Garden Prep

Spring is very dry for us this year. My garden area from last year is covered in dry weeds and sand.Some of the onions I planted last year came up again this year and are slowly getting buried in all the sand.

Since my old garden area was too depressing to work in I decided I needed a change. This year my garden will be in the orchard; which has its share of weeds too.

My first task was to water a small area to soften up the dirt. It was almost impossible to hoe weeds with the ground being so hard and dry.

Once all the tall dry weeds were cleared out things began looking better. I ended up with two piles of dry weeds awaiting to be burned.

After several days of watering the ground was finally soft enough for me to begin hoeing the green weeds and making rows for planing.

I now have onions planted along with carrots, green beans, peas, cauliflower and broccoli.

There is still much to be done, hoeing weeds and planting more seeds, but now when I walk out to the orchard and look over the garden I can really see the progress I have made.

Cool Weather Days

Some unexpected cool weather has made it possible to bake without heating up the house. First on the list...lemon cake. The actual cake is a mix but the icing is homemade. I did a search, collected ideas, and then made up a recipe.

Melt some margarine in a pan; pour in a dab of vanilla; a couple squirts of lemon juice and some powder sugar. Stir until smooth; adding milk and more powdered sugar until it looks and taste right. Yummy, the icing was so incredible!

Second on the list was bread. I began with bread sticks;And ended with a giant loaf of bread. I truly love cool weather days!

Playing at the Park

Have you noticed most parks no longer have merry-go-rounds? After Elizabeth read, sometime back, a story about a little girl playing on a merry-go-round I went looking for one at our local parks. Sadly I could not find one.Then one day, while visiting a small town not too far from us, we stumbled upon a park, on the older part of town, which had a wonderful merry-go-round.

The playground even had an old metal slide.

Such memories this park brought back! I used to get so sick on the merry-go-round and I would always burn my skin playing on a metal slide during hot summer days!

Summer Planning

Camping is in our plans for summer so I have been looking at small bumper pull trailers, conversion vans and tents.When you buy a used tent there is always the chance something will be missing.

Something like the rain guard. But with no rain guard we will have a clear view of the stars.

The shape is a bit odd. It's narrow on the back end;

And normal on the front.

But the whole tent cost me 10-bucks; which I thought was a good price.

Pillow Slip Project

Elizabeth tested the new sewing machine on Sunday by making a pillow slip.She was patient when cutting and pinning the fabrics.

And the excitement was flowing when it was time to begin stitching.She managed to complete most of the pillow slip by Sunday evening and finished the rest this afternoon.

The pillow fit perfectly.

And now it's on her bed;

Being tested by Alf and Tweety.

Ultimate Bargain

I recently stumbled upon a used sewing machine at the thrift store. The cost?A whopping $9.48 with a note "Needs Works". Well, sometimes a machine needs work and sometimes it's just operator error; especially with computerized machines. So, after a little thought I decided to take a chance and see what would happen.

Normally I just look and pass up used machines because I already have a collection of machines that I use when I teach sewing classes. But this machine had two features that caught my attention; 1) it was computerized and 2) it offered a nice selection of stitches.

My next thought was "can I re-sell it and make a profit"? Yes, I felt it was possible to re-sell and make a nice profit.

After getting the machine home and setting it up I quickly learned the "problem" was indeed user error! The machine works beautifully, is smooth and quiet and in perfect shape. It even came with a book and a few accessories!

Instead of re-selling the machine I have decided it would be the perfect starter machine for Elizabeth. It has a speed control, which is so important when first learning, and the simple push button controls will make it easy for her to operate.

Spring Break Trip

Seldom do we follow the traditional school vacation schedules, but this year we did so Jonathan could get a break from classes and visit with his grandparents. Our Spring Break destination was Missouri.Our first stop was in Lebanon where I met my Internet friend Ann. We actually went to the same school when growing up but did not get to know each other until recently.

Elizabeth had such a good time playing with her cousins Matthew and Samuel.

While the kids played at the park Jonathan tested out the running trail. He really loved being able to run up and down hills and smelling all the wonderful trees that surrounded the park.

During our stay we experienced many different types of weather; snow was by far our favorite!

Most of our vacation plans changed because of the weather so we occupied ourselves with Scrabble. Elizabeth nearly won thanks to having help from her grandma!

When six o'clock rolled around each day Elizabeth loved being smothered in hugs and kisses from her grandpa!

During one of our outings my sister took us to an Asian market where we saw many, many forms of sea creatures. The biggest shocker was giant fish heads, on sale for $1.29 per pound. I don't think I would take them even if they were free.

After our visit ended, and we were on our way back home, we made one last stop to visit my friend Rita. It had been 9-years since we last saw each other. Rita and I were best friends in school and have been able to keep up with each other all these years.

Vacations are always fun, especially when you get to see family and friends.