Friday, April 22, 2016

Out and About

I hired a friend of my son's to stay with Mama while I took my first two hours out for no reason since February 3rd. Weather was cool and semi-stormy, and I was home before I knew it. Happy meal at the Lake and driving my car...



These tulips sure speak my language!


Lake at noon


A field of dandelions

And although I told her she could just sit and study for her college classes, this sweet girl swept all my floors and steamed the bathroom. Lovely...


Saturday, April 16, 2016

Something New




Well, what I'm talking about is new to my generation, I think. The younger generation, with its link to today's medical technology, is able to predict the gender of a new baby months before it arrives. I know two schools of thought exist on this, and I'm honestly on both sides. Whatever the couple/parent wants is great!



My son is headed to a REVEAL party for a co-worker. Part of the perk of working with a group of nurses on computer support is a friendship with the staff. He is part of a group having a big reveal party in a nearby town, and he even signed himself up for snack detail. I love baking or making goodies, so he knows to always put his name down on that.




Today I surprised him with Reveal Rice Krispies/Marshmallow Treats. I honestly didn't see it on Pinterest, but I'm sure an even grander version exists. It didn't hurt mine to be plopped into a Temptations Violet 9 x 13. Love, love that brand of cookware. He was tickled that I'd gone to "so much trouble." Isn't it cool when people don't know how easy Rice Krispie Treats are?  I forwarned him to eat the pink unless he wants a little bitty blue on his tongue.



Lovely Saturday Sun and Breezes. Mom has her front door open with birds chirping right at her shoulder it seems. Time for contemplating the treat that is tomorrow... Kids coming for lunch and THE GOOD WITCH returns!  YAY!!! And also yay that I have more Rice Krispies, marshmallows, and butter...



P.S. It is a boy~


Whimsy and Hugs!

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Nights



What is so personal about nights? I just want to know why I am so intensely territorial about my nighttime routine. I rather willingly mold and calibrate my daily round to accommodate all sorts of changes, interruptions, and chores... But set a big toe inside the sacred circle of my precious nights, and you may not come out with all your ears and toes! I am joking, somewhat, but I do notice how cranky I am at nights.


It's not that I want to sleep because I don't always want that. I just want to be ME at that time. Sleep if I want. Eat if I want. Watch TV, fiddle around with a computer, move the entire living room to another location....  Whatever! I am definitely a night creature, and I don't share very well.


At the risk of being overly introspective, I've written in my journal and done a bit of discussing of this personal phenomenon. I guess I just came up with the fact that I'm a people pleaser, an only child, and a night owl. I am severely used to the idea that when I say goodnight, barring some kind of emergency, I'm done with all those issues. I no longer have to please anybody. I do not have to grade papers, wash windows, say yes when I mean no, agree with opposite ideas put forth by the media, a kindred soul, or my mother...  I'm just ME. Totally, happily me sitting around in my comfiest nightgown and slurping icy water from a favorite glass...  Talking on the phone to whomever I want to, and reading parts of books, writing parts of stories, coloring parts of doodles...


In the past, I always enjoyed a little cat on my lap during these personal voyages to the core of my spirit. Unfortunately no cat resides in my domain, and unfortunately my mother has a bit of an issue with nights herself. She often sleeps through the night, but she also often has rather random, totally unnecessary bits of "urgency" she want to discuss, such as next year's Christmas candy for the UPS man, itemized deductions for the IRS, odd recipes and occasional residents of the community who have long since moved or passed away. And I NEVER know how long my self-proclaimed autonomy will last if I start a silly project, close my eyes to sleep, or push play on a movie I've been wanting to see... And it seems absolutely stupid to really care in the great scheme of things. But...  I'm being honest here. And I do care evidently. A bunch!


So I explain to Mama one more morning that I'm not actually angry or snotty with her during the night. It's just my nature to be kind of that X-eyed sleeping monster creature from midnight to seven A.M. She always gets it, but then she is kind of forgetful during the night because she has some kind of a deal with the dark...  We are working it out. I'm getting enough sleep with naps and stuff...  I'm just adapting..  poorly I might say...  But any progress is, after all, PROGRESS. Have a good weekend. Take two Tylenol and call me in the morning. IN THE MORNING, I said..  haha..  



Whimsy and Hugs!

Friday, April 8, 2016

Winds are brewing...

Whimsy and Hugs!

Nothing but wind! Well, let me get a cup of something magical and tell you about the winds in Missouri this spring! They are what you call, FIERCE. I mean, when I put some shoes out on the porch the other day to return, I happened to just think about checking if they "blew away...  haha.." Well, yes, as a matter of fact, they were half way to the road by way of the wild and crazy April Winds.

Above is a masterful blend of my Chai Latte, which I didn't really love, and a few chips of dry ice from an order of  Pizza Pretzels from QVC. I can say I enjoyed the dry ice more than either of those delicacies. But of course, I couldn't drink any more after that...  Such a lovely moiling of bubbles and steam, that sublimation of dry ice and liquid... I'm quite mesmerized. One of my favorite tricks if enough dry ice remains in the carton, is to submerge it in my dishwater...  Children love to play, don't we?

I'm loving the scent of pure vanilla in the oven. Evidently an old Real Estate Sales trick is to pour 2 T. vanilla into an oven safe cup and set in a 200 degree oven for at least 30 minutes to an hour. The house smells as if vanilla sugar cookies were about to appear from the cookie jars of all womankind!

In our little corner of Paradise all is the same, which is the equivalent of "All is Well," I think. Yet, looking outside, it is NOT the same as I see the red bud blooming wildly and the Spring wheat now sprung nearly 15 inches tall in places, flat in silken obedience to the wind in others.

Mom is coming along better than most expected, as the professionals who come to care for her are fond of telling her. It is a quite sad to see her little eyes get wider when well-meaning professionals tell her she wasn't expected to live. I think it scares her. She has begun to want to piece together the fateful days and moments after her stroke, so I always tell her the truth, although I might be giving the PG version at times. What she wants is reassurance that she will someday soon get out of that bed and resume her life, that nothing like this will ever happen to her again, that she won't fall out of bed when she is lying right in the middle of it with her eyes squinted shut. I do that in the lines of hoping for the best. The best is already better than many ever hoped for, so why not shoot for the stars?

She has been telling me marvelous stories about her childhood and about her childhood home in Terre Haute, Indiana. She was wondering what happened to that home, and she, of course, remembered the address. I looked it up on Intellius and White pages and discovered it was sold two years ago in foreclosure. I found a photo of it today, which looked quite like she remembered it. I found the name of the buyer, and I found his photo on Google Images. He's a 34 year old young man who must love sports. Mom enjoyed the Internet sleuthing, and she told my son all about the photos when he came by last night. Since Internet Technology is his life, he wasn't as amazed by Google Armchair PI as Mom. Go figure.

I am still sorting and cleaning and pitching and organizing. I don't see an end in sight on that job. And each box that I happen to fill and send by my son garners the usual queries: "What's in this? You didn't get rid of the ---? Did you?" He is not on board with any clearing of any cluttered memories.

Have a good weekend. If the wind blows you my way, stop in. We will have something better for refreshments than Chai Latte spiked with dry ice. I promise you that.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Spring has sprung!


I would say it is Spring! I can see traces of plans for the upcoming faerie ball! I am pretty sure they live in this tree because otherwise, it would have died before now!


The view from my window reveals leaves the size of a squirrel's ears... Do any of you know what we are supposed to plant at that time? My Gramma always had advice for life and one was to watch for leaves this size in order to do something or another!!!


Mother Earth News says this:

“When apple blossoms start to fall…,”  “When lilacs are in full bloom…,” “When oak leaves are the size of a squirrel's ear…” Our neighbors and The Old Farmer’s Almanac are full of advice about when to plant corn, beans, squash, and other crops. It may seem like old wives tales but there is a growing body of evidence showing that growing degree days and phenology (the study of natural plant cycles) are valuable planning tools for gardeners in these times of climate change and unpredictable weather.

Go Gramma! You rock, Sweetie!











Whimsy and Hugs!

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Faeries and Spinner

Yes. The sweet faeries have come out to play on our mantel. Here in the sunset they are thinking about the extravagant fairie dance they will give at midnight on the full moon... I hope to be invited because anyone know that faeries know how to throw a great party.
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I tried a new recipe today for honey-garlic chicken and vegetables. I baked six chicken breasts, carrots, and both sweet and Irish potatoes in a sauce (1 c. Honey, 1/2 c. Soy sauce, 1 1/2 T. Minced garlic, pinch crushed red pepper flakes, and pinch of thyme.) It was a hit.
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And for the first time in 2016, we played a little Spinner with Mama... I was her co-partner, we played an abbreviated game, and we lost, but it seemed fun.