The Neighbours House

Tomorrow is our 16th wedding anniversary.

We have been married 16 years.

For the last 16 years I have lived in the same house.

I like to go for a walk and when I do, I walk down our lane and past our neighbours house.

I have been watching this house for the last 16 years.

There have been some major changes with that house.

A couple of years ago the kids and I decided that we would go for a visit to the neighbours house.

No one was home.

I thought I had a messy house.  But my mess was nothing compared to this mess.  This was a serious mess.

A couple of weeks ago the neighbours decided to sell the house to some other neighbours.

So we got new neighbours.

And you know what the new neighbours thought about the mess?

 

 

Now I don't have to look at the house when I go for my walk.

Brenda

Spring Blossoms

These grow along our road.  I don't know what they are but they sure have some pretty blossoms.  I don't remember them ever looking this good.

And then there is the apple tree with all it's lovely blossoms.  The scent of it all is just delicious.

 

We have trilliums in our bush....or to say it properly "growing on the forest floor".

The lilacs are one of my favourites.  I have a big bouquet on my kitchen table.  There were really no lilacs last year....I think it was a sign of the drought to come.  But this year the lilac bush is just loaded....I think it's a sign of a good summer ahead!

And then there are all these little 'dandy' yellow flowers.  I never really like them much until my mother-in-law came for a visit when we were first married....she was just thrilled to see all the dandelions.  I was confused and then she told me that dandelions don't grow where she lives....it's only 30 minutes away!  She said that it's a sign of wonderfully fertile ground when you see dandelions.  She lives in the sand.  So now I have a deeper appreciation for  the dandelions.  There is a bumper crop this year.....

 

 Brenda

One More Field

We had one more field to sew....or 'plant'.  It's actually a field that we rent from a neighbour.  It is full of hills and so some of it was still too wet to work.  But they were able to work at part of it on the weekend.

One of our neighbours has restored a couple of John Deere tractors and he said that they needed some 'exercise'.  He came out to give us a hand with his old tractors.  They might be old but they still work really well.

 

Brenda

The Neapolitan Rose Cake

I made the rose cake a couple of weeks ago. 

But then I saw the Neapolitan Rose Cake on the i am baker blog and I decided that I needed to try that one too.

I made my three cakes...chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.....all from scratch.  I actually didn't have a strawberry cake recipe so I just winged it and tweaked my white cake recipe a bit and added a box strawberry jello to it. 

I stacked them up and put a thin coat of buttercream on the entire cake.  Then I tried to make the swirls.  It was a little difficult....I didn't have the exact tip that the baker lady had used.  AND it took an incredible amount of icing....I think it was two and a half batches....and it was only an 8 inch cake.  That's a crazy amount of icing.  But it didn't matter because we weren't going to be eating it.  I donated it to the bake sale at the library and they raffled it off.  Someone else would have to deal with all that icing.

While I was at it, I thought I'd make up a couple of Cake in a Jar's.....Neapolitan style.

I think I might take a few to the Farmers' Market this summer.

Brenda

Puke

Puke.  It just doesn't excite me like it used too.

I've handled a lot of pukey situations over the last few years.

I've woke up in the middle of the night and heard, "Mom" and then the little sweetheart pukes all over the floor.

I've woke up to hear someone heading down the stairs to the bathroom...but they don't make it...and I hear puke splattering all over the stairs and railing.

I've actually tried to catch puke in my hand so I wouldn't have to wash all the sheets and blankets AGAIN.  I was really exhausted that night.

Usually just one person pukes at a time and then the next person pukes a couple days later and then the next person a couple days later and so on.

BUT....sometimes the extraordinary happens.  I remember one night when Johanna, Grady and Jack were small.  I had babysat my nephew for the day and he was sick with the flu.  He was only about a year and a half so he had puked over most of the living room by the end of the day.  We had all been exposed at the same time and so that night we all started puking at the same time.  ALL of us.  It was insane.  I had never experienced anything like it.  Terry and I were trying to help three kids puke and we were puking ourselves.

Last night we had another extraordinary puking experience.  Three of the kids had emptied their stomachs before 10pm...and I was hoping the worst was over.  But it was only the beginning.  It just went on and on.  They had dry heaves and their stomachs were just aching.  I just continued to go from room to room.  I knew that Lydia was not sleeping soundly and that she was going to be next.  So, I just got right into her bed....so I would be ready to catch the puke.  She managed to get most of it in the pot....she is a mad puker...fights it all the way.

It seemed to work that if one of them started again, the other ones would hear and then they would all start again.  Four of them....puking in unison.

Terry had asked if he could help but I told him to just go to sleep.  He can't deal with puke.  He just pukes when he sees puke....which is no help.

At 3:20am I finally climbed into my own bed.  I figured it must be over.  It HAD to be over.

But just as I started to drift off to sleep,  Lydia was beside my bed.  She was going to puke.

I got back into her bed with her...and we had a little sleep.

They are all so weak today.

I'm just waiting for my turn...to puke.

Brenda

Lunch Time

Remember the pail with the nipple?  It works great!

Grady hung it on the gate today and the calf was enjoying her lunch...

mmmm....so good.

Then the cat came along...

It was looking for a little bit of lunch too...

I thought it was going to jump right into the pail! 

But then Ruby chased it away.

Brenda

Moving Year Olds Out to Grass

It's time for the cattle to be put out on the grass.

This past weekend we hired my Uncle Dean to take some cow/calf pairs up to the farm at Ruby.  That's what Uncle Dean does....moves cows.

This evening we needed to move some year olds just down the road to the field.  Year olds are not like cows and calves.  They are crazy.  They are unpredictable. 

Terry, Johanna, Grady and Jack let them out and sent them down the road.  It was up to me to make sure that they went through the open gateway and not farther down the road.

Here they come.

Running full out.....right at me.  I let them come.

When they got to the gate I put out my arms.  They saw me and came to a dead stop.  They looked around and then turned around and ran straight back where they came from.

Terry and the kids turned them around and we tried again.

This time, Terry and the kids came up closer.  We all just stood and waited.

And waited.

Then one of them found the opening at the gate.

And waited.

Then they all saw the opening and ran.  They all ran through the field.

So happy to be out on the grass.

And we are so happy to not have to be feeding them all the time.

Brenda