April in Iowa

Spring is in the Air

Warren is in the tractor preparing the soil for planting. Today is the beginning of another crop year, it marks the first day doing field work for another crop. It is a beautiful day. The sky is blue, the wind is ever so light, the sun is shining and spring has arrived.

Sage and Rhett in front of our corn field in the summer of 2007.

Back in 1979 I had my first real garden. With my husband in the tractor with the plow hooked behind it we started our first garden. Under my direction he plowed up a rather large spot in our side yard. Later I found out, years before the spot had been the farm dumping ground. That first year the vegetable part of the garden turned out surprisingly well. The spot I planted to wild flowers became an unrecognizable tangle of weeds and perhaps a wild flower or two. By midsummer I found myself crying over the mess I had created. I had followed the package direction of sowing the seeds randomly over the ground. Now maybe that method works for some but for this new comer to the world of gardening it was an unqualified failure. Next year I had success in starting a wild flower bed by planting the seeds in rows. With rows clearly defined, I was able to pull the weeds even if I could not differentiate between weeds and flower plants. That first year the garden was a bit structured but by the next year it was the wild flower bed I pictured in my mind. Three years to lovely.

Now, I consider myself a seasoned gardener. Not that my gardens are magazine quality. I confess that many others have much prettier gardens and I am a bit envious but never less I persist. I have plants, bulbs and seed in ready for planting this year. I once went to a garden workshop on good flowers to plant in Iowa. Out of a list of 75 or so I had planted all but two at one time or the other. That makes for gardens with lots of plant material but not with the most beautiful arrangement of plantings.

Hannah and her Gifts

Yesterday we celebrated my birthday, Hannah's birthday and Easter by going out to brunch with the Martins. Hannah got to celebrate 6 days early. At twelve she is fast changing from a little girl to a young lady.

HAPPY EASTER

Real eggs in a basket

The beautiful crocheted place mat was done by my Aunt Marge, the bunny is one from "Martha" that Kelsey cut out years ago, the eggs are courtesy of the granddaughter's chickens, and the basket is one I made years ago. I just love the different eggs. Some of them are speckled, some light brown, some dark brown and one is white. They were the eggs left in the carton Kelsey brought over the first of the week. She marked the carton "VARIETY" "KELSEY".

April in Iowa

April snow has an advantage over winter snow. It never last long. We were the "lucky" ones in a small pocket of plus six inches yesterday. The windows were plastered with snow for part of the day. Mentally I was able to brush off the weather yesterday.

Hannah stayed after a good coop dinner yesterday. Matt made some great focaccia bread, Malissa the standard hash brown potato dish and I did the rest. Hannah and I finished one 4-H project and tried out the animal cracker cookie cutters and recipe.

In the end we were not gun ho on the animal crackers. They were more like a butter cookie in taste, were hard to bake just right and a lot of work. (These are some of the best looking ones - a lot of them were a bit too brown around the edges. I must admit the cutters did work well.)

The cookies are cute but she gave them thumbs down as a fair project.

Lemonde and Other Thoughts

My Mom with Hannah and Kelsey having a tea/lemonade party in 2002

In 1911 Frances Hodgson Burnett published The Secret Garden. In it he observed:

"One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts -- just mere thoughts -- are as powerful as electric batteries -- as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. To let a bad thought get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body."

Sunlight makes me happy. This time of year I will eat my lunch with my back facing the window in our eating area. Usually I like to look out at our yard, gardens, and fields. After winter and cold weather it is just great to soak up the sun on my back. The feel of the sun on my back creates a sense of warmth and comfort.

Thoughts have power to change. The saying”attitude is everything” does contain a lot of merit. Now I am not saying that when life gives you a lemon it is easy to make great tasting lemonade yet with the correct amount of sugar and water real lemonade is a great treat. When the grand girls and I make a pitcher of the real stuff and have a tea party together life is good.

Thinking about lemonade reminds me of one culinary habit I learned from my mother. I do not know of anyone except her ever doing it. When I make lemonade or use a lemon I confess I sometimes do this myself. It is ever so yummy and takes me back to my child hood. I always wash my lemons well in very hot water. I have been told this makes for more juice. After the lemon is juiced, sprinkle the inside with white sugar and then eat. The mix of the bitter, sour and sweet is a heavenly treat. Yep, eat the whole thing except for the little bit on the end. Maybe was a depression era thing or just a family thing but it is one unusual eating experience I love.

Mom also used to make an open faced peanut butter sandwich with either raisins or sliced carrots on top. Shortly after we were married I made peanut butter and carrots sandwiches. We were heading out of town and this was to be a light supper eaten in the car. When my husband of only a few months discovered what I wanted to feed him he balked at the idea. Then being the adventurous guy that he was to become he consented to trying the sandwich. Pleasantly surprised, he discovered a like for the combination. For him it will never replace grape jelly and peanut butter but it has its place. I on the other hand never liked my grape jelly and peanut butter mixed together.

One time when I was in kindergarten or first grade, I and a boy from my class were asked to be part of a high school concert. We were to eat a sandwich while the chorus sang some song. We were given peanut butter and jelly in our sandwich. I am not sure if we were supposed to be messy or what the song was about. Another one of those half memories I have floating around in my mind. I just know that this was the last peanut butter and jelly sandwich I ever ate.

Some things that make me happy

Some things I love - in no particular order.

The guy I married; a garden in bloom; stars; a lazy afternoon spent in my hammock; reading a great book; Chocolate; a baby’s soft head and skin; holding a little one in my arms; pictures of family; travel, especially England; going for walks; Mom’s pies; spending time with our children, their spouses and grand children; buying plants; riding my bike where it is not too hilly; the smell of saw dust makes me happy my Dad built our home when I was a young girl; Genealogy ; our home; home magazines; Friends; a clean house; Saturday at the book store; making things with the grand kids; learning something new; gardening; puzzles and games; shells; sayings; blue and more.

I found a picture of our kids and their kids but it is small in size.

More Books

Meg Ryan has a line in “You’ve Got Mail” when she’s talking to Joe Fox before she realizes he’s JOE FOX of the BIG BAD FOX BOOKS: “Because when you read a book as a child, it becomes part of your identity like nothing else does…”

Gosh, can I identify with that line. My collection of children’s books is always expanding. When I pursue the Newberry and Caldecott award books at the local book store I want one of each. This is definitely one of my down falls. It is great the most books written for kids are small in size. I think my two favorite ones are Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey and Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag. I am almost certain that my kindergarten teacher, Miss Emmons, introduced me to both. The top three would include The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by DuBose Heyward. When I came across that book a few years ago I immediately bought it to share with the two oldest granddaughters. It was a surprise to see it contained class and female issues. Not only is the bunny hero a female with children but she is an ordinary country bunny, not a fancy city rabbit. My young ears may not have picked up on all the lessons but my adult ones certainly did. I was all the more amazed when I realized that this book was written in 1939. At the time I was introduced to it in the mid 50’s it had already been around for a while.

While at the book store Saturday afternoon I picked up the book Sarah’s Key, found a big overstuffed chair and began to read. By the time we were ready to leave I was into the book. No choice but to purchased it and continued reading on the way home. I finished reading the novel about six thirty. Mr. Husband then said to me we should have bought me another drink and stayed until I finished the book as it would have cost us less. Yea, but now I can share the story. It is a novel about a historical event in WWII.