Exquisite Spring!

After a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry long winter, Spring has outdone itself this year! The spring peepers began March 31 (a nice birthday present indeed!) and April has been glorious. It gets greener and more colorful by the minute with bursts of screaming yellow from the forsythia and daffodils and blasts of blue from the anemones and grape hyacinths and highlights of red from the tulips, which miraculously the deer haven't munched. The clematis is climbing and leafing out and the asparagus is leaping out of the ground! I'm also way ahead of where I usually am in tending to the garden and yard. It helped tremendously that I managed to clean up the beds last fall. All those bulbs I grumbled about having to plant last fall (several hundred!) are fulfilling their promise and paying me back for the earlier effort, as I kept telling myself while digging endless holes last fall. We've already had several cook outs over our fire pit. We have a huge supply of wood from all the branches we had to collect and saw up after the ice storm in early March. It is all neatly stacked.

I've been trying to ride my bike at least every other day about 5 - 6 miles. Of course, there is always at least one short walk with the dogs daily as well. They can't do a long one in the afternoon anymore since they are feeling their 11 and 13 years lately. Now that the furnace guys are FINALLY done installing our new gas furnace/humidifier/air filter/central air conditioner I can move everything back into the furnace room and we can reclaim our yoga / exercise machine space.

I am curiously still in my crocheting/knitting mode. This usually only lasts until gardening season begins, but I have many delightful patterns I'm working on! I discovered all these free patterns on line and have made about 20 dish cloths / baby washcloths which I have mostly given away to friends and family. They are cute with dog paws, cats, baby feet, initials, etc. on them and they are something you can finish in a few hours time and feel creative! I made a darling crocheted bib in yellow and white on the way to Amy and Mike's baby shower last weekend. I'm starting a crocheted tank top and I'm half done with a purse (which I'm inventing as I go). I'm wrapping Keely and Ian's Wedding Shower present in dishcloths with hearts or initials (B or K or I) on them and I have to make 2 more to cover the gift. I've also completed a couple of necklaces made out of stone beads I bought at Michael's (a very dangerous place for me to go in!).

We've / I've been listening to books on cd while I work or drive. We listened to an interesting one on the 8 hour trip to Amy and Mike's baby shower called Discovering Your Inner Economist. This may not sound like a promising title, but it was truly great and very far ranging! Currently we are listening to Golf for Enlightment , by Deepak Chopra. This may also sound like something to be rather wary of, but it is surprisingly good! If you've ever played golf you can really appreciate it; however, I think anyone would get something out of it since what he has to say can apply to any aspect of life. Deepak Chopra is a rather famous yoga / meditation specialist. Again, this one is rather far ranging in scope, despite the title. George begins his golfing season this Saturday morning, so maybe it'll help!

I went to school yesterday - and that will be it for this week if I can help it. ""Tis a silly place!" George had to be out 2 nights this week teaching and observing a fellow teacher to give feedback and evaluation.

Next week both George and I get to to do repeat visits with our respective dental professionals. I get my "real cap" on and George gets the cotton pulled out of his tooth which hopefully killed the massive infection he developed (over the last 5 years) from a root canal gone wrong. They will patch him up and hopefully save the tooth.

We'll have a couple of weeks off from traveling until May 8th when we will drive back to Philly to visit Mike and Amy before the baby comes and do some electrical work, visit Adam and Vanessa and gather up Anya from MICA (I hope she gets that storage space arranged!) and then visit George's sister, Chris and install a ceiling fan for her. The wedding shower for Keely and Ian is the next weekend as well as Josh's "graduation". Apparently the lad needs to take a religion class this summer to make up for the one he dropped because he was flunking! GREAT! He still gets to "walk" though. He also needs to get a job and an apartment - we are establishing ground rules - hopefully the job by August 1 and the apartment by 3 months after that. Keely and Ian get married May 31 - which is the same day Amy and Mike's baby is due! This is going to be one spoiled kid. For starters it has 3 grandmothers, 3 great-grandmothers and LOTS of AUNTS!!! So, we will be heading back to Philly sometime in early June. We have one more wedding June 21st. Adam will be home for Josh's graduation and Ian and Keely's wedding too, so we will have a house full.

Guess, I'd better go start a fire - its hamburgers tonight!

A New Recommendation!!!

AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Just back from a splendid weekend away at a marvelous B & B called Brandywine Inn (http://www.innatbrandywinefalls.com/) We highly recommend it! I reserved it back in January for George's 55th birthday as a surprise for a weekend away. It turned out to be a marvelous choice. We stayed in "The Granary" which is a former small barn converted into two fabulous rustic suites. Just stepping into the Granary made us relax. Soft piano music was playing in the background. It has rustic decor with old plank and tiled floors and soaring glass windows on one side overlooking a grove of trees bordered by a woven wooden fence and a sleeping loft above with a Kingsized bed found at the top of a spiral staircase. The tiled and rough hewn wood bathroom had a sunken jacuzzi for two complete with candles. An antique table and chairs for two was set with a gorgeous fruit bowl, homemade "Buckeyes" and a silver tray with glasses. Wine glasses and a corkscrew were also provided as well as cups and saucers with spoons. A carafe with chilled water was in the little refrigerator tucked inside a wooden cabinet. A handmade kaleidoscope and interesting books were on the bookshelves in the "living room" area as well as a bed-couch with pillows and blankets for snuggling. A Franklin stove was also in the living room area as well as firewood, although we didn't use this. We enjoyed reading the instructions though that said that having the fire dept. come was NOT romantic!

Katie and George Hoy (who is quite the comedian), our hosts recommended an Italian restaurant in town, Guissepe's, which was fabulous!! We saw a perfect rainbow in the sky just before we went into the restaurant. I had Zuppa de Piesce and George had a Veal dish along with a bottle of white wine. Both were wonderful. We will definitely go back again! We hiked down to Brandywine Falls which is just a few steps away from the Inn after dinner and walked around the area. We enjoyed a wonderful dessert cake I'd brought with us as well as the St. Joseph's Ice Wine, Bruce and Sue gave us for Christmas, before heading off for our "loft".

George Hoy brought us breakfast the next morning in a covered basket. What an amazing feast! We had a wonderful creamy oatmeal with fruit and homemade granola and brown sugar to top it off. A dish of mixed fruits and homemade bread with raspberry butter, fresh squeezed orange juice and hot coffee and lemon water. We decided to try hiking to a closed road we had seen the previous day and ended up hiking all the way to Boston! It was about 6 miles + A beautiful route along Brandywine creek with its many waterfalls. We found a "Hostel" that is going to have a pancake breakfast Sunday May 4th that we hope to come back for. After a bit of a nap we set off for Peninsula with our bikes and rode 10 miles South on the towpath trail. We'd never been in that direction before and it was lovely. We were rather damp, since it started to rain in earnest. We just made it to Fishers' Pub for dinner before it really started to rain. Had a nice light dinner of Red Pepper Bisque and Eggplant fries (and a bit of George's BLT). He had the BLT and French Onion soup followed by strawberry cheesecake (which I had to help with as well!) . Took the scenic route back. Tried out the Jacuzzi as well. AHHHHHHHHHHH! The Inn had other guests overnight as well who we met in the morning at breakfast in the dining room this time. We also met the 2 goats Bedlam and Chaos and the gorgeous rooster and his flock of pretty hens as well as Louis a very friendly black mixed breed dog.

We joined George and Katie and the 4 other guests for a truly memorable breakfast. WOW! The same fare as the previous day with the addition of a raspberry sourcream coffee cake and a splendid spinach cheese omlet! We had a great time talking to the other guests. The couple in the Loft also were celebrating a birthday (hers) also on the 11th. The other pair were a mother and daughter who were here to go to the daughter's bridal shower put on by his side of the family. Everything was lovely, relaxing elegant and the conversation very interesting and friendly. We spent 2 hours at breakfast! We had a pleasant ride back following roads through the MetroParks. A very enjoyable get-a-way indeed! I recommend it!

How to be a cool mom!

Wow! So, now I'm a totally cool mom - just like that! Check out this link:
http://czgoldedition.livejournal.com/325575.html

Be sure to scroll down through the comments, they're funny.

I sent Anya a fetal pig apron (we were using them in class and I had a inspiration / hunch she'd like one!). (I didn't send her a "used" one in case you're wondering!).

It was a hit!

MORE FUN!

Okay, so now we have 18 inches of snow ..... and its still falling!!! We shoveled for 1 1/2 hours and by the time we were done 2 more inches had fallen. WTF! It is pretty though - a winter wonder land! The snow plows are not keeping up anymore. We may not be able to move anymore either. Its a good thing we did our yoga before we went out to shovel!

George got both overhead lights installed and a new outlet in the hallway above the stairs, so we can have a night light there. This is going to be great!

I didn't grade much today, but I'm almost done with the crocheted poncho I want to wear to the West Point Society Ball next weekend. It's very elegant.

Bye for now!

Ice Storm!

Wow! Mother nature sure knows how to upset the applecart! Ice began coating the trees and roads Tuesday (primary election day in Ohio) morning and by the evening transformers and substations were erupting like fireworks as trees cracked and broke over powerlines under the weight of half an inch of ice. Everything looked like crystal - very pretty but deadly! We lost power while watching a DVD of Battlestar Galactica that Anya gave us for Christmas. Of course, we still hadn't gotten our generator repaired yet. We were just starting to get rather chilly and were headed out to get the generator repaired and some hot coffee when the power came back on about 9 am. We lost several large tree limbs and one smashed the two plastic trellises and flower boxes by the back door and blocked access to the door until we could move it.

Mom and dad had several branches smash through their sunroom roof! They sawed them off and temporarily patched the roof with the help of friends and neighbors. Fortunately, they had gotten their generator fixed and were using it on and off as the power came and went. They decided to cancel their vacation to Arizona, partially because of the weather incidents and mom has developed a bad cold.

Hiram didn't fair as well either, and the campus was without power for 2 days! They decided to start Spring Break 3 days early and sent the students who could go, home. This will give me a leg up on my grading! I have a huge stack of papers waiting for my attention! It was also nice to be able to spend some time home with George, since he took a week off between quitting his old job and starting his new one this coming Monday. We met his new boss and his wife Saturday for coffee. They seem very nice and I think he will have an interesting time working with this guy. He is very dynamic.

George is having fun putting holes in the ceiling and installing an access (which we never had before) to the attic on the upper level and installing ceiling lights and new outlets. Eventually we are going to add more insulation too once the wiring is done. We are hatching new projects faster than we are finishing the ones we've started! However, great progress has been made. Just not always in the direction we thought it would be (as in most home improvement projects!).

We got the generator all repaired (carburetor gunked up), so we are ready for the new storm which unleashed this morning. We are supposed to get anywhere from 9 - 14 inches! Its a good thing Andy decided against trying to visit - although we will miss the opportunity to see him!

It is so good to have our cat, Arlo, back in circulation again. He actually looks like a cat now (with a buzz cut). He's pettable again, and one happy cat! All 3 cats and 2 dogs are snoozing in the various chairs and floor around me. I'm very thankful for a nice warm house and that I don't have to go anywhere the rest of today or tomorrow!

Stay warm!

Almost the end of February.....

Isn't winter over yet???? About one more month to go! I can't wait for Spring!

This has been an interesting past few weeks.
-We've taken George's car in for repairs 7 times in 4 weeks (it runs great now!).

- finished staining and varnishing a new door for our bedroom (which we bought unfinished a year ago).

- nursed a cat back to health - although he still needs probably another week of confinement and his "e-collar". At least he doesn't resemble a vulture anymore. He just looks like Yoda now.

- we're in the middle of converting from an oil furnace that is dying to a new 95% efficient gas furnace/air conditioner/humidifier/air filter combo $$$ (the front yard looks like a giant mole went through it - that is when you can see the ground under the 7 inches of snow we currently have).

-George has a new job beginning the week after next that sounds like it will be an interesting one with a growing company (with a 9.8 mile commute- half the distance he currently drives!). He is taking next week off before he starts the new job and is happily planning all kinds of projects to do around the house - including cutting holes in the ceiling to install insulation in the upper part of the house and rewiring and installing receptacles and overhead lights in 2 of the upstairs rooms. He also said something about sanding and varnishing stairs. (I may be glad I've got to work all of next week!).

-George's daughter Jill is currently in New Zealand for 4 months doing a research job after getting her Master's degree in December, and announced that she and Jullian are getting a divorce. We feel badly for both of them. Jullian called Sunday when he got back in the States and we were all in tears.

-I have been grading papers nonstop for the last 4 weeks with just 2 days off during that whole time! One more week to go until Hiram's Spring Break!

That's it for now. Make it a good day!

Hey I'm Still Here And So Is The Cat!

I was almost creamed by a lady who ran a red light yesterday. I was stopped at a traffic light and started to enter the intersection when my light turned green. I heard a screech of brakes and looked to my left to see a car barreling down on me! It all happened in slow and fast motion at the same time. Somehow we managed to miss each other and I made it home safely. The adrenaline started pumping right afterwards, that's for sure! My guardian angel must have been on duty!

Meanwhile, cat washing and medicating continues. However, what looked pretty hopeless a few days ago is improving, finally. He may live yet! I managed to devise a way to keep the darn creature from inflicting wounds to himself. I tried wrapping his hind feet, but he managed to get them off eventually and was scratching himself all bloody and spreading bits of fur and flesh everywhere. Delightful! I was about ready to throw in the towel and have him put to sleep. However, I got an e-collar that fit him finally and he usually manages to keep it on. He's not very happy, but at least he doesn't look quite like a horror film candidate anymore. I also found a lotion from my stock pile of vet medications from some previous pet which seems to soothe him a bit. He is certainly getting very resistant to the baths. I had quite a time getting all those feet pointed down into the laundry tub tonight. Its amazing how far they can spread themselves out! We are all getting better at getting the liquid medicine down him also. I'll be glad when I'm down to just one of the medications. The saga continues.....

We chose a furnace and the furnace guys are supposedly coming sometime in the next 2 days to make a mess of our yard before it snows again. We have to put in a gas line from the road.

Got the new door all stained and varnished and installed. We have 4 more at least to replace. The sink drain George worked on last weekend decided to be completely water permeable - but not down the drain - all around the drain and into the cabinet below, so its back to the drawing board on that project! George's car is all fixed (knock on wood!) after 3 visits to various repair shops.

I'm drowning in a sea of student papers, but I am beginning to get to the end of this rather irritating batch, 98 down, and 4 more to go! My husband is in Florida enjoying the beautiful weather- he even got to go golfing - while he is on a business trip. But he deserves it since he has been working hard on interviewing for possible new jobs, teaching, house projects and doing his current job! We have had thunder storms and cold rain for the past 2 days. Muddy dog prints everywhere!

Well, better get to bed! Two labs to teach tomorrow (and more papers, groan!) and a department meeting (oh joy!).

Make it good day!