Adding to my happiness

On top of me getting a job the following thing are making me extremely happy lately:
1. Nora has outgrown her allergy to almonds and probably cashews - we're testing those next. This will enable several vegan dishes that I want to try.
2. And we can now drink Almond Breeze milk. My new addiction.
3. Which is especially good with TJ's new Maple Leaf Cookies
4. Oh, yeah, it's Maple Syrup season!
5. And the Sugar Shack is also serving breakfast
6. Speaking of local farms: I just signed up for my CSA - Red Fire Farms
7. It's March. And while, I don't really think this New England winter is over, I have hopes that the worst of it is.
8. I bought some plants, that I have so far, not managed to kill.
9. Chicopee Public Library continues to be a fabulous and helpful place.
10. We had a really terrific visit to NYC last week. Eventually I will get around to posting pictures.

Altogether I'm in a better place than I have been for the past several months. Now lets hope it holds.

Walk In the Woods

Our first Walk In The Woods event was this past Sunday, a very wet and cold day for the 2nd day of spring. Amazingly, we had friends who were willing to join us - Steven and Mary and their girls and Caroline and her two children joined us. We traveled to Mastodon State Historic Site where we spent about 2 hours hiking a short gravel trail. Hiking isn't really the descriptive word: puddle jumping, pebble collecting, rock splashing, mound climbing, stick finding and nature gazing are all probably more apt. It was a wonderful time despite the drizzle and the chill. After the "hike" we spent some time enjoying blondies and exploring the little museum on site. My camera's battery power was giving up by the time we reached the mastodon bones, but be assured that they were wonderful to behold. So was the Giant Ground Sloth re-creation. This was well worth the journey. Tune in next month to see where we might travel next!

Rainy Days

It has been so wet this spring, but finally we have some bright sunny days to make up for it. Just in case you forgot what it was like though, I've got some Nora pictures:

Gardening

It's spring and I'm finally done with our big conference, but I'm not gardening. Despite having had an internship in highschool at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and having worked for both a nursery and a state park, I don't garden. I lack the follow through necessary to maintain a garden throughout the heat of the summer months. I am, however, interested in gardens and I certainly enjoy visiting gardens and eating the bounty of other people's gardening work. If I did get around to gardening (and I hope someday I will), it will probably just be a vegetable and herb garden. But I wish I had the skill to undertake a really amazing garden. I recently finished reading Martin Edward's mystery, the Cipher Garden, and I'm intrigued by the idea of a garden with a hidden message. I'm familar, as probably many of you are, with the Victorian idea that giving flowers was an opportunity to send a secret message to the recipient by choosing specific varieties. And many plants have taken on other meaning over time as well. After reading the Cipher Garden, I was sure that this idea wasn't orginial to Edwards and that surely there must be other Cipher Gardens out there planned out by genious gardeners. However, my non-exhastive, minimal google search has turned up nothing (but I did see some amazing photo's of the Innisfree Garden in New York). Does anyone else remember reading about gardens with messages hidden in their layout of plantings? I'm thinking there must have been a Rosemary and Thyme episode about it as well, but I can't track that down either. If anyone comes up with something shoot it my way. In the meantime...watch out for those rhododendrons, they mean danger.

Easter Fun

On Saturday, we headed out to Purina Farms to check out their Easter Barn and meet a bunch of little animals. Nora had a wonderful time petting the bunnies, chickens, and ducklins and we even got to see a dog show. Fortunately we didn't have to listen to too much propaganda on the benefits of Purina Dog Chow and the event was well managed and a lot of fun (despite the cold!).
On the way out, we drove through Valley Park which has been suffering from the flooding of the Meremac River. They were sandbagging the highway as we drove past the submerged exit ramps and business district in the valley - we did pause and wonder if we would be able to get back because the river was getting very close to the highway. Here's some pics, Jason snapped while we drove past. It isn't an unfamiliar sight in this neck of the woods (big floods twice in my lifetime and smaller floods more often) but it is still a sobering view:

Easter came and the bunny brought Nora some of the afore posted mitts and potholders, this table cloth and napkin set I made (there are bunnies on the table cloth), a toy horse, some easter egg bean bags, a felt pita sandwich and lots of jelly beans.
We headed to Mom and Dad's where we ate too many waffles, took naps, then ate some more, including Isa's coconut lemon bundt cake which was more brownie like in texture but really, really good! Nora actually sat still for a bunch of pics in her hat and dress despite the massive amount of sugar that Dad fed her (he is no longer responsible for filling plastic eggs for Nora).

What was in your Easter Basket?

Spring has Sprung

I think this picture makes it official. Nora got this fabulous parasol from her Grant in Texas where I bet the bluebells are already popping up.