nature.
All of this is in preparation for a bit of a shin-dig this coming Sunday when the boys are being baptized and we're all being "chrismated" into the Orthodox Church of America, otherwise known as joining it. It's a pretty big deal, so we're making sure the boys realize we consider it as such, by commemorating it fully and completely. There are decorated candles with little hanging medallions engraved with their names and the occasion. There are completely white outfits to put on after they're baptized. We'll each put on a new gold cross (and hopefully the chains to wear them on will arrive in time). There is a commemorative program we designed and printed which will be handed out to one and all with a bookmark tucked inside.
And then we're having an open house all afternoon afterwards. Mary is making pasta salad and fruit salad. I'm making mini pumpkin cupcakes, homemade bread and multi-layer white cake, and maybe an apple cake besides. I've tried the pumpkin cake recipe and it's fantastic. I've been making Amish White Bread and it is fantastic, too. The white cake is a new recipe as well, and that is good. Tonight I made a vegan lasagna and it was very delicious, if a bit wet. It may set up a bit overnight. I read through the recipe comments and erred on the side of moist rather than too dry. So the bread, pumpkin cupcakes, and white cake will all be "fast friendly," meaning they won't use olive oil, eggs, dairy or meat. No cheese in the lasagna!
Meanwhile, I've spread around ten bags of river pebbles, which I only use in the main flower garden —3/4" stone delivered by the yard is good enough for other areas, and then I spread around 3-4 bags of topsoil, filling in holes the dogs dug, and three bags of bark mulch. And planted a whole flat of pansies into various pots. As usual, my ten-year-old son chose some bright yellow pansies, and those are in a hanging pot. I did have some crushed stone delivered and while it wasn't what I thought it was going to be, it did happen to be something we needed in an effort to keep weeds from growing along the fence line of our back yard. And then ever-so-kindly, our neighbors to the rear installed a tall wooden fence immediately alongside our chain-link fence, so suddenly we both have privacy and our respective dogs don't have to see each other any more! There are three dachshunds over there that are of a typical yappy nature.
All of this is in preparation for a bit of a shin-dig this coming Sunday when the boys are being baptized and we're all being "chrismated" into the Orthodox Church of America, otherwise known as joining it. It's a pretty big deal, so we're making sure the boys realize we consider it as such, by commemorating it fully and completely. There are decorated candles with little hanging medallions engraved with their names and the occasion. There are completely white outfits to put on after they're baptized. We'll each put on a new gold cross (and hopefully the chains to wear them on will arrive in time). There is a commemorative program we designed and printed which will be handed out to one and all with a bookmark tucked inside.
And then we're having an open house all afternoon afterwards. Mary is making pasta salad and fruit salad. I'm making mini pumpkin cupcakes, homemade bread and multi-layer white cake, and maybe an apple cake besides. I've tried the pumpkin cake recipe and it's fantastic. I've been making Amish White Bread and it is fantastic, too. The white cake is a new recipe as well, and that is good. Tonight I made a vegan lasagna and it was very delicious, if a bit wet. It may set up a bit overnight. I read through the recipe comments and erred on the side of moist rather than too dry. So the bread, pumpkin cupcakes, and white cake will all be "fast friendly," meaning they won't use olive oil, eggs, dairy or meat. No cheese in the lasagna!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)