Almost waited too long!!!

Not warm but lots of grass…..

One of the drawbacks to having the warmer, wetter weather is that all of the long dormant plants are stretching toward the higher sun in the sky and the longer periods of sun.  They embrace the change with vigor and literally are jumping out of the ground.

I did relent the other day and turned the furnace back on.  No sense in coming down with a cold or getting sick because I did not want to use the fuel oil that was delivered this week.  (Over 150 gallons at the hefty cost of close to $700.00 dollars.)  And the temps have not rebounded to the summer-like regions that I enjoyed last week.  The weather people call this ‘normal’ but it is chilly to me and I would like to have it a bit warmer so the furnace can finally go off for the summer.

But there has been enough warm weather and enough rain lately that my yard was greening up nicely and the odd kinds of grasses and weeds that makes up my ‘lawn’ were popping out of the ground.  I knew it was time to mow as poor Miss Molly was having trouble finding grasses that did not tickle her butt when she went outside to use her facilities.

So, I got up this morning… later than usual as I was playing with a new tech toy until 2:00 AM…. Grabbed my coffee and peanut butter toast.  I finally headed outside to see if the riding mower would even start up.  Uncovered the orange monster, put in the key… and for the 3^rd season in a row, the motor turned right over and it was ready to go.  Hooked up to my little red wagon and headed to the garage.  Added air to all of the tires and I was all set.

Took a couple of hours to tow the wagon all around, the side yard in particular, gathering branches and the like that had gathered during the storms of the winter.  Some were small… a couple of them were pretty big.  I would not have wanted to be under the tree when they fell.  But I cleared the way for the next step, which was the first mowing.

Back to the garage and unhooked the little wagon after depositing the wood in my trash pile at the back of my lot.  Put the wagon back in its spot, refueled the mower and back to the side yard.  I probably should have done this earlier last week.  But I am glad I did not wait for another day.  There were sections of the yard where the grass was tall, thick and wet.  It left a row of mowed clippings that will have to dry.  I will head out in a couple of days, weather permitting, and mow again to try to mulch the clippings so the yard looks good.  The back, where Molly pees, is once again flat and I have rows of clumps in the area where my seepage pit is located.  Really healthy grass there.  But, looking out over the yard now, I can smile and I know that my little house looks really nice for the time being.

I may need to work on the big bed on the hill that the Both Hands group put in for me.  Looks like the mulch has slowly started to move to the bottom of the hill.  There is still a great many pine needles from my neighbor’s trees covering the lower part of that bed.  It is so nice not to have to mow that steep hill.  I do not want to lose the advantage that they provided to me.

But for now, I will go about trimming tomorrow and then I will get into a rhythm of mowing so I no longer have clumps, just a lovely lawn…. At least from a distance!

Come on Mother Nature... Turn up the Heat......

Weather Roller Coaster continues…

I wish Mother Nature would make up her mind.  Early in the week, I had shut down my furnace and opened up my windows.  It was wonderful!  The breezes/winds had come into the house and removed all of the stale, winter air.  The sun was shining and the temperatures actually got to summer-like ranges.  It was glorious.

I was even moved to spruce up my small, front garden.  New mulch, pansies for my big, blue pots along with new LED color-changing lights in the shape of a bee and a hummingbird and some jonquil type spring flowers to place between my tiny bushes that had been planted last year during the Both Hands project.  It looks beautiful.  And I got a little sun on my arms and face, so no more winter white.

Today, however, I woke up to rain and chilly temps.  Inside the house it was only 60 degrees.  I am curled up in my recliner, quilt over my legs while I try to stay comfy without turning the furnace back on.  I may have to relent and turn it back on as I cannot stay in my current position all day… although Molly would be happy.

I am working away on embroidery jobs and preparing the items that are being donated to the PABA (Parkesburg Area Business Association) Dinner for the silent auction.  I am also preparing to pack for a sewing vacation that I will be taking shortly.  I am cutting material for a couple of quilt tops that I want to make so I am ready to sit and sew when I get to the condo in Lewes, DE.  Hopefully Mother Nature will kick up her furnace a little so Marji and I can enjoy having windows open while we are there.

Looks like the weekend will be cooler.  I will be working on my embroidery orders but will also start the grass mowing season.  I will try to get the riding lawn mower running after sitting all winter.  If I can do that, then I will hook up the little wagon and drive around the yard, licking up the winter debris so I can mow without damaging the blades.  I really need to change the oil and perhaps replace the blades... I may try that myself this weekend as well.

And so it begins…. Weekly mowing, weed whacking and cleanup.  Rudy always did such a good job at keeping the outside look so good.  I did not truly appreciate how well he did it, and without too much grumbling.  I know he did not really like doing it, although he enjoyed being outside in the nice weather.  I think he used the time for contemplation.  Me, I do not enjoy the sun.  A couple of the meds I take make it very painful to be out in the sun for prolonged periods of time, so I have to slather on sun screen which makes me feel all gummy by the time I am done.  This year, since I sold my summer home in Maryland, I will be around much more often to stay ahead of the lawn.  And since the Both Hands project, I feel that the house and yard look so much better.  I want to try to keep it that way.

So, come on Mother Nature, that calendar says it is spring.  Let’s turn up the heat just a bit…. Okay??

Wine Tasting on A Saturday..... Yum!

A Little Wine… and Cheese!

I had a really fun day, today.  I managed to sleep in a bit, fixed my coffee… twice, but that is another story for later…. And after waiting until almost noon for a friend who never came or called, I headed out to Twin Book Winery in Gap, PA.  I am putting together a wine & cheese basket for the Parkesburg Area Business Association dinner on the 19^th of April.  It is an annual dinner where the Association (small though it may be) honors a Business Leader of the Year with a plaque and we honor a student or students from the area with a scholarship to assist them with the expenses of seeking a higher education.  This year there is one senior from Octorara High School who will be getting a $1,000 check and a new scholarship in the amount of $500 to a graduate from the program at the Parkesburg Point.

We use the dinner, not only to honor the recipients but to raise money for future scholarships.  So, I am contributing a basket for the silent auction.  You may ask… why wine & cheese?  Why not some of your embroidery?

Well, my embroidery is more personalized, so finding something generic that would generate money in an auction is difficult.  And a gift certificate was just not satisfying for me.  So, I decided that wine & cheese would be fun and something that might generate some bidding.  So, off to the winery….

Twin Brook is just a few miles from my home.  It is a lovely little winery that has been under the management of Tim Jobe since 2003.  While having to deal with the temperamental seasons here in Southeast Pennsylvania, he has managed to develop several types of wines that are winning awards around the country.  I looked at the list of wines and with the help of the staff in the rustic wine barn, I selected 5 different varieties of wine for my basket.  One was a dry wine, called ‘2011 Chardonnay Reserve’.  Their description is: “A Pennsylvania Oak barrel aged dry white wine with creamy butter & vanilla overtones and varietal flavors.”  I am not a big dry wine person, but I enjoyed this one.  Another choice was in the Off-Dry category and is named ‘2011 Cayuga’, described as: "crisp apple aromas and pleasing semi-dry finish”.  This one was also tasty.  The rest of the choices were in the Sweet category.  ‘2011 Octorara Red’ is listed as: ” a sweeter, full bodied, well balanced Burgundy style wine with intense black cherry flavors & a long finish”.  The ‘Blossom Blush’ has a beautiful light, caramel color and is described as: “sweet, fruity, medium-bodied blush with hints of apple and pineapple”.  Yummy!!!  And finally, the sweetest of all of my choices is ‘Springhouse White’.  Also yummy (I bought a bottle for myself of this one) and described as: “sweet and fruity, made from the Niagara grape”.  It was described as grape juice with a punch!

I also bought a wine rack that holds 6 bottles as a bouquet and three small bags of chocolate that go well with all of the wines.  In the days just before the dinner, I will be heading to the Town Clock Cheese Shoppe.  This is a little local cheese shop that has all kinds of local and imported cheeses.  The ladies at Twin Brook said the owner of the cheese shop, Bill, has worked with them often and will be able to give me some lovely cheeses to go with the wines.

I am excited to be doing this and I will let you know how the bidding goes.

You blew it, Home Depot!

The new stove…..

I got a new stove.  The old one was in need of repair (once again) and having done so several times, I decided it was more prudent to replace it.

I had planned to do so for several months.  I had even gone into the local (Parkesburg, PA) Home Depot during one of their big “Appliance Sales” to try to give my local merchants my business.  I had several things to purchase, so I filled my cart and headed to the appliance section.  Big signs hanging overhead declared the “Big” sale.  I wandered around the stoves and actually found one that I really liked.  I waited and waited and wandered and waited….I was there for close to 30 minutes and not a single sales person came into the area (other than to wander through from other areas to go on breaks).  No one asked if I needed help.  No one seemed to be anywhere near the area that was having a “Big” sale.  So, I finally decided if that was the kind of service I could expect in just trying to buy the item, it was not the place I would want to buy my appliance from.  I did stop at the front of the store and complained stating that I would be heading to Sears to purchase my stove…. And then I left.

I did eventually go to the local Sears Hometown store.  They, too, were having a sale, but I was approached as I walked in the door and had some wonderful interaction with the salesperson and the manager of the store as we arranged for the delivery of my beautiful new stove.  The only disappointment was that I was not able to get my stove in the color of the other appliances in my kitchen.  Every kitchen appliance I had was in the color Almond or Bisque, depending on when I bought it) but the kitchen color choices were either white or stainless.  So my new stove is stainless with black.  It is stunning.

My BFF Marji’s husband came up with her on Saint Patrick’s Day.  I fed them corned beef and then he disconnected my old stove from the gas line.  He moved it out onto the deck and then he and his son came and picked it up to sell for scrap.  Then later in the week Sears came and delivered the stove and the day after my gas supplier came out and installed the stove after converting it from natural gas to propane.  I was back in business.

I heated the oven up several times that day with nothing in it to burn off the oils and things from the manufacturing process.  Then I have been baking and cooking and enjoying the fact that I have ovens and burners that come on without waiting.  It is a convection oven as well and I am learning to push that button when I am cooking (not baking) and finding that it is indeed cutting down on the length of time that stuff has to cook.  I had not gone into the process looking for a convection oven, but very quickly I am finding myself very happy that it is there.

Here are some pics of the new appliance…