Marlo & The Popsicle

We are finally spending real time outdoors and the whole family is loving it!  It was simply beautiful outside today.  The temperature was perfect, the sun shone around us all day while lots and lots of yard work was accomplished.  Cesar and I worked together on a few projects and really made some headway.  I've got the fever now.  The fever to weed and prune our yard till... till... well, till it is too hot to move outdoors, those days are just around the corner now. 

My main project has been to dig out the remains of my flower garden.  The weeds have been very, very pleased with themselves during my absence.  So, I felt a bit like I had fallen into the book The Secret Garden as I discovered this or that plant treasure hidden under layers of pine needles and weeds.  I also had time to think of the friends who have shared bits of their gardens with me as I pruned and clipped and pulled. 

Hugo and his friend Rowan were wonderful helpers who busied themselves scooping up my heaped piles of weed trash.  They loaded up Hugo's wheel barrow and then took turns driving it up the hill to dump the weeds in the woods.  They also had great fun playing army men and pretending that Papa's fancy pants lawn mower was their personal army jeep.

The boys were such good helpers cleaning up after my weeds and helping to keep an eye on the girls that I decided popsicles might be a nice treat.  I gave Marlo and Sabine each a popsicle of their own, their very first of many.  They weren't sure what to do with them, they didn't like the cold.  Marlo was so funny because she was determined to not hold the wooden stick of her popsicle.  She simply fisted her popsicle right in the middle.  Sabine was a good girl and ate her popsicle properly, but 10 minutes later you would have never known who ate their popsicle in whatever which way because they were both completely filthy.  As in dirt, pine needles, tiny rocks, and grass were all glued to the sugar on four little hands and two happy faces.  All four children were escorted indoors to wash up!  Marlo played with her popsicle stick for the rest of the afternoon.  She would not let go of it.

Garden Pretties & A Visit With Ho Ho

My garden is slowing shriveling and deflating with the creeping frost. There is a protective hedge around my little garden which seems to keep the deep freeze at bay for as long as possible. The time has come though and the frost is stretching closer and closer to the house each night. I have been a neglectful gardener and left all of my plants standing where they grew all summer long. I try to make myself feel better by thinking of all the nutritious seeds left out there for the birds. That seems to work. Yes, my weed pit and I are keeping our winter birdies well fed.

This weekend we are all keeping a low profile. Cesar came home early from work last night with swollen glands. I am not myself just yet either. I seriously thought about sleeping in the guest room last night so that Cesar and I would have less chance of swapping virus bugs. Didn't happen. I couldn't resist a good snuggle.

There is a small problem to our keeping a low profile this weekend. The small problems name is H-u-g-o, Hugo. Our Mr Hugo is completely 100% a-okay. Yesterday he bounced around the house like a ping pong ball from mess to mess and t-r-o-u-b-l-e. His lethargic, sleepy days are a thing of the past. I haven't thought of his trouble making as being naughty before. More like he is curious, like a little monkey he so enjoys reading about before nap time. Yesterday I was beginning to feel like he might be tormenting me on purpose. I counted the minutes until nap time like I haven't done since his early baby days. His nap was short. S-h-o-r-t, short. I began counting the hours (hours!?) until the possibility of bed time. I was in t-r-o-u-b-l-e.

Then, a miracle happened. My very own, personal, mini miracle.

Shaka phoned up and announced she would be picking up H-u-g-o, trouble maker extraordinaire of mine, as soon as her boys were off the bus. She left no room in our brief conversation for my buts, buts, buts. Our Church was holding it's Christmas party that night. I had been a little sad about not going. I had wanted to see everyone and eat good food and sing carols and watch the children perform the nativity. Hugo was going to be a frog just like last year. Santa was also scheduled to visit. Now Hugo wouldn't miss out on the party. I quickly got him dressed. All I had to do was mention Thing 3's name and he was off, racing up the stairs ready for me to dress him. Happy I was when Shaka and her boys met Hugo at the door, but not happier than Hugo. I think his Christmas wish arrived early this year with his riding in Shaka's van near the big boys. He didn't look back. There was no wave of his little hand for me. I didn't even get his coat or hat on him. Out the door he booked it.

Late, late last night Hugo arrived home. So strange to think he went to a party without me! We had to be quiet because Poppa was already tucked into his sheets, snoring away. I asked Hugo if he saw Santa. He said, "No Momma, Ho Ho."

Santa is Ho Ho at our house.

Blue Skies & Spider Webs

We have sunny blue skies and a lazy cool wind freshening the house this afternoon. The windows have been thrown open inviting fall within. I feel like one of the chipmunks outside who are busily raiding my garden for seeds. I feel a need to hoard firewood. To fill the cupboards. Lists are stacking up of recipes calling for sweet potatoes, beef roasts, soups, Parker House rolls and cinnamon buns.
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More hand written lists remind me of the cleaning and sorting tasks which need to be done in preparation for the fall and approaching winter. I sorted Hugo's clothing at the end of last week. Check! I made stacks of items for Goodwill, stacks of things he has outgrown which will be packed away into the attic, and stacks of saved summer clothes which with fingers crossed, will fit him next year. I made a new list of items he will need for the chilly months ahead. Snow boots, jeans, knitted vests and sweaters, mittens (heaps & heaps of mittens!), and a few church and Holiday outfits. I now need to empty out my closets (yes, there is an "s" at the end of the word closet) and begin fresh.

Also on my Winter preparation list: wash windows - all 30 of them!, empty out pantry, organize coat closet, finish craft room, paint the hall, plant bulbs, sort linen closet, quilt, knit, write cards, rake, prune trees and shrubs, clean flower beds, divide plants and pull weeds and weeds and weeds.

Anyone else feeling the need to prepare for winter's hibernation coma?


P.S. - Ms Jessica posted some of my Queen Anne's Lace photos on her beautiful design blog!
thank you!

Stormy Skies

We've had stormy skies, wind and puttering rain for days and days. I've enjoyed running out in between raindrops to take photos to share. We've had a fire burning lately. I'm almost hot while sitting here writing this. I've missed baking. Dreaming of Great Aunt Cilla's rhubarb coffee cake for awhile now. We've been busy. Seems like we are always running lately. Turtle seemed somewhat pokey today. Cesar brought him in to sit under a warm light source to receive some heat. I think he might be depressed only being able to walk around in circles in his tire habitat. I still am not sure how much, if at all, he is eating. I can't wait for Wednesday when things will hopefully slow down a bit. Although, we do have a playdate scheduled on that day . . . we'll see.

Garden Time

The flower garden is coming along beautifully. It fills me with real joy as I spend time pruning and weeding within it. I can remember the days when my Mother would announce from somewhere near the back door that she was going out to the garden and requesting volunteers. Once we heard her words we would all vanish from site as quickly as possible not wanting to get stuck weeding all afternoon. Now I think she made her announcement as loud and vague as she did knowing that it would buy her some much needed alone time away in her weeding paradise.

Hugo is getting the hang of the stone paths finally. I think it helps that the plants are becoming taller and filling out, he is understanding their boundaries. Although today, he ran right through the echineacea patch and giggled at me while doing so. We just planted salad greens, radish, carrots, green beans, peas, butternut squash, cabbage, zucchini and cucumbers today. With our rabbit and chipmunk population skyrocketing this spring I am somewhat nervous of what kind of harvest we will end up with. I suppose the main idea is that Hugo and I are having fun. I don't mean to wish away any of my toddler days with him but I am looking forward to next summer. I imagine he might begin to really get the whole garden thing and be just as excited as I am to see the plants sprout from the earth we worked together. Maybe next year the echineacea patch will be safe from his little camo boots.

Digging Holes for Tulips

Today was a Monday. On Mondays we play clean-up from our busy, family fun filled weekends. We scrub the sinks and bath tub. The beds are stripped and their linens changed. A gathering of clothing, rugs, towels, and dog pillows are tossed in the washer. Floors are swept, counters wiped clean, food shopping list updated. Lunch was prepared and eaten, and then our blessed nap/free time occurred. Once Hugo awoke we heard the yard calling our names, pulled on our boots and headed outdoors.

I have spring time bulbs, which never made it in the ground last fall, stored away in a cool closet. They survived the winter in their plastic wrap and boxes. Their skins have broken open and a sprout is poking out, searching for the sun. Today is the day when they will be buried in the earth. Now how to distract Hugo? At first, he enjoyed being a big helper. He likes to carry tools and ride in the wheel barrow. We have been working on team work, we've also been watching a lot of Wonder Pets. Our lesson in team work today was that I dug the hole in the soil and Hugo got to drop the bulb into the hole. Then I was to turn the bulb right side up and together, we covered up the hole with the displaced soil. It was great fun and lasted all of about four bulbs and then Hugo was finished. Moving on. Trampling every baby plant rising up out of the soil which was in his path as he bee lined for a bright yellow softball hiding in the grass.

As I continued to work with the bulbs, Hugo went exploring. I could see him criss crossing the yard in his camo boots and blue hoodie. For a time, he played on the wooden horse and his bike. Climbed up and down, and up and down the stairs on the stump of an old pine tree trunk which Cesar just sliced up with his chainsaw. He ate popcorn and drank his milk while seated at his miniature picnic table watching me dig my holes. Every now and again, as I looked up in search of him, I realized he had vanished. He was quickly located and brought back into my view. I am thinking of stitching bells into his clothing, lots of them. But the more holes I dug the more lazy my thoughts became and the less often I searched for Mr Hugo. I could hear him talking in his sing song, gibberish way near the back door. He sounded content and what could he get into over there? So I continued digging my holes, all the while weeding as I crept along. Out the corner of my eye I noticed Hugo walking toward the shed and then dragging an orange bucket back across the yard to our doorway. What could he be up to? I chose to continue with my holes, weeds and daydreams. Once more Hugo headed out over the grass toward the shed. This trip brought back a blue bucket to the doorway. He was obviously on a mission and had a plan in mind. No teamwork needed, it was a one man operation. This got me out of my warm, sunlit daydream, and fast. I had to know what he was up to. Well, Hugo decided that the remaining rock salt just didn't need to live in the crock next to the door any longer. He must have been thinking, "It's warm out now, right?" He was enjoying reaching deep down into the crock to gather up the remnants of salt in his grimy little hands and flinging it as hard and fast as he possibly could at our door. I watched for a bit, kinda stunned. He was very happy tossing that salt. He was almost mesmerized by how the rock salt would then bounce and dance across the brick threshold and entryway that leads to our door, not noticing me at all. So, if any family members are reading this blog of mine and were considering purchasing a birthday gift for our fair little one, don't bother. Just send your unused rock salt our way and we'll have fun all summer long! Thank you.

Rain, Rain and More Rain

Rain, rain go away, come again another day. I realize that it's spring but we have had a lot of rain lately. Seems as though it has rained about every other day for the past two weeks. The earth is loving it. My garden is coming alive with crocus, daffodils, tulips, pansies, johnny jump ups, iris, and the forsythia is budding. I need to divide and transplant flower beds this year but some sunshine would sure make the job much more enjoyable.

Hugo's birthday is around the corner and we would like to have a bar-b-que for our family and friends. I had been intending on delaying the festivities for a week or two in hopes of better weather. Two nights ago Cesar suggested that we host the party next weekend because his weekend looks free. I love the fact that his weekend looks free but now I feel a bit in panic mode that I wont be able to do all that I had in mind. Hugo is only going to be two, I wasn't planning on going crazy, promise. There are just a few details that I would like to make special, the invitation being one of them. My sister Millie gave me an idea for a circus tent invite. It even has a little, removable "admit one" ticket in a pocket on the front of the tent. I hope I can make the cake. It is a lion and the idea comes from Martha Stewart online. So cute, cute! And Hugo loves to roar like a fierce lion! We like to make little claw motions too. I could still make the invites this weekend but then our friends wont have any response time. Only show up and eat time ... if they don't already have plans.