A Little Housekeeping

I have been working on cleaning up my blog reading list, which is proving to be a challenge. Oh, I am able to navigate the technology of the process, but it is a bit tedious posting. I am deleting from my list those have not had any activity in a year. I ponder each one a bit before I hit "remove," remembering what I enjoyed about that particular blog.

Two make me really sad to say "Good-Bye" to. Animal Instinct kept by Janis was a wonderful adventure in rural life in Vermont. I never really knew if Janis was a man or a woman, but simply an older blogger who tended a small herd of cattle on a small average. The blogger loved the cattle. One particularly devastating blog was a story of the terrible snow storm that collapsed the cattle shelter roof, injuring new born calves. I cried as I read how the blogger worked to save the injured calf. The last post was about digging turnips. I have worried about what happened to Janis.

The second blog that I so enjoyed (and have already forgotten the title) came from rural area in Brittany, France. This blogger wrote mostly about her critters: chickens, rabbits, ducks, and her garden and her family. She also wrote a lot about her health, which wasn't always very good. She had a gastric bypass and lost a lot of weight, but her health problems continued and her sudden halt in posting worried me.

But I had to let go of several of my old dormant favorites to make room for the new friends that I have made through Mosaic Monday. I have been sloppy in adding new blogs to my reading list on the home page so that I can keep up with everyone. I am still working on cleaning up my reading list and adding more to keep up with. If yours isn't listed, please let me know so that I can add it to my list.

The housekeeping has extended to the abode as well with the flooring now installed. Not only did we have to move back all of the furniture, but everything needed dusting.

We are so pleased with it. No tripping hazard in the kitchen now. I probably mentioned that instead of hard word flooring, we installed a vinyl planking that is virtually indestructible. With all of the outside traffic, a large, active dog, and general wear and tear, we knew that hard wood just wouldn't hold up. 

I still have some redecorating to do like new curtains and probably slipcovers for the sofa and my chair, along with area rugs.

Home construction is never fun with all of the inconvenience of moving out all of the furniture and then having to put it back in place. The worst part of the project was the removal of the tile flooring in the entry way and the bar area in the living room. The removal was loud and dusty. I spent most of the day outside.

While Javier banged and clanged away in the house removing tile,  Dr. Larry came to tend to Pop. Pop didn't winter very well and is very thin. While he is 27 now, he shouldn't be so thin, so after consulting with two veterinarians, we have begun a regiment to try to get some weight back on him. 

He is on a medication for an auto immune disease, Cushions Disease that causes a multitude of ailments, including not shedding out his winter coat. As a result, he is shaggy and bony and looks awful. He also needed some dental work. Here, Dr. Larry is floating his teeth. Horses' teeth continue to grow as they age, causing chewing problems when the teeth prevent the jaws from making proper contact while chewing. So the horse, then, can't properly chew food and loses weight. At some point the teeth have to floated or filed off. The vet gave Pop a strong sedative, but only enough to make him drowsy and docile and to not knock him down. The Head Gardener did have to hold his head up so that the vet to work on Pop's teeth. Pop was very good through the entire process. He no doubt had a sore mouth when he woke up, but hopefully he is chewing better.

Little Helper

Heather and the boys came for the weekend. I fixed a big breakfast Saturday morning. Nathan always wants to help flip pancakes. This morning's lesson including a lecture on how to pour pancake batter.

"It's all in the wrist, Nathan." While I did click away on the iPhone camera, I won't take up your time showing you all of his flipping flops, only his success. He got very good at lifting the edge just a enough to see if the pancake was ready to turn. The more he flipped, the less he flopped.

Starting mid-week, a Big Secret began to float around. I was invited to Jen's house at 2:00 PM Saturday afternoon. And when I arrived, I was greeted by these 3 lovely young ladies and a beautifully set table for a Mother's Day Afternoon Tea. Ellie (9) is learning how to cook, so she served her favorite mini pizzas with heart-shaped crust. I was very impressed. 

There were other goodies: kiwi with raspberry by Lucy (7) and crackers topped with a wonderful Wisconsin blue cheese, (mom) a spinach leaf and a half a grape tomato--so good. But what made the day so special was that everyone was there to celebrate not just Mother's Day, but being together.

But the best was yet to be served: these delicious (and I mean delicious) meringues topped with whipped cream and berries. I had two. Couldn't help it. The girls worked so hard with the help of their mother. Even the boys, Jacob and the HG, enjoyed afternoon tea.

I am not one to need or even want attention, let alone gifts. A pretty card for Mother's Day or a birthday is always plenty. But Jen and the girls spoiled me with this beautiful African violet and

And a Royal Albert Beatrix Potter Mrs. Bunny with Babies. 

Heather, too, knows the way to her mother's heart. She ordered this comparative coin from England's Royal Mint to commemorate Potter's 150th birthday.

The best part of Mother's Day simply was having my family all together. With Heather and her family living in Denver, while not a great distance, our lives are busy and we don't get together as often as we should. So thank you to my sweet daughters and their children for their kindness and love.

Well, I have have almost written a post without mentioning how crummy Spring has been. 

Outside the lawn sparkles as the early morning sun begins to warm the grass heavy with dew. But don't let the sun fool you, for it has been very cold and rainy this week. 

Yes, this photo was taken this morning, 9 May 2016 with the gas logs burning to take the chill off. Boone's favorite place when he has a chill. Note the fuzzy blanket. He does not like lying on the new bare floor.

My hope for tomorrow is to get out into the yard. We had a very wet weekend, but today was sunny, so hopefully the ground will be dry enough to get some planting done.

 Here the rule of thumb for planting is to wait until after Mother's Day to avoid frost, so we should be safe to get tomatoes planted and maybe some pretty pots.

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day. Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll be visiting, soon, too.