Wordless Wednesday

Memorial Day Weekend

We've had a busy weekend, full of family and friends. Debbie and Bil invited us over for a supper of steak and sangria, and it felt wonderful to sit and talk late into the evening. I'm thinking that we really don't see friends enough, and this is something that needs to change. And we need to make a purposeful effort, as it's just too easy to settle into a routine of staying at home. It's something to think about anyway.

My family came over for brats and burgers today. After eating, we went with Mom and Dad to look at a new Senior Living Community about a block away. We're hoping that they might want to move closer to us, and the place did look promising! We'll have to find out next if they allow cats, as Peaches and Patches would have to come with.

We stopped by to see Grandma Gloria just as they were loading up the bus to go for a ride into the city. That was quite an adventure for her as she doesn't get out very often. It took a few of us to coax her up the steps and into the bus, but she did it!

And, later today we worked in the yard. The zinnia seeds planted were finally big enough to transplant along the front sidewalk, and should now be safe from frost. The rest of the yard is looking good, too. The flowers by the mailbox are absolutely gorgeous, and everything is so green. And then Jake mowed the lawn for us, good boy.

Wordless Wednesday

Mother's Day 2015

Instead of eating out this year, we decided to eat in at home. It was nice and relaxing, with no crowds to contend with. And we had soft chairs to sit in and plenty of time to talk.

Lilacs were in bloom, so I cut a bouquet for us to enjoy. I'm not sure why I haven't thought to do this before, but it could be a nice tradition to keep if I can only remember to do it again next year!

I made pretty much all of the food the day before, so I didn't have to work on Mother's Day. We had calico beans, a 7 layer salad, strawberries and blueberries, potato chips, and some cherry yum yum dessert (an icebox cheesecake type dessert which Bruce said was surprisingly light and delicious). Bruce picked up the rotisserie chicken from Cub.

We stopped by to visit Grandma Gloria in the memory unit later in the afternoon. It's getting more difficult for her to carry on a conversation, but it was peaceful to just sit and watch a little television with her.

And, I did miss having Katie with us. But we Skyped over the weekend, so that was good.

 

Wordless Wednesday For Katie

Spring

I love this time of year. I love being able to have the windows open and being able to walk around the yard and see all the new growth.  And I must have planted the Allium bulbs in the right direction as there are now three of them coming up! I'm hoping that the rhubarb will big enough to pick within a week or so as Terry has requested I bring rhubarb dessert on the next craft night. It could happen.

Bruce gave me an early Mother's Day present … a couple of adirondack chairs for our front yard! These are made from recycled plastic milk jugs, so even better. And I love the color. They have some weight to them, so the wind shouldn't blow them over, either.

Now to figure out what to do with the weedy flower beds in the backyard and along the side of the garage.

Time On The Water

We were able to spend some time on the water this weekend, Bruce in search of new fishing spots. He caught about a dozen bass that couldn't be kept, but unfortunately the crappies (who were in season) were no where to be found.

I've been putting some thought into the meals we end up eating while we're up at the cabin, and it seems we could do much better. Mostly for health reasons as we seem to grab convenience foods such as canned stews or pizza that end up being high in sodium and calories, but also in that they end up not being very good. So this weekend I brought ingredients to make steak salad, which ended up being  quite delicious … fresh baby spinach, cucumbers, mandarin oranges, red onion, bleu cheese crumbles, and strips of steak browned in toasted sesame oil plus a few honey roasted peanuts and poppyseed dressing on top.

The cats remained at home, tucked away in their respective spaces, and though they probably would rather have had free roam, they were safe and that's that.