Catching Up--April, 2021

Both our oldest grandsons went on successful turkey hunts on April 3.  I watched the youngest grandson while our daughter worked at our church's annual Easter carnival.  

On Easter Sunday afternoon (April 4) I put 3 pies in the freezer anticipating our planned family gathering on the 17th.  I baked a turkey and froze the carved bird in broth.  I do holiday meals in advance, freezing everything that is possible to be frozen, including the mashed potatoes.  The broth basted turkey tastes better than ones I've baked on the day of a gathering in the past.  

On the 17th we had our family Easter gathering.  I always fill Easter eggs with quarters and the occasional dollar bill and the grands search for their own color coded eggs.  They open small gifts and stuffed animals from their Easter baskets then run outside, as the weather allows for the egg hunt.  

During the pandemic we have eaten out rarely, so when our neighbors, Dana and Lynna, dropped by to bring us KFC and a gallon of Brahms ice cream, we REALLY enjoyed the treat. They wanted to express appreciation to John for his help with burning pastures.  

We spent our first evening with dear friends Jim and Myrna in over a year on Saturday evening the 24th; we are all now fully vaccinated.  

On Sunday, April 25, Brian's dad, Roger, passed away. We are sad for our grandboys in their loss of their Grandpa Roger, and we love and are praying for Brian and his sister, Sara. We attended Roger's funeral on the 30th.  

What's more fun than watching a five year old girl in pink boots and hat, splashing in an April puddle?  

Top leftt; I ordered spring bulbs and planted them last fall and sure enjoyed the show.  I am not usually much one for yard art, but made an exception for Shaun the Sheep, a favorite of the grands.  Bottom left: with perhaps a too easy access to Amazon.com, I ordered this cute owl.  I love him, but the grandkids are dubious.  "Where's his other wing?" asked one of the five year olds.  

I  When I was a child, my Aunt Rose allowed my cousins and me to play in the back of her large closet. That closet was magical to us because there was a little door in the back that went into the closet of an adjacent bedroom.  It was so much fun to hide in one closet and then make an escape into an entirely different room!  I have never forgotten that fun, though as an adult I have shaken my head at the havoc we must have wreaked with any semblance of order in Aunt Rose's closet.  However, it was the memory of those fun times that caused me to create a play space in the back of my own closet for my grands. The attic gables slant down and make about an 8 foot by 3 foot area they adore.  Though there is no secret door, they seem to have just as much fun in the back of my closet as I did as a child at Uncle Wayne and Aunt Rose's house.  

Catching up--March 2021

March 2 we received our first dose of the Moderna vaccine against Covid 19--such a blessing.  

On the 7th John hurt his leg as a steer butted him against a cattle panel.  We were thankful he had no broken bones.  

Son-in-law Brian picked up an upright freezer we purchased from Menards and brought it home for us.  We have so appreciated the extra room.  I like to make and freeze meals in advance; makes it so much easier to feed our crew.  On the tenth of this month we brought home the meat from a steer we'd had processed and we had room for it all!  

Brian and Mindy celebrated their 17th anniversary on March 27.  I took them ribeye steaks and sides.  Other cooking this month included a spinach salad for a friend who has been in the hospital, sack lunches for Jon and Jonathan as they did farm work, fried catfish, several loaves of homemade bread, chicken noodle soup, and a huge pot of vegetable soup.  

We celebrated our 47th anniversary March 30. Melinda and her boys made homemade pretzels (Poppy's favorite) and brought them to us.  

John bought a new bull at the Woodbury sale on March 18.  

I shampooed the downstairs carpets this month.  

All the adults in our family were vaccinated against Covid this month and toward the end of the month we resumed indoor family gatherings. Such a wonderful time. The Lord has been so good to us.

 

The first strawberry shortcake of spring always tastes so good!  Bottom middle is one of the batches of honey butter I made from the honey harvested by son-in-law Brian.  It was wonderful with homemade bread!  

I refurbished my office this month with a new rug and sofa cover.  Happy with how it turned out. ;

Grandson Daniel used oil pastels to create the lovely butterfly, upper right. The pretty stained glass cross, upper left, reassured me as we walked into the sanctuary of a local church to receive our first dose of Covid vaccine. We literally received our vaccinations under the cross.  That was reassuring!  

Catching Up--February 2021

 It snowed about two inches on February 6 and was COLD!  The pandemic was still keeping us distanced from most family gatherings but we stayed connected via Facetime and Marco Polo.  I painted the cupboards in the upstairs bathroom, painted the walls white, and painted the old peach grout white.  What a difference!  

We didn't gather for Valentine's Day but I delivered heart shaped cupcakes to the local grands and mailed our granddaughter a Care Bear.  On the 14th it was just 2º out in the morning but -5º and windy by bedtime.  The morning of February 16 it was -17.4º.  

My good friend, Denise, fell and broke her hip February 18.  

Throughout the month I made and shared homemade bread, chicken and noodles, bbq chicken legs, grilled chicken breasts, bbq beef pizza, pies, and beef & noodles.

Grandson Daniel became a teenager this month.  I cannot believe it!!!  

White walls, getting rid of the peach grout and, and painting the cupboards blue helped this little bathroom to look SO much better.  

I felt so sorry for these deer who appeared in our driveway the morning of the extremely bitter cold.  I called John to bring some corn chop for them but they were gone by the time he arrived.  

We had lots of fun with Facetime calls and I often read books to the grands on Marco Polo.  

Catching up...January 2021

We received 3.5" of snow on January 1.  A video taken that day shows the grandboys and their parents having a snowball fight on the hill above our house.  Food prepared in January included potato soup, homemade pizza, homemade vegetable soup, stew, cinnamon rolls, roast, sloppy joe, homemade spaghetti sauce, morning glory muffins, lasagna, and a pasta/chicken dish.  

I painted the woodwork in the family room  and the kitchen island.  Brian and Mindy began remodeling their bathroom.  In national news, the horrible storming of our nation's capitol by radical Trump supporters happened on January 6.  

The grandboys built this snowman, and Grammy added the embellishments. 

This is Ina Garten's morning glory muffin recipe but I committed the sacrilege of cutting down the amounts of oil and sugar the original recipe called for--they were still good just not as good, I'm certain, as Ina's.  

My friend Debbie and I went through Jacquie Lawson's advent calendar together -- and what a blessing those daily communique's about the new treasures we found were during this year of Covid. 

The 2020 advent calendar them was Nordic, and gnomes such as this one Debbie gifted me were plentiful. So nice to have this guy as a memory of this special blessing we shared.  

Loved this walk on the Hill with my daughter and her boys.  

So many beautiful sunrises and sunsets in January.  

And here we are, walking up on the hill, enjoying the sunset shown below...

 I liked the way the island turned out and bought colorful braided rugs to celebrate.  

Thanksgiving and Christmas...Outdoors!

 

It's amazing that during this year of the pandemic that we were able to gather outdoors on Halloween, Thanksgiving, AND Christmas.  How often is the weather in the 60's for any of those holidays in Kansas?  Grateful.  Thank You, Lord.  

This is the first Thanksgiving our dog, Moose, has attended.  He minded his manners, for the most part. We celebrated Rebekah's fifth birthday too.    

On December 20, there was no wind, the temperature reached 60 degrees, and we met in the afternoon despite the Chief's game being in progress.  John mounted a TV on the deck railing and our computer guys managed to stream the game!  They also played disk golf and football in the front yard.  The firepit gave a cozy glow but when the sun went down we began to remember it is DECEMBER.  The gathering broke up shortly after dark and I sent vegetable soup with each family to eat at home.  A blessed gathering. 

Sunrise the Day After Election Day, 2020

 I smiled to see a red, white, and blue sunrise yesterday morning, the day after our country's presidential election.  I felt the Lord's reassurance that He has not withdrawn His protective love from the United States of America, that by His grace, He will continue to hear our prayers.  I am so grateful to the Lord for His love, grace, and mercy.  Let's pray together for healing of the divisions among us, thanking God for His continued guidance and love.  

A friend recently sent me an encouraging letter that ended with a message that blessed my heart.  I record those words here because I want to save them, but also because they resonate today; God has not abandoned us:  

"Be blessed my friend. You’ve been used by God, are still being used by Him, and God is still on the throne."

The Lord has not removed His presence from us. God is with us.   

Halloween

 

Daughter Melinda planned a gathering for Halloween, and in light of Covid-19 concerns I was stressed about gathering.  But the temperatures moderated (after SNOW this past week), there was a full moon, and we were able to have a blessed time together outdoors.  So grateful for the time together.  

Favorite Photos From August and a Recipe

 

John grew his biggest and most perfect tomato ever this summer, from a heirloom beefsteak plant selected and delivered by our son this spring.  There were five of these perfect tomatoes, all large and beautiful, and John picked one...but alas when he returned the next morning the other four were gone!  Squirrels?  Deer?  Raccoons???  We do not know.  

I made a lot of stir fries during August, always the same basic recipe:  saute onion in some olive oil, add garlic, zucchini, peppers, and whatever else is available, sometimes some pasta cooked in chicken stock, sometimes a turkey kielbasa sausage...always good, especially with a loaf of crusty homemade bread.  

We are so blessed to feel fairly safe from the virus out here on the farm, but there are always those necessary trips to town for gas, parts, and groceries.  Several in our community have suffered from Coronavirus, but we have had no deaths and only one person that we know of became critically ill.  One is too many.  We pray deliverance from Covid-19, in Jesus' Name.  Amen!  

The grandkids are, I am happy to report, doing well.  All are being homeschooled this semester with hopes and prayers of attending public school when Coronavirus has become a memory.  

Yes, those are swim goggles.  After about 50 years of suffering from painful, burning eyes every single time I cut up an onion, I have finally found a way to avoid the pain and tears!  

I experimented with several online recipes for a pumpkin latte and came up with this recipe:  

Pumpkin Spice Latte

 

Stir 2 Tbsp. unsweetened pumpkin puree into ½ cup skim milk, heat in microwave.  Stir in 2 teaspoons brown sugar, 1 teaspoon white sugar (I used 1 packet Splenda), ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, and ½ teaspoon vanilla. 

 

Heat ½ cup brewed coffee, stir in 2 to 3 teaspoons of Fat Free Coffeemate. 

 

Combine the two mixtures and heat to serving temp.  Top with frozen lite cool whip, sprinkle with nutmeg. 

Favorite Photos From July

 

An Unexpected Blessing

I didn't expect to enjoy summer, 2020.  We had been socially distancing and I haven't been away from home but for curbside grocery pickups since March. 

And then our son-in-law and daughter asked whether they might install an above ground swimming pool in our back yard.  The answer was a resounding "Yes!"  Our family gathers outdoors around the pool and we are all having an unexpectedly wonderful time.  Even Farmer John and I are swimming each night. 

I'm grateful for this unexpected blessing. 

Before and After

It's hard to believe that just 16 years ago--when you get older, 16 years stops seeming like a long time--I willingly chose a golden/orangey finish for the cupboards in the addition we built onto our house for my mom.  Mama passed away January 23 of this year, and although I was increasingly annoyed by these cupboards, I really wasn't going to manage to do anything about it...but then came the pandemic.  I find myself sheltered at home, grandkids no longer showing up regularly for sometimes day-long visits, few family meals being served (I still prepare takeout in an effort to help my kids when I can)...and time on my hands.  And so I've been painting. 

I feel we are preparing for the next season of our lives.  I would gladly live with orangey cupboards for the rest of my life if it meant I could have grandkid hugs and family surrounding me in my home...but by God's grace and according to His promise that there is hope for our future, I believe that in just a few months I'm going to get to have my grandkids and updated cupboards too! 

Paintbrush in hand, I am now eyeing the honey pecan stained woodwork in the rest of the addition, and thanking the Lord that I can still interact with my grandchildren via Facetime and Marco Polo.