Bird Brained Activities

 

Hey hey!!!  I caught a photo of this morning's breakfast and the greedy little eaters!

I'm just glad they haven't built a nest in the hanging baskets on the porch like they have all the other years.

Here's to a great Tuesday!!!

Mothers Rock!

 HELLO!!!  What a glorious Mother's Day it was!!  

I even took a nap!

My Daughter-in-law and Aggie made me some stepping stones for my garden!  We need to glaze them in something to seal them, but I'll research that in a bit.

Aren't they cute?

Ryan gave Jen and I both the lilies!

The bouquet and vase on the left were for Jen from Maddy & Matthew. Maddy made the vase!

The bouquet and vase on the right were for me from Maddy & Matthew. They took a class in glass etching and made the vase!

Up close!  It says Happy Mothers day in one of the ovals and Love Maddy & Matthew and the grandpups in another!  I love it!

Meri gave me a hydrangea bush and a fern for the porch!

I'm still trying to decide where to plant it but oh I will!!!!

The kids made a brunch for lunch!  Caramel french toast casserole, hardboiled egg/spinach dip with bagels, deviled eggs, bacon and mimosas!  perfect...

And during a coffee on the porch this morning, we caught a bird feeding a worm to her young!  Tiny little hungry beaks facing up to her for more worms.  SO cute!  I didn't get a good shot because they kept popping their heads down.

Anyway, on Saturday I replaced the fuel filter on my mower and it works like a CHAMP now!  And then Sunday, I got an afternoon nap after all the festivities!  whew!  I woke up feeling like it was a 3 day weekend.

I'm ready for another one!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there!

Siezing Spring

 Between Jen and myself, we got Aggie's playhouse done!  Whew!  It is so cute!  And now has a sand floor because Aggs keeps bringing sand over from the sandbox.  There is a black tarp under that.

Jen wants to make a little raised garden too. :)  So sweet.  Aggie loves it.

End of the year concerts!!  Leon was very dedicated with his clarinet this year.  I don't know if he'll do band next year but we'll find out.

Meri and I hit up our local theater and saw Pride and Prejudice's 20 year anniversary showing a week or so ago on the big screen and then I saw this reel on FB.  SO TRUE!!!  

This past Sunday, Leon, Meri and I watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail at it's 50th anniversary at the theater too.

STILL hilarious after all these years!  And the popcorn was still fantastic.

I asked Leon if he recognized any lines from the movie that Grandpa Robb used to say and he replied pretty quickly with, "Yes, the 'it's just a flesh wound' line!" 

Oh YEAH that was one! lol!

And the trees and birds and bees are blooming, winging and buzzing all around.

It's got me in the mood to work outdoors a lot, so I've done a load of trimming, mowing, picking up stuff, etc outdoors.  I've got myself a doozy of a headcold right now but working outdoors keeps the agony of it to a minimum for the moment.  Or maybe it's the pseudofed/Aleve cocktails I'm on.  Don't know but I'll take it.

Last weekend, Maddy and Matthew were here and helped us move the ton or two of cement chunks out from under and around the eagles nest play thing we have out front.  Jen's family is coming in a few weeks to move that playland into the backyard for Aggie.  

I know it doesn't look like much from up in my office.  and probably not up close, but it's a commitment!  It'll have cement like planters on it and doll up that thistle loaded hill! *which I dug out earlier that day*

So the chunks were moved and when the last batch came around the garage, Matthew dumped it and we all gasped, WE NEED ICE CREAM!  So the last batch sits because then the cold symptoms hit me like a ton of cement chunks a couple days later.

uggh.

ON to sieze the day!  or another box of kleenex.  

Easter-tide

 Well, the Easter egg coloring last weekend turned into ONE egg for Leon and the rest of two dozen eggs for Meri and myself to color.  I failed to get a pic of them.  shoot.

Aggie and Jen were out of town until that evening so they couldn't join in.

Ryan completed a set of minis for a game he wants to get going with some friends.  He loves to paint tiny statues.  I can only imagine playing it is like the game Risk where you put out a ton of little soldier guys but in this case, monsters.  He said that I'll be playing too. :)

That Saturday afternoon, some ladies from church were supposed to come and watch Passion of the Christ with me and one by one, they cancelled for one reason or another.  Oh well.  I decided to work on the yard instead so that the Easter pictures would look halfway decent this year.  It's no fun when the kids are digging through molding leaves to find candy. 

TURNED out that it rained all day on Easter Sunday!  So the Easter egg hunt was in the living room and only Aggie hunted.  

Can't have everyone hunting when they're run into each other just turning around.  And there really aren't TOO many places to hide the eggs.  There were lots of plastic candy filled ones too.

Aggs had a ball.

Meri assisted by pointing them out.

Maddy outdid herself with her holiday cheese ball!  At Thanksgiving, it was a turkey with a pretzel tail, at Christmas, it was a snowman.  Well, get a load of the empty tomb cheese ball!!!

Even an angel made out of a cheese stick and the tomb sealed with a Ritz! 

I can't wait to see what she does for 4th of July.  Fireworks?  I don't know.

But for Mother's Day, I'm totally expecting a cheese ball bust of me.

Monday after work, Aggie "helped" me rake out the dead leaves in the garden and around the rhubarb.  She sat on my lap while I tried to saw out some volunteer trees under the leaves of the day lilies.  I'll have to get back there sometime and finish the job.  Then I ran a couple more loads of yard waste out to the towns lawn waste dump.  While there, I found clumps of hosta plants and more day lily bulbs!  Yay me!!!!  My garden will be built up with cast off plants!!!  for free!!!

Then she and I went on a walk out to Robb's grave.  It was still pretty wet from the Easter rains but it was fairly warm and a beautiful time out. She didn't beg ONCE for the overcrowded playground a block off our path!  I'm hoping she forgot about it for now.  I'll take her there, but I hadn't been out to the cemetery for a while.

Anyway, there was more yard work done this week and I started hauling the cement chunks back to the back yard, making the hill behind the garage a little more palatable and less thistly.  I'll show you when it looks less yucky.  I plan to work on that exclusively tomorrow morning and try to get done in time to go to the 20th anniversary of Pride & Prejudice.  Those Fathom Event Classic movies are the BEST!

Next week is 50th anniversary of Monty Python's Quest of the Holy Grail!  I hope to take Leon but we'll see what the week holds.

Has it been 50 years already??!

Am I feeling old?

yes.

Granted, I didn't see it until I was probably 20 but still.

What makes a Good Friday a Great Friday?

 Good Friday!!!

Robb (or rather DQ) minted the phrase SEVERAL years ago...

What makes Good Friday, a GREAT Friday?

Besides Jesus sacrificing himself to take away our sins?

Chili dogs at the DQ!

So after church tonight, I'll pick up enough for whomever wants them and enjoy one myself.

Leon and I, and maybe one or two others, will decorate some eggs tomorrow morning. I found that Kwik Star has them for $3.99 per dozen!  Not sure if egg prices are actually coming down, as I haven't been in a grocery store for almost a week, or if K-S is just using them for a loss leader.  Either way, I'll take it!

The kids will all be here on Sunday for lunch and shenanigans. :)

Looking forward to it!

Leon and I hit K-S up every Thursday after school for their $1 off Fresh Blend smoothies.  They have two Fresh Blend machines right next to each other and we like to race.  Turns out the one on the left is a LOT faster than the right one.  consistently.

My favorite is the Lemon Creamsicle. mmmmm

Leon started seeing videos about the tv show The Rookie and asked that we make that our new together show.  I guess he was getting tired of The Middle, Dr. Who, The Office and another one that we abandoned along the way.  I found out where it was streaming and we're several episodes in now. He is loving it.  And he found out a friend from school is watching it too.  He thinks he'd make a good policeman!  In our town, it wouldn't be nearly as exciting as downtown L.A. and he wouldn't get a body cam.  But I'm guessing he wouldn't apply here. :)

I'm enjoying recognizing where they are in L.A.!  Hey!  That's the Hollywood sign!  Hey! That's Muscle beach near the Venice canals!!!

 And when you look it up in google maps, you can see the exact spot they sat and an identifying graffiti wall right behind them. Yep!  I was right.  

If only they'd go into the tiny fabric shops in the fashion district where they measure the yards by the arm's length for $1 per arm.  Because then I could say, "Hey!  I bought THAT fabric!!!"

I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Onto a beautiful weekend!  

Happy Easter!

Sew not eating the seeds

 No tenants yet!  Can you believe it?

This is exactly how I left it yesterday.  I took this pic yesterday afternoon and every single seed is in the exact same spot today.

I did notice a wasp nest in the tippy top of the outside roof corner above my window, so if I am able to get some work outside done tomorrow, that might be whacked and I'll need to reset my seed benchmark.

So much I want to do outside!!!

Over lunch I opened the front door thinking, maybe just sit on the porch for a few minutes.

Well, the wind just whistled shrilly at me and seemed chill before I even pushed the door open,

so NOPE!

I cut out a t-shirt for myself last night and messed with the serger a bunch to make the little air loops go away.  No good.  This is as good as it gets.

sigh.  NOT fair quality.  I might have to go find my manual and see what settings needs to change.  I'm sure it's a tension thing or maybe one of the levers on the side.  

Anyone have a Brother Lock 1034D serger?

Eh - it doesn't HAVE to go to the fair.  I might just sew it up anyway.  I've worn clothes with wonky serging before.  It holds.  You'd only notice if you turn it inside out.

UPDATE!  I figured it out.  This little thingy on the side was the culprit!

Much Better!  not perfect, but hey.  I didn't claim I was.

Anyway, it's Taco Tuesday!  I've got about a half pound of leftover taco meat in the freezer from last week for Leon. He is a slave to routine.  But I'm making my sister-in-law's Chicken Tortilla Soup for supper for whomever is here.  Jen and Aggs are out town.  Might just be me and Ryan eating it.

And that's ok.

Have a beautiful day!

Goals

Isn't this place ADORABLE?!!!  One of my dear friends from our local widow group bought a house and fixed it up for an AirBNB and it is SO cute!  She has a mug tree with a coffee bar, a game room, a fireplace, etc.  So cozy!

Um and a hobbit door!!!

Our widow group had a dinner there on Friday and got to tour the house. AND eat lots of goodies!  If I had one ounce of her creativity, I believe I could do this too!

We talked cruises. :)

 

And isn't this funny?!  I believe there was one point in my life that I thought Austria and Australia were the same place too.  I may have been 8.  But because of the Sound of Music, I eventually knew the difference.  They don't say G'Day Mate in Austria.

And my rhubarb is starting to come up.  Goals...

I attended an ASG meeting on Saturday and got a huge bolt of fabric to use for curtains in my new office/sewing room from the free table. :)

That afternoon, watched Witness with a couple friends at the nursing home.  Ada is a huge fan of Patrick Swayze as well as Harrison Ford so this is the 2nd time in 12 months I've seen Witness with her.  I've seen Dirty Dancing around 4 in the last 12 months.  I found out my other friend is a fan of Night Shift and I own the DVD so since it is fairly risqué, I snuck it to her in a plain brown paper bag at church Sunday.  :)

Also on Sunday, Maddy, Matthew and Leon played catch in the yard that afternoon.  Meri and I watched from the deck.

Leon starts baseball soon and hadn't practiced much at all yet.  He has a good arm!

And I see a lot of home projects just from this pic that I need to attend to.  

Won't be today though, too windy.

I made a crockpot of chili along with a loaf of bread in the bread machine.  Unfortunately, didn't realize the machine blade hadn't made it into the pan before I made it, so I had a hot mess waiting for us when we got home from church.  Oh well, I had other rolls.

How was YOUR weekend?