Random Musings

*Anyone here have vertigo?  I do and I don’t like it.  It’s getting worse; now, whenever there’s a storm coming, I get an “attack” of vertigo….it’s been raining for five days.  Guess how I feel.

*Why did I eat that whole bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs in one day?

* My blog header photo is way too big. Wonder why.

*Should I call the doctor or should I “wait and see”?

*I wonder what it’s going to take to get me back into my studio actually working on anything creative.

*My feet are cold…I think I’ll go put on my SmartWool socks, the black striped ones.

*I love seeing the birds come to the feeder.

*Next week is seven years since Dad’s been gone. Seven years.

*I miss the lake.

*I wish the girls and I had gone away for a few days this past winter.

*I love this rain, even all five days of it.

* I can’t wait for Ghosthunters tomorrow night.

*Happy Wednesday Eve to you.* :)

Maple Syrup Photos

Hi there.  Just thought I’d “show” you our maple-syrup-making, start to finish, from two weeks ago.  (So far, Bob and I haven’t received our own bottle of the sweet stuff, but our son assures us we’ll get it soon.) 

 Just some of the 30 gallons of sap Corey collected (that’s him pouring).

 That’s my 89 year old mom enjoying the day with us.

Lunch on the bed of the truck, which wasn’t even attached to the truck!

Our high-tech contraption. :)

Hey!  How’d she sneak in there?  (our granddaughter Mackenzie)

 This is at around 11:30 p.m.!

 Just under a gallon…we made candy with the rest of it.

 Tired…and done.

 

 

Anyone having difficulty with their template or header size? Something's not right with mine, but we can't seem to fix it!

Hi there. Spring has sprung! Every year I wait for the two most important signs of Spring...one being the street sweepers (they came last week), and one being the crocuses showing their sweet faces. So...voila! Actually, I tried to upload a photo for my header, but it's acting strangely and all photos are coming ginormous! When I fix it, I'll change it.

I thought I'd share with you these sneakers that I painted years ago and that I wear every St. Patrick's Day in honor of my son's birthday. Luckily I work in a middle school so wearing them is just plain fun. Imagine how brave (or stupid) I'd have to be to wear them in a corporate office?! Yikes!

This is the very back where I painted my birthday greeting...you can imagine how thrilled my son is whenever I wear them! (yeah right!) To heck with him...it's my job to embarass my children whenever I can.

And lest we forget...TGIF tomorrow!

Raise your hand if... you got to do a bit of Spring yard work today and got to smell that sweet new-earth smell! Me, too! :)

I did a lot of work in my little corner garden (here it is last year) which is right next to my art cottage. I raked up last fall's leaves, cut back the lavender, put out one of the gazing balls, and sat in my cottage for awhile, alone and quiet. I'm hoping that it will help clean out my foggy brain and get me moving into a better personal space.

We're due for cooler, more seasonable weather this week, but today's high of about 65 degrees, plus the sunshine, was quite nice. :) I hope you're feeling Spring where you are...tis the Season of Hope.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Birthday, Corey

For many people, today is a celebration of their Irish heritage, or at least the Irish heritage of someone they know.  For me, it’s the celebration of my son’s birth 32 years ago.  Celebrating birthdays is pretty important to honor the day that someone special was born.  But that St. Patrick’s Day in 1978 marked something much more to me…it marked the day that changed my life forever.

I was a single 19-year old when I heard the words “the test came back positive”.  At that moment, I was terrified--certain that my parents would throw me out, sure that my life was over, and sure that there was nothing to live for. The “man” I was seeing was 28 years old, and to make a very long and painful story short, he turned his back on me and never looked back. 

The next few months were emotionally painful and chaotic, to say the least.  This was the 1970s…single mothers were not quite as commonplace as they are now, so for my parents to hear this news was devastating.  But not once did they abandon me, or push me aside, or force me to make any decision other than my own.  They cried with me, listened to me, believed in me…they loved me with all they had, even though I know they were hurting.

I considered all of my options, even the ones that the “father” offered, and realized over time and through tears that this decision had to be mine and mine alone.  I made the biggest decision of my life, alone, sitting on the rocks of a stream in the park where I played as a kid. Was I really alone though? No, God was sitting right there beside me.  He had guided me, walked with me, led me to that very spot and that very moment.  It was His voice I listened to and thankfully, He was in charge, not me, not the “father”.

A few months later, on March 17, 1978, St. Patrick’s Day, my son Corey was born.  My mother stood beside me as he came into this world; she and my father welcomed Corey as if he were their own and in many ways, he is.  Without their love and support, I don’t know how I would have managed. His birth changed my life irrevocably and for that, I am grateful. 

It wasn’t always easy, it wasn’t always fun, many times it was scary as hell, but never ever have I been sorry that God saw me as someone strong enough to be a single mother…never have I been sorry that God saw something in me I didn’t know was there.

I met my husband, Bob, six months after Corey was born.  We dated, got married, he adopted Corey as his own, and together we’ve had three daughters who adore their big brother.  Bob and Corey are not only father and son, they are best friends.   Corey and his wife have given us a beautiful granddaughter, Mackenzie, and life around here is filled with love, which truly does conquer all.

So on this St. Patrick’s Day I say Happy Birthday Corey…and Thank You, God.

Raise your hand if…you just left seven bags of groceries on the kitchen floor so you could read your favorite blogs in peace!  Heehee…me, too.  

By the way, how long does it take for a half-gallon of fudge swirl ice cream to melt?  Just askin’.

Raise your hand if... your son has been boiling sap over the open fire in the back yard since about 6:30 this morning...by the end of today, we will (hopefully) have about 3/4 of a gallon of syrup!

My husband started a charcoal fire for hot dogs, hamburgs and all the fixins, and my son's friends have been coming and going all day. The weather is gray, drizzly, windy and chilly, but no one is really bothered by it; we've been standing in the barn, just smelling the sweet smell. I've been a picture-taking fool, so I'll share some with you soon.

Have a happy Saturday. :)

Since Monday, four bags of Cadbury Mini Eggs have been consumed by none other than MOI in my van. Today is the fourth day of the week. Are you seeing the pattern here?? Do you think they have an episode of "Intervention" for me?

How's YOUR week going?

Vermont Wisdom(s)

It is better to smoke here than in the hereafter.

You can’t play with fire without burning your fingers.

You will follow the path in old age that you made for yourself in your youth.

Things at the worst will sometimes mend.

 

 

Hi there. Another day of feeling in a rut that I just can't seem to get out of. I don't know what's wrong with me...I'm getting annoyed at myself! A few members of my family have the winter blues (as we lovingly refer to them), or SAD. Now I'm wondering if perhaps that's the issue with me.

In any event, here's my remedy for all this inner bleakness...there is an open bag of these babies in my van at all times. Sugar headaches and nausea be damned!

Hi there. As much as I don't like hot weather, and as much as I do enjoy the burrowing in and hunkering down of winter, I could use some sunshine and color back in my life, hence the new photo. I hope you like it...and I hope you have plenty of both wherever you are.

Raise your hand if…you just bought tickets to go see James Taylor and Carole King in July…TOGETHER, ON ONE STAGE, IN PERSON!!

Raise your hand if…you’ve been terribly lax about commenting on your favorite blogs, never mind posting on your own!  Just me, huh?  I was afraid of that. 

  As a matter of fact, you’ve been so lax that when you saw your friend Melinda from www.countrydreaming.blogspot.com had given you a Sunshine Award, you felt so unworthy, yet blessed!   Yeah, that would be me, too. (Thank you again, Melinda).

Well, I’m going to do my best to get in gear, pull myself up by my bootstraps, and stay focused here.  After all, I do love reading what everyone else is doing, reading, thinking, painting, creating, and sewing, so I’ll try and be better about sharing.  Here I go…:)

This past Saturday I spent four hours in a soap-making class and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I’ve always wanted to learn to make soap, so this was a great hands-on experience, and really fun, too.

When it was over, we each came home with this basket of goodies that included everything needed for making our own soap, as well as eight bars of their homemade soaps in Lavender, Oatmeal-Honey, Northern Forest, and the MaryLemoLav (rosemary, lemon and lavender).   The melt and pour is something I can do with my granddaughter, while the other is more complicated and will have to wait til I have time on my hands, but I’ll get to it.

We also had a 7th birthday party for my granddaughter, Mackenzie, on Sunday which was a nice day spent with family.  We really love having her here…she is such a loving, funny, busy, intelligent kid!  She brought her cousin, Kiley, with her and they had a grand old time…plus cupcakes, ice cream and presents of course!

Ok, I’m off to do some more domestic goddess stuff before supper, then hopefully relaxing.  It’s good to “see” you all again and hopefully, life will allow me to spend a bit more time here.  I have lots of catching up to do. :)  Happy Wednesday Eve to you!