Fridays Foibles

(I just love that word...)

  Here's some of what I did today...

Jungle Babies...

So you can see the back material...

 Since we don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet, I made it gender neutral.  lol  I also got 2 short baby bottles, a bottle brush, a package of travelling baby wipes, and some baby oil and lavender baby bath soap. Put it all in a big giant gift bag and I am ready for the shower.  lol

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  I also baked a big peach pie for the reunion Sunday. It came out like this:

 I am taking all the stuff to make a big relish tray...pickled beets, pickled peppers, dilly green beans and pickled okra.  I am taking a jar each of sweet red pepper jelly and jalapeno jelly, and I will put it on a tray with cream cheese and a couple of boxes of store bought crackers, Ritz or something. And once there, I will buy fried chicken and that will be that.

 I have a list of the last minute stuff to pack that I have to use in the morning, plus stuff like camera, phone and charger, etc. I packed my bag already, I cleaned the bejeezus out of my little car--even cleaned the Roxie slobber off the windows. I have my clothes I will wear tomorrow laid out.  I gassed up the car. I am ready to roll out of here at 9:30 AM, because....

  I am picking up my son at 10, and he and I are making the trip together. Pat can't go, his wife can't go, and I get him all to myself.  We haven't done this in years...taken a trip just the two of us. The last time (I figured this out earlier today) was in 1995, when he came to visit me in California, and we took a trip and went up to Crater Lake in Oregon.

I am so excited about this I can barely stand myself, lol.  He really needs to get away and I really need to spend some time with him. It's gonna be awesome. I got a motel in Mt. Vernon, which is about 20 minutes from Rend Lake, where the gathering is.  We're going to hook up with the cousins and go out to dinner Saturday night...he's going to spend some time fishing Saturday afternoon...and I am going to relax like nobody's watching!! lol

Okay--I have to hit the hay...it's late and I am really tired.  Just wanted to stop in and say hey to you all before I leave, since I won't be back til Monday or Sunday night...

  Have a grand weekend, kids!!

Namaste.

Monday has a mind of its own...

  My Mothers Day herb pot from my husband...loaded with goodies like basil, sage, oregano, thyme, and mint.  It's sitting out on my back deck on the corner...

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  We had a great day yesterday, my son came over and spent the day with his old mam.  He and the Irishman spent several hours planting things and cleaning up some things and working around outside. They had as good a time as I did watching it. lol  Then we had a big late lunch of burgers and corn cooked on the grill, potato salad and Chinese slaw. We all ate until we couldn't move. A good MD indeed, and he brought me the sweetest card and I am one of the luckiest moms I know to have such a handsome, talented and brilliantly loving man for a son.  Feelin' the love, baby!  lol  They can't know what it means to me to be able to cook for them and sit and enjoy a meal.

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  Today I am going to try to get some things caught up...need to make bread, need to do laundry, need to hoe some weeds out of the potatoes so we can straw them.  Going to take it easy on myself, as my back is hurting and there's no need to get crazy about getting things done. The house is okay, as I cleaned like a dervish on Saturday. The only thing left to plant in the garden is the quinoa, and a little pot of extra basil that I got. We got the onions in last night, a little late, but they'll be okay. I am going to go to Pappy's and pick up some more onion sets while they still have them, and hopefully I can figure a way to keep them until late fall, so we can plant them properly for next year. I want to put in garlic then too.  I have 2 celery ends too, that I'll put in to see if they'll grow. They've been sitting in a dish of warm water over night. Supposedly this works, and then you can harvest a piece or two at a time as you need to. Fun, huh?  Sounds like a 3rd grade science project. lol

  I bought a couple of hanging pots yesterday when I went to Dollar General to get a new hummingbird feeder (lost one to breakage last year). I'll get those planted with some petunias or something. I also have about 5 pots of Impatiens and Dianthus' all pinks and reds and whites that need to be put in pots out on the front sidewalk. I might get that done today.  If not, tomorrow will work too. It's a beautiful day, and the wash will be going to the clothesline. What I like about that is that it sets a nice steady slow tone to the day...something about those clothes flapping on the line...

  Hope you all had a Happy Mothers Day and that you're not suffering the overnight invasion of ants like I am.  WTH ????  The kitchen counter AND my desk are crawling with them..

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  My garden is looking good. The peas and green beans are about 3 inches high, the potatoes are going crazy. The squash is starting to poke through, the peppers and tomatoes are  thriving.  I just love this time of year. My kimchi is starting to bubble...and oh--I just ordered a book on Amazon that is about preserving food without freezing or canning. It's done by a collection of authors and Eliot Coleman is one of them. He has written several books on year round gardening (and he lives in Maine!!) one of which I bought himself for Christmas a few years back. But it's  a treasure trove of information on drying, salting, fermenting, etc. And I [finally] ordered an olive oil sprayer for my kitchen. No more aerosol cans. The only thing I ever bought in one of those damn cans, and felt guilty about it every time. lol

  Okay--I need to get moving.  Have a lovely Monday, everyone !!!

Namaste.

Whaaaaaaaattt ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I don't know what happened to the past few days...it whipped by me at warp speed and now here it is Tuesday.  Yikes.  Sometimes I think old age is like a black hole we fall into, and from time to time peek back up over the edge and are startled all to hell at where we've ended up.

My only son is battling a terrible toothache (broke off a molar--otherwise, his teeth are magnificent)and cannot find affordable help/care anywhere. He is unemployed and has no insurance.  He called the local dental school that does sliding scale work, but they are closed this entire week for board finals or something. I cannot do anything to help him except loan him money to go somewhere, but he doesn't want to do that, of course. He's mad as hell about the state of heathcare in this country and all I can do is nod my head and agree...I thought I'd try to call and see how he is in a few...

We just had 2 days of cold, extremely  windy and rainy weather. There were freeze warnings last night, for heaven's sakes... Today is sunny and nice again and supposed to hit 60. All uphill [supposedly] from there for the rest of the week. We'll see. I need to get busy...I have family coming on Friday and am thinking if I can get the back deck cleaned up we'll grill burgers and brats or something. They are predicting high 70's for that day. I need to get some house cleaning done, shampoo my carpet and work in the yard these next few days. Spring cleaning.

I really had good intentions of hitting the gym this morning, and was even up early, but my dang knee is hurting so bad I don't think I could manage.  It was rough last night, and I alternated heat and ice for a couple of hours. Not sure what I did to aggravate it again...sigh...getting old ain't for sissies.  lol   So, I think I'll go root around in the freezer and find something wonderful to cook for the Irishman's dinner and my own too, make my kefir smoothie, and try to get a jump on a little outside work...assuming I can fit it all in before 2 o'clock. 

Have a wonderfully springy day, y'all.  I'm dreaming about gardening and might even get a few seeds going today. I haven't started anything (and I know, I know...I'm LATE!!)  But I do plant about 3/4 of my gardens directly into the ground from seed.  Because I'm such a procrastinator and always late getting things going, not for ANY altruistic reasons.  lol This year April kinda snuck up on me...I usually at least have lettuce going by now.  Most people around these parts start putting their gardens in AFTER Mother's Day. That's about the safest. Plus it gives the MOTHERS one last free day before they start working themselves to death outside.  lol

 Take the time to savor your life today...

Namaste.