Monday, April 18, 2016

Spring has finally sprung...

here in the land of lakes and loons.  The temperature got up to nearly 80 degrees today and now, in the middle of the night, is still at 68.  I turned off the heat for my apartment a couple of days ago.  It is so nice to be able to have the windows open again.  Early this morning about the time the dark of night gave way to the first gray of morning, I could hear the chorus of sparrows and chickadees that live in the trees outside my windows.  They are so incredibly cheerful sounding in the morning.  Takes me at least a half pot of coffee to even become civil.

It has been a quiet week here.  Aside from a few bags of cranberries waiting in the freezer to be turned into juice, I am pretty well caught up in the food storage department.  I have been using about half of my every-other-week grocery order to get fresh fruit, vegetables, etc. and the other half to stock up on whatever is on sale.  The canning shelves are full.  The closet pantry is full.  The shelf holding the dehydrated food is full.  I think I could go for at least year without having to go to the store, if necessary.   It is real easy to become complacent when the shelves are full and I don't want to do that.  This week my local grocery has boneless chuck roast on sale for $2.99 a pound, which is a good price here.  I may have to ask Oldest Son to do a grocery run for me on his next day off, and get me at least 40 lbs of beef roast.  I have lots of jars of beef cubes canned, but it would be nice to have some bigger pieces for roast beef dinners.

A couple of weeks ago my granddaughter, Maddie Mae, called to tell me that she had been named "Student of the Month" at her school.  The honor has to do with good grades and good citizenship and I'm not sure what all else.  It makes me glad when one of the grands calls to let me know what is going on in their lives.  Good going, Maddie.  You make me proud.

A week ago on the weekend I was sort of glued to my computer.  The two youngest granddaughters had a dance competition and I could watch it being live streamed.  Each of them had a couple of dances with the whole age group, plus each had a solo dance and Maddie had a duet.  It was so much fun to watch.  The live stream was a bit dicey during the awards ceremony so I missed learning how they did.  But when I talked to Boston later, she said both of them had high marks including some first place trophies.




It is always a bit jarring to see them in full costume and stage makeup.  When I think of them, this is what I see.



Other than that, it has been just the usual hum drum life of a contented retiree.  A little quality time with a good murder mystery, an apple pie shared with Oldest Son (He is really good to help me eat baked goodies!), and naps.  Naps are a good thing.  I have about six bananas that are nearly over ripe so I expect there are a couple of loaves of banana bread in my future, probably tomorrow.

I know there are all sorts of crazy things going on in the world around me.  Thing is, there is precious little I can do about any of it.  So I keep one eye on the news and the other on Home Sweet Apartment.  I'm going to be 70 years old in a couple of months.  So I have decided to enjoy the time I have left as much as possible.  That includes doing the things I like to do, such as sewing and quilting and scrapbooking and reading.  And spending time with my family.  And keeping on with the preps, for even if I never use all of it, there are those who will.  Some find joy in world travel and others in the whirl of social activity.  Me...  I'm perfectly content right here.  Can't ask for much more than that.  

8 comments:

  1. Thanks, Gorge...They are the light of my life. :)

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  2. So nice to see your post. I'm glad that Spring has arrived for you. And great news about your Grands. How fun to be able to watch their competition with your computer. Even with the glitches.
    Spring has also arrived here. The weather has been unusually warm this last week but that is supposed to change Wednesday. I've been working on my gardens as best I can. Slow and steady is my mantra, for sure. I transplanted some volunteers (either tomatillos or chard, not sure which), weeded and added compost. It's still a little too cold at night to start seeds yet. I've enjoyed the sunshine and have also been able to turn off my heat. Yipee!
    Cheers, SJ in Vancouver BC

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  3. Hi SJ...I'm sure loving this weather, finally. I think I knew winter was over when I heard the birds chattering. Turning off the heat and opening windows was the highlight of my week. I was wondering if you were able to get out and dig in the dirt yet. I always used to enjoy getting that rich, black earth under my fingernails after a long, cold winter!

    My grands dance competitions run from a Friday evening through Sunday evening. Their dance studio competes against several others, so it is a long, drawn out affair that I just physically can't handle any more. So being able to watch at least one of the competitions on my computer is just plain fun. Their Dad lets me know the approximate times each of the girls performs. And Grandma is right here, watching the screen and enjoying every second of it.

    This is a quiet time of year for me. Too early for the Farmers Market so unless there is a really good store sale, there isn't much food preservation going on. I've just been puttering about with this and that. Not much going on to blog about right now. :)

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  4. Aren't grand kids special! You have a bunch of cuties!! Yesterday was warm here too, 70 degrees. After all the chilly weather it seemed like summertime. Want to get the garden going, but can't until next month or we'll watch when the farmers plant. Going to be soon, I hope - lots of 'honey-dipper' wagons going down the road!

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  5. Thanks, Chickenmom...Yep, grands are great. All of the fun without the hassle! I am way past ready for Spring. We didn't have a bad winter...just looooong. :) I can no longer garden, but I really enjoy seeing the gardens on the blogs I read. Question...Is a "honey-dipper wagon" in Jersey the same as a "honey wagon" here in Minnesota? Here it is a manure spreader. And the only time of year I am glad I don't live in the country is when our honey wagons are busy spreading the smells of spring over the fields! :)

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  6. Yup! But the odor doesn't bother me at all. We use a lot of it here. And it's all free - from the neighbor's horses! (and of course, from the gang!)

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  7. Chickenmom...I joke about it, but the smell doesn't really bother me, either. It is all part of the life in the country where I spent so many of my younger years. Although I gotta say, the odors from the fertilizer collected at the hog barns could get a little bit intense. :)

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