Red and Black

I just finished steaming J's graduation gown for tomorrow.  It's hard to believe that she is finished with school!   (Of course she managed to get her only detention EVER on her last day of high school - what are the odds?  She spent 30 minutes sitting in the office prior to graduation practice yesterday.)

Also in the theme of Red and Black:

My newest flower (although I appeared to miss it at it's prime.)

My strawberries are going gangbusters!

And my "Red Hot Poker" has 3 blooms this year!

We have almost survived the disaster of a school year that was 2020-2021!

The End

L received her 2nd COVID vaccination today!  Everyone on our hill has now been vaccinated, so I am declaring the Pandemic on Poplar Ridge over, effective today!

Senior Moments

J is winding down her High School experience.  She took an AP exam last week, and had another this AM.  After school today, she told me "now I don't have to care about school any more!"

In the past couple of months, she has been busy being a senior.

She went to prom with a group of friends.

Last week, she and I attended a picnic given by the Lion's Club to honor the HS Students of the Month - she won back in November.

Over the weekend, she and I spent a couple of hours doing a photo shoot for senior pictures.  We got some nice ones!

She graduates a week from Friday.  I can hardly believe it!

In the meantime, I have been trying to whip my garden into shape.  Despite the lovely rye cover crop and the fact that JP tilled all that biomass in - twice, the ground was like concrete when I went out to plant last week.  I worked and worked - even used the weed eater/tiller, and it barely broke through either.  JP ended up tilling a 3rd time, and I got a bunch of stuff planted ahead of the forecasted rain overnight last night.  It didn't rain very much, so here's hoping for another storm.

We got a lawn sweeper, so I have been pulling it behind the ATV after JP mows, and collecting a lot of grass clippings.  I weeded and mulched my asparagus bed very thickly with it - so thickly that I am now harvesting a bunch of white asparagus - it hasn't broken through the mulch, but developed under it.

I also picked the first few strawberries last week - yummy!

Only 7 1/2 days until summer vacation, how does your garden grow?

The Light at the End of the Tunnel...

 It's been a really long and tumultuous year for all of us, from that fateful Friday the 13th in March last year, when all the kids were sent home from school.  We have all had struggles, some more than others.  We are lucky that we haven't lost anyone that we know and love to this virus.  Lately though, it seems that there may finally be a light at the end of the tunnel of a pandemic.

Today the CDC has announced that fully vaccinated people no longer need to mask or social distance unless it is a requirement of the state they live in.  Also this week, the FDA approved the Pfizer vaccination for adolescents ages 12-15.  Luckily there is a vaccine clinic this weekend locally where L can FINALLY get vaccinated - that means that in another 5 weeks, ALL of us will be that much safer.

breathe a sigh of relief

One step at a time though!  Prom is this weekend too .  J missed it last year, but jumped at the chance to wear her gown this year.  I made her a coordinating mask to wear with it...here's a sneak peak.  I'll post more pics this weekend.

It has been cold and rainy since JP tilled my garden.  I was hoping to plant today, my first opportunity since then, but it didn't happen.  Instead, JP and I travelled north to the Apple Store to replace my phone, which died last night.  Sigh.  Tomorrow the seeds will go in the ground!!

Last weekend, for Mother's Day, the girls and I made our annual pilgrimage to the nursery to buy a trunk full of plants.  I usually get herbs, annuals for my outdoor pots and hanging baskets, and sometimes a house plant or a perennial for my flower beds.  On the way home, we stopped at the Humane Society and picked up Toad, the cat, who has been neutered, vaccinated and checked over by the vet.  We released him on our veranda, where he promptly chased Ernie under the table and kept him trapped there by pacing and growling in front.  Lizzie took off for the woods at the first sign of conflict.  Eventually Toad could take no more, he hissed at and took a swipe at L again and then took off for the woods himself.  I'm pretty sure he came back later that evening and ate all the cat food, but we haven't seen hide nor hair of him since.  The vet estimated his age between 5 and 7, so it is unlikely that we will make a pet of him.

In other news, my mother is also seeing her own light at the end of the tunnel.  She is being discharged from the skilled nursing facility on Sunday.  She has not been home since her surgery early March, and is anticipating this highly!  She is no longer having the chronic pain that she had pre-surgery, and is getting stronger all the time.  The thing slowing her down for the foreseeable future is the hard neck immobilizer for the neck fracture.

For my foreseeable future, I need to quickly plan and then execute a delicious and nutritious meal!  Last night I made Pasta Puttanesca - I thought all of the prepped ingredients looked interesting:

From left going clockwise:  parsley, olives, anchovies, red pepper flakes, parmesan, oregano, capers and garlic.

Here's to life without masks you vaccinated herd!

Up on the hill...

It has been a bit crazy up here on the hill over the past 2 weeks.  After my last post, I browsed through my blog, touching on old posts about mothering, and noted that several years ago I mentioned that luckily I had never had to take one of my children to the Emergency Room.  "That's still true!"  I marveled.

The following evening, the girls and I were at the table, finishing dinner, when L jumped up and ran to the door.  "There's Toad!"  she cried.  Toad is the name that she gave to the stray cat  that we had been seeing around our house for the past week or so.  He always ran away when one of us came outside, which was fine - I didn't really want him to stay.  Because we feed our barn cats outside, it becomes the snack spot for every coon, possum and stray cat within a mile radius of our porch.

I admonished her not to touch the cat, and the next thing I saw through the window was her petting it.  I again told her not to get too close.  "He's nice!" she said, "he's purring and wagging his tail!"  I told her that means he's annoyed and he's going to bite - sure enough, that's what he did.  So...we finished cleaning up, got in the car, and were headed down the driveway to go to the ER for rabies shots, when we passed the cat.  The recommendations if bitten by a stray cat are to catch it if possible and watch it for 10 days.  If it becomes ill in that time period, it will need to be euthanized, and it's brain evaluated for evidence of rabies infection, and the bite victim will need the shots.  If it is ok after 10 days, everyone is in the clear. 

We were able to catch the cat (carefully) and put it in Kali's big crate with a litter box, a towel for a bed, food and water.  The following day, JP was able to contact the local Humane Society, who agreed to quarantine the cat for 10 days, have it evaluated by the vet, given shots and neutered, and then it would be available for adoption if all was ok.  We received word last Friday that the cat was ok, and word today that it is not a friendly cat and will NOT be put up for adoption after the surgery.  We agreed to re-release him back here after the surgery since he is obviously feral.

still haven't been to the ER with the girls...(whispered)

Last week the girls had their final rehearsals for the Spring Musical.  JP and I went to see it on Thursday, opening night.  It was a small crowd - limited to 200 due to Corona precautions - but the small cast did a marvelous job, especially J in one of the lead roles.  JP worked on Sat and Sun, so I went to both shows on Sat (even took my mother out of the skilled nursing facility to see it too!)

I don't think that I mentioned that my mother is back in our town, but has been at a skilled nursing facility for rehab following her back surgery.  A week and a half ago, she turned her head and felt/heard something crunch in her neck and had instant pain.  Because she had a similar surgery there about 5 or 6 years ago, she used both hands to hold her neck still.  They put her in a soft cervical collar obtained by the PT department and took her by ambulance down to the Hospital where she had her surgery.  They determined that she in fact fractured her 1st cervical vertebrae.  There is really no other explanation for it except for the fact that she has osteoporosis.  She sees the doctor back at the end of this week.

I am trying to visit once or twice a week, but the facility has multiple rules and regulations regarding visitors, and it doesn't always work out.  I have been trying to keep up with her laundry as well, since we do many more loads/week than my dad does.  I have also been trying to keep her plants watered.  I inherited this amaryllis from her several months ago, and it just finished blooming.

The morning of my mother's accident, JP and I were in the car, driving down to VA.  We looked at, and made an offer on a piece of property there.  Since that time, we changed the offer to include 2 properties together totaling about 45 acres, increased our offered price, dropped out of the bidding, re-entered the bidding and increased the offer again.  We are now in the process of obtaining financing for the purchase.  We intend to re-sell about half of the property at some point, and in the future, hope to relocate there to retire.

Here on the home front, the asparagus is coming up.  I have cut a little bit on two occasions.  The strawberries and blueberries are blooming.  JP cut the rye cover crop in the garden and tilled it in.  Today I built a cold frame out of shelving, clear plastic, duct tape and clothes pins, and moved my seedlings out of doors to "harden off."

Our chickens are growing more and more feathers.  I have introduced them to dandelions, and they now devour a huge bunch of them daily.  It won't be too much longer before we can let them outside!

Our third well, which we have just been using since October last year, failed a couple of weeks ago.  When the well drillers came out to check things out, they found that the same thing happened as with the second well:  lateral subsidence had crushed the well and/or pump.  JP contacted a local geologist, who felt that it was likely secondary to long wall coal mining in the area.  He then spoke to someone at the EPA, who confirmed that there has NOT been mining within several miles of our location.  We are waiting to hear back from the geologist, and in the meantime, are back to hauling water.  I HATE this!

Work has been busy, busy for both JP and I. L is having more problems with school.  J is getting ready for prom and graduation.  She has been accepted into the musical theater program at YSU (don't get me started.)  Sometimes I feel like I can't quite catch my breath!

When I sit back and think about it though, on a quiet evening (after a tumultuous day), we are all ok, and that is the most important thing.

Normal

 I realized as I was cleaning downstairs today, that last year at this time, I was furloughed, JP was quarantined, and the girls were home from school.  How different it is this year!  We are all fully immunized, except for L, who is too young.  The girls are back to school 4 days/week.  I am working again, and doing many telemedicine visits.  The girls and I have masks to coordinate with all of our outfits.

This is our new normal.  We are going on with life.  We did our annual Easter Egg hunt outside on a beautiful April day.  J said that she wanted to continue to do this as long as possible because "I always win!"

Even Stella got Easter Eggs!

The girls are currently at their first dress rehearsal this afternoon for the Spring play, which opens in 10 days.  I am worried that things are opening up too much and too soon.  JP is seeing a huge increase in the numbers of positive COVID tests every day he works.  J is planning for prom.  I typically work at one vaccination clinic per week, and I see shots going into the arms of hundreds of people, but I don't see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow yet.

But we continue on - what else can we do?  J has been accepted at YSU (#goGUINS) and I am effectively blocking all of the emotions that go along with that - at least for the time being.  She recently sent in audition recordings for the theater program, and had a virtual interview with the director and several instructors of the program last weekend.

I keep cooking and baking, with many successes and several fails - such as this Angel Food Cake.

Spring keeps advancing - the tulips that we transplanted from raised beds in the garden to my flower bed by the house are in bloom.

The peeps were racing across the feed trough that we started them in, flapping their tiny wings ferociously, so we moved them into the hen house.  It didn't take them long to settle on the next-to-highest roost!  Unfortunately, I found one dead this morning of unknown causes.

The redbuds and the dogwoods are blooming in the woods.  The grass is growing.  JP will soon have to get the mower out!

My seedlings are going crazy in the house.  I am hoping that we can soon till the Rye cover crop in the garden so I can plant them because I am going crazy in the house too!

So embrace the new normal.  Keep going, because giving up is not an option.  Be careful, because the virus is still raging out there.  Dig in the dirt because it is good for the soul.

April Fools!

The lovely Spring weather turned backwards today.

You can see my apricot trees blooming in the background amidst the snow flakes.

We have had to work to keep the peeps warm - these 6 little girls came to Poplar Ridge about 2 weeks ago.

So, while the winds blow snow outside, I am cooking inside - I made homemade gnocchi for the first time, and for dessert, tiramisu.

One day spring will be here to stay.