Waterfront

When I say I want waterfront property this isn't what I mean. (Those boards in the lower right is the kids swingset.)


I was picturing a beautiful lake or pond. NOT the woods next to my house flooding because of massive amounts of rain and melting snow The pictures really don't capture the full effect, mostly because I refused to leave the shelter of the porch. You can't tell from the pictures it is pouring rain and windy and cold. Normally in the spring there is a little vernal stream that runs through here maybe six inches wide. As you can see it is a wee bit more water than that right now.


And here is my goofy dog who doesn't seem to care that it is windy, rainy and cold as long as he can lie right down and chew on a bone. Gross story to go along with that bone he is chewing on. It is part of a deer leg that mysteriously showed up in our driveway earlier this week. And when I say deer leg I mean hoof, skin, fur all still attached. And It really isn't a mystery, I think the dog found it in the woods somewhere and brought it home to snack on. We disposed of the leg but he found this smaller piece that he's been chewing on and as long as he doesn't bring it in the house I really don't care.


I'd like to walk out back to the big river and see how high that is but did I mention it's cold, rainy and windy out and I don't think it would be very much fun.

If You Give a Pig a Pancake

I got a chance to Volunteer in Mackenzie's classroom this morning for a fun activity. They read the book If You Give a Pig a Pancake and then they got to make pancakes. But not just any pancakes, they were green pancakes in honor of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day.

The class had been working hard all week doing testing, and this was such a fun way to end the week. The even made cute little piggy masks. The class was also saying good-bye to one of their classmates who is moving away. This is my favorite little piggy!!

Bag Lady

I have this thing for bags. Not purses but bags. And nothing fancy, schmancy or designer. Some of them are freebies from magazine orders. Some I have just picked up here or there. None were very expensive but they all serve a purpose. I have so many in fact my husband has started making fun of me. In fact the other day he asked if I have a bag of bags. And yes, in fact, I do have a bag of bags. My bag of bags are the ones I take to the grocery store with me and obviously they are much easier to carry if they are all in one bag.
Then I have a big waterproof bag for the beach or boat to fit towels, sunscreen, change of clothes etc.
I have two bags for the kids to pack stuff in when they have sleepovers.
I have a bag for the kids to pack stuff in when we go visit someone just for the day.
I have four camera bags all in different sizes depending on how much camera stuff I want to bring with me.
I have a bag for all my knitting stuff.
I have a bag I use as a purse.
I have a bag for my ice skates, who sadly have not seen the light of day in years.
Then I have several more bags 'just in case', cause you never know when you might need a bag.

I have never thought of it as an usual amount of bags, but maybe it is???
Here is one of my camera bags.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

I have a Banana Bread recipe that I got from a good friend. It is a favorite of Rebecca's.
Last week I decided to switch it up a bit and added 3/4 of a cup of mini chocolate chips and poured the batter into muffin tins. Making them the same but different and also another big hit with everyone. So I thought I would share the recipe.

Esme's Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 smashed bananas
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan with butter or cooking spray.
Cream butter and sugar. Add bananas. Add eggs one at a time. Beat in flour and baking soda.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 mins. or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Now if you want to make the muffins add 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips and pour into muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Now this would make a good muffin recipe without the chocolate chips but who doesn't like chocolate chips?

Wacky Winter Weather

About two weeks ago we had some crazy weather that included snow, rain, flooding and hurricane force winds. The winds were the worst part uprooting trees, bringing down power lines and blocking roads. We got lucky and only lost electricity for about 16 hours and with a generator it wasn't really all that bad. There wasn't any damage to any trees around the house. There are several branches down but nothing to cause any trouble. A trek out to the river and we found a tree blocking the trail as well as several more branches. We'll have plenty of clean-up to do once the snow melts!



Here is a picture of the girls on Valentine's day sitting on an ice jam on the river.

And here is the same spot two weeks later after some warm weather and rain!



The river is usually just a trickle over these rocks, actually you can't really see most of the rocks.
These are the same rock that are in the blog title for comparison!

Here is an almost perfectly rectangular piece of ice that washed up on the shore of the river. It shows just how thick the ice was at one point.