Busy, Busy,Busy.

Hello folks. How was your week? This week literally flew by. Yesterday hubby and I spent the day in Denver with our grandson at his Science Fair. He was so hoping to win the first place cash prize; competition was very tough. He had said himself that he was proud to represent his school. He goes to a very small Lutheran school where he is doing so well. We are proud of you, Jacob. There is always next year. His next challenge: the Spelling Bee. He has been chosen to represent his school once again.




His project was a study on how to make paper. With the support of his mother, he made a variety of papers and wrote the report.



The moment of reckoning when it is time for each student to defend his and her research. The judges were tough.

The painting continues. Bridget is now working on the dining room/living room. Big walls, vaulted ceilings, crown molding and chair rail. By profession she is a roofer, this tiny blond woman. Not yet 40, she is also a widow and works very hard to make a living. She is my son in law's sister and together with their father they have their own roofing business. Just the three of them. So with poor weather, she is happy to come paint for me.

I took these photos on the iPad to take to the hardware store to get some help deciding on paint, so the quality isn't the best.

What a struggle it has been to decide on color. And to have the house in disarray. But I will love the results. Next on the to-do list: kitchen flooring. Now that we have Boone, carpeting will have to wait.

With a family reunion planned for summer, I have been obsessively searching my mother's family in Iowa. I have my great, great grandmother's Bible and last night I finished accounting for all of the names she had entered. I have boxes of photos, but no names. How disappointing is that? Another iPad photo of the old Bible with yellowed, brittle pages. I will post these photos to my family tree on Ancestry.com once I get the story assembled.

For the newly painted kitchen, I wanted a table cloth and place mats, so I decided to sew them. The place mats need quilting and I am not too sure just how to finish them since I am not a quilter.

I need more practice to hone my sewing skills, especially if I want to do more quilting. I am even making friends with my serger.

Boone is making progress, slowly. He knows his name and I think he is learning not to jump up. He has stopped barking in his kennel at night and early in the morning, now sleeping all night, but ready to get out when hubby gets up about 5:30. He still needs to learn to tell us when he needs to go out, but we are working on that. 

I must direct to Casa Mariposa's post on pesticide riddled bedding plants and perennials purchased at local nurseries. If, as gardeners, we want to create wildlife sanctuaries, safe havens for everything from ants to zinnias, we need to arm ourselves with the best information we can find. So I am passing on her post the give you something to think about before you rush to the nursery to purchase your garden plants. Once you have read her post, think about my suggestion to start an blog plant and seed exchange where we will vow to share pesticide free and especially Bee safe plants and seeds. And there may already be such exchanges. Let's start sharing ideas to become more natural growers.

Today I return to the university to spend two hours in the Writing Center tutoring students with their 

Writing projects. I enjoy going back for a couple of hours each week to see old friends and to work with college students, which helps to ease missing my job.

The snow is nearly all melted. Perhaps spring really is on the way. Now we are in the windy season. I do not like wind. As I walk around the garden, I do see green. Right now the chamomile carpets the center circle. I have to decide if this wonderfully fragrant plant is indeed a herb or a weed. I wonder too how the tender little plants survive the sub zero temperatures that we suffered through a few weeks ago.

Time to start my day. I love your wonderful comments, but I enjoy even more visiting you.

Have a glorious week end.