Enjoying the Heat

It has been a nice hot weekend and we've been taking advantage in order to get the yard up to speed. Yesterday we assembled a netted cabana on the deck. Now we have not only a lovely outdoor "room" but also a space to sit in and not get attacked by mosquitoes. Today we've been gardening...digging flower beds, moving topsoil, planting and cleaning up. My hubby was cutting the grass with our new John Deere ride-on mower. Now it's time to park ourselves on the deck and enjoy a margarita, I think.

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

So I've mastered how to prepare the perfect hard boiled egg. First you place your egg(s) in a pot and cover them with cold water. Bring the water to a nice rapid boil. Once this has happened, place a lid on the pot and turn off the burner. Let the egg(s) sit in the hot boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and run them under cold water. They are then ready to peel and turn out just great!

Time Flies By

I can't believe it is Monday once again. Where do the weeks fly by? As I write that, I am once again reminded of the cliched phrase regarding time flying by. When we are children we think that the days will never pass, we'll never grow older to that magic age and time in school will drag on for eternity. Then once we pass those "milestone" birthdays, all of that excitement starts to fade and the day to day grind of reality sets in. I suppose this is all part of the growing experience in adulthood. As we get caught up on the treadmill of life, I only hope that I'm still showing my son that there needs to be daily time to stop, take a breath and be quiet if only for a nanosecond. And yes, I do need to remind myself occasionally to take my own advice.

Plants and Flowers

After a terribly cold weekend, I must report that we got a lot of gardening completed. I ache in places I didn't know existed and had a really difficult time dragging myself out of bed this morning. Being that our soil is mainly clay, it required a lot of sweat and muscle power to just cut through the top soil and begin the process of making the flower beds. While I toiled in the backyard, my hubby labored in the front - digging and planting small shrubs and trees. I managed to get most of my plants in the ground but was disillusioned last night to hear that there was a risk of frost! I'm happy to say that all plants survived the night. I will really enjoy watching the plants and flowers come to life and hopefully produce a beautiful garden escape.

Planting Season is On

And so the first long weekend of the season begins. The traffic is piling up around the city and country roads. People are buying their fireworks - and more importantly their garden plants. We also went to the local nursery and bought some nice shrubs and perennials. I plan to build a flower garden around our deck. I ended up buying old fashioned bleeding hearts, yellow cone flowers, phlox, irises and several other varieties that remind me of my parents' and grandparents' old-fashioned gardens. And just now I saw our first hummingbird - so I must go and get the food to put in the little feeder by our window.

Cure for the Common Cold?

Colds are running virulently throughout our home once again. It seems once children enter school, everything and anything that's contagious finds it's way home also. I've had the worst sore throat for days now and sniffles and now a cough. My husband is fighting it too. My son, we'll he's over the worst of it. However, there is something that is like a magic bullet at fighting colds, bugs and whatever ails you. It is oil of oregano. This little "miracle" oil droplet is extremely potent and strong. It has been used for centuries as a remedy to cure sickness. I used it once before (albeit with skepticism) to ease and finally cure the effects of whooping cough. So I tried it 2 days ago and my sore throat is virtually gone. One drop under the tongue a few times a day is all you need. So if you don't want to load your body with pills and chemicals, this natural alternative works great.

Negativity

I think there must have been a lot of negativity in the air today. My son was really giving me the gears over absolutely everything and nothing. Sometimes I feel like we've reverted back to that early stage of parent/child power plays. I grew so frustrated that a time out for us both became necessary, along with chats from both myself and my husband and a ban on computer and TV. I think that negativity grows negativity and tonight was a prime example. I've been trying to explain to my son that you get back what you put out into the world. After all this, my young man stubbed his toe on the leg of the couch and whacked his hand on the doorknob.