Life on the farm is all gravy boats and rainbows. You never know when you will hear the riveting heehaw of the ole donkey down the road or grab a weed with a pesky briar. The surprises are abounding these days. Only nine days of school left...that is pretty ballin', I must say. Commence the Summers' time fun! We have had a busy spring that has made the days go by in the blink of an eye. For one thing, I am a year older. I had my annual pie to celebrate this year. Sam made strawberry rhubarb! He also made me crab nachos....nachos but mine!
I also cut my hair off and donated it to Locks of Love with the help of the fantastic Grace's handiwork! I lost 12 inches and am enjoying my new 'do for the warmer weather!
We also took our spring break this year at St. Fernandina Beach in Florida with Sam's parents. The weather was just right as the break sometimes falls too early, and it is just not quiet warm enough for the beach at the end of March. We had a good trip, though. We didn't plan too much more than just relaxin' on the beach. We walked on the beach, read on the beach, played various games on the beach, and I finally got to bury somebody! I have never done that before but always longed to do that. My husband makes my dreams come true over and over again! I turned him into a fancy mermaid! I was also introduced to the great sport of searching for sharks' teeth. It was a vacation of firsts for sure!
We ventured off of the beach on a few occasions. We perused the shops in the cute, little historic downtown and ate at many tasty restaurants. One evening, after dinner, we went on a carriage ride which was mega fun and got to learn a little bit of history. There sure is some lovely houses and architecture around those parts. Also, after dinner, we played at a pretty sweet mini-golf course that looked like a gigantic tree house. I have to say that it is one of the most challenging mini-golf courses I have ever attempted.
Our last day there, we visited the state park where we saw tons of birds and saw some gators. We also visited a fork and took a little nature hike. It was a very relaxing trip which could have been a little longer...just one more day!
We returned midway through the week, and then, I flew up to Arlington, V.A. where Mark, my brother, lives to check out his new digs. We stayed a day there, visited the Natural History Museum, and I was bummed to find out that the Julia Child exhibit was not set to reopen until the following week. I do have plans to check it out this summer. Maybe I will copy Julie of Julie and Julia and pay my respects by leaving a stick of butter :). The following day we drove up to Kennett Square, P.A., where my whole family sans Sam gathered for Easter. It was a truly great weekend since my family very rarely is at the same place at the same time not for a wedding or a funeral. It was so wonderful to see my nieces and nephews interact with one another, see how much they have grown, and dye and hunt Easter eggs! Mark and I returned to Arlington Sunday for me to fly out Monday morning. Needless to say I was exhausted when I had to return to school on Monday and could have completely done without the airport fiasco that caused me to run at a full sprint ALL the WAY across the airport and be sore for three days. It never fails to have my connecting flight at the furthest possible terminal....
I also finished my France scrapbook which was a pretty ambitious feat. I actually need to get a new scrapbook because I added too many pages. It turned out really good, though. It is available for all eager lookers to see. To celebrate, we had a France night in which we had coq au vin, goat cheese and beet salad for dinner. To top it off, we had chocolate covered strawberries because, let me tell you, it has been a mad crazy strawberry season around here. We have had 4 gallons of strawberries not to mention the ones we have gotten from our own garden...strawberries out the ears! We are, however, very proud of how fruitful and pretty they have been this year. Feast your eyes on these:
We are also currently enjoying fresh kale, lettuce of many varieties, and sugar, some snap peas! It is really hard to stay on top of the gardening with school going on, but I have managed to somehow design/plant a herb garden as well and news paper and mulch several others.
In other news, Mark came to visit, and we got to meet his girlfriend, Cassie, for the first time which was a pleasure. We had a fun filled weekend: LaZoom comedy tour around Asheville, messin' around town, yummy eats, people to root me on at my softball game.
Mother's Day has also come and past. We celebrated by having a lunch for the Moms. We got fried chicken from Rocky's Chicken Shack (you should eat there!), gouda mac and cheese for the Tupelo Honey Cookbook, salad with snap peas from the garden, dried cherry sage corn muffins, biscuits, and....a strawberry mousse cake from Southern Living which was a beast to make! I have to say it was a success...I live to tell. We also finally got to see The Hunger Games which was also satisfying since my softball game was cancelled due to rain.
Update from Sam: Well, there's not much else to say. The garden is in full swing. About three rows unplanted. I'd say that eventually okra, potatoes, and sweet potatoes will fill then. It's looking pretty good. Strung up the tomatoes today. Kellie's dad and I re-rocked a rock wall for the herb garden. I've had poison ivy about 3 times this summers. Oh, one really cool thing is we tried a taco truck on Leicester highway the other night. As they say in Spanish, "Muy deliciouso!" Nothing much else to report. I'm ready for Summer! I'll keep you posted.
From our cats with gingivitis to yours, we hope that everyone else is having a good time and staying out of trouble! Come sit on the porch and listen to the donkey with us!
P.S. We don't recommend trying the poultry flavored toothpaste your vet gives you...it definitely doesn't taste like chicken!
