How Does Your Garden Grow?

While retrieving the RV today, we took some time out to admire all the green growing things, (and hard work!) that Stan and Lorna have put into the garden and landscaping.

Prep

We went to Stan and Lorna's house to get the RV today. It always takes longer than I think it will to get ready to go camping. Kyle checked it over and vacuumed. We also dumped the water tanks and bleached them. Now it just needs to be wiped down and stocked with provisions. Almost there!! Camping season here we come!

Hmmmmm

A few technical difficulties with the bird deterrent...they blew up into the gutter. Lorna suggested I tape them to the window, I think I am going to look for some suction cups. More later,

Had to post one picture of Abbie enjoying some baby time.

Our friends Justin and Rebeka have twin baby girls. I think this is Amelia, but it might be Marian. We all had a turn snuggling them. Not as good as having a cuddle with Zoe, but it will have to do.

Oooooo, Shiny!

Version 1.0 of my bird deterrent efforts. Shiny party decorations left over and strung from the gutter. I am hoping they will be shiny/fluttery and scary enough to prevent the birds from flying over here. I think the birds see the reflection of sky and trees in the window. I am hoping this will work, I don't want to obstruct my view too much.

Sad

Really need to get some shiny bird deterrent. This greeted me after we returned home from town...

Just a Trim

A few moments of sibling harmony before they go back to bickering....
We went to North Pole to get hair cuts, take the dog for a checkup, and get the registration for the motor home. Abbie decided to get her hair cut shorter for summer and Liam went back to his usual "ski jump" boys cut.

After escaping the car, they built this ship fort. As it is about 85 again today I bet that shade feels pretty good!!

Bird drum

It is a beautiful morning outside the sun is shining and all is well. I have been on my computer for about 45 minutes right next to the open back door. In that time there have been THREE bird strikes on the big window. What the heck. Yesterday a robin hit the window and took about 30 minutes to recover. No major injuries yet today, this little guy was just checking out the snacking opportunities on the grills.

Cool Stuff from Dad.

Dad (Stan) hooked me up with some cool stuff for my birthday this year. Check out the custom wood box and the door for the pizza oven. I thought everyone should see the how much work he put into these things. I really appreciate them.

Party Prep

We threw an end of school/start of summer party yesterday. It was fun, but lots of work! Many thank yous to both sets of our wonderful parents who helped out so much!! I carried my camera around in my apron pocket most of the night in the hopes that I would actually take pictures...but no such luck. I was either too busy or just plain forgot. Only a few set up pictures to share:





The quiet before the storm.










Kyle storing up energy to cook for 4 hours!













Ready, set, go!

Potential

All the planting is done and I am wondering....will it be another rainy summer? Will I remember to water my plants often enough? Will the sweet peas come up? One never knows, but I sure did have fun buying plants and getting them in the dirt!

Crows on a fence

The cheering section for Liam at the honor roll awards.

Loot

Lorna and I (Abbie too!) escaped to the greenhouses today! The trip to Risses was a bust but we got lots of pretty things at Plant Kingdom. I ended up with a double ruffle petunia (in purple, imagine that!) pink violas for Abbie, some stock and a habenero pepper. Also acquired: mint, ginger mint, basil, thai basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley and lemon thyme. Now all I need is a plan!

Ignition!

I was in charge of lighting to oven today. When I went out to check on it, I was a little concerned to see flames shooting out of the front! It is breezy today and I had forgotten the shield for the front to damp it down a little.

Minor repairs

While Kyle was loading the oven in preparation for Mother's Day pizza, a big chunk of the doorway flaked off. Not a total loss but not exactly what he had planned for a project today.
Kyle says he saved the template for the front so he can cut a new door. Hopefully there is another yummy roast in my future.

Sad Beer

Part of Kyle's gift from me was six new beers to try from Gold Hill. Including this one from Italy. It says it is made with elderberries, not our favorite. It wasn't really bad, it just wasn't good either. So what do you do when life gives you bad beer? You make beer bread! The bread tastes much more berry and sweet than the beer. Kind of like a waffle.

Also on the list for today is a new recipe for madelines, chocolate this time. They are really good. Unfortunately it only makes 12 at a time! Guess I will need to make more sweets tomorrow.

Ready, set, go!

Liam (and Dad) finally finished the mouse trap car sent by Uncle Ken for his birthday. Liam and I started it months ago, but got stalled by lack of superglue, grip strength and tools. It runs great and Liam loves that it looks like it is jousting! We had lots of fun running it back and forth. Liam and Kyle were already speculating on where they could find more parts to make another one so they can race!

Birthday highlights

So I completely forgot to take a picture of our yummy birthday dinner shared with family and friends. Kyle requested barbecued chicken, beans, salad, salsa, and tortillas. When we lived in California, this was the menu from the mission fiestas. A lot of fond memories there! Kyle is hard to shop for, but we managed to find a few funny gifts. Stan and Lorna gave him a new wood box full of good BBQ wood, Valerie and Clint gave him .45 amo, the kiddos went with me to Lowe's and bought some random tools and supplies, David and Cindy got him a GOOD dictionary (something he has been wanting), Lily gave him the space cow, and I got him a piece of Vaseline Glass. Depression era glass that gets its pretty green color from uranium! (Because of this it will glow under a black light.) Not sure if we will actually use this piece, but it is definitely cool.

Kyle thinks this is so funny to have the space cow beside the uranium glass!

Success!

The lemon meringue pie turned out great! I should have chilled it a little at the lemon filling was too soft to cut properly but the meringue was fluffy and delicious! And Kyle liked it, which was the point :)

More Birthday Baking

I asked Kyle if he wanted to take a cake to share at work, he decided breakfast would be better. This cake should be called Leigh's best coffee cake. I have made it so many times I don't really need the recipe anymore. I used to make six of them at once when we were still feeding the army boys breakfast in California (along with breakfast casserole). It is one of those simple cakes where you dump everything in the mixer bowl and beat the heck out of it. It bakes up tender and golden every time. This is Liam's favorite too, he had to steal a piece before Dad took the whole thing to work.
Now onto lemon meringue pie, not something I have made before. Experimental baking, scary!