Spring Cleaning

Dear Mom,

I had a particularly grueling weekend. Mentally. I did a photo shoot for a man who is my age with stage 4 cancer. His kids are my kids' ages. His sisters are my sisters' ages. I was able to capture the tenderness, care and kindness of his family. But it's hard to keep yourself removed so you can do a job well. On the way home, I thought and cried. Resolved to be a better wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter. I went to my BFF Brooke and her mom and cried all over them. I went to the grocery store and I bought healthy cancer-fighting food.

David bought me a pizza. The teenager bought me a movie. "The Italian Job". Which I've seen once. Not particularly a romantic comedy but he was thinking of me. I think. The girls twittered about me, the ladies-in-waiting, showering their love on me in their special ways. Even Keeper snuggled quietly with me.

So today, one day before my 42nd birthday, I have been spring cleaning and singing. I sing like Kim. "Hey there, Delilah, somethin' somethin' . . . . . somethin' Delilah. . . somethin'" But the sun is shining and the kids are home from school. I worked on my photography, we did the dentist (all of them), the orthodontist (the teenager), the library (stocked up on comfort books and got to see my dear Audrey Kay), the laundry (me), the dishes (me), and the birthday cake baking (me again)!! It feels so good to spring clean!

Love, Wendy

The Farmgirl Apron

Dear Mom,
Thank you for surprising me with a new apron, lovingly hand-made by you! The yellow & white buttons are the perfect finishing touch. Since a farmgirl's official uniform IS an apron, I will be wearing it as I work in the garden, tend to the chickens, and gather eggs!


Look out neighborhood gals, this is my new style statement!
Love, Bonnie Jo

All Girls All the Time

Dear Mom,
Erin is sponsoring Yellow week this week, to perk up February. So, my first yellow picture this week is the box of chocolates My Hero brought me for Valentine's Day. He knows that Whitman's reminds me of the little boxes Daddy gave us on Valentine's Day when we were little. I don't need a fancy $$ box of chocolates. Whitman's=love.

My Hero and the Young Man spent the weekend in Detroit and went to a Red Wings game. The Young Lady and I enjoyed an ALL GIRL weekend.


We shopped for crafts and crafted.


We bought Friendship bracelets and crafted some more.

We had dinner delivered.

And we had a "sleep over" in my bed.

And the next day.....

We did more crafts and watched more tv shows and the Young Lady had a friend sleep over.

Time flies. It was a good weekend.

Love, Kim

Brown Betty

Dear Mom,

For at least a year now, I have been looking. Not actively pursuing, just keeping my eyes open. And in the clearance section of the recent Plow and Hearth catalog, of all places, I found her.

A Brown Betty Teapot.

She arrived yesterday. A sturdy 6-cup Globe teapot from The London Pottery Company, Ltd. Perfect.

We'll be spending alot of time together.

Love,

Kim

p.s. Next week is Yellow week....

Happy Valentine's Day

Dear Mom,

I love you!

Kim

My Pet Makes Me Breakfast

Dear Mom,
This morning I fried a fresh egg and ham.

I ate eggs, ham and cheese on a toasted English muffin; it was the perfect breakfast for a frosty February morning!

Love, Bonnie Jo

A Story to Cheer Wendy up

Dear Mom,

Nothing cheers a girl up like somebody else's embarrassing story, so I'll share this one....

In an effort to delay my slog through the grocery store today, I decide that it would be just too much fun to download a new ringtone to my cell phone; one that will be assigned to My Hero, notifying me of his (and only his) calls. " I know just the song!" my slightly naughty inner country music self calls out.

I download the song "Who's Your Daddy?" by Toby Keith and call My Hero at work, asking him to call me back when he is free so I can make sure it works. He calls back and it works! What song? He wants to know. I tell him. NO! I SING "WHO"S YOUR DAAAAADY, WHOOOO'S your BAABYYY" in my best (which is really bad) country music voice. LOUD. ................................................................................................

"Kim, you're on speaker phone right now."

"Any body there?" I squeak.

"No."

Love,

Kim

So long, selfish

Dear Mom,

I woke up feeling very sorry for myself. My new not-even-90-days-old roof blew off in several spots because of high winds last night. The unplanned hassle.

And when I was making bread, my beloved Cuisinart snapped and broke. In several places. It is 20 years old and I do (did) use it weekly. Thoughts of having to actually knead the bread?! With my hands?!?!?!

And when I was on the verge of my feeling sorry for myself tears, I was reminded that I didn't lose my home in a wildfire or a raging tornado. Roofs and Cuisinarts can be replaced; if not now, someday. I have a husband that loves me despite that I spend too much time in bookstores, yarn stores and camera stores. I have three healthy, beautiful children. Full of energy, ideas, imagination, life and love. I have a dog that talks to me; never sassy words. Only words full of praise that I rescued her from a life of harsh hands, kicking feet and cruelty.I love my house. It's never clean all at once. There will always be laundry to do. And dishes. There are always tracks of someone's footprints somewhere in the house. Because we are a family. We have friends and loved ones that come visit us. They bring me laundry. And dishes. And footprints. And love. And happiness. And laughter. And so much love.

So when my I'm ashamed of myself tears passed, I thought, so long, you selfish, selfish woman. I am thankful for so many blessings.

Love, Wendy

February Lady Sweater

Dear Mom,
I spent the best part of my Wednesday knitting with friends. We had some delicious ham and bean soup and blueberry muffins. We admired each other's yarn and projects. We are a knitterly version of a Think Tank, solving world crises and local problems, offering advice and support to each other. We even provide yarn in knitting emergencies. Which is A Very Good Reason for maintaining a deep stash. And we think we all might need a flashing light like the one Starsky and Hutch had that attaches to the cars when making an emergency yarn pick up or delivery. And mostly we laugh.

I made progress on my February Lady Sweater.

I restarted the yoke last week. I didn't like the raglan shaping for this sweater, and felt that the gauge was too tight for this yarn. I decided on a more rounded yoke and did some math at the new, looser gauge and started over.

I am well into the lace on the body and it is moving along quickly now. I hope to start the sleeves this weekend and should have no problems having this sweater finished in February!

Love,

Kim

Love Potion #9 or Chocolate Covered Cherries

Dear Mom,

I am in love!! New Malabrigo sock yarn from Yarns & Fabrications in West Chester, OH. It is a deep chocolate and burgundy color. I want to call it Love Potion #9. But maybe Chocolate Covered Cherries, too. The colors are rich enough that I may actually find a nice manly pattern and knit socks for David. Or not.

Love, Wendy

Pets

Dear Mom,

I suppose some might say it is poetic justice that this dental hygienist's dog had a periodontal abscess and had to have a tooth extracted yesterday.

And while I was talking to the vet, I asked, "How long do rabbits live?"

"Oh, two to three years," he says.

"Well," I say, "the classroom pet we *adopted* is now 7 1/2!!!!"

"Any day now."

"Any day now," I tell the Young Lady. "Could be ANY. DAY. Dr. Veterinarian could only think of maybe ONE other rabbit who has lived as long as Smokey."

"I think Smokey is gonna break a record!" says Young Lady.

"Really?!?!" I say.

"Gee, maybe!" I say, trying to inject a cheerful note of optimism in my tone.

What I am thinking is that as much as I love that rabbit, I have been cleaning his cage for way too long.

And Bonnie Jo's pet chickens gave us part of our dinner last night. Young Lady named the eggs before we cracked them. Because " they could have been chicks."

Love,

Kim

A Rose By Any Other Name

Dear Mom,
I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. Who said that?

David bought me a rose bush today! Love is in the air!

Love, Wendy

Catch and Release

Dear Mom,

I am thinking (hoping really) that the Ground hog may have been wrong. I see the buds swelling on the Climbing Tree in the backyard.

And on the Service berry trees.And then there is this:

My first chipmunk capture of 2009. Rather early. Maybe Chipmunks are the cul-de-sac groundhog......

Shortly after this picture was taken and before I could drive the chipmunk to the park to release him into the wild, the frantic chipmunk and curious dog teamed up to knock over the trap, freeing the chipmunk. The Young Lady (cooing over the cute little chippy) and I (taking pictures) screamed like the girls we are and danced around in an attempt to keep both feet off the ground at the same time just in case the chipmunk decided to run over our toes during his escape. The dog made a valiant but futile attempt to capture the critter. Chippy lives to be captured another day.

Love,

Kim

Signs of Spring

Dear Mom,

We have had 60 degree weather the last few days, with a few more days of warm ahead of us. Just last week I was snowed in with 3 children and a dog! I am loving the weather, even when the house experiences spring, too!

Keeper tracking through the house (and that's a "clean" spot)!

The teenager's big feet tracking through the house. (Urg.)

And Pipsqueak's artwork on the driveway! ALL of them are outside playing right now! All is well!

Love, Wendy

A Nesting Hen

Dear Mom,
It was so nice to have warmer temperatures over the weekend. I was able to get out and do some modifications to the roost inside the chicken coop. The girls have grown (or should I say "fattened up") so much that they need a little extra room on the perch to sleep comfortably at night. I opened up the front of the coop, and Gloria was hard at work in the nest box!



The hens have such comical "expressions"...they make me laugh!!

Our maple syrup production is well underway. The sap was a-flowin', and several containers of various shapes and sizes are catching the sap from our maple trees. Large pots of sap were boiling all weekend long. It takes about 12 gallons of sap to make just 1 quart of syrup. That's A LOT of boiling!!

Anyone in the mood for eggs and pancakes?!!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Pepperoni Bread

Dear Mom,

I tried a new recipe, which I got from Aunt Chris, which is a prize-winning recipe in Texas. It. Was. Awesome. I don't think we'll be able to go back to my pizza again. I think my before tonight pizza is going to be just average. Only okay, even! Audrey Kay gave me a fantastic deep dish pizza dough recipe and this Pepperoni Bread is better. Way better. Just sayin'.
David is already planning other things to do with this Pepperoni Bread; like ham and cheese. Or roast beef and green peppers.

It made a lot--4 loaves. We only ate 1 1/2 of the loaves. David will be eating Pepperoni Bread for lunches this week at work. Maybe.

Pepperoni Bread

1 cup water

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

3 oz. sugar

1 Tbsp. salt

6 cups flour

1 Tbsp. yeast

1/4 cup lukewarm water --110 degrees

FILLING:

2 pounds pepperoni, sliced

1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated

1/2 pound asiago cheese, grated

4 tsp. Italian herbs (garlic, basil, oregano, rosemary)

Mix together the yeast and 1/4 cup of water. Set aside.

Mix together milk, water, butter, sugar and salt. Heat to lukewarm.

In large mixing bowl, measure flour. Add milk and yeast mixture. Knead for 8-10 minutes, until dough is no longer sticky.

Lightly grease large bowl. Put dough in and cover. Let rise 1-2 hours or until double in size.

On a floured surface, roll out dough and divide into 4 pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a rectangle.

Layer each rectangle with pepperoni, mozzarella and asiago cheese. Sprinkle with herbs. Roll up into a tight loaf.

Cover and let rise for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Slice and serve by itself or with pizza/marinara sauce.

Mmmmmmmm! Enjoy!

Love, Wendy

A Sunday Afternoon

Dear Mom,

We had a delicious meal with the Eggberts this afternoon. The tasty smells of pot roast and potatoes greeted us on arrival, along with our energetic 4-legged nephew. It was one of those dinners that you have to force yourself to stop eating even when you are full, because everything tastes so good. We saved room for dessert, though, and the Pineapple Upside Down cake was nice and moist- one of those things that taste better the next day, you know?



Pineapple Upside Down Cake



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt 1/3 c margarine in an 8-in baking pan.
Sprinkle 1/2 c brown sugar over melted margarine.
Arrange Pineapple slices and maraschio cherries on brown sugar.
Set aside.



Cream together 6 T. margarine and 1 1/4 c sugar. Mix thoroughly. Add 1 egg and beat until fluffy. Sift 2 c flour, 1 1/2 t baking powder and 1/2 t salt together. Add to egg mixture alternately with 1 c milk. Add 1 t vanilla.

Pour gently over pineapple.
Bake 35- 45 min. Cool 5 minutes.

Turn upside down on serving plate. Sugar mixture will soak in and run down over cake.
mmmmmmmm....a scrape the moist bits stuck to the pan kind of gooooooood.


Love,
Kim

Saturday

Dear Mom,
Today we soaked up much of the warm air and spring-like smells on a 3 mile walk. Bumper needed a wipe down at the end of his mile with lots of dirty snow splatter on his legs and belly. The spring-like temps are probably just a teaser, but I realize that it is time to put a beach towel by the back door to intercept Bumper's muddy paws.
I baked some blueberry muffins today added some craisins to the boxed muffin mix. This made me feel an inventive and clever cook, and if People have been doing this since craisins were invented, I don't want to know. I also baked a Pineapple Upside Down Cake from scratch for dessert at the Eggberts tomorrow.

At the grocery store this afternoon, while picking up sliced pineapple and trying to remember/figure out where for the love of pushing a cart in way too many aisles they might keep the maraschino cherries, I observed two little girls pushing the "Shopper in Training" carts. They were a ragtag pair, with snaggled hair, chapped lips, and rumpled play clothes. With pant legs tucked into half-zipped boots, they marched back and forth across the ice cream and frozen food aisle, reorganizing their carts for maximum capacity, swapping items as necessary and rearranging for the most visually pleasing cart. This was Serious Business. I left before witnessing a tug-of-war over a box of frozen waffles and only hope their mother was able to complete her shopping before any disagreements broke out.

By the way, the maraschino cherries are with the ice cream toppings.

Love,

Kim

Warmed Hearts

Dear Mom,

I spent a rare and wonderful afternoon with my dear friend, Audrey Kay. We drank fancy hot chocolate.

Audrey Kay crocheted like a woman on a mission (she is!) and I knitted (not so much on a mission).We giggled and talked. We talked and giggled. We pretty much solved all of life's problems. And then we went home to cook dinner.

Love, Wendy

Too below

Dear Mom,

The outside temp this morning is 2 below. Too below normal, I say.




Last night before dinner, The Young Lady blew bubbles to see if they would freeze.





And then we came in to have one of her all time favorite dinners. Look familiar??

Love,

Kim