This and That

We are attempting to get our garden planted, all of the potatoes, onions, cabbage and some corn are now planted, and we were able to plant out 100 strawberry starts to renew our aged strawberry patch. There is much more to plant, we will plant peas, green beans and beets and finish the corn. On Memorial Day weekend we will put in about forty eight tomato plants and a variety of peppers, broccoli, (my new favorite food is steamed broccoli!), and plant some melon and squash. Other chores that need to be taken care of in the garden, prune out the dead brambles in the raspberry patch, they are very prickly and I always look as if I got into a fight with a cat when I am done, gloves are an absolute necessity, we need to pick a spot to plant some asparagus root and we want to make a built up box area to plant some new rhubarb and transplant some old rhubarb into.

Our steer, Jersey, who should have gone to butcher in February, has had a pleasant extension to his comfortable life because of all of the rain, it has just been too muddy to get a truck and trailer back to his home, so I know for sure Jersey is very happy about all of the rain :)

The new chickens, we started with a dozen chicks, we now have eight, at one month we moved them out of their brooder in the basement, they get kind of stinky, and out to the chicken coop, once they were two months we started opening the door so they could venture outside, the first time they went out a hawk got one of them, and now, and who can blame them, they are rather leery about the great outdoors. Anyway, I am pleased to report that the Great Eight, are all doing well, and in another couple of months should be producing a bountiful supply of brown eggs.

Today I am baking bread, I have a dozen loaves rising on the kitchen table, the grandsons are coming over later so they will be pleased to have warm bread and honey as an afternoon snack, and come to think of it, so will I.

I really like to sew, but have a hard time finding a pattern that I like, I recently visited a blog, clevsea.blogspot.com, Clevsea is an avid seamstress and she has pictures of completed garments along with the pattern she used, I particularly liked the jumpers she had made using an old McCalls pattern, I googled the pattern number, and amazingly found one copy for sale in my size for $4.65, so I ordered it, I am looking forward to its arrival. Clevsea's site then led me on to another site, Sense and Sensibilty at sensibility.com , this site has patterns for historical dresses from the Georgian, Regency, Edwardian, and Romantic era's, they are delightful. My daughter Emily's best friend Katy really likes Jane Austen, this morning on the ride to school I told the girls about the dress patterns, and suggested we make some and have a Jane Austen party, I think it would be a hoot!! Another site that has beautiful fabric at a reasonable price, and unique, handmade patterns, is Candle on the Hill, http://www.candleonthehill.net/store/catalog.php? item=265, this link takes you to their site, specifically to a pattern that I think I will order. If you do not sew you can order ready made items from Candle on the Hill.

Ben, our almost twenty year old son, purchased a new unicycle last week, it has a 36" diameter wheel and a brake. He is a little wonky on it, but is improving, it is a big change from his first unicycle.

Emily, who will be eighteen next month, is off to the prom this Saturday, she is getting very excited, they are going out for dinner, then to prom, then the afterprom party at the bowling alley which is supervised by parents, then home for a brief sleep and then a bus is taking the tired prom goers to Cedar Point for fun on Sunday - we will have a quiet weekend and an extremely tired daughter returned to us on Sunday evening.

Matt and Traci will be moving home from Wyoming in late June, early July, as Matt will have completed his time with the Air Force, it will be wonderful to have the two of them home for good.

Amber and Brad are busy with their new house, they had to purchase their very first lawn mower this spring, and they just love having a yard of their own to take care of, they dug a garden, Amber calls it her Salsa Garden, as she plans to plant tomatoes, peppers and onions, so she can make salsa. Henry and Patrick are just delightful little boys, growing up too quickly, but so much fun. Henry is two and half, last week he was playing in the front yard and noticed that when he yelled he could the yell come back, he was absolutely fascinated by his echo and much yelling ensued and he kept saying, "Henry talk to me", it was really neat. Patrick is now thirteen and half months, he has been walking for about two months now, he is a bundle of energy and a boy who knows what he wants!