Spring has sprung! FINALLY!!!

Wednesday:  Good day to all!  It's a glorious day outside, the sun is out, it's 66 degrees and my plants are budding all over the yard!  The chickens are happy the snow is gone (they don't like snow on their toes!)  The cats are rolling around in the sun beams and the dogs are playing like they are puppies again!  And we are all stuck in the house with a horrific cold.....

 I'm not breathing well from this cold, my asthma gets triggered easily when I am ill so I have to take breathing treatments every 4 hours and keep my inhaler close.  I hate having asthma, I have missed out on so much because of it---and I've tried most of the drugs available, most are just too expensive and I can't afford the one that keeps my asthma under control.  STINKS!!!

Oh gee, I digress, LOL!

Anyway, I told the boys the get their shoes on, we're going for a ride!  I put some gas in the van (OMG, gas!  The cheap place that is 20-30 cents cheaper than all the others was $2.69!  Who knows what it was in town!)  We made a pit stop at Dairy Queen for some cruising ice cream, turned up the radio and cruised through our neighborhood.  We live in the country---so for our cruise today we drove within 10 miles of the house.  Here is what we encountered, I call this---barns of Medina County:  Click on the pictures to get actual size.

An Amish farm in the neighborhood, they have their laundry on a pulley system, sometimes it goes all the way to the silo!

Another Amish farm, they have their laundry hanging on the front porch.

This is an Amish one-room school that is in the neighborhood.  I believe classes were in session when we passed, as there was a buggy parked in front of the school, most likely the teacher's.

This is a big Amish farm/family compound, there are 3 or 4 houses here, I believe.  They, too are doing laundry, Wednesday must be laundry day!

Another family compound.  There is someone working on something in front of the barn but I don't take close or face pictures of the Amish, it is against their beliefs so I make sure I respect that.

A beautiful red barn

This was an Amish boy, probably around 12 years old, pulling a wagon of manure! Stinky job!

Another compound and more laundry, LOL!

Amish haystacks.  They are so much more interesting that the big, giant, round bales from the "English" farmer!

Ok, that's enough of my neighborhood for now.  Next time I'll take pictures of Lodi's square and city, it's a quaint little town with a lot of history!

Friday:  Now, for gardening news.....

My garlic is growing nicely, I thought I had lost it all last fall, but it is coming back strong!  I don't have much planted, but a little to get us through and maybe some garlic scapes so I can make garlic scape pesto  YUM YUM!  I'll post the recipe at the end of this post.

 Garlic coming up.

I started cleaning out the herb spiral, the chives were coming back with a vengeance.  Unfortunately, my rosemary didn't make it through the winter, sometimes it does, this year it didn't.  I'll have to order more from Territorial Seeds.

The thyme is bouncing back nicely as is the oregano.  I'm starting some basil, lavender and cilantro this weekend, and whatever else I have in the box, I have to get it out of cold storage and see what I have.

Chives coming back from the dead.

Front of spiral getting cleaned up and weeded.

My garden beds are atrocious!  Since I was so sick last fall, I didn't get to do any weeding or preparing for winter so mother nature just took over and weeds came back with a vengence!

You can't tell the difference between the bed and the path!

So, I have my work cut out for me.  Seamus goes back to school on the Monday after Easter, and Jeremy is on spring break that week so I plan on recruiting him and Sean and Jaret to help get these beds ready for planting.  I also want to start planting some lettuces, we have some old patio doors and I can put them over the beds at night for a cold frame to protect them from frost.

This is the small creek that runs through our property.  In the dead heat of summer, it dries up but it runs well from spring until late July/early August.

A snake that Jaret found in the yard. This was his 4th of the day!

Our chickens happily free ranging.

That's it for today.  I'll be posting gardening updates and tips throughout the weekend, probably.  We weren't planning on having family over for Easter, since we've been sick no one wants to come over, boo hoo!  But, I can't blame them so our Easter feast is being post-poned for a week while we completely heal and get back to health.  I hope you all have a nice weekend, the weather here in Ohio is supposed to be awesome, I hope it is where ever you live as well!  It's 84 degrees right now, on the 2nd of April!  WOO HOO!!!!

We need this after the winter we went through!

TTFN!

Leslie:-)

Some of my collections and other happenings

Hiya everyone!  Sorry I haven't updated since the Emmy's, it's been crazy around here the last few weeks!

Seamus started school and LOVES it!  His teachers say he is adjusting well, he hasn't cried at all since the first day and he's adjusting to the school schedule with no problems




There was one problem, though

Two days after he started school, he became very ill and ended up in the hospital for 2 days.  At first the doctors thought it was appendicitis, but that was finally ruled out.  They think he just had a bad intestinal virus.  He bounced back after 4 days and was ready to head back to school!

 Sean and Jaret and I have been adjusting to our days without Seamus, it's been strange, the house is so quiet, no one is running after a little one constantly.  We miss him, but I have to admit it is nice to be able to get things done.  When he comes home from school it's all back to normal!

I have been displaying these apron banners and signs on my site for ages and never bothered to show my aprons.  I only had 3 of my own that I had found in antique stores, but my mother gave me a treasure.  I now have 6 of my Grandmother's aprons, I am so excited!  I remember her wearing these, it is so wonderful to have these aprons that were so much a part of her.  She is the only person I remember that wore an apron, so I will proudly carry on the tradition and after I lose a little weight, I will wear her aprons proudly (I can wear them now but they look better on a slimmer figure ;-)

My Grandma's Aprons

This one I got at an antique shop, I'm doubting that it is very old.

Aren't they lovely!?

Ok, now here is another one of my collections, I just started collecting vintage salt and pepper shakers last year.  I like weird and silly styles.  My collection isn't too big yet, I am very picky about what I purchase so I don't get new sets often.  Of course, I don't hit the antique stores often so that may be the real reason it hasn't grown, LOL!

My newest collection is very small but I hope to add some more to it.  I love pigs, especially pigs from the 40's-60's.  They can't be too cutesy, but these are just right!

It just happens to be that they are both planters, I am considering getting a nice golden porthos to plant in the yellow piggie and maybe a philodendron for the other.

Big news for me, my cube shelf is finally done!  Hubby worked on it over the weekend and Sean and Jaret and I painted it yesterday.  Here is the IKEA Expedit shelf I wanted---

And here is the Scott version:



  Mine's bigger, LOL!
Who needs IKEA????  Well, I do---they have some delicious dishes that I want to get---only $25 for an 18 piece set!  I wish they had a store in Ohio--other than Cincinnati---it's closer for me to drive to the Pittsburgh store than the Cincy location!  Scott did an awesome job on this, I am so proud of him and happy to be a recipient of his talents!

Anyway, I'll be working on organizing my sewing room and getting the cube shelf filled up this week and maybe by this weekend I'll be able to sit and sew!

Oscar night and other tidbits

So, I'm finally sitting down---it's been a busy day and I'm exhausted!  I got up and immediately set about to clean the kitchen from top to bottom and do about 8 loads of laundry.  It hadn't had a good cleaning since before my surgery at Christmas time so it was WAY overdue!  After that, I dusted and finally put away my snowmen and the rest of the Christmas/Yule decorations.  I ran to the library and went to the grocery store and then came home to start the 3 hour process of making chicken enchiladas.  They were well worth the effort!  After dinner,  Jeremy reminded me that the Oscars were on so instead of folding laundry, I'm watching the Oscars. I haven't seen any of the movies but I've read and heard enough about all of them that I feel I know which ones I would root for, well based on the little knowledge of them! I'd like to see Colin Firth win an Oscar for The Single Man----I don't think he will because of the bigwigs that are nominated with him but I just love him. Ever since I saw him in Pride and Prejudice--well, I'm sure many of you can relate.

The tribute to John Hughes was sweet.  His movies were so awesome, I mean, they defined what it was like to be a teen in the 1980's---and I was there.  It was weird seeing all those actors who were so young and sweet, now they are older and look just like anyone else---well, maybe with the exception of Judd Nelson, LOL!  I'm glad that they did recognize John Hughes, his movies get ya, each one of them makes you feel something, and it's a good something!

noting the lack of Pretty in Pink :-(

Well, I joined these blog hops and I had fun---the Parade was fun and I got to hear from a lot of people but the Show us your Life one I wasn't so impressed.  Lots of people stopped by but only 3 bothered to leave a comment.  Isn't the point to meet new people?  Oh well, their loss!  I always leave a comment when I stop by, it's the polite things to do!

This weekend was quiet.  Seamus' doctor had ordered new medicine for his ADHD  and we had started it on Tuesday---he's no longer taking it.  He had 2 major psychotic reactions, pain, hallucinations, anxiety, screaming, crying, it was so awful and I feel so guilty about putting him through that.  His last episode was Friday, I spent 3 1/2 hours holding him so he wouldn't hurt himself, it took every ounce of my strength!  By Saturday, the both of us were completely wiped out, we both had colds and our bodies were sore and weak from the day before, so we just laid around the house all day.  Today, he was back to his usual self, hyper and running all over, climbing bookcases, using my bedpost as a fire pole, throwing duplos around the room.  As irritating as it can be to constantly have to stop him, I was so happy to do it today, better than then a confused, terrified, scared little boy.  The worse part of the whole experience was that he could not verbalize what was happening, what he was feeling.  I'm just glad it is over and we're looking for alternatives to handling his ADHD.

I'm heading to bed, if I can tear myself away from the TV because Jimmy Kimmel is hilarious tonight!

I'll have a full post in a day or so, I've got some craft ideas up my sleeves so hopefully I'll be able to get to them!  Until then, have a good one and talk to you soon!

TTFN,

Leslie:-)

Show us your life Fridays

 

While exploring the blog universe during the parade, I can across Kelly's site and saw that she had a pretty cool thing going on.  Each week she asks us about our life, specific questions that we are to answer, in details.  I like reading about other people's lives, it makes me realize how much we all really have in common--and how different we are at the same time.  Please, leave a comment so I can say hi to you and check out your day!!!  Plus, I like comments.  :-)  So, here is a day in my life.  7-7:30 am:  I have to get up to fill up the woodstove or it'll be really cold when the boys get up!  Typically, I go to bed around 1-2 am and I get up somewhere between 3:30 and 4:30 to stock up the stove, hubby gets it stocked up around 5:30 and I'm up to start the day around 7.  Most of the time it's still burning ok but there are a few times when I've slept later and woke up to a freezing house---I don't like that one bit!!!  Oh, and by freezing I'm talking low 60's, LOL! 

 8:30-9 am:  Seamus wakes up like clockwork.  Usually he pulls his curtains down and then proceeds to hit the window with the curtain rod until I come in.  Believe me, it's not something I encourage but with an Autistic kid, routine is necessary and he's made that part of his morning ritual---I haven't been able to break him of it yet.  To make things easier, I have his curtains on spring rods, they come down easy and go back up easy!  After he gets up and I get him his juice and his medicine, we curl up together and watch a little Nick Jr. before the boys get up. 

9:30 am:  Time to get the boys up!  I call them both 3 times and then go back into the living room.  Sean usually comes down immediately and after he wakes up a bit he plays with Seamus so I can go start breakfast.  Jaret takes a bit more prodding to get his butt out of bed but the aroma of baking bagels and hash browns cooking usually does the trick! 

10:00 am:  If I need to, I'll start mixing up my bread doughs and bagel doughs so they can rise while we are eating.  After breakfast, they are usually risen enough to punch down and form into loaves or bagels and then sit back to rise again.  I'll start any crockpot meals now or slow cooking items on the stove.

11:00 am:  Any lessons we are going to do today are usually started about now.  I'll start out one of the kids with a lesson that they can do unassisted and the other with something they may or may not need my help.  That way, one can be independent and one can have my attention--as long as Seamus is busy and happy!  We'll do this for 3 hours and then take a lunch break. 

1:00 pm:  One of us has to go out and feed and water our chickens and rabbits.  We wait until the afternoon to feed and water them because they also go out to free range at that time.   We want to give the chickens time to lay their eggs in their boxes so they don't lay them in the woods.

2:00 pm  Lunch time!  Usually the boys will go and play Wii for a bit while I make lunch.  Seamus either plays with them or keeps me company in the kitchen, pulling out my pans or messing around on my laptop. 

3:00 pm:  Back to work or off to field trips or outside play or the library or shopping.  If we have a lot of running around to do, the boys just bring their books in the car and finish it while we are traveling.  We live 15-20 miles out of town so we have to do a bit of driving to get anywhere---which gives the boys time to work on schoolwork so they are done when we get home.  We do have 2 small groceries 5 miles from home, but they are SO much more expensive than Walmart.  I do buy locally for meats, though, I no longer get any meat from Walmart or the chain grocery stores.  In season, I get all produce from local farmers (or my own garden!)  Jeremy gets home from school around 3:30 so if we are leaving later we wait for him.

5:30  Hubby is home, yay!  The boys do their chores and bring in firewood and then they are free for the rest of the day.  Scott takes over with Seamus while I make dinner. 

7:30 pm:  Dinner is served and the family is all together and we talk about the day or whatever.  We try to engage everyone in some conversation---or I like to pick a question for everyone to answer.  Today's questions were from the Blogger Parade!  Everyone had fun with that! 

8:30 pm  Kitchen is usually cleaned up by now and hubby and I sit down with Seamus and spend a little time with him before his bedtime.

9:00 pm  Seamus is telling us it's time for bed. 

9:30-10:00 pm After Seamus goes down we either sit down and watch our shows or we head up to my studio and Scott catches up on work or reads and I work on whatever project I've got going.

11:30 pm Scott heads to bed, Jeremy is in bed and the boys are getting ready.

Midnight.  I have the house to myself.  Blissful peace and quiet, the only time of day I truly have time for me!  I love nighttime!

1:30-2 am.  I stock up the woodstove, grab my book I'm reading and head to bed, ready to get up in a couple of hours to stock up the stove again!

 

It's that time now!  Good night :-)