Back From the Beach

Yesterday we returned from a week's vacation at Lake Erie.  We have been enjoying spending time there for the past several summers, and this time was wonderful as well.

The girls roller skated and scooter-ed on the walks at Presque Isle.

We spent time at the beach.

We did our yearly circuit of Presque Isle by bicycle (13.5 miles.)

J and I discovered a bunch of cute shops within walking distance of our Air BNB.  At a coffee shop there, I tried a Mayan Mocha Coffee and was hooked.  I tried making some this morning at home and got a fair representation:

Put 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tablespoon cocoa, and 1/8 tsp of cayenne into a coffee cup.  Add 1-2 tablespoons of hot water and stir until smooth, like chocolate syrup.  Add hot coffee and 1T brown sugar.  Mmmmmm!  (You may need to adjust the amounts of sugar and/or cayenne to your liking - I liked it just a bit sweet with enough hot to hit the back of my throat on the way down - it's memorable!)

I have done 5 loads of laundry in the past day and a half.  Luckily friends stepped in and harvested from our garden while we were gone so that I didn't have a lot of too-far-gone produce to deal with this weekend.  Tomorrow is catch up with housecleaning day, but the girls are heading back to work.

Sigh.

Farm Fresh

It is a couple of weeks past when I expected the hens to start laying, but I finally found 2 eggs in the chicken house this afternoon!

I went down to the garden and mowed down the weeds with the push mower this afternoon, and brought a bunch of other produce back up from the garden:

For dinner, we had a couple of experiments.  I made Tofu Tikka Masala pizza, using this recipe, substituting a 12 oz block of extra firm tofu for the chicken, and omitting most of the spicy stuff.  I used refrigerated pizza dough (which I have NEVER used before) and baked it in a quarter sheet pan so the crust was extra thick.

For dessert I made Blueberry Dessert Pizza, which I kinda made up on the spot:

1 refrigerated pizza dough

3 T butter, melted

1/2 c flour

2 T sugar

2 cups fresh blueberries

1/8 c instant tapioca

1/4 c sugar

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1 T lemon juice

about 2 T cinnamon sugar

Mix blueberries, tapioca, 1/4 c sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg & lemon juice in medium bowl and squish the blueberries slightly.  Let sit for 30 min, stirring and squishing occasionally.  Mix 2 T melted butter, flour and 2 T sugar to make streusel.  Press pizza dough into quarter sheet pan, dock with a fork and bake at 425* for 4 min.  Brush with remaining butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, spread blueberries and top with streusel.  Bake at 425* for 12 more minutes.

Delicious!

So, It's Been About a Month...

Where did the time go?  I'll try to catch you up!

We had a graduation party for J, which was well attended, and she had a lot of fun.  There was food,

Tree houses,

Swimming,

As well as a fire for s'mores, an outside movie, and a couple of friends slept over.

We took a day trip to Oglebay Park's Good Zoo in Wheeling, and ate lunch along the Ohio River.

L and I met with the Pediatric Neurologist at WVU and they do not feel that she needs any further work up for the seizure.  They are working on treating her chronic headaches, however.

We bought some property in Rockingham Co, VA, and explored it with the girls.  

One amazing find there was mulberry bushes!

We had a cookout and a few fireworks on the Ridge with the family to celebrate Independence Day.

The girls started their summer jobs at the library.

The garden is going gangbusters - particularly the blueberries.  This weekend I picked 3 gallons of blueberries, zucchini, cucumbers, wax beans, baby lettuce and sugar snap peas.

Whew!  I think we are up to speed now!  Hope your summer is flying by in the BEST of ways!

Breaking the "No ER" Streak

Yesterday we broke the 18 + year streak of never taking my kids to the ER, and we did so in a BIG way!

L had a seizure while we were shopping 30 min North of home.  She and I rode to the ER in the ambulance, and spent the next 6 1/2 hours confirming that she was ok.  It ends up that the most likely scenario was the recent medication increase that she started the previous day.

It turns out that I can deal with emergencies fairly well in my patients, but I don't do so great when it's my kids.  All I could think as I watched her seize and turn blue and remain unconscious, was that she was going to die.  Right there on the floor at Sam's Club.

She is fine.  J and I are having some PTSD type flashbacks, but we are all home and ok.  I can think of 1,001 things that I would rather do than spend 6 1/2 hours in the ER with my child on a Saturday (or any day for that matter), but it's worth it to know that the incident was not caused by anything more sinister.

Please hold your loved ones close today, and I'm wishing you all health and happiness.

Around the Farm

I have been desperately trying to get the pool ready to use, but am thwarted at every step.  First we faced a chlorine shortage, next we couldn't find a fixture to replace one that apparently cracked over the winter, then we were low on water (everywhere, not just in the pool) and we hauled 3 loads to fill it up, and finally found that the skimmer itself was cracked.  We have been trying to use epoxy to stop it up, but keep having a tiny leak.  I just want it ready next week when J has her graduation party!

In the effort of cleaning off the veranda in anticipation of said party, JP and I have listed the Big Green Egg for sale on Craig's List.  When we moved it to the garage for easy loading by a future buyer, one of the wheels fell off.  It has taken us the past couple of hours to get it fixed, and in the process, one of the garage door windows got broken.  We crawled around on the concrete for a long time, picking up tiny shards of glass.

I discovered this little bugger amongst my strawberries when I was picking them yesterday.

On a happier note, we put together this swing set for the girls over the Memorial Day weekend.  JP has been promising the girls for one for YEARS, and needed it to happen before J left home.  It is pinned to the ground with 4 giant screws - shouldn't go anywhere!

The pear tree is absolutely COVERED with tiny pears this year.

I am off to do some more veranda cleaning - it appears that the cat threw up on the chair covers and have clawed one of my benches into splinters.  SIGH.

Summer Starts Here II

Last day of school...whew.  This year has been a MESS!  L couldn't handle the lack of structure and accountability starting in Feb or so.  It has been a non-stop struggle to get her to actually do her work and not sleep all day.  I'm SOOOOOO relieved we're done!

We attended our annual (excepting 2020) end of school party at our friends', where J was spotted wearing a cap of a different kind.

At the end of this extremely warm day, we attended graduation at the High School field.

Notice J's footwear?  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  This is me 30 years ago at my college graduation.

And there we have it - sum, sum, summertime!

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!