Spring has sprung...

Today we walk out of the house and JB notices there are daffodils in full bloom at the end of the driveway. "LOOK!" He shouts, "There are flowers now."

These have been growing for a few days/weeks, but he apparently just noticed them and felt they had sprung up overnight. We walk (ML waddles) down toward the mailbox and I'm talking about spring-

Mommy: These flowers are called daffodils... They are the first sign of spring. When the winter is over, and the plants and grass get enough rain, everything starts to turn green again and flowers start to bloom, that is called spring.

JB: (nodding, starts to take over the teacher role) Yes, it is spring because there is no more snow, and the flowers are growing... Smell the flowers, ML

ML: (bends over the 3 inches it takes to shove his nose near the flowers and sniffs obligingly)

JB: They are real nice, mom... (then he starts muttering to no one in particular) I don't see any pollen... I don't knew, maybe the bees took it out already... nope, none in there either... there should be pollen... hmmm...

Bahahahahhahahhahahahhah...

He just went on and on reviewing everything he knows about pollination and flowers and bees! I might have found it less amusing except I know I haven't taught him about this, so the explanations came as if from a book they read to him at school.

I don't know WTF he thinks pollen looks like, but apparently he knows it when he sees it (or when he doesn't)... I'm not sure there is anything funnier than a tiny mammal muttering so matter-of-factly about science and biology

Heat wave

I think it should be mandatory every year in New England that the last weekend in April is sunny and 85 degrees outside. Two days of heat gives you the option to spend the weekend, cleaning up your yard and mowing, and weeding and planting. You can fire up your yard tools, make sure your summer clothes are clean and still fit, work with your muscles, and get a little sunburn on your nose, arms and the back of your neck. Then, come Monday, you can go back to the spring weather for several weeks, but have tasted a little of the sweat of summer after the arduously uncomfortable winter.

The grannies are in town. Let the gardening and pruning and mulching begin. JB is super cute and has begged for them to come "save him" during at least three diaper changes (his new 'least favorite' thing) and a few other battles of wits.

Our house looks great which is good b/c we had a "good showing" this weekend and the couple is coming back for a "second look" tomorrow. Yes, remember? the house has been on the market since 3 days before the Lehman Brothers went under. We've had 2 open houses, a lot "good feedback" in seven months, but zero offers to buy. We're hoping that yesterday when we planted a garden of sweet peas and proved our loyalty to the property by deciding not to let katy's parents take the roses out of their bed in our front yard and pack them up to store and bring to the next house... that the very act of putting our hearts into staying for the season opens up the universe to a sale.

Things at work continue to be nuts and our friend, IBO (my work wife) is in the hospital trying not to deliver a 24 week-er.

Our 20 week-er is behaving himself. Mama is starting to feel kicking at regular intervals. I have also felt a few baby jolts from the outside. Katy has a developing belly bump and is kind of glow-y.

Our son is saying a lot of words. We think he has over 200 words... but about 108 of them are the word "no". He repeats nearly everything and actually got down and played in the dirt this weekend. (For those of you that don't know him, this is very unlike Mr. Clean.) He saw a lot of animals that he's only heard about in books this weekend too: worms, squirrels, bunnies, flies, mosquitoes, ants, spiders... as well as the old favorites- birds and puppies. Really cute pictures of JB in the yard and my pregnant wife to follow.

Plotting to leave the neighborhood

We put our house on the market.

There are a lot of really exciting things about that and a few really sad things. Our friends here in Town-that-thinks-it's-a-city are some of our closest. It is ironic that we are planning a move back to the town that I grew up in, but my oldest, closest friend lives right here in Town-that-thinks-it's-a-city. There is considerably more "diversity" and "culture" here that we are leaving behind (aka- gays and yummy restaurants). But the decision was based mainly on a daily work commute that has become unacceptable to both of the adults in our house. "Decreasing our carbon footprint" has entered into the discussion as has the conversion of some of that wasted time on the highway into some semblance of a daily cardiovascular workout.

Now that the decision has been made, I am less anguished (less afraid it might be a wrong decision) and more EX-cited about the actual moving (I love moving!) and also the end result (less driving everyday).

Our lawn obsessed, (formerly) nicotine-addicted neighbors asked us a six weeks ago if we minded if they mowed our lawn and power-washed our house. They posed the question to Katy who does more of the laundry and dishes than the yard maintenance type work around here. I'm sure I would have gotten offended, defensive, and huffily refused the unsolicited "favor". In the way of an explaination, you need to understand a few blue-collar fears were ingrained in me early on: 1) ownership is 9/10 of the law - if people encroach on your space, they are probably trying to take it and 2) Liability, liability, liability... if people get hurt on your property, they will leave you bankrupt and property-less.

But katy responded to the neighbor in a SarahPalin-esque non-blink:
"Knock yourself out," she told them.

Their rationale was as telling as the request: "We're putting our house on the market." Apparently, the small amounts of mildew on the siding on the back of our house (please recall, I powerwashed the thing myself a season ago when i was 8 months pregnant and prepping for kate-a-palooza) and our lawn (admittedly, I keep it about 1/2 inch longer than theirs as a rule) was at serious risk for decreasing the value of their property. (Comparison has been noted on this blog in the past.)

What surprised me even more than the announcement that they had bought a home in North Carolina and were moving, and then even more than the "If you can't keep a home (and a yard) as we do than we'll just keep it for you" self-enslavement, was the fact that they maintained the every-other day lawn service until this past week. I'm not exaggerating, it was at least every other day... our lawn never even approached a length that my conscience would allow me to burn gasoline to trim it.

Before you get all, "these people sound really reasonable," you should know they readily admitted to us that they have been calling the town on the neighbors across the street and they are "about to be fined" because the paint job on their home is unacceptable. I guess it is unintuitive (to me) obnoxiousness like this that keeps our property values in good standing, but I've never really thought about "telling" on someone to the town if their house makes them look like they are a little down on their luck. The cats and the inhabitants of that house (not to mention the gutters and paint job) have led to kt and I referring to that place as "the group home" since shortly after we moved in. But the truth is, I've always taken some silent comfort int he fact that because of the group home, there is no one that could point to my house and say, "Them!" Unless they were talking about how hot we are or the fact that we pretty much forget we are G.A.A. and kiss through a greeting in the driveway every morning and evening.

The good news: LO(F)NA neighbors sold their house after only 8 days on the market at about 30K more than we bought our place for. So, we feel confident as we approach the sale of the property that we won't lose money on our house.

Sweet peas

[Photos to follow]


Peas have been JB's fav food since the beginning. When he was still not sure how to control his jaw and eschewing fruit, he'd go all open-mouth-baby-bird-in-the-nest for the peas.

Katy and I briefly considered making his food... but fresh peas are especially hard to come by. We decided that in this day and age, homemade baby food is overrated. I mean yeah, once you are tempted to offer those "meat-smash" stage 3 dinner "combos," DO SOMETHING. Do something, quickly: Blend up table food, call a grandma, just try for god's sake to offer something tastier and more aesthetically pleasing!

But considering that most stage 1 and 2 baby food in a jar:
1) Has no sugar added
2) Is preservative free, and
3) Can be found in an organic variety,

It just seems silly to go the extra mile.

But here at Granny and Granna's house, they have fresh peas growing in the back yard. They are the kind we used to shuck at my gram's house. The kind that you can eat without shucking because the pod is just as tasty as the inner pea. The kind that you can just imagine a carnivorous, cave-person noticing on a vine; bursting in ripe green, too luscious to ignore. And then when his/her "hunting buddies" weren't looking, pop one in his mouth, just to see what it would taste like...

So, yesterday, I picked some mint out of the garden with about 100 pea pods. I shucked them, washed them, and boiled them up. I blended them in the food processor shredding the mint leaves right in as well, and strained the mixture by hand.

Time it takes to procure and prepare a serving of store-bought, organic strained peas:
20 minutes.
4 minutes, if the jar is already in your cabinet...

Time it takes to procure and prepare a serving of home-grown, organic strained peas:
Several hours a day for several months.
60 minutes, if the peas have already been grown for you...

The experience of feeding your baby something that tastes like the personification of sunlight,
that was literally on the vine an hour earlier:
PRICELESS.

Waiting to spring

Ah! Finally! Warm(ish) air! Today was that day. The one where the air finally has that "I just came from the balmy Gulf of Mexico" smell. The sky is blue after many days of torrential rain (a rain that actually gave residents of the northeast a few extra days to turn in their taxes???). And the magnolia tree that has been patiently waiting for days to bloom has suddenly, completely, and stunningly opened up. The rose bushes also have green streaming from their stalks, promising yet another summer of absolute rose-ness. And the garden is just all green (weeds and flowers alike!).

humming along

As some of you may remember, I spent a post earlier this summer encouraging everyone to hang a hummingbird feeder immediately. I had done so, and couldn't wait to spend hours watching the hummingbirds in their infinite beauty. I didn't get any humming birds all summer.

Until Friday, when I looked outside and simaltaneously noticed that the water level was down in the feeder, and there was a hummingbird!! It's hard to express the sheer joy that I experienced when I saw it there on the feeder. Presumably now the webster hill hummingbird posse knows where there's free food and many more will come!

Summer in full swing

Last night, we turned our central air off after a week of having it on non-stop. The northeastern heat-wave seems to have been broken. Blogging has been kept to a minimum- not intentionally, but because we've been hot and lazy and also too busy for this kind of weather/season.

Some updates:
1) Softball is almost over- the last games will be this week and next week. This is a little sad, but getting home before 9 pm 2 nights a week will be a welcome change.

2) The refrigerator- Installed, humming and keeping all goods chill.

3) Kt's car- Brand new brakes and rotors -good to know what these are... (Game show voice: Tell them what they've won: $700 in un-anticipated expenses) Knowing that she can stop on a dime... priceless!

4) Our yard and the house... Except for the mass slaughter of beetles, and the weekly (okay- every OTHER week) mowing of the lawn, we have not been doing any projects or additional chores around the house. There is still wood to be chopped and stacked. There are piles of refuse (bagged, unbagged, and some that was bagged but is starting to unbag itself due to long term exporsure to the elements) to be hauled off. There is a HUGE stump that needs to be ground up (or ground down, depending how you look at it.) There is mildew that needs to be washed off of the siding of North-West face of the house. The garage and attic need to be cleaned out... oh, who am i kidding, the place needs to be vaccuumed and dusted too!!! The important thing to remember is to live each day to the fullest!!! right?!?

5) Weber grill- She's assembled and she's beautiful! (See above) We popped her cherry christened her last night by grilling chicken, swordfish, tuna, asparagus, and zucchini (that was picked our of our garden...) THE BOMB!

6) Golf- finally played yesterday afternoon with L and C. It was awesome and I hit a 49 (par 31) which is my best score ever. Tiger was 14 under yesterday and I was 18 over - that's gotta mean something, right?

7) Beach Vacations are finally on the horizon. (Thanks be to God.)

8) Last, but certainly not least (drum-roll) Mac rolled over for the first time, and she's getting quite good at it. Once she gets to her tummy though, she's always a little disappointed at how little there is to see there. (She's so advanced) that she bores easily... but worry not, I'll have her doing one-handed pushups by the summer's end.

:)

Beetle-mania

This is what happens when your roses get invaded by beetles... I don't have a photo of kt gleefully killing them off with some kind of potent pesticide (an organic rose garden is an adorable notion until the pests come dive-bombing in... then it just seems kind of "preachy.")

That sound you hear screeching in the silence before you fall asleep at night is the sound of my innocent-seeming yet inexplicably-vengeful wife cackling as the dead bugs fall to the earth.

By the way, many mornings in the summers of my college days, I woke up in my parents' house and there were at least this many ladybugs crawling on my pillow near my face. "What's all the drama about a few ladybugs?" they teased. But there were hundreds of them- the infestation was extremely horrific. Squirrels are just rats with fuzzy tails, and ladybugs are just nasty beetles the color of blood.

The sun'll come out... tomorrow?

The sun finally made its reappearance yesterday and today after nearly 2 weeks of solid rain. And my flowers are ecstatic. The garden (courtesy of my mother) looks amazing. Everything is bushy and green and growing at an astounding rate (or they were until monsoon season came). The Siberian Irises are SO close to blooming, and the rose bushes we planted last year are covered in buds. The cat mint (nepeta), snow in summer (cerastium) and neon star (dianthus) are all blooming despite the crummy weather. And, finally, the lily leaf lady bells (adenophora lilifolia) are very very close (one more sunny day and they'll be out!).

Not to be outdone, the remaining plants (echinecea, blackeyed susans, day lilies, delphinium, sage, and lavendar) will be along shortly.

As if that weren't enough, my mother's christmas gift to me arrived today: 7 new rose bushes. They are tiny right now, but in good shape. Given the crowd scene in my existing gardens, it seems as though I have no choice but to dig another. But, as a good friend remarked mere weeks ago, sometimes good hard physical work is good to keep the worry of life away.

Finally, I also hung my hummingbird feeder this afternoon. If you've never sat on a porch and watched hummingbirds swarm a feeder, I suggest you try to do so this summer. It is simply divine.

Proof of spring

My much loved garden is now providing daily proof that spring is here (or nearly here anyway). Despite wide fluctuations in weather and temperatures, my flowers are starting to come up. There are buds on the magnolia and dogwood trees too. It brings me great joy to know that soon I will have blooms of irises, lilies, roses, and much much more to greet me every morning!