Wordplay, L is for...

Lambs, they truly gambol about in the spring!(this one was born at Wachusett Meadow Audubon Sanctuary, in Princeton MA in early April)
Love, the biggest L of them all...and Lee, the Love of my Life...
Lynne, my Little sister, another love...
Lights at holiday time, something I look forward to seeing but not putting up (those dratted extension cords!!)
Living room, one of the most under-utilized rooms in my home, the kitchen should really be called the living room as we spend so much time there...
Lancaster, the next town over where my son got his first job at age 20 and I'm so proud of him...
Leominster...the city I reside in, but not the place of my dreams, still not bad for a city of 45,000 residents. We have a Lovely home, and a nice yard for the kids.......
Land in Maine, where I want to retire to, someday, with a smallish house and a sewing room all my own and enough room for 2 or 3 Irish setters...
Labels...sometimes I do, sometimes I don't
Lucky...in love, in joy-factor, in my family...ya, I'm lucky!
Limo...never been in one!
Lime, a wonderful color. My smallest size jeans so far are lime green.
Lentils, what we had for dinner tonight! yummy and sooo good for you!
Limerick, one of my favorite kinds of poems,
Licorice...yuk. 'nuf said.
Limber,,,something I've never been, really.
Loons...I remember the first time I heard them, on a lake in New Hampshire (not Golden Pond! but near there)
Lions...ya, I love those big furry kitties.
Limp...with fatigue...time to go to bed!

Wordplay, K is for...

Since I'm working on keeping up my blogging, I had better get going on my Wordplay obligations! I'm so far behind that ...well, enough of that...let's get on with my favorite letter in the alphabet...

KC...my special wee lad...he's growing up so fast!

K- I just love the way a cursive K looks on paper. Especially expensive paper. And done in calligraphy

Kirsty- well, there'd be no moonsinging blog without her, right, lol!?!

Kooky--something I am always being accused of...and so what if I am?

Kinky-now, you may enjoy kinky stuff, and I will confess to seeing some (can you believe what you can see on the internet for FREE?) and I confess to trying to not be like my mom and be a prude at 47. I'm not particularly comfortable discussing kinky things, but still I think many of us are curious about it.

Kittens...it;s been a long time since I had a kitten. I love them. and when they grow up to become Kats, I love 'em too...but there's something innately fun about having a kitten. Or two. or...

Kale...we've gotten a ton of kale in our CSA farm boxes this year. You can do alot of things with Kale, including freezing it so you can deal with it later and not become overwhelmed by it. But it's good, and good for you, and great with farm fresh eggs...mmmmmm!

Kirk, Captain, leader of the first Enterprise (not counting Christopher Pike, you Trekkers who will quickly correct me!) we saw on tv. To Boldly Go...my oh my, I had a thing for him...

Kill Bill...someday I'll see the movie. Until then I'll just be intrigued by the clips I see now and then.

Kiss...I love giving and getting kisses.

Ken, Lee's stepdad, is 93 and having a hard time with the daily grind. Still, he was pretty good the last time we saw him, and although getting frailer, still had much to contribute to our conversation...and we wish him many more !

Kringle, Chris...oh, one ofmy favorite Xmas specials, right up there with Rudolph!

KC and the Sunshine Band...that's the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, uh huh uh huh!

Kool aid...many fond memories of Mom making Kool aid for my sister and I when we were little.

...and finally....Keepsake Quilting....need I say more?

Summer's Last Hurrah

It's been nearly a month since my last blog update, and since I last wrote, we've been camping 3 times! We just got back a few hours ago from what was our final camping expedition of the 2006 summer season. We've explored our wee state from one corner to another, from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. Our last two campouts,however, were within 15 miles of each other, in Old Orchard Beach and Ferry Beach (Saco), Maine.

Our kids love camping as much as Lee and I do, accepting heavy morning dew which drips on their head as they wake up, sand in their sleeping bags, which is my personal bane (ugh, shudder), and tree frogs singing the night away. We've had rainy days and hiked anyway, sunny days to play in surf and sand, hot days and cold nights. More importantly, we've had time off from the regular day to day ' stuff ' that seems so important when it's there in your face, but, once freed from the restrictions of day to day living, seem so trivial. Who cares if you rememberd to go to the bank when you can watch a spider wrap up its meal over by the pine tree? I wish that every day could be spent watching spiders and dragonflies, smelling pine trees and ocean air, seeing the Milky Way in the dark night sky at the ocean's edge, and the calling of tree frogs. But life does come back to reality, to laundry and phone calls and tidying and banking and all the other work that gets left behind when we head off to explore, pulling our trusty camper behind us.

So, here we are, home again, tired in body, but restored in spirit. I finally feel that I'm ready for Autumn, for our many tree's colorful transition to their resting time, for raking leaves and trick-or-treating, for pumpkin and apple picking, and all the rest! But I've promised myself that I'll look for those spider webs in the bushes, do more than simply glance at the sky when I hang out that last load of wash after dark but really take a few minutes to look in awe at all those worlds up there, and smell the wonderful scents of autumn. And that's a resolution that I plan on keeping!

Wordplay, J is for...

Jars and Jars of freshly preserved peaches which I will so enjoy opening in the winter
Jam, which was also freshly made this summer
Jingle...the sound of coins in one's pocket, or Santa's reindeer bridle bells
Joan Jett..I love rocknroll, put another quarter in the Juke box, baby!
Jump...KC's favorite mode of moving from place to place these days
Jumpers, my favorite kind of dresses when I was in my 20's
Jungle Gym...we have one but Rob never plays on it, sigh.
July.. love going to the beach, 4th celebrations, hate the deep humid heat
June...a wonderful month...full of getting-there gardens, warm days and cool evenings, the first day of summer, beginning of the camping season
Jupiter...wish I had more time for stargazing
Jupiter II...from Lost in Space, I always wanted to take a ride in it
Jangles..the sound of wearing many bracelets together
January...new year, absolute darkness at the start of the month so early in the day, with a gradual, noticible lightening by the end of the month, stark contrasts of white snow and dark limbs, cold breath from the north and west, and the amazing
January thaw...that gives hope that spring *will* come back!
and I'm sure there are a Jillion more that I'll think of when I'm done!

Wordplay, I is for...

Infinity....where this picture is focused on
Ice cream--'specially chocolate chip cookie dough
Igneous--I love the name of this kind of rock!
Igloo--I've always wanted to build one, and this winter I have "plans" on how to build an adaptation for one, if we get enough snow
Iguana--had friends who had a mega-sized one..ugh!
I--a word I use too much sometimes, and too little other times. It can be so hard to find a balance between the I and the them. Especially when one of the 'thems' is 2!
Ipod--don't have one, don't plan on having one. I'm a technological ....I was going to say throwback, but I'm not certain that's the right word. I have a computer, well, we actually have 2 functioning ones in the house, and a DVD/Video player and TV sets (4 in the house, but only 2 used actively) and even a digital camera. I guess the Ipod/cell phone thing is because I want to feel that I can have quiet around me and be okay with it. Sure, there are times I wish I had a cell phone with me, but mostly, I do without or make my own decision rather than calling home to say "did you want fresh Parm or canned" from the grocery store. I don't want to be reachable everywhere, every place. . . and I don't want to always have music/movies/internet available at my every whim. I love to listen to the cawwing of crows, the scream of a hawk as it soars overhead while I hang my laundry, the squeal of the laundry line wheel as I overload it with wet towels, my neighbors cutting grass. Okay, so I'm a throwback!
Irresistable--see number 1 on my list...and fabric...ya, pretty irresistable too!
Irritated-I get this way when I'm driving and someone cuts me off and there was NO ONE behind me...and they slow down to 20. I swear I have a sign on the front of my van that says "go ahead and cut me off"....
Irrational--my fear that someone will steal one of my kids...or is it?
Independant--yes, that's me!
Ivy--I love to see old stone buildings with ivy crawling it's way up them. I know it's bad for the mortar, but I love the look of it anyway!
Indigo--the deepest of clear blues...a mountain lake at sunset, the sky in midwinter just before the sun breaks the horizon
Impatient--I wish this wasn't me...but it is! Life is too darned short! HURRY UP!
Invisible....I have always wished for this ability! It would be totally cool to be invisible at one's whim...just not for all times!
Italian--some of my favorite foods are Italian....
International Adoption...our first son came to us via this route and he was born in today's last word...
India

Spit in the sink...

I'll just bet you're wondering about the title for this blog entry, right? It's not an order, like "will you puleeze...spit in the sink". Oh no, it's much more of a whinnnnnne kind of statement, as in "for Pete's sake ...."
Boys chant "Who's Pete?"
Chet says "and what's he doin' in our bathroom?"
Rob says "someone named Pete is in our bathroom?"
Mom says "one of you guys left spitty toothpaste globbies on my clean sink! Don't you know I spent 2 hours cleaning the bathroom on Wednesday?? Can't you two just keep it clean for 24 hours??????"
Chet says "well it was clean for 24 hours, if you cleaned it on Wednesday, and today is Friday"
Rob says "you just said Pete did it"

and so it goes....

Wordplay, H is for...

This is totally random, no particular order, just as they pop into my tired brain...so here goes, and I'm Hopeful that I will catch up to all the other Wordplay folks who have been so dedicated and interesting!
Happy...how I feel when I'm with my family
Hotdogs...why I'm only a 99% vegetarian. I just love 'em.
Hamburgers...I only like the veggie kind now.
How...KC's newest word
Hair...well, you've read my blog. I'm Hair obsessessed!
Holy Cow Batman! One of my favorite campy shows from my childhood...with all the variations on Holy they came up with!
Hash...I've not had hash since I was 18 and still living at home. I loved when my mom made it.
Hugs...something I love giving and getting. I'm a very huggy person.
Hail...I'm fascinated by weather, and hail is right up there, no pun intended!
Harrowing...I love that word in novels...along with Heroine and Hero
Halloooow...the sound that comes out of a cave when you yell into it!
Healing...I believe in healing touch and Healing energies
Hope...one of the most powerful and underutilized words in the English language.
Hazard...listening to the radio to one of the pop stations with your 10 y/o son in the car....
Hills...I live in hilly country. I don't know how people live in the plains...there is so much space there...
Hiccup. The baby and I just laugh and laugh when one of us gets them.
Hilfenger? I am so not into designer jeans and clothing
Hillbilly...going to her website (hillbillyhousewife.com) has helped me get some wonderful ideas for doing things on the cheap, despite our obvious religious differences, she has great recipes and ideas for saving money.
Heeheehee....ya, you get it!
Hush...the sound that happens now at 5 a.m when I'm walking the dog in the darkness that comes with late summer
Hangover...been so long since I last had one I have nearly forgotten how bad it used to be, lol! except for the throwing up. I still remember that.
Here...where I wish my mom was
Heaven...where I know she is
Haven...what I hope my home is for my kids, always.
Hollyhocks..did not do so well in the garden this year
Hummingbirds...we had one in the yard in the spring but Haven't seen him since.
Hate...something I wish I could wave my arm and abolish

August...

Wow! It's August, and here I'd promised myself that online journaling was going to be easier to maintain that handwritten posts...ah, well. July was filled with great memories, and lazy days that were too hot to do more than hang out on the couch and read. We went to the beach and Cape Cod, took nightly family walks around our neighborhood, watched sunsets come earlier than we wanted them too, and celebrated the opening of our black eyed Susan's and echanachea plants.

Now when I take my morning walk with the dog, it's officially in the 'predawn' hour. This morning, August 1, we witnessed our first PMF...Otherwise known as a premigratory flock! Canada geese were honking and heading south. I know they were headed to the local small pond near my house, but still, it is very early to have them flocked in a V group that way. Oh my, and I just got used to walking in the dark! Now I'm seeing signs that the turning of the wheel is very evident and I'm feeling ambivalent about it.
I've come to a place in my life when I feel the wheel, live the wheel, accept the wheel. I love each season, and the changing process too. So I'll grab photo's of my flowering beds, remembering summer digitally, and look forward to the cool whisper of fall as she peeks in the door during this last full month of summer.

A Day at the Beach

On Monday we went to Maine to visit Nana, and spent the day out at the beach with her. KC enjoys the waves at Ferry Beach in Maine! He loves jumping into the water each time we come here! This is a UU conference center at mid-coast Maine, with low surf and a lovely beach. He just runs into the water, no fear, not bothered by the chilly Atlantic water, which was around 57 degrees!
Here's Nana, Lee, and KC, who was on a mandatory "warm up break" and not liking that one bit! Robbie also loves the beach this year. A year of swimming lessons at our local 'Y' has helped him to feel more confident around water.
So confident he can walk on water now!! LoL! The wonders of digital photography! I have never managed to capture a shot just like that before, and frankly, I'm quite pleased with myself! This last picture is Robbie and KC playing in the beach sand. Old Orchard Beach, Maine, with it's amusement park rides, large crowds, fried dough and pizza, and many shops, is the spit of land to the left of Rob's head, but there were many miles of tranquil beach for us to enjoy!

Wordplay, G is for...

Gratitude, what I feel each time I look at my family,
Grapes, which I like sometimes and other times give me indigestion!
Goldfinches, quick splotches of color and song that wing through the trees
Goddess, She who surrounds me with love and power
Good, something I strive to be, sometimes, and sometimes I just can't be!
Gavel, I always wonder why they hold such mysterious powers
gravel, that which I fell upon when I was 5 and got stitches in my chin from
ghosts, seen some, felt others
granular, I just like saying that...it rolls off the tongue so nice and roundly
graduate, did from high school and was it really *that* long ago?!?
glom-on, what the baby does when he doesn't want to be put down
green, my mothers favorite color
gardens, something else I got from her
gaggle of geese, kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it?
glisten, the sparkle of morning light on frosty windows
gleem, something my kitchen floor does not do, currently
garbage, a chore my son's take care of now, yay!
grandiose, my sewing plans fall into this word, often
goodnight, some times it's just time for bed...

Been that kind of week....

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the minute details in our day to day lives that we feel absolutely must be completed or.....or what?? It's been that kind of week for me. Every day I've run errands, picked up some of this and some of that, been out and about from one of town to the other, and here it is Friday night and wow! I feel like I've gotten next to nothing done, except for yesterday. Yesterday I treated the family and myself to many, many and did I say, many flats of flowers. Robbie and I spent about 4 hours planting on the side of the house, the front of the house, the perennial garden at the end of the driveway, my wee garden outside the kitchen door, which we call the Kitchen garden, but isn't in the tradition sense of providing herbs or food for the body, but does provide sustanance for the spirit. We've weeded, and planted, organized, arranged, filled planter boxes on the back deck railing for our al fresco dining pleasure, and generally spread beauty around the space we call home. I made a small cobblestone walkway in the side garden, the path the dog takes to go from the front door to the backyard, as the kids do, of cutting the corner and going through the garden, sigh. But, I solved that dilemma by putting a curved path with various ground covers between some of the rocks that can tolerate some foot traffic. Lovely! Once it stops raining I'll run outside and take pictures and post them. I was too tired to push the button on the camera once all the gardening was completed! It's supposed to stop raining next Saturday, so you only have to wait 8 days for pictures. Such is life in New England this summer, and who knows, we could well get a break of sunshine that will surprise us all.

Anyway, I wonder often how important all that "stuff" we do, is? Sure, getting to the post office, and work is important, but I just know I can do better getting organized, and keeping to my vow of having two no-driving days each week.

Sometimes I need to write it down, say it out loud, post it on the fridge, and write in on the white board in the kitchen to remember, but taking time to be with the kids, which is why I'm home in the first place, is the most important thing on my "to do" list. Rob and I had a blast planting together, with lots of conversation, and laughing. It was a real growing thing for us both, no pun intended!

It's Done!! Bar's quilt top is done!

Up close images of Barbara's dogs, my first time using my computer printer and iron-on transfer paper. It came out wonderfully, after my having been so scared to try this new technique! Full-on view of the quilt top. Note the green pinwheel quilt in the background...my very first quilt!
The backing will need to be assembled, but I know what I want to do for it, and it's simple and hopefully quickly assembled. The sandwhich-ing come next, and then quilting. . . and it's not even July yet! It's been so cool here in New England that quilting is a comforting warm thing to do!!

MORE rain????

Oh, I can barely stand it! It's been raining forever! or at least since a week ago Sunday night, that would be the last 9 days, no sunshine. I need sun! I need dry air! Okay, our drought is over, enough already!

You can just see through the trees the wee brook that runs through the side of our backyard...it has whitecaps on it! This thing is usually a trickle, but this past week it has been roaring....that is not to compare it to the Merrimack which is just flooding terribly. This is a whine, not a panic call, after all. The folks on the North Shore are really deluged. We've had 5 or 6 inches of rain in central Massachusetts, but the north shore area and southern New Hampshire and Maine have been inundated with over 10 inches of rain since the weekend.

So, no more rain, gracious Goddess. We're full up!

Why Quilters Never Sew Clothing With Quilting Fabrics!

If you are the chief cook, bottle washer, and Ironer in your family, think twice before you make an outfit from quilting fabric. Oh, sure, it looks cute. Yes, the colors coordinate well...after all, they're meant to. But quilting fabric is 100 per cent cotton. And cotton, well, let's just say it doesn't come out the way it went it.
The person who receives the outfit will most likely love it. So if you wash it on Friday, Iron it on Monday, you can be sure that by Tuesday or Wednesday, it will be worn again...only to repeat this vicious cycle in a homestye version of "Groundhog Day". Don't understand the reference? Google Bill Murray, and you'll see!

Saturday night....

...and nothing much is going on here. But I have a few minutes so I thought I'd catch up. Oh. Wait. There is nothing to catch up on....it's been raining here in New England for about forever. We even got 3 addition inches today to add to whatever has fallen since last Sunday. Whoopdie doo. That would be a full week of rain, with more rain forecast for tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday. What a drag. The weeds in the backyard are looking like they are heading for the house with evil intent. The brook is flowing at capacity, any higher and I could lose a blueberry bush. The blueberry bushes are blooming, that's the photo you see at the top of the page, but with all the rain the bee's are not out to fertilize. Wonder how that will affect the apple crop this fall, too.

Okay. That's enough whining for one night! Moonsinger out!

It's about time....

I've been offline thanks to this goofy 2 year old who likes messing with Mum-mum's computer and then....I forgot my password...my gosh, I'm supposed to remember that??!! Ha! Just what my 47 year old brain needs...remember a password. Sigh. Well, I'm back. And I'll be blogging again. Tomorrow. Or soon.

Wordplay, F is for...

Fergie, my much beloved Irish Setter, pictured above
Family, the most important thing in the world to me...
Finite, a word I don't use much, as I prefer in-finite
Finish, what I want to do to so many of my UFO's...quilts, house projects, etc
Finangle...yah, you know ... It's how you get your significant other to do something that they don't want to...you finangle a deal with 'em!
Fugly...fug-ly, that is, something that is just too, too ugly!
Fog...I love fog, unless it lasts for 2 or more days. It is mysterious, and has a curious sound to it, all softly muffled and shushed.
Fart...one of KC's first words, it still cracks us up when he proudly pronounces that he's done it again!
Flowers...I love my gardens, they keep me sane.
Frankfurters...oh, hot dogs are so bad for you....but I love 'em!
Formica...the former life of my kitchen counters...before my sister in law worked for a corian dealer, and many, many years ago, put it in my kitchen for a real deal...one of the few well timed things I've done, house-wise.
Fiddleheads...we look for them when we hike in the spring, and in the side shade garden, too
Fruit...don't eat as much of it as I should
Frosting...dont' eat as much of it as I should, ha ha!
Florida...been there, tried it, hated it, except for the fauna
Flamingo's...Lee took a million pix of them when we were in Florida, cracked me up, big time when we had the film developed over the rest of the summer, at least 2 flamingo's in every set!
Flamenco...reminds me of dancing with the stars, and how much I adore that silly show.
Flamboyant..ya, me, sometimes.
Fini...this post!

Sod off? NO! Sod IN!!

Someday I'll figure out how to load the pictures so they come out in order, but nonetheless, you see before you the before, during and nearly complete transformation of our backyard. Where the white line is in this last picture, is a line of "cobbles" that separates the lawn from the kids play area, and that area will eventually be filled with kid friendly mulch, as soon as I have time to dig up the remaining lawn areas and money to get the mulch with! There is a ton of weeding to do already, but I'm just so glad to have a lawn once again that I've been happydancing all over the place!

Word Play, E is for Everything!

Elusive....like the very subtle, natural pentagram in the photo above...can you pick it out?
Education...as a home educator, I believe educational opportunites are everywhere
Eggplant...pretty color, ucky taste! I just loathe it, but make it once a year for my dear wife
Egalitarian...I just like the way that word sounds when y0u say it aloud
Edward, Eddie, not my favorite namess, but I have an aunt,
Edie, whom I love dearly!
Eggs, especially farm fresh ones I get from Peggy, my fellow alto at UUCW! Yum!
Ethereal...another lovely word. I love looking at clouds, and photographing them because of their ethereal beauty...
Eager...something I am not anymore, as often as I would want to be, unless it is going out to dinner!
Eating. Okay, I admit it, I love to eat! Else why would I be the shape I am, right?!
Elephants. I am Enchanted with them. Their loving loyalty to their mates, their young, their comrades, their precarious Existance on this planet, and their massive size.
Earth. I love to dig in it, and I'm very happy to be a resident here. I also love the smell of it after rain or snow has fallen.
Eggshells. How can something so fragile be so very strong?
Egrets. Especially Snowy Egrets. They are so strange, and wonderful and beautiful.
Exercise. Hate it, mostly. But need to do more of it.
Except. I use this all the time...we are all done...except. What an oxymoron I can be sometimes hahaha!
I'm all done, Except....
Enliven...go Enliven someone's Existance!

Hair, again!

Well, hair I am again !! If you read my blog a few weeks ago, I went back to blonde, after years of being a redhead. Last week at the salon, spur of the moment, I went platinum. Gods know what I was thinking, and after 24 hours, decided that I did not look good as a platinum blonde...my coloring is just too "ruddy" for it, and I aged at least 10 years. So, I think I'll tone it down by using at home color...ash blonde. My hair grabbed the color...the gray color, and I had very vibrant cigarette ash gray hair....major panic. So I run out, grab another color to relighten it...nada...no change except the gray is brighter. The next morning I look in the mirror and am totally grossed out by this...strange gray. I have nothing against gray hair, mind you, but this color, I am sure, does not appear in nature!! So I asked a friend who used to be a beautician, and she told me I should be grateful that I didn't turn green because of various chemical reactions, can you imagine if I did that to myself???!!! And then she recommended brown colorant. So I went out again, and colored it a medium brown and used the kind that you highlight after coloring...and I love it. NO, I mean LOVE it!! It's something different from red, and not 100% blonde, so I am really enjoying it. And because my hair is very resiliant, I have had no damage other than to the tops of my ears which I burned with the 3rd treatment. That means that I colored my hair 4 times within 36 hours! Vanity, vanity to be sure, but with a crooked nose, and rotund figure, and short to boot, one must have one vanity!!

D is for...

Dangerous, like the thunderclouds in the pictures, boiling up from the west and blustering through causing
Disruption...of plans, like wanting to sew so much today and only getting a quarter of what I wanted to do, done.
Done...what I want be with this quilt, so I can gift it to my friend
Daylight which there are so many more hours of now in late April, Destination, like, where am I going? where have I been? am I on the right track?
Dogs, especially my Irish Setter Fergie,whom I love, as well as other dogs in the future...and right now we're rather leaning towards a...
Doodle, a cross breed mix of standard poodle and either Labrador, which makes a labradoodle, or a golden retriever, which makes a golden doodle. Google them...they are so very cute! And almost allergy free, to boot!
Desire, for romance, for chocolate right NOW!, and for more time
Driving, which I do a lot, but not as much as my Colorado friend, and which I usually enjoy
Daisies, a great perennial flower in my garden
Deer which I see sometimes in the meadow not too far from my house
Dang! a word that I use to not say Shit! anymore, because it was one of the baby's first words, and I really needed to change that!
Drool, which the youngling is doing alot as he cuts his 2nd year molars
Drizzle, yes, it's just drizzly here today, but more rain is forecast for tonight, thank the Goddess, as we really need the rain
Donut, another of the baby's first words, to go along with my ...
Dunkachino, the only coffee mix I can drink, and that only sporadically.
Duh, a word that bugs me when one kid says it to another but I think is appropriate when self directed
Drover, one of the characters in the Hank the Cowdog series, who is absolutely hysterical! We listen to the book-on-cd on our trips to Maine. It keeps the boys occupied and laughing the entire 1.5 hour trip up!
DVD's... a very neat invention!

Orange Chiffon Pie Recipe

I don't usually post recipes, but if you love creamsicles, you have to try this recipe! You can make it easier by purchasing a graham cracker crust, or you can make this one, which I found at recipe zaar (recipe number 63068). It's as easy as....well, pie!

Orange Chiffon Pie

1 Graham cracker crust :Mix 1.5 cups of crushed graham crackers; 0.25 cup of sugar and 4 or 5 Tbsp. of melted butter. The recipe calls for 5, but I used 4 and it was fine. Mix all ingredients and press into a pie plate. Refridgerate for 1 hour. See, easy!

1 -3 oz. pkg orange gelatin
1 -Tbsp sugar
0.75 cup water
0.50 cup orange juice
1- tsp grated orange peel ...I left it out and it was still fine!
1-8 oz carton of non-dairy whipped topping, thawed

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve gelatin and sugar in water. Add orange juice and peel. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until thickened but not set. Beat on high speed with mixer for 3 minutes, until very foamy and thickened....note: it gets thick very fast after the 3 minutes are up so you need to do the next part right away! Fold or beat in the whipped topping, pour into graham crust. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

I'm so looking forward to dessert tonight!

The recipe was created by Tina Dierking of Maine, and published in Taste of Home's 2003 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes.

You just have to see this picture to realize...

...that KC is totally and completely unhappy about his new haircut. Two days later and, when he sees his reflection in the mirror, he shreeeeeeks at it! He is getting a bit of peach-fuzz back on top now, but he is really not amused at mom's Sunday shearing of the lads!

WordPlay, C is for...

C is for Cat, Wallace Sebastian by name, the greatest "patrol cat" ever, and my beloved Willa, may she be playing happily in the Summerlands with all the great cats who preceeded her...

C is for cinnamon, one of the best spices in the world, second only to ...

Chocolate and Cocoa...this needs no explaining!

Creamsicles, one of those benchmarks of mid-summer,

Candy...which I eat sometimes but not as often as I did before I started being more....Careful! and this is also a word I use alot with the boys--sometimes more with the 20 year old than the 2 year old...

Caffeine, in the form of tea or diet Coke

Coconut...who can make a bunny cake without it?

Caramel...love to make my own for frosting, but don't care at all for them in those mixed chocolates boxes...

Caring...the nurturing of my lifemate, the rearing of our children, the upkeep of our 175 year old home, the love-bond with my pets, my friends, my extended family...

Concern...what I feel when I hear about the latest death toll in Iraq, and very deeply concerned when I hear about "proposed plans" for a nuclear strike by this president, against another country and it's citizens...

crud...the cold I have now that makes my eyes and nose look like rudolph's nose

Computer...why did I ever fight so hard about learning to use this wonderful, and sometimes annoying, tool?

Cash...wish I had more of it, but happy with what I've got, really.

Cable tv...I just love the weather channel, lol!

CD's. Music on a mini disc...who would've thought those plentiful black vinyl disks would become obsolete in my lifetime?

cream, frozen with chocolate chip cookie dough...I know that could be under "I" for Ice cream, but I wanted to be sure to include it!

carrots, which are great with hummus or in stew or...plain!

colors...the world would be so very drab without them

crayons...see above entry

It's amazing...

...but, just when I think I cannot cope one more moment with "losing" my 1 hour of sleep due to Daylight Savings Time's resumption, an image like above appears. I took this picture just a few moments ago, at 725 p.m. in my backyard in New England....I can see the scampering clouds, the brook in the backyard clear as full day, the kids toys in the backyard, the blue star flowers in the front yard, the cardinal as he visits the feeder one last time before heading off to his nest in the pines in the yard behind ours. In short..er, perhaps that should be "in long", I can see at 725 p.m. This, then, is the great trade-off for that missed hour. And although I will admit to being very tired on this Friday evening, my heart has received a balm that will sustain it through the coming months...more daylight, more blossoms, more birds, and more ability to be a part of this wonderous evening light.

B is for...

Beauty, which is found everywhere, if you look hard enough

Breakfast, one of my 3 favorite meals of the day


Bounty which my life is full of, and I don't mean the paper towels!

Brokeback, a movie I want to see soon,

Baby, who I hope comes home to us soon,

and Boys, specifically my 3, who are my deepest joy

and blue, my first and truest favorite color... who can't look out the window or up at the sky on one of those blue-oh-so-very-blue sky days, especially right after a cloudy spell, and not feel the wonder of all that blue?

bologna...sometimes you just want a bologna sandwich, you know?

Blogs, which I think are the wonder of the modern world!

Booties, which goes back the to baby thing and *not* where you were going! ha!

Boogers. I had to say it. I have boys. We talk about these things. And sometimes sing songs about them.

Barry, my good friends young Lab, and the singer too, y'know? Manilow!

Bump, as into things, something I do way too often.

and Burp. reference to Booger, above.

and I can't finish without mentioning my other favorite b word.... Books!

Word Play, A is for...

Adorable, as in children and pets...I have 3 of one and 2 of the other...

and absolute, like in the love I have for my one true beloved wife, even if she hates hates hates the camera...

and Audubon, the sanctuary that helped open Robbie to nature and the Goddess...

and abilities, ones that I have learned from all walks of this joyful loving life I am living....sewing, quilting, knitting, cooking, driving, seeing the small slices of life around me, loving...and learning, the most important ability of all.

Spring is out and about....

Two weeks ago we went to Maine and were able to be in that fine state on "Maple Sugar Sunday", where we were able to sample the fruits...er, that would be syrups, I guess, of these dilegent, hardy farmers. We had maple syrup on ice cream, maple sugar candy, and maple sugar 'straight up' in a shot glass! There was a pretty stiff breeze blowing which kept it cool, but once inside the shed where the sugar was being boiled down it was lovely and warm. Outside, we had the chance to see maple sugar being boiled down in H*U*G*E kettles over an open fire...it was an amazing sight, and truly gives one an appreciation for our forebears who worked so hard for their syrup. The boys were excited to see oxen, as we have been studying westward expansion, including how oxen were often used to pull the prairie schooners on their journeys. Seeing them plod past gave Robbie a fine appreciation for just how long it would take to go somewhere being pulled by the ox, rather than being transported in mere hours to a place 100 miles away in a Dodge Caravan!

And for all of you who are still shoveling, some pictures from the garden here in Massachusetts, where we have had an unusually early spring, yay!

On the last day of winter...

Yes, the last day of winter! We've survived another one. OH, I accidentally spelled that "won", erased it and re-wrote it, but now I wonder if it wasn't really correct the first way! I feel like I won something! I was looking out my window at the silver sky, feeling a bit bleak about the bleakness, and I look down to my front garden. I was feeling bad about the poor garden, as last week I barely had time to do much more than rake off some of the leaf-blanket I put on last fall. It got so cold again last Sunday and has stayed cold, that I never went out to finish the job...when to my amazement, I see these two purple spears poking up...my giant crocus, just waiting for the temps to go over 35 so they can open! O!
Then I knew we were on the other side...it may well snow again. Frankly I might be disappointed if it didn't snow at least one more good one before the good weather comes to stay. But it won't last. The push and struggle of life will suddenly burst forth, and nothing Old Winter can do will work, and it will retreat north, north and north! And the proof is in those crocii. Hope, wearing deep purple, poking up from the darkness of cold soil, will not be denied. Welcome Spring! Farewell Winter!

A family hike

It was a lovely day here in Mass. with temps over 60 for the first time in....forever, practically! So we went on a hike at our local Audubon sanctuary. Robbie comes here once a week to attend a homeschooling class, and is really getting into nature, which is a wonderful transformation for him. KC has discovered the fun of running in the fields from these sojourns, and today was totally enraptured to hike in the woods. Except for .10 of a mile where the trail was very muddy and he was in his carrier, he hiked nearly all of the 1.5 mile trail through woods and fields! He is such a sturdy lad, which just amazes me. He is so short, but he is tough! I can't believe he'll be 2 next month! Anyway, these are some pictures of Lee and the boys. I kept running ahead, yelling stuff like "be natural" and "don't look like you're posing, Robbie, just stare at that tree, would ya?". Lee told me it was like hiking with the paparazzi!! Despite the constant annoyance of me whipping out my camera, the hike was wonderful, everyone had a good time, and we're hoping that tomorrow will be warm and sunny like today!

Okay, so this is different....

Top: yesterday, and below: today. O what a difference a day makes! Well, it is very different. After flirting with blonde a few years ago, and growing up blonde, and living as a redhead for, hmmm, 18 years or so, I went to my hairdresser yesterday, had the brown stripped out, and blonde put back in. It is very, very blonde! I think when I go back in a 6 weeks, I'll have some "lowlights" put in, if I don't even go down a shade or two. Wow! I've never been this blonde before. Awhile ago I walked into the bathroom to get stuff out of the dryer, turned on the light and gasped....I'd forgotten, you see. I've been living with that kinda drab brown, which was supposed to turn my hair a lovely ash blonde, btw, for about 2 weeks, and had gotten used to it. As I suppose I will get used to this too! At least when I walk at dusk, I won't need a reflective vest, eh?!

Stopping by washer on a cold Sunday morning

So, it's in the 5 a.m. hour on a perfectly good Sunday morning and here I am on the computer instead of my nice warm bed, with my nice, warm family! I had to let the dog out, who's bladder alarm can never distinguish Saturdays or Sundays, just "it's 5 a.m. pul-eeze let me out, mom" and I had to run down cellar and get the diaper wash I put in last night and the cold air was so invigorating that I am now too jazzed to go back to bed. And I got to thinking, as I loaded the diapers in the dryer, that in January, I used my clothesline for diaper drying for at least 2/3 of the month, and here it is, March, and I've barely been able to convince myself to go outside to put in or take out the wash, it's been that cold.

A friend of mine was talking the other day, and mentioned how we would all be whining come mid-July, about how hot it was out....

....I don't know if I'd be whining............okay, I probably will ! But right now summer heat seems an awfully long way away. Don't get me wrong, I love New England and the changeable weather, but January spoiled us, and, I think, delayed our cabin fever by a few weeks. We've been able to be out and about, not very much snow to hinder us all winter, excepting December, but it's not the same, being out and about when the windchill hovers in the single-degree range.

On a positive note, another flock of robins landed on the hill about 3/4 of a mile from here. We had a mini-flock in our yard Friday, they blew in with the wind, and blew right back out again in an hour. The poor things are looking for worms which are frozen deep in the soil...I sure hope it warms up fast before they starve.

What I've been doing...

This is my wife Lee, and our wee lad, KC at my surprise birthday party a few weeks ago. Lee and my best pal Wendy surprised Wendy's husband Greg, and me, with a joint birthday party, as Greg's birthday is a few days after mine. KC is wearing his first ever birthday hat, and learned how to blow those roll-out noisemaker-thingies. What do they call those, anyway? *****

I can hardly believe that KC will be two in just 6 weeks! Sometimes I try to picture him when he was the "wee worm", he was just so tiny. He is still such a short little fellow, but sturdy and determined, two very important traits, I think. He sticks with something until he is satisfied, whether it is putting blocks just so, or shaking milk from his sippie cup into the top recess of his baby gate, creating a fetid milk mini-lake if you don't catch him doing it!

We are adopting another baby, are on the waiting list, and will likely be receiving an infant from the same agency that placed KC. The wait could be as long as 18 months which would be next summer. It's a worry, as I creep ever closer to 50...next summer I'll be 48...but having this second generation of children has made my spirit young. And I have an excuse for napping midday, to boot!

Whine, pizzle.

Have you ever been such a grump that you wanted to just slap yourself and holler "fer crissakes, jest get OVER it already"?? That pretty much sums up today. I ate icecream for lunch, which ordinarily would not be a bad thing, but I'm on a diet for goshsakes, and the boys have been trolls, and the sky is cloudy and we're just this close )( to having a snowstorm, missing it, and having the cloudy dreary skies, but no sparking snow to make it all worthwhile. I can see the dark clouds on the horizon, and if that is not a metaphor for how my mood is, I can't think of what is!

I know I didn't get a good nights sleep, because the baby kept kicking me out of the bed, as he loves to sleep sideways and I'm in the way. The dog woke up at midnight because his schedule got screwed up by being at the groomers, and the groomer could not get all the tangles off of him, so he got all his long hair whacked off, and is a "shorthaired" Irish Setter at the moment. Except for his ears and tail, and that, somehow, makes it worse! It will take some time before he grows his "feathers" back and I am currently vowing to groom him daily so I am in the habit as the hair grows back.

My hair color sucks big time. I tried to go blonde from red and it came out brown. Now, I'm obviously not a chemist, but someone please explain how blonde turns brown for gosh sakes. And it's growing out and looks doggie....except the dog is currently near bald. And I'm not. Bald, that is.

Sigh, I guess I will go have a cuppa, keep my appointment with the chiropractor, and see how the rest of the day shakes out. It's 4 pm eastern time, so the day is nearly over, whether it gets better or not. That should be a comfort, right?

Here is Barbara's quilt. It's still very much in process, but I wanted to show the "bones" to all my quilting pals! She will love the pictures of her dogs, and the center ones especially, as he passed over the Rainbow Bridge last fall. She loves orange primarily, and yellows, and asked for greens as her new room has green in it. This is the center panel, it will have 5 blocks on each side, with a "block" being 4 mini blocks. My goal is to have time to have the entire top together before Easter, and then start quilting it, to have the entire project done before September.