monday's mulling: mow, mow, mow your lawn

Ahhhh, suburban lawns. Everyone knows the look of the traditional suburban lawn. The grass is short and perfectly green all over. It is that time of year where the lawns are emerging from their winter dormancy, the grass is growing and clumps are emerging. Another trait of the suburban lawn is that it has to be even. Time to get the lawn mower out! and get rid of those clumps

It's been rainy, the ground is wet, the grass has grown like crazy, and it's been over a week since the grass has been cut. T is working on taxes, he wants to get new grips on his golf clubs, has other errands to do, and he's stressing about the grass. I tell him that I'll do it.

I can cut the grass and do a good job. My dad taught his sons and daughters how to cut grass. He was very particular about the appearance of his lawn and it reflected in his meticulous grass cutting skills. When it was time for his kids to assume grass cutting duties, our lawn was going to look as good as when Dad cut it. Many years ago my brothers used to have a neighborhood lawn mowing business and if they weren't able to cut the lawns, I was their substitute. Back in that day, not many girls cut grass and I had to prove myself when I showed up at a customer's house with the lawn mower.  

I enjoy cutting the grass. As I walk back and forth, back and forth, I'm in my "zone," getting fresh air and burning calories. And that smell of fresh green grass...ahhhh!

orange cone season

The other day I needed to go downtown to take some information to the Social Security office. I took what I thought would be the quick back way to get to my close parking spot, but nope. The road was closed, orange barrels and detour signs directed traffic to an alternate route. Plan B was going well until orange barrels blocked the road. Plan C was foiled thanks to my now orange nemeses, and finally after going down and around and through an alley, I found a parking spot. 

When T and I lived downtown a few years ago, I took daily walks and found a lot of coins on the sidewalks. Now when I go downtown, I can't help but look for coins as I stroll along. It's harder now to find the street money as now the parking app is in place but as I walked back to my car, a shiny penny caught my eye and I picked it up. Funny how an unexpected one cent coin takes away the frustration of orange inconveniences.

And whenever I pick up a coin, that old saying pops into my head, "Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck."

🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡

Today my parents would celebrate their 68th wedding anniversary. Dad died in 2002 and Mom in 2020. They met in college at Illinois Wesleyan University, dated for four years, and were married for 48 years before Dad passed away.

the friday feed: cadbury creme egg cheesecake

The week before Easter, Angus, a blogger who lives in St. Andrews, Scotland, wrote about a creme egg cheesecake he had seen in a bakery window. It looked delicious but he didn't buy a slice. He returned to the bakery a couple days later and the cheesecake was sold out. The baker, sensing Angus' disappointment, told Angus he would have a cheesecake in a couple days and would save two slices for him. Angus returned to buy the promised slices, took them home, and he and his wife both said the cheesecake was "dreadful." It was full of emulsifiers. Ewww.

Angus' creme egg cheesecake debacle turned into my inspiration for Easter dessert. My tried and true cheesecake recipe is buried in a box right now so thanks to Google, I combined three recipes to come up with a creme egg cheesecake. It certainly isn't as pretty as one made in a bakery (I was rushing to cut it), but it sure was good. Oreo cookie crust, chocolate cheesecake layer, cream cheese layer with chopped creme eggs stirred in, whipped cream dollops and creme eggs to top it off. 

No complaints and no leftovers to bring home.

yellow

Yellow, the color of the caution light that says, "Slow down."

Yellow, the color of spring that says, "Bye bye, winter...full speed ahead and bring on the sunshine!" 🟡

Today is one of those "April showers bring May flowers" days.

 

wednesday wordiness, wanderings, & wonderings

Wordy Wednesday is still around but in a little different format. Here goes!

My old kitchen is gutted and my dining room has been turned into a makeshift kitchen. It's been almost a month since the project started and so far this temporary arrangement is working well. I have everything I need - stove, fridge, and a laundry sink. My dishes, pots and pans, baking dishes, and pantry are on shelves in a bedroom. The one thing I really miss is a garbage disposal. It's so much easier to put food residue into the sink, flip a switch, and voila...it's gone, rather than wiping it into a trash can.

I fixed the Easter meal in this kitchen and took all the food over to my son's house for everyone to eat. Right now he has more space than I do and he also has a dishwasher! Doing daily dishes for T and me is fine, but not after cooking for seven people. 

I love cooking for my family and planning holiday meals. For me, food is part of  memorable holiday gatherings and celebrating the family being together. My mom set the standard for making holiday meals special and she learned that from her mother. I always ask for suggestions. Some of the responses are the same and others are something new and different.

Little Grandson from Cleveland and his mom and dad were here for Easter. A little one's excitement at opening a plastic Easter egg with Teddy Grahams in it is so heart warming. We went to the "pock" (park) and I lost count of the number of times we went down the slides. He kept saying, "Didi go, Didi go," so Didi did. Memories to treasure.

I was in Chicago for a week while my daughter's husband was on a business trip and she wasn't ready to be at home alone with a baby and a dog. We had a couple of fairly sleepless nights and it's amazing how exhaustion magnifies every noise and situation. When it was time to go home, we were both very emotional, but I needed to get home for of all things, a dentist appointment. (I had cancelled it at the last minute and they were miffed so I needed to make this one to stay in good graces). My first yoga class after I got home had a lot of balancing poses and because I was tired and still thinking about my daughter, my poses were wobbly, I got mad about that, which then made the poses even wobblier. Your emotional state makes a lot of difference in how you perform in anything. 

My daughter is on her maternity leave and her son is now seven weeks old. She'll return to work in June but right now we have long phone conversations, which will not be as frequent after she returns to work. Again, time to treasure while we have this opportunity.

Yesterday our weather forecast predicted a lot of stormy weather. You would have thought April 2 was going to be the day Ohio would be blown off the map. I went to my Zentangle class at UD  from 12:30 - 2:30. We were notified at 1:45 that the building was closing at 2:00 to give people time to get home safely. It rained a little on the way home, then sunshine, then clouds, then severe thunderstorms hauling their way through the Miami Valley. There's so much hype for weather events. Dayton is also in the Path of Totality for the solar eclipse on April 8. Again the news is bombarding us with warnings that there could be up to 500,000 people coming to the region to view the eclipse so stock up on groceries, be sure to get your solar glasses, allow extra time to get places. Just give the necessary information and let people think for themselves. And for now I'm watching "Chopped."

dayton artwrap

Back in its heyday, Dayton was a hub of innovation and this artwrap is a brief lesson in Dayton's invention history. Most people have heard of the Wright Brothers and their airplane. The steel propeller and the parking meter were also invented in Dayton. The football is in reference to the first NFL game being played in Dayton, the Dayton Triangles v. the Columbus Panhandles.

I found a map of all the artwraps around town so one of these nice spring days, I'm going to take a one day photo walk and put all of the artwraps in their own folder.

monday's mulling: aaaahhhh-choo!

Mother Nature isn't April foolin' 

It's that time of year - the spring bloom burst - and the allergies kick in big time. Our winter was mild so the trees are budding and the flowers are blooming earlier. A trip to the pharmacy to stock up on allergy pills and eye drops has been made. There are times when my eyes itch so bad and I tell myself, "Don't touch your eyes, don't touch your eyes," but I do and they itch even more. 

But you know what? I'm not complaining. Once this initial blast of spring calms down, so do the allergies, and the sunshine and warmer temps make up for this temporary seasonal inconvenience.