Because it was so warm this past weekend, Mary-Kate decided to use her newly acquired clipping skills to give Lupus a hair cut.

She has been embarrassed and hiding from public view ever since.  But she is cooler.  Take heart though, Lupus, it will grow back.

Every year uncovering our pool is an adventure.  It is a balancing act to get the cover off the pool without dumping the leaves and other detritis that has collected on top into the pool and yet not pump all of the water out of the pool while doing it.  One year that actually happened.  My son was siphoning water off the cover and left it too long.  When he came back there was no water on the cover but there was also only about three inches of water in the pool.  That is not a good thing.  Then there was the year that the younger three thought that they would help me by taking the cover off themselves.  They managed to dump the entire contents of the cover into the pool.  Several hundred dollars later and weeks of scooping leaves out of the pool, I finally managed to get the water clean. 

Last fall we eliminated part of the problem by cutting down the poplar tree that grew behind the deck.  Yesterday Ian announced that he had a plan for getting the cover off without getting the junk into the pool. 

His plan started with a trip to the shop.  Ian is a tool guy and every job has to involve tools.

And duct tape. 

Mary-Kate, don’t dump Matthew into the pool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Of course every job involves Matthew being put into some awkward or precarious position.  Don’t worry, he loves it.  They used a hose with a four inch outlet to siphon the water and quite a few of the leaves off the cover.

MK scooped leaves while Matthew hung on for dear life and kept the end of the pipe under water thus maintaining siphoning.

They turned the cover into a bag with the remaining leaves and water in it and then used a tractor and bucket frame to lift it all out of the pool.

This is what I have to work with.  Crystal clear water.  A little chlorine and algecide and we should be good to go. 

What a beautiful weekend we just had.  Temps in the 80′s and the sun shining every day.  Perfect weather for spending the time outside.  The forsythia is in full bloom and the fragrance is heady.

Adam spent Friday drilling holes, by hand, for my new grape arbor.  The UPS truck brought the grapes so it became imperative that the poles be put in before the grapes got planted.

He even pulled all the nails from all the poles so they look nice.  Then on Saturday he found a can of green paint, my favorite color, and painted all the poles.  Now all we need to do is string wire between the poles for the grapes to climb on when they get big enough.

The lettuce and spinach in the cold frames are doing very well.  MK and I were snacking on the lettuce while we were working outside.  There is nothing like fresh greens that you grew yourself.

I uncovered the oregano and the horseradish.  They are both thriving.

Phoenix came to visit and to hang out with Matthew for awhile.  I have babysat that boy since he was six-weeks old, now he’s almost 7.

He helped Adam carry cement silo staves to make a walk for me through the garden. 

r

Matthew and Adam got some time to practice with the AR-15 and the .22

I think our 5-gallon pail full of sand is more full of bullets now than anything else.  But they had a good time and Adam is keeping in practice.

  The hops are up which means that I am going to have to get five more poles into the ground and get the pergola built before they get too much bigger.  They grow fast and furious once they get started.

The best thing about this nice weekend was that my two bread winners got a little relaxing time in.  Of course they had to talk shop while they were at it but at least they got to spend some time together.

Outside my window………..it’s dark but there will be increasing light followed by sunshine, I hope.  It is warm out, the weaterbug says it’s 57 out and out highs are supposed to get into the 80′s again.  Chance of a sprinkle or two passing by.  I hope one comes and stays for a little while.  All of the things that I planted could use a good drink of water.

I am thinking………that I have to be a good teacher and have school today and leave my garden for later.  But it is calling to me like a sirens song………….It is so hard to be good and disciplined when the sun shines and the weather is warm.

From the schoolroom………….silence right now but there must be a great deal of learning going on today.  Spanish and Biology won’t be until later since Bret has a schedule conflict.  Matthew has to fit his school work in with a work schedule now also.

I am thankful for………..warm days, sons who work hard to help get things nice around here. 

From the kitchen…………leftovers, leftovers, leftovers.  I cooked enough on the weekend to at least get us through today.

I am wearing………..you don’t want to know.  It’s early yet.  I’ll shower and dress properly in another hour.

I am reading………..still working on Henry VIII

I am hoping……..that my seeds arrive in the mail this week so I can get them tucked safely away in the nice beds that I made in my garden.

I am creating………..sustainability for the future.  Hows that for a high-fallutin’ way of saying growing our food supply.

I am praying……..for good results for my tests tomorrow.

Around the house………..recovery from another weekend of neglect.   It was so gloriously sunny and warm that we were all outside and the inside got terribly messy and the laundry piled up and the dusting needs to be done and the floors need sweeping and on and  on it goes.  That’s today’s chore while Matthew learns.

One of my favorite things…………the pool is uncovered and there are no leaves in it, the water is crystal clear and I am cheering that I won’t take weeks to scoop leaves and kill algae!!!!!! I just have to scoop the dead mouse out of there. (the guys wouldn’t do it when they uncovered the pool)

A few plans for the rest of the week………recovery today and laundry with a trip to the pool store thrown in, biopsy tomorrow and first communion rehearsal and Holy hour, Wed. is a day of rest for me, Thursday is laundry and a day in the garden if there is no rain, Friday pick up MK, Holy hour, first communion rehearsal, Sat. is first communion, then I have to start planning for our trip to SC next week.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you…………..

The mother Killdeer that was watching me while I was running on the treadmill the other day.  I found her nest by the wood pile.  She kicked up a big fuss when I was there looking at her eggs.  I piled bark and wood around them so that no one will accidentally step on them and crack them.

Adam is out of Iraq and back in the US.  Last week on Wednesday he called and asked me whether I would rather pick him up on Thursday morning at 9:30 or on Friday night at 11:30.  Now, all you mothers out there are thinking what I was thinking, “That’s a stupid question!”  So, Thursday morning off to the Airport I went to get my son.  Three weeks of having him home is the best medicine that any mother can think of.

After we left the airport we went to Morrisville to surprise MK.  She practically decked him in her enthusiasm.  She chatted with him and showed him where she lives in Honor House.  Then we drove to Deansboro to surprise Doug.  They were both happy to see him home and it was great to be able to give them that kind of gift. 

Then he had a nice warm reunion with his canine friend.  Lupus is overjoyed to see her master home again.

There is no better sight than a boy, oops, a man and his dog enjoying a romp in the yard.

There is a peculiar characteristic of all of my men.  They split wood.  No matter what time of year it is, they split wood.  Thankfully, we heat with wood and there is usually a pile that is perpetually in need of splitting.

We have some friends who live a few miles from here who also heat with wood.  Before Adam went into the Navy he would run up to their house, split wood for them while one of their girls stacked it, then he would run home.  Their way of paying him for his services, baking some of the best chocolate chip cookies that he has ever had.    Splitting wood is also infectious here.  Whenever one gets the go-devil out and starts, it gets another one going.  It’s like a contest.  I don’t know if they are trying to see who can split the most, split the fastest, or who is the strongest.  But they get infected and they get going, one after the other.  I like it too.  I enjoy watching them and listening to their conversation while they are splitting wood and stacking it.  I also enjoy the sight of the pile of split and stacked wood growing ever taller.

There aren’t many jobs to be had in this area.  Even the fast food joints aren’t hiring.  The pickings are slim especially for high school kids.  So Matthew was delighted when the neighbor down the road hired him to do some work digging holes to put in posts.  Then he called him back to do some backhoe work.  Now he says that he is going to need Matthew’s help this summer doing some big landscaping jobs in the area.  The Lord does indeed provide.

Ian had the town of Vernon dump some dirt from cleaning out the ditches into a low spot across from our house.  Then, before they took the gradeall back to the town barn he had them scrape the dirt into the hole and the mud off the road.

I like to watch Ian being “official”.  He was doing his duty of directing any traffic that came down the road while the other men ran the gradeall.

He has an official orange vest and flag.

Fortunately there wasn’t that much traffic that morning.  The men didn’t mind having me take their pictures either.  Later this spring they will be back to clean out all of the ditches on our road so I will get to watch to my heart’s delight and take more pictures.

The people that Doug works for raise Golden Retriever puppies for sale.  On a recent visit I got to play with the latest batch of pups before they got sold.

It’s fun to watch them tumble around with each other, chewing on tales and ears.  They seem to need to come back to the humans periodically to get some loving from us too.

So, I went to the surgeons office today all ready to have them do the biopsies (not!).  I get called into the examining room and put on the little paper gown, whoever invented them should be boiled in oil and then made to wear one while walking backward down a crowded street.  I sat on the exam table for what seemed like an hour and then the dr. came in and shook my hand.  Another barbaric custom.  There you sit half naked and they smile at you and want to shake your hand.  Anyway, he talked to me about the pictures and the ultrasound that I had done last week.  Then he took a detailed history and did a breast exam.  When he got done he declared that there were no lumps, bumps, or masses there that he could feel.  (no kidding, me either) So then he sat down and we discussed my options.  Now the biopsy is rescheduled for next Tuesday and I have a list of options.  Do I feel better, NO!!!  All I feel is frustrated that nothing is happening and we are no closer to an answer about what is going on here.  But, I do have a list of options.  As this point my feeling is to take them both off and be done with it.  I can’t have anymore kids so I really don’t need them anymore.  Contrary to what other women feel, my parts don’t define me as a person or as a woman, so I really can do without them.  Let’s just get this show on the road and get it over with so that I can go on with my life.  Limbo is not a place it is a method of torture.

You have to know the man to understand my surprise.  I lay here in my bed with a blistering headache.  Crying and wondering why I have no energy and why I cannot seem to go on the way I used to.  Out of the blue sky my husband scolds me and says that it’s no wonder after all that I have been through in the last four years.  Four years?  I have to think and I look at him in bewilderment.  What does he mean by that.  After all it has only been life that has been going on in the last four years and not only to me, right?  Then comes the surprise,  my husband lists happenings that I have put out of my mind.  Things that should, to me, no longer be a factor in my life.  But to him are all the reasons why his wife isn’t the dynamo that she used to be, and that’s reason enough for him and let no one argue about it, least of all me. 

 As I lay here in his arms and felt the strength, the courage, and the forgiveness coming from him.  I cannot help but know that this is what the phrase “two in one flesh” is all about. That all of those things that I am supposed to have gone through are just parts of my life and things that I willingly, I hesitate to say suffer, for my family.  While my husband silently watches and sustains and stands between me and what he can so that I can do just that, suffer willingly for my family.  But, somehow I don’t feel like I have suffered anything.  And now, reflecting on these happenings in our lives, especially in the past four years, which have been particularly difficult, I see that the reason that I have not really suffered is that God has given me a partner who has been the other half of my “two in one flesh” and has helped and sustained so that the joys have been that much more joyful and the low times haven’t been anywhere as bad as they could have been had he not been there with me. 

We have some friends who have eight children.  All of the kids are sick with bad colds and coughs.  Matthew is downstairs now making bread for them.  I have a pot of soup on the stove simmering and a cake in the oven.  Later we will go over and present them with some supper already made.   That should help everyone feel better.

Outside my window…………the sun is rising and the birds are singing.  It is too soon to tell what kind of day it is going to be.  My husband and son were talking about rainy and damp for the next few days.  I hope not.  I have enjoyed these last few days in the 60′s with the sun shining.  I still have a lot of work left to do in my garden.

I am thinking……….about all the work that there is to do since nothing real got done in this house this past weekend.  I have spent so much time enjoying Adam, Mary-Kate, and Jason’s visits so much that the house is a wreck.  Who cares!!!!

From the schoolroom……..silence and I think it will remain so for awhile.  I am declaring a holiday.

I am thankful for………good friends and well wishes.  Being born up on the wings of many prayers and the loving words of good friends.

From the kitchen…………leftover pizza for lunch then I think meatloaf and mashed potatoes for supper.  Adam is home and there must be mashed potatoes.

I am wearing…………..eeyore sweatpants, under armour shirt  too early to have my shower and get ready for the day.  Do have to think about it though.

I am reading…………still working on Henry the eighth

I am hoping………….too many things to list here.  I do need to get the peas and beans planted this week though.  That should be my goal.

I am creating……..next winters food supply for my family.

I am praying…………..that the test tomorrow shows nothing and all my fears and anxiety is for nothing.

Around the house…………sweeping, dusting, putting away, laundry, dishes, and more laundry.  The wonderful price that I pay for having children home and visiting with them.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.

One of my favorite things………..listening to my husband and sons discussing whatever comes to mind.  Watching their faces as they talk.

A few plans for the rest of the week…….take Adam to the DMV to get his license renewed, holy hours and classes, work in the garden, and did I mention that there is a mountain of dirty laundry to wash.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you………….

Matthew is working on the three-bin compost system that I wanted built.  This project was a little too big for me so he tackled it.

On Thursday morning while I was gone to the airport to pick up Adam, Matthew worked.  I think he did a wonderful job.

Adam helped him move it over beside the shed so it is closer to my garden.

I already have one bin almost filled with leaves and other yard waste.  Now my worms have a home and they can do their job in style.  Thank you Matthew for a job well done.  We even ended up taking back a bunch of lumber that we didn’t need because he changed the plans somewhat.