Monday, May 29, 2017

Weekend wrap up


Man, these last four days flew by!

The lawn was mowed, two gardens planted, flowers potted, down front fence repaired, road trip half way across the state, baseball practice, house cleaning, Memorial Day parade and we are at Monday night. I definitely do not feel like working tomorrow.
Seems like one more day off should be in order to rest up from this busy weekend, but alas I will work.

My little garden ended up with 24 tomato plants.
Do you see Tater? She did a lot of supervising while I planted.
The other garden has the usual sweet and hot peppers, onions and cucumbers. I even have a bit of room left so will be picking up a few more plants this week to fill it out.


My favorite part of the weekend was the parade.
When we first moved here 15 years ago you could hardly get a spot on the old nursing home lawn to watch the parade, unfortunately every year the number of spectators dwindle. This year those of us who attended had plenty of elbow room.
We were thrilled to have Colton join us this year.


Caden with the high school marching band!
He looks super sharp in his uniform!


A nice turn out at the cemetery. The guest speaker spoke eloquently about surviving a war zone and then the reality of coming home to deal with your memories. Very moving.


Our boys.
Seems just like yesterday that it was Colton in the uniform instead of Caden.
Caden says he doesn't think the uniforms have been washed since then either lol


A few storms this evening brought more rain to water my thirsty garden.


Hope you have a great short week!
later

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Saturday AM coffee

I got a lot accomplished yesterday.
The little garden is ready for planting today.
Still have the other garden to weed and till, but I'll get it done.

Bought all my plants yesterday afternoon.
Not sure how many tomato and pepper plants I ended up with. Quite a few though.
I know I didn't buy enough flowers so will have to get more next week.
There were several varieties of heirloom tomatoes that I'd never heard of before so we'll be trying them this season. I can't wait for that first fresh tomato!


Picture from a week ago.


The lilacs just keep blooming and they smell amazing.



When Chyann was home last she discovered that our barn cat had kittens out in the old cow barn. There are five of them and they are super sweet so hopefully we wont have a hard time finding them new homes when they are ready. 


Time for me to get some sunblock on and get to digging in the dirt.

Have a good one :)



Friday, May 26, 2017

TGIF!

Memorial day weekend is here.

As soon as I finish drinking my coffee I'm heading out to pull some weeds in preparation of planting the garden tomorrow.

The Hubby thinks I should scale down the garden since we will be doing a lot of baseball over the summer. Yesterday afternoon when he suggested it, I said maybe. Today I'm thinking nope. I don't want to miss a single fresh tomato, pepper, squash, bean, onion, spinach or melon. It'll be a lot of work and probably a bit weedy at times, but I'll make it work.

A few pictures of my new friends.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Baltimore Oriole.


I believe this is a house wren. He sits outside the dining room window and just sings and sings.


Everyone loves the vivid colors of the Cardinal.


We've had flocks of robins land in the apple trees too.
Love listening to the birds in the morning. Seems just before it gets light out is when they are the most vocal.

Anywho.
Big Memorial day parade on Monday and Caden will be in the high school band.

Enjoy your weekend.
later

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Saturday AM coffee

Dang it's cold out.
We've had some unusual weather this last week.
From almost 80* for Colton's party last Saturday to 37* this morning when I got up.

Severe thunder storms and tornados about 40 minutes North of us tearing up towns. We've had a ton of rain.
Not sure how much rain we've had since I can't find the rain gauge (guess I need to buy another one), but the willow has about of two inches of standing water around it.
Even with the cold temps the grass is growing and the yard needs to be mowed badly.

This weekend would have been Caden's first baseball tournament, but it was cancelled due to field conditions and more rain is expected today. As crazy busy as April was for baseball the crappy weather has caused more cancellations for games and practice than we've ever experienced. Some springs are just like that I guess. Makes me glad I resisted the urge to get the garden planted prior to Memorial Day weekend.

Did I mention the apple trees all blossomed for Colton's party last Saturday?
They bloomed when he graduated from High School too. What a coincidence.
With the rainy weather we didn't get to enjoy the scent of the blossoms for long unfortunately.


Chyann made the deans list last semester at college!
She is one dedicated student to make that happen and work at the same time.

School is winding down for Caden too. Six and a half school days until he is officially a FRESHMAN.
Imagine that.

And you know what? I signed him up for drivers ED in August. WOW, right?
He could have done it in June, but with his baseball schedule it would have been too hectic.
Time is flying folks.

later :)

Sunday, May 14, 2017

The BIG day!

The culmination of five years of hard work was upon us.

We got up at the ass crack of dawn to arrive at the college at 710a.
Yes, we were one of the first ones there; we got good parking and the best seats.
Course that meant some sitting and walking around time until the ceremony started at 9a.

The kids goofing around on our way into the school.


Chyann's boyfriend came too.


The graduates were in one gym getting ready while the families were in another huge sports facility.
Caden and I found Colton when we were out on a walk and got a few pictures.


Finally the time had come.
The ceremony will full of pomp and circumstance, the traditions of the collage.
In total it was about two hours long.
The man presenting the diploma was a professor that Colton had for quite a few classes throughout the years.


Walking back to his seat.
He undid the top button of his shirt because he was so hot and forgot to re-button it lol


Afterward a few family pictures.


If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time you'll remember that we always took a first day of school picture of Colton and the kids at his dorm when he lived there and it seemed fitting to get a graduation day photo too.


Can't even tell you how proud we are of him.
Hell of an accomplishment!


Topped the day off with a gathering of friends to celebrate the occasion.


A wonderful day.

Now the real world awaits.

Happy Mothers Day to the Mother's in my life.
I had a great day with all the kids home.
later :)


Friday, May 12, 2017

TGIF

Good Morning.
I am off today with the intent to make pies and other food, clean house and iron clothes in preparation for Colton's GRADUATION tomorrow!

Seating begins at 7a and its open seating so we should really be there no later than 715a. The kids line up at 8a and the ceremony starts at 9a.
We are going to have to get up early to make all that happen, like 4a. 

Chyann is home for the festivities.
She has had a successful first year of college and has a busy summer planned.
Nice to have her home for a week though.

A few pictures around the place.
Jennifer turned 13 last week. She is shedding and her palomino color is gorgeous.


Having a birthday snack in the field next door.


Everything is in bloom.
Which while beautiful has awoken my allergies.


The willow is majestic.
We've had a lot of rain this spring and have standing water at the base of the tree.
When I mowed for the first time last week I almost got stuck down there.
Tore up the lawn a bit, whoops.


Alright my coffee is gone.
Time to get moving.
Have a great weekend!