New Blog

I have moved on. Explainations are at the new blog. http://itisournormal.blogspot.com

Thanks!!

Wanted: More of this....

I would love to have more days like this. Slow, relaxed, comfy. A lot has gone on since my last post. Nothing terrible. Nothing I need to revisit on a blog. I have been struggling with how to start adding posts again with so much time passing. I think I am just going to start.

One day a few weeks ago I snapped this photo of my youngest sitting on the couch with a pile of books around her. So happy, content, peaceful. A lesson for all of us.

Late summer

These three guys went to Baxter State Park a few weeks ago. A going away trip for our second son who has left for college. He wanted to climb Kathadin but they realized it would take most of their day and they wanted to make the most of the trip so they climbed Double Top. They had started Double Top one other year that we went, but didn't finish it because of bad weather. So this was a good feeling that they conquered a mountain.

Things have been busy here and certain things have gotten me into a funk again. So here I am again and I will try and catch up. I did take pictures and have a lot to write about. In about a week things will be significantly less busy and slower around here.

Here is a quick list of what has happened in the last month. Some I will blog about, others I will just sort of mention and try and forget. Some are good things, some are not.

The computer got a nasty virus and I couldn't use it for a while.

My chickens got massacred in the night. I lost 12 of my 18 birds.

I had a tough couple of weeks realizing my second son would be leaving soon. At the same time I was also missing my oldest son who I will not see until October.

I have been doing a lot of shopping to get my son ready for college, and to get my youngest boy off to high school.

We went way up north, (4 1/2 hours) for a 'sending off to college' party.

My youngest son has started pre-season cross country, which means a car ride into town every morning of the week. With two young girls who would rather stay home.

I made myself a skirt and I am almost done with a shirt also for me.

I finished three books.

I signed up for two quilting classes with a friend.

I successfully got the kids all signed up for whatever they are doing this year.

Made a pretty little schedule to put up on the refrigerator.

Said goodbye to my second son until October.

So now that I wrote it all down, I am realizing I did a lot this month. When it comes to finding time to blog, it will come after family & friends, sewing, and reading. I feel good about that.

Happy Anniversary!!

Here is the happy couple. We celebrated our 20th anniversary today. We dated/lived together for 23, but actually married for 20.
Tonight we went out on a date. It was fun. We listened to a live musician, ate lobster, and took a walk by the river. It was very nice. It is hard to believe some of the things we have done and accomplished in 20 years. For me it seems like I have been with my husband forever, but in some ways it doesn't seem like 20 years has gone by.
Happy Anniversary to us!!

Just Hanging Around

Not much is going on here lately. Just hanging around, enjoying the summer. We have been picking berries and beans. Lots of beans. Everyday there are more beans to pick.
My husband almost has all the wood brought up from the woods. Next comes the splitting and stacking.
We did make it to the ocean, twice so far, but of course I forgot the camera the first time and the second it ran out of batteries. Oh well. There is plenty of summer left.
The two boys here at home have been working and sleeping and thinking of their firsts coming up. One going off to college for the first time and the other going off to school, (high school) for the first time. In fact, cross country practice starts this week. Kids in high school really do not have much of a break. Even the one going off to college has been working on forms, and entrance exams.
My oldest is finishing his summer working in Alaska. He says it is going fast. He will be returning to college a junior this year! Wow, I can't believe it has already been two years.
The girls are great. They have been enjoying the outside. Sometimes as soon as they wake up they go outside. They play imaginary games all day long.
I have been gardening, a little bit of sewing, driving the boys to work, playing with the girls and also enjoying the relaxation and calm.

Yogurt Pops

We made our own yogurt pops the other day. Very easy. Take any Popsicle maker and pour yogurt into it. Not all the way to the top. We pushed strawberries into two of them. The girls loved them. I think we will try strawberry yogurt next time.

Bread Day

We have been having the three H's here in Maine. We are not used to it and it always causes a lot of conversation anywhere you go. Most people do not have central air and not many have any kind of air conditioner. So we run a lot of fans and try and not cook too much.
Today we had a bit of a respite from the heat and humidity. I woke up this morning and felt a breeze. By mid day we had mostly clouds and it was much cooler. I decide to make bread.

First I made dough for Challah bread in the bread maker. I braided it and let it rise. It looked so yummy when it came out of the oven. We are going to have french toast tomorrow morning!


I also made three loaves of whole wheat bread for our daily use. It will last about two weeks. I will freeze some. We don't eat a lot of bread, but when we do we like it to be fresh, not store bought.


For supper I made pizza. This one is pepperoni. I found some natural, minimally processed, nitrate free pepperoni. I get a little nervous serving all the processed meats. So I don't do it much, but when I do I try and make it as healthy as possible. Everyone said this was a great pizza.


This one is mine. One of my son's likes it too but he only had two pieces. It is a garlic and mushroom white pizza. I put three kinds of mushrooms on it. It was very good.

This one was half green pepper and half cheese. It also was very good. I like to sneak some whole wheat in the dough. The rest of the family would prefer just white flour for the dough. This time I only put a little whole wheat.
The girls made their own pizza's but someone served it to them before I could get a picture. The girls as well as the boys, when they were younger, love to help me in the kitchen. They always want to make a miniature version of what ever I am making. We have had tiny biscuits, small pies, and mini pizza's.
Tomorrow is supposed to be hot again, so I am glad I got all this cooking in today.