Today, I am impatient to get outside. The sun is shining, and I have a bunch of plants I bought last night after heading back at the garden center with my friends. I said over and over to them, that I wasn’t going to buy anything, and I really didn’t plan on it. But then, I did. Most of the cart is filled with little 99 cent herbs and veggies, like pumpkins and rue and lovage and sage, some for the garden for us to eat, and some for the butterflies. However as we wandered around chatting and exclaiming over all the plants, I found myself adding a few more.. some yarrow, some lupine, and then the plants with those cuplike leaves, brunnera. I think I am in love with those, they are so cool. We have empty space in our front garden and I think they are all going to go there, nestled in with the raspberry bushes.
I also bought the cutest teeny little prayer plant.
Reconnecting in person with some of my family has been wonderful for all of us, as all of us have been so isolated for a year, none of us had a bubble outside of the family that we lived with, and I think we are making up for lost time. My husband has been to my brother’s at least three times, Wyatt and his cousin have been together at least that many times as well. Watching them play together has been awesome, after all this time. I have visited my mom at least twice. (although I talk to her numerous times a day). My mom’s sciatic nerve has been giving her grief this week so that has been not fun, so I popped by the other day to drop off a new ice pack and to just visit with her for a bit. Then Thursday, I took Wyatt over for arts and crafts time with my niece, who spends the day with my mom while her parents are at work. The kids had fun decorating their geckos!
And, I think that is it for this morning. Those plants are calling my name and I can’t resist any longer!
It is time for Anne In Residence’smonthly Currently post where we answer one word prompts about different things we are doing and feeling. I always love the insight I gain from these, taking inventory of my own life. This month we are looking at what we are consuming, exploring, getting, hoping, and seeing.
Consuming: We finally got with the program, a bit behind the trend, and got an Instant Pot. We have not used it much yet but I already know it is going to be helpful for dinners! Billy works late a lot, and it is always like last minute that I find out. The Instant Pot I think, will help us eat healthier more often. (If you have one and have a go-to recipe you love drop a link in the comments! I would love to hear what you all are enjoying) I am also hoping to make jam and yogurt in it!
Exploring: All of our favorite trails and hopefully some new ones soon! We are on the lookout for new places outdoors to explore this spring and summer.
Getting: Our garden in, bit by bit, slowly but surely. We have one no-dig bed set up, and I hope to get one more done before planting in two weeks. We are also getting ready for our camping trip next month, including a new tent. I guess my husband hopes to tent camp a lot over the summer…I am not so sure about that? I like a room that can’t blow away and a real bathroom but I can do it a few times for Wyatt and Billy. We also bought tickets to Jurassic Quest, a drive through dinosaur event that will be happening near us next month. I think it will be fun!
Hoping: Oh, for so many things. But I would be happy with more nights by the fire this summer, and coffee every morning.
Seeing: Our newly formed bubble! My brother, SIL, and niece, and my mom have “bubbled” together with us now that we all have vaccines. With Wyatt and his medical needs, we still have to stay pretty locked down but they have all agreed to do that with us. It has been a long time coming for us to have this experience, and it has been so nice to be with family again. We are also seeing signs of spring – the red-winged blackbirds singing in the cattails, the early flowers bursting with color from their beds where they nestled all winter, even a few bees circling the apple blossoms on our tree. It’s going to be an apple summer this year!
How about you? What have you been consuming, exploring, getting, hoping, and seeing?
This weekend was all about time outside and with people we love. It was a very full, very fun weekend. I feel like, finally, spring is here and we are free to roam.
We started off with a hike at our favorite metropark, Oakwoods. We were in search of tadpoles and vernal pools, but no dice. I mentioned this in my Sunday post and I was slightly alarmed to hear that other people have been looking and haven’t spotted any either! What is up with that? Is it too soon? Too dry? I would love to hear from someone who has spotted tadpoles this year. We were rewarded though however, with a spotting of the Pileated Woodpeckers that live there, and also these Jack-in-the-Pulpits! And some moss, because I love moss.
We also tried a new taco takeout place that is nearby, that we had been wanting to stop at – Atwater Street Tacos. We ate them in the car, which is a feat, I think, but holy moly they were amazing!! They are my new favorite. Billy and I split the tacos and an order of tostadas, and they were fantastic. Wyatt also enjoyed the chips and the cheese quesadilla that he had too.
After our hike and car picnic, we headed home to be lazy until it was time to go to my brother’s for a bonfire. Everyone had a blast, but the kids most of all. They played ALL NIGHT outside, and were laughing and dirty and just having so much fun. I had gotten a rope ladder free from Designed2Climb, so we hung that up and let the kids play on it. My niece got brave and climbed up to the top, and it was a great motivator for Wyatt to work on reaching and going on tall knees and pulling himself up and standing. The adults all sort of took turns playing with and watching the kids, and chatted by the fire, enjoying our adult beverages. It was time to head home all too soon. I think next time we may take our tent and let the kids crash out inside when they get tired instead.
We went home and crashed out (after I washed the smoke scent from my hair), that kind of sleep you have when you have had a fun day outside. Heavenly. Which was good, because I had a date early Sunday morning!
On Sunday bright and early in the morning, I met my friend Kelly at the garden center, our first visit of the year! Doesn’t she look so pretty? I call us the odd couple, we are so different yet so similar too – we have been friends for 20 years, were in each other’s weddings, and have been through many ups and downs of life together. We are totally going to be Grace and Frankie when we are older. Guess which character I am?
I wasn’t quite ready to go bonkers yet, this is Michigan and we may still have a freeze, but I did get some snapdragons and this totally adorable snail begonia, due to my love of all things snail. It’s on my desk as I sit here and I love it. We had so much fun shopping for plants together and making our lists for our gardens.
This weekend just left my soul feeling so full and happy, and refreshed for our week of homeschooling and all the little odd myriad everyday things that need to get done.
The past week was a very good one – full of reunions, playing outside, music, and learning. And tacos. We also had some fabulous tacos this week. Things we didn’t do – find tadpoles or go on a full moon walk, both of which were on our list. We absolutely just can’t find any tadpoles! We are going to make another go of it this week, but all of our vernal pools are bone dry this year. Billy has an idea of where to find some as a last ditch attempt – otherwise I am totally putting in a pond this year. The night of the full moon, Wyatt simply was tired so we postponed our walk until next month.
Read Last Week:
I didn’t finish either of these although I am enjoying them both! The Cottingley Secret is really good. I was also that kid who loved fairies as a kid, and also as a teenager – I totally grew up in the 80s and 90s, and in the 90s fairy stuff was everywhere! So this is a fun read. I had read about the Arthur Conan Doyle connection to fairies before so it is fun to read this fictionalized version of that whole fairy frenzy. I will continue to read them this week.
Posted Last Week:
Chit Chat Coffee Time – this week I chattered on about our reunions with family members and identiy and homeschooling
Billy and I are fully engrossed in Shadow and Bone, it is so good! We are also watching Death in Paradise, which I think I might start a rewatch of soon. Wyatt is watching Wild Kratts still, and has dropped Peppa Pig for Nature Cat. (a better choice in my opinion!)
I am continuing to listen to podcasts – mostly true crime and nature pods. I listed to a great a podcast about Ursinology, a podcast all about bears, on Alie Ward’s Ologies, and it was one of my favorite episodes. As for true crime, I’ve been listening to Morbid and Crime Junkie lately. I finished up Your Own Backyard with Chris Lambert and was seriously impressed with the depth of his research and skill and sensitivity he displayed in that podcast. And, it just might have helped to solve the case.
Wyatt has discovered 80s music and also, Here Comes the Sun, his new favorite. Our house usually has some variation of Eric Church, The Dead South, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, 70s folk music, Sesame Street, A-Ha’s Take on Me, Here Comes the Sun, and Miranda Lambert playing at all times. It’s quite a mix.
Anyway, that is it from my corner of the world. Stay safe and well everyone!
This week was a week of reunions. On Tuesday, my little group of friends got together in person for the first time since last fall – thank goodness it is now warm enough to do so! We were down a person in our crew who couldn’t make it which was a bummer, but the three of us who were there were just talking and laughing the whole time and it filled my soul. I went home feeling so refreshed – these women are so important to me and I was so glad to be able to hang out with them again.
Then later in the week, my brother and I tore off the band-aid and got together. So, on Thursday I got to see a sight that brought tears to my eyes. My son and my niece reunited, playing and laughing and giggling together, as they played pirates and got into general mayhem together. Then, on Friday, I went and picked my mom up and we hung out. She and Wyatt had such a blast – reading books, playing on the floor, singing. I got to show her my newly remodeled office, and introduce her to our menagerie of critters. Harry even came out of his hide to see what was going on, and as a nocturnal gecko he usually sleeps during the day.
Marlow was also happy to see my mom.
This week I have also been busy looking through the new curriculum I purchased for Wyatt for next year. Can I say I am super excited about it too? There is a whole unit on rocks and minerals that I can’t wait to “dig” into with him – I even learned of two places to take him next year as little field trips as part of this unit, the Fossil Park in Sylvania, OH, which is about an hour away, and then there is another place about four hours north of us that we may plan an overnight trip around. I am genuinely looking forward to starting next year.
This actually came up when I was hanging out on Tuesday with my friends. None of them homeschool, or want to homeschool, which I get. It’s not for everyone. It is the right thing for my family though, at least right now. And we are enjoying it. My friend said something though that gave me an existential crisis for a few days though – totally well meaning, of course, she loves me, but she said she doesn’t want me to lose my identity and who I am, as I am not just a homeschool mom. I went home and have been thinking all week about just who I am. I came to the conclusion that no, I am not “just a homeschool mom” but yes, it is a big part of my identity right now. I am a mom. I love homeschooling Wyatt, and shaping his education. But the rest of me is the same – I am the same person that I always have been. My priorities might be different, but that happened when I became a mother. I’m still a reader, an animal lover, a nature enthusiast; I’m still painfully shy unless I am with people I am comfortable with, a cheerleader for those people that I love, but also very blunt and plain speaking. I’m a fixer, a problem solver. Curious, creative, with a quick temper at times that I have spent the past few years working on. I still am a daydreamer who wants a few acres of land with animals and bees and an orchard, to travel and see different places. It’s a weird thing to think about . How do we define ourselves? By our likes and dislikes? Our personality? We are more than what we do, that is for sure. My husband is more than a computer guy. One of my friends more than a respiratory therapist, another more than a stay-at-home mom. Anyway, just something I have been lightly pondering this week. Lol.
We also celebrated my mom’s birthday this week! We went to my brother’s where the kids happily played outside and the rest of us chatted and hung out. I am in love with this photo of Wyatt – he looks so happy and content here. Plus I love those overalls I bought him to play in. I got them at a work wear store online, and they are so well made. And most importantly, have reinforced back pockets which we need for our kid who scoots around on his bottom most of the time right now while we work on walking! I can’t even tell you how many pairs of pants we go through in the summer…
Anyway – I have probably rattled on enough for today. What is going on with you guys?
