Egg-citing Egg-periments

It has been an eventful few weeks!  After all of the theater stuff was over and done, L and I went to an Alice in Wonderland themed Murder Mystery Tea.  Our character was the Mad Hatter, so we dressed the part.

We made a big Easter dinner and had my parents over.  JP smoked a ham, and I tried a new recipe for Melting Potatoes, which DEFINITELY warrants being made again.

My hens are now 2 years old, and although putting a light on in the hen house in the evenings all winter did increase their productivity, we don't usually keep them longer than this.  I am having a hard time finding peeps this spring, so we decided to try to hatch some eggs.  JP brought a rooster that was in need of a new home back from work with him about 2 or 3 weeks ago.  He immediately started doing his thing, and I put 18 eggs in the incubator on April 27th.

J's graduation from Bowling Green was on Saturday.  We found out last spring that all of the hotel rooms and Air BNBs in the area were already booked a year ahead, so we ended up staying just over an hour away with JP's brother.  We drove up from home last Wednesday, stopping first to change a flat on the OH turnpike, and then to have lunch with J at her apartment.

The following day we drove the hour + back to BG and got most of J's stuff in her apartment packed in the truck.  We then drove over an hour West to spend the evening with one of JP's college buddies and his family, before driving back to his brother's place for the night.  We made the trip again Friday to do some more packing and take J out for dinner, then early Sat AM took off for the grad ceremony.

We got a later start than intended and barely made it there in time.  Over 700 students graduated and there were 2 more ceremonies slated for Saturday!!

Today I have been working on laundry, but I also took the time to "candle" the eggs in the incubator.  17 out of 18 of them appear to be growing babies!

The dark spot is the embryo.

It was late and raining when we returned to PA, so even though we still have a truck full of J's stuff that needs to go up to her apartment in Pittsburgh, we didn't take the time to do it last night.  We may be taking it up today, although the Pittsburgh Marathon, a Pirate's game, and University of Pitt graduation are currently jamming up the roads.

SIGH.

The good news is new peeps in about 2 weeks, other than that, life is CRAZY!

March Madness

Let me start off by saying that the Lemon Tiramisu was good, but too much lemon...I think I would prefer lemon bars for the lemon kick and stick with the tried-and-true T's tiramisu going forward.

Spring is nearly here!  We have actually had to replace some of the window screens and open windows for a couple of days because the sun has been shining, and it has been lovely outside.  We did finally get the garden covered with a few leaves and straw just a couple of weeks ago.  I made about 65 newspaper pots and got my seeds started indoors at the beginning of March - a couple of weeks later than typical.  Most everything is sprouted, although I did replant a few seeds this morning.

These are eggplants, cabbage, brussels sprouts,
chard and kale

My Lenten roses and crocuses (croci??) are blooming, although a bit later than last year.

I have been trying to finish up my winter "free time" projects, since before long I will likely be spending many hours outside.

The puzzles were thrifted, and the Starry Night 
legos were a Bday gift from JP

One sunny afternoon, while disposing of old leaves and flower stalks from one of my flower beds down in the woods, I discovered a whole trash pile that I was not aware of.  In addition to the pile of stuff that I dragged up to recycle and dispose of, there were at least 2 dozen tires down there!  It makes me so angry!!

A couple of weeks ago, my friends invited me along to go thrifting.  I did find this fun Armadillo Lamp that is now on my desk at work to make me smile.

J was home 2 weeks ago for Spring Break.  We took an overnight trip to Ohio to the tri-state's largest flea market, and then to the Amish shopping center in Youngstown, where we stocked up on scrapple, lebanon bologna, cheese curds and homemade apple fritters.  We ate dinner at a fun restaurant in Wheeling where they specialize in crepes of all forms and spent the night at Oglebay there.  We played in the pool and jacuzzi before heading to bed.  It was a nice mini-vacay.

She is now back at school and we won't see her again until Grad in May!

Theater season is coming up!  I went to a fund raiser for the HS drama club at the coffee shop in town this AM, they are doing "Legally Blond the Musical" in 2 weeks.  Next weekend the local University is putting on "Percy Jackson the Musical."  The first weekend in April, Chatham is doing "Little Women the Musical" and L would like to go up for that.  Whew!

Big news - L has a job!  She is working part time at the local Library.  She is still doing 2 long appointments a week, so that knocks part of the week out right away.  She is feeling better, and her treatments should be finished by the end of March.

Well, I need to pay the bills today, so I should get a move on.  Enjoy the sunshine!

Winter Projects

Well, we made it through Christmas.  It was lovely having J home from college for an entire month!  She is back in school for her final semester.

L also celebrated her 19th birthday 2 days after Christmas.

We actually got a bunch of snow this year, followed by really cold weather, so it stuck around.  I think we had a total of around 10 inches from Jan 6th through the present.  The girls and I got a chance to play in the snow together after 2 winters of no snow!

Because there hasn't been much outside stuff to do lately, I have worked on some projects indoors.  I have done a couple of my yearly puzzles:

J got me this Hercule Poirot one for Christmas - 
I have also read 3 Poirot books in the past 11 days.

L brought this one home from The Louvre for me.

This project I did before Christmas - made this picture frame for L out of a cool box that salsa came in:

JP gave me a new Lego set for Christmas, this one came with a lighting set!  So I have built Notre Dame this winter as well.

The fake leather on our cool table/ottoman was peeling and flaking and looking terrible, so I decided to recover it.  Unfortunately all of the fabric stores nearby are closed, so I ordered new fake leather from Amazon.  As you can tell, the true color looks a lot different than the picture on line. 😕  It does look a whole lot better though.

My next project will be on a larger scale, and I think we'll need to call in some professional help.  The hot water valve under JP's sink sprung a leak and ran all night down into L's room.  It messed up her ceiling and 2 of the 4 sides of her window well, as well as the drywall below the window.  The carpet was soaked too.  We moved her into J's bed for a couple of weeks until everything was dried out and cleaned up, but the repairs have not started yet.

In addition to this, I will be picking up some extra work, but most of it can be done remotely - I am covering labs and imaging for a couple of providers at another Family Practice who are out on extended leaves - this should last through the end of February.

I also joined a Gym - can you believe it?  I plan to exercise there twice a week while L is having extended medical visits north of here.

The forecast is calling for more snow tomorrow.  Stay warm and safe, everyone!

Fall Gardening

 The girls were home for Fall Break last weekend, and L brought her roommate along home.  It was lovely to have everyone together again, and I got a bit of help in the garden from L's roommate.  I have been slowly closing the garden down for Fall.  Last weekend we brought in the squashes, a good sized (and delicious) watermelon, and enough tomatoes to make a double batch of enchilada sauce for dinner.

In addition, it was JP's birthday, so we had 5 Flavor Pound Cake to celebrate.

I had a LOT of wash to do when the girls were home, and I managed to get most of the loads hung outside on the clothesline to dry.  I kept finding clothespins on the ground, and realized that my clothespin bag has degraded enough to have holes in the bottom.  I had enough of that fabric to remake the bag.

J has started to bring home some of the things that she is not currently needing, in order to decrease the load coming home in May when she graduates.  She brought home 3 boxes of pottery, some of which are things that she doesn't like, including a teapot that doesn't pour.  JP offered her the option of shooting it with a shotgun, and she jumped at the chance.  You can see the teapot hanging on a stake behind her.

This weekend, JP and I finished harvesting from the garden and pulled out all the plants.  He took two tractor bucket loads down to the woods to dump it!  I also cut the asparagus back in the asparagus bed, and weeded it.  JP helped me dig the remainder of the compost from last year into the tractor bucket, and it is now spread over the asparagus bed to soak in over the winter.  I still have lots of produce to take care of, but I did get the jalapenos prepped and frozen last night, and I am getting ready to make some Cabbage Roll Soup for dinner to use some more.

Cabbage Roll Soup (serves 8)

- 1 large onion, diced                                           - 2 T tomato paste             

- 6 cloves garlic, minced                                       - 4 c beef broth

- 1 1/2 lbs meatball mix                                        - 1 1/2 c V8

- 3/4 c uncooked brown rice                                  - 1 t paprika

- 1 med head cabbage, chopped (about 8 c )        - 1 t thyme

- 28 oz canned diced tomatoes                             - 2 T Worcestershire sauce

- Salt & Pepper to taste                                         - 1 Bay leaf

In a large pot brown the meat and onion.  Add garlic and tomato paste and saute until very dark.  Stir in cabbage and cook for about 3 min until slightly softened.  Add remaining ingredients and cook until rice is done, about 30-35 min.

Serve topped with grated mozzarella or parmesan cheese.

Kale, Chard, sweet peppers, jalapenos, Thai Basil and Dill

Watermelon, carrots, tomatoes and cabbage

The garden is waiting for its blanket of leaves and straw for winter.

I found this large snake skin in my garden shed when I was working down there this weekend.  I didn't see him hanging out there any longer, but I'm hoping that he had a nice meal of field mice that like to camp out while he was there!

So, like it or not, I'm preparing for winter.  Our driveway should be finished by next weekend to make winter driving easier as well. 

Happy Fall Y'all!

Vacation, Carnies, and All That Jazz...

Well, it has now been a week since we returned from our annual Erie vacation.  Once again, we had a lovely time at the beach...

J & L played in the sand...

I studied for my upcoming Board Exams

We rode our bikes.

We just finished our 13 + mile circumnavigation of
Presque Isle

We spent a rainy day at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center.

We discovered Asbury Woods, a wooded park over 200 acres in size with lots of developed trails.  We hiked for several hours, and played in the river, and found the "Grandmother Tree."

We got home full into County Fair season in town, so the girls and I took in the sights from the Ferris Wheel this week.

When we got home, I discovered that the garden was going crazy the entire time we were gone!  I have tomatoes and beans to can or freeze just about every other day!

Dill, turnips, tomatoes, tomatilloes

Wax beans, tomatoes, cucumbers

We have a week and a half until L goes to Chatham, and 2 weeks until J goes back to Bowling Green.  It's hard to believe!

World Travels

L and 49 other students, teachers and parents left on June 12th for the Pittsburgh airport.  They took a flight to Edinburgh, Scotland to begin their Europe trip that they have been planning for the past 3 years.

I was sent daily photos of her with her 3 buddies from pre school on a daily basis, so I'll share them here:

Edinburgh, Scotland

Stratford-Upon-Avon, England

Stonehenge, England

London Bridge, London, England

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

Notre Dame, Paris, France

Their itinerary was non-stop for 10 days straight.  She came home thoroughly exhausted and slept for about 16 hours straight.

While she was gone, J & I travelled to the big city of Wheeling to see Donny Osmond in concert, and we wore our purple Donny socks in his honor.  It was a great concert!