Green Green Green Hooray!!

At long last we have some green, not much warm but the plants are trying to make an appearance. Today was in the low 60's, better but not great. Of course the weather men do not make it much better, they keep reminding us that last year at this time it was 85. Gee, thanks a bunch guys. I have 3 large orders coming from Spring Hill, just when not sure. Will keep me busy when they arrive. They keep luring me into their website with offers and pictures of all the beautiful flowers. I succumbed to the siren song of Apricot Princess, a low growing rose bush. I now have a slightly larger tiller, which when I can get it started and figure out how it works, should be a big help. I went to an auction and got it for $15.00, not bad. I thought of Violet Lady as Elvira and I strolled around, the violets are coming up all over the place. No flowers yet but should not be too much longer.

Lots have happened in the last two weeks, the most major being that I gave my notice at the club. It was a much more physical job then I had anticipated and my back was not liking it at all. To me being a manager is more brain then brawn, but here I was expected to do the cooking, cleaning and putting stock away, etc. I don't mind helping out but being on my feet 8-10 hours a day just was not working. I finally came to the conclusion that if I was going to be in this much pain I might as well be making money for us. So, I am going full bore ahead on my pet treats. I am also going to work on getting my catering things together and find out what the laws are here to set up. Most states will let you have a home bakery as long as it is separate from your regular kitchen. We have a large extra long two car garage that has all the heavy duty wiring. I already have most of my equipment out there, just need to get it organized. I know we will have to put up washable wall covering, this is purchased in sheets like paneling. I have all the sinks, even my hot water heater out of my old shop. So, my summer will be busy. So, onward and upward!!

I hope everyone is well and enjoying their Spring, in the case of our Southern friends almost Summer. I see all the pictures of your yards and am envious, but my turn will come.

Best to all , Barbara

Sleet?

The weather report said rain but coming home there was sleet, I say "No Fair". In retrospect there are worse things, tornadoes, floods, etc so I will cease my whining for the moment. I did find some brave tulips poking their little leaves up, and what I believe might be some of my jonquils. We have had some pretty sunrises and days of sun and the cold is not quite so bitter, next I will be able to open windows and enjoy the breeze. The golfers have been able to play, although I will admit to thinking they are crazy. One of the days we were having 30 mph winds and gusts to 50, maybe good resistance training? There is green starting to show, and the dandelions are taking off. My birds and chinchilla are enjoying fresh tasty salad, the plus side to weeds,lol.

We had our busiest night yet and made our way through it with good feedback from the customers. There were not all that many people, they just all ordered at once and as I keep saying " I am not a cook". I can cook and do, but have not had enough practice to be totally organized or on top of it all. I truly admire a good cook or chef, watching them is like seeing a dance. I did get the food out in fairly good time, but will be much happier when I have a professional in the kitchen. Heather my one trusty bartender jumped in and helped so we stressed and laughed our way through it. I had a few more people come in and two of them are Seniors and seem to be pretty together and are willing to learn what ever we have to teach. I plan on training them to serve, cook and tend bar so that they will be versatile, they seem to like the idea. The 4Th and 5Th of May I have two tournaments and am hoping to have some at least a skeleton crew, but am getting worried. There will be between 50 and 100 on the 4Th and around 50 on the 5Th so will be fairly busy. Of course these numbers are guesses, those little mysteries of life. If you don't hear from me just figure I went screaming out of town, having totally lost my mind.

If I yawn much more I will swallow the keyboard, so will sign off for now. I wish you answers to dreams and enjoyment in what you have. Barbara

I went Ice Skating this morning!

I had not planned on it, but all the rain we had mixed with some snow and ta da, slick steps and walk. Not only that but the roads were coated also, I found that out when I went onto the pavement from the gravel and tried to shift gears. All in all an exciting drive to town first thing in the morning. The utility company called and told me they had some empty spools I could have. When I went in to pay my bill earlier in the week I asked if they ever had any empty ones and how do you get them. I want to make a playground for the goats and these spools will be wonderful for them to jump on. There is a house we go past now and then that has all kinds of ramps and bridges for their goats, I don't think we are going to get that wild.

The weather is all over the map, we actually had some warm weather the first part of last week. From Thursday on it has been awlful, rain, high winds, cold, snow, yuck. I was wishing that my plants were coming up, now I am glad they didn't they would have frozen. Hopefully this is the last of the really cold and Spring can make an entrance.

This is Elvira and her cat, he took up residense in our barn over the winter and when ever Elvira and I go out to walk around he joins us. He rubs all over her and she gives him kisses and they chase each other around. I keep thinking I will take him in and get him fixed, but not sure if I can claim him as mine. He disappears now and then but always comes back, so would not want someone to get upset with me for "fixing" their cat.

Spring, Yoo Hoo, where are you???

Well I have looked and looked and Spring is sure hiding. I found snow Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Friday was pretty nice, then sun on Saturday with lots of wind. I can't sleep so here I are bugging you all, the wind is still howling outside and Soul Train is on TV. What were we thinking?? I look at some of the outfits and know I had one's very similar,lol, and I thought I looked so hot. Sad, very sad.

There are faint hints of green in the yard and what I thought might be some brave plants sticking their noses out turned out to be dandelions. Nothing kills those guys. Jim can't make it home this weekend, pulling double duty but he will be here for 3 days next week, cool. He will need to mess with my little car as her fuel pumps pooped out today. I had to wait for a couple of hours for AAA to show up, but I had some magazines and was fine. The best part of the experience was all the kind people who stopped to see if I needed help. One man let me use his cell phone to call AAA, I of course had run out of the house without mine. I had to go to the restaurant to meet the refrigeration people, the walk in cooler needed a shot of freon. Since we had a Monday appointment this trip was not planned. Turns out the guy had a class that day but was able to fit me in yesterday. Since I have a big do Monday night having the walk in work is a plus. Funny how things go, I did get some recipe ideas while I was waiting, the man who let me use his cell phone was telling me how his Mom makes a great pork loin with apricots. Sounds nummy and this is what I want, local ideas using local products. I do get into some unusual conversations, but they are so great. I enjoy finding out what other people think and like.
Oh, my gosh, one girl has on hot pants and a tube top,lol. Those were not great fashion statements, and yes I did wear them. Wonder if women in times past looked back and realized how strange those huge wigs they wore looked?? Some periods in time had more fashion sense then others, but we never quite realize it at that particular moment, such a shame.
Well my friends, back to bed for a few more zzzzs I hope.
Best to you all, Barbara

Happy Easter All!!

My super duper Husband was able to come home on Saturday which was a gift in it self, but to top it off he brought me a pot of Spring flowers. I know what they are but can't spell them,lol! They sure smell great and it was a breath of Spring, the guy sure knows the way to my heart. They have had so many glitches at work making it really rough on him. One little wire coming loose can shut the whole place down, and it takes hours tracing all that stuff to fix it. I am so glad when he can make it, gives him a chance to just unwind plus he gets his wash done. I made him London broil and served it over egg noodles with gravy and broccoli which made him happy. I love being able to fix him a good meal cause one never knows what he is eating during the week. Of course this morning he will want my homemade pancakes. I really like this recipe I found years ago in one of my old cookbooks. I have to twink with it and add cinnamon and vanilla, but makes him happy and fills his tummy. I also like making them from scratch, gives me more a feeling of doing something nice for him.

He also fixed my fridge. I was so upset as we just bought it this summer and to have it quit cooling was really upsetting me. Turns up there are air vents that bring the air to the fridge from the freezer and these had frozen shut. So I learned something new about the fridge and also lost a bunch of groceries, but the end result was good. I just want to know why the "new and improved" models of things do not work as well as the old guys??? You used to get a fridge and it worked for years and years with out a hitch.

I hope everyone enjoys their day, each in a way that makes them happy. I miss having the kids around and making the eggs and baskets, but I can enjoy the thought that Spring is moving ever closer. I am going bonkers over all the catalogs and websites with all the marvelous flowers and plants. I want it all, now!!! I have also gone on a magazine buying spree, I can sit and look at them for hours with all the pictures and ideas for gardens and plants. In one of my new ones they had pages of lilacs, so I could imagine them all around the yard. We have some old plants that need tending, from what I read you prune them back a third so that you always have new growth coming up. Now to figure out when to prune them as I get conflicting advice in different articles. As neglected as these guys are I guess anything I do will be a plus. From the article I found that the color range is much more then I thought so will be neat planning where and how to put them. With the different sizes and colors I should be able to make some really pretty spaces, plus these guys are so hardy. They are used quite a bit as wind and snow breaks. I was amazed to see how much snow the old lilacs and the pines trees captured.

Well, back to bed and hopefully a few more hours of sleep. If I can just get my brain to turn off and quit planning recipes for the restaurant and thinking of all the plants I want and where to put them. I think I do more work sleeping then I do when I'm awake,lol.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring to you all, Barbara

A Robin has Landed, Hooray!!!

Wednesday afternoon I spotted a Robin in my yard and then Thursday morning he was sitting in the tippy top of the big tree, just singing his heart out. Now this afternoon I spotted a Red winged Blackbird. Spring may very well be on the way!! The big maple trees are covered with leaf buds, almost overnight. So far the snow has stayed North of us which is fine with me. My neighbors children drove to see them and a 5 hour trip took more like 8. The drove through all the snow and yuck, but made it safe and sound.

I will be so glad when we are able to fence in some area for the goats, I just want to be able to fling the gate wide and let them run. I did open up another stall so they would have more room to chase each other around. This was after "child proofing" the new area. They still managed to get into stuff, but nothing bad. They found some empty feed bags which are now scattered all over and ripped to bits,lol. They got the big broom off the wall, why I don't know. The end result was that they had fun playing chase. I am looking for some of those big empty wooden spools to make a playground for them. I think they will have so much fun.

Best to you all my friends, Barbara

I am in the Dog House!!

Hello My Friends, So sorry to be absent for so long. Another week has come and gone and
my stress level is slowly going back to normal ranges. This past week was the Men's Association and the Woman's Association meetings and dinners. We came through alright, the worst comment I have heard back is that the beans were too bland for the men. I can live with that, I was being cautious and trying not to put too much stuff in. Now I know I can do more and be alright. Lots of lovely people and I am looking more and more forward to the season, I am thinking that what I want to do will work fine. So now will only be the normal every day type stress stuff, will deliveries arrive? help show up? weather cooperate ? This Wednesday I have a new waitress coming in to apply and work for a while so I can see how she does, also a person applying for bar tending. The more applications I have the more I relax, I keep hearing horror stories of not being able to get enough help.

Mother Nature is pulling an April Fools joke early!! We had been doing so well with warm, actually up into the 40's weather, snow melting and a little green in the lawn. Now I wake up this morning and there is two new inches of snow, not fair. We are also under a winter advisory for tomorrow and someone told me the Farmer's Almanac predicts a blizzard for Easter. I was even out in the yard yesterday looking to see if any thing was peeking it's lil head up, thank goodness they were not, cause they would be frozen now. As well, I soothed my disappointment by going on line and shopping in Lands' Ends overstocks, such deals!! I found one of my favorite cashmere tees for about half off and there were pretty colors left, hooray!!! I am so easily please, so sad.

I mentioned meeting one of my friends from Pogo Land and did not take into account that there might be some who have no idea who or what Pogo is. I go to waste time and chat and relax on the website Pogo.com, all kinds of games. You can drive yourself bonkers in dozens of different ways,lol. All types of solitaire games, puzzle games, word games, you name it. I usually play Payday Freecell, Poppit, Spider Solitaire, Word Jong and more. I pay for a membership because it eliminates the ads and intermissions, I figure I am worth $5.00 per month.

I finally have together a pretty good order for plants, I think I have scoped out where I want to plant poplar trees. The poplar is supposed to grow very fast and their limbs start near the ground so think they will help block the wind and snow pretty well. I have also picked out several different types of hedge plants. I decided against just doing all one kind and am hoping that a variety will look nice and give a casual look and still block the elements. Trying to narrow things down has been the biggest dilemma , for the basic color I am doing Privet and then in between roses, Rose of Shannon and a few others. There is also a variegated Wigela ? that I think will be pretty. With Iowa being so flat where I live the wind just howls across it at times, so fast growing and tall work, lol. I am also adding more Lilac which are apparently incredibly hardy . I did a tour around part of the yard yesterday and was amazed at how much snow the evergreens and the lilacs had stopped. Even with all the melt the drifts were waist and shoulder high in places. If I have this planned out, next winter will be a tad easier especially when it comes to clearing the drive way. Over the years these plants and more should help with the heat and cooling. I also like to believe my little bit of prevention with the global warming.

Jim and I are also brainstorming on how best to fence in areas for the goats. Their main purpose in life will be to eat weeds for us. My green weed eaters! I have been going online and trying to find what will be the best and most cost effective, all this new stuff I am learning.
Problem is none of our land is fenced, there were fences but they have been torn down, so we are starting from scratch. I want to do the nice wood fences, but that will cost a bundle. So we may do wire for part of it and then there is the electric you can do very inexpensively. I imagine a combination of the two will work and then we can gradually do the wood fencing for pretty. I also found a hedge plant the they say is good for unfenced areas as it grows very densely and also has thorns. My concern is that I do not want people or stray dogs or anything bothering the girls while they are out.

Best to you all, enjoy and I hope all the nasty weather stays away. Barbara