Sunday afternoon picnic, walk with me.

"THERE'S A SNAKE"  1st thing, I saw it.  It didn't have rattlers, so

Kevin said it was probably a bull snake.

Prairie Goldenpea was the most seen wildflower of the day. We called
it sweet pea.  It was bright & abundant everywhere.

Walking down the hill & around thru the rocks.

Bluebells kinda hiding in amongst the grass.

Riding trails between walks.

Frogs were crocking very loud then went silent as I
walked to the edge.

Walking thru the field & into the woods.

Lunch.  Peanut butter & Nutella sandwich.

Not very glamorous but it was tasty & filling.

I found a heart shaped rock to add to my collection.

Walking thru pine cones.  Lots & lots of pine cones.  You have to be careful 

walking on them.  They can roll & cause an ankle to turn.

These are Rusty Lupine according to my wildflower book.

Walking amongst the rocks looking at the Lupine everywhere.

Then headed back to the truck.

Prairie dog town near our parking spot. 

How was your weekend?  This was one of those beautiful spring days that I wanted to never end.

Sunday morning, walk with me.

Kevin built this plant shelf for the window here. These garden plants

started from seeds are growing good.  I need to repot the 

Christmas cactus. Notice my hand sanitizer.

The lilac blooms are growing & showing their color.

I planted sunflowers, spider plants, zinnias & marigolds.

Nothing is coming up yet.

Enjoying my last bit of morning coffee in my 

favorite coffee mug.

The grass looks so green in the walking trail.

The garden watering tubs almost full.

Chocolate mint coming up abundantly.  Kevin already pulled some up

 & threw out.  I want to make some tea, though I've said that ever 

since we were given a start several years ago.

Oh look!  A tumbleweed in the trail.

Pretty little purple/blue flowers along the trail.  Perhaps a

type of blue eyed grass according to my wildflower book.

Kevin saw some ducks here yesterday evening on this

wet weather pond, though all I saw was some

tweety birds fly away as I walked closer.

Robins forging for worms.

Apple tree blooms have some color.

Ingredients for breakfast.  I had to get eggs from the store. 

Our farm egg supplier has been selling out of eggs before 

getting to our pick-up point.

Happy Mother's Day

Asparagus & other beginning of May Happenings

Greetings

We got several nice showers of rain that was good for the garden & good for filling up the tubs under the eaves of the garage that will be used to water the garden with later on.

Wood ready for hotdog roasting.

Grandkids

I mailed the Grands their May care package & letters.  The Grands need extra snacks (& some bubble gum) while being out of school due to Covid-19, at least this Nana thinks they do.  I always include a little something for the parents too.

Helping with a building project.

Cooking

Kevin made a turkey pot pie for us to eat on for several meals while we processed the hog we got.  We put approximately 70 pounds of pork in the freezer.  I planned to make a run of dandelion jelly but ended up getting called into work, so the jelly making waits.

Turkey pot pie.

Gardening

Kevin planted the garden with the notion that if things get froze out, he can replant & if things grow, he will be ahead of the game.  I planted flower seeds in the corner of the house flower bed.

I've had a couple messes of asparagus.  Kevin don't eat it,

so this is all mine.

Cleaning

I done mostly routine stuff in the house such as change the sheets on the bed & gather up the trash.  I've been continuing to do extra cleaning & sanitizing at work, so I've not been in much of a mood to do extra cleaning projects at home.  Kevin mowed the yard for the 1st time this year & I raked up leaves & sticks.  

The lilacs putting on blooms.

Health & Weight Maintenance

I've been trying to walk extra every day & not eat extra snacks.

This is me walking along the lake bed not eating snacks.

Frugality, Savings & Spending

I'm planning & getting ready for the Grands summer visit, so I made a couple of online orders from Walmart that included a basketball, kickball & an electric gridle.  I used Cabela's club points to get freezer bags & vacuum seal bags for $0 cost.  We use the Cabela's credit card to buy stuff we would normally purchase such as gas, groceries, electric & phone bills.  The card balance is paid off at the end of every month & we reap the rewards. 

This sharp tail grouse we saw crossing the road 
don't care how much money I spend.

Social & Community Service Activities

There has been no reported cases of Covid-19 in our county.  Our community opened up with the phase one process.  Kevin & I went to the regular scheduled Lions Club meeting with supper provided. Everyone sat a little farther apart than usual, for the most part.  Scholarship recipients were announced & a highway trash pick-up was scheduled.  We're working on a fundraiser selling tickets for the Happy Day Award.  It was decided there would still be no bingo this month.

I discovered this spider web glistening to the rising 

sun while I waited for the fish to start biting.

Other Activities

Caught our limit of lake trout & put the fish in the freezer.

Bagged 32 packs of pork sausage that went into the freezer.

Frogs & other mid & end of April Happenings

Greetings

I heard the frogs crocking while taking a walk out in the trees.  Kevin saw the crocus 1st.  A couple days later, I was 1st to hear the frogs.  It was Spring!  Then it snowed & we were back in winter for a couple days.

Look at those cute little icicles.

Grandkids

I had a flashback of memories from years ago, sitting with friends in the grass at softball practice, looking for 4-leaf clovers.  I could even smell the grass.

He said he found 2.

Cooking

We had fish for several meals.  Kevin tried some different cooking variations including grilling.  I like to eat the skin & Kevin don't.  We had a friend send ramps, so we had fried tators & ramps with our grilled fish.  Thank you Steve.  Oh, what a treat!

Lake trout fillets.

Gardening

We fertilized the garden using seasoned manure.  It was more like dirt, instead of (you know, cow poop).  Perfect for the garden.  Kevin dug worms for fishing while turning the fertilize into the ground. We added more mulch & started some seeds inside.

I drove the tractor through the rows.

Kevin shoveled out the manure & put it in the rows.

Cleaning

I defrosted the freezer making room for 1/2 a hog we're planning to get & butcher.  Local farmers are selling to individuals since the market is down due to Covid-19.  Kevin wants to make sausage, so that will be a new adventure for us.  The freezer was not too iced up, though we needed to go through stuff to see what we had.  That probably needs to be done at least once a year, anyways.  We threw out some zucchini & rhubarb that looked like it could have been a little freezer burnt.  We had applesauce & some grouse meat we had forgot about.

Those baskets were froze down.

Health & Weight Maintenance

I got my bicycle out & rode around several blocks.  I had sore legs for several days & thought I should have started out with going around 1 block instead of those several.  I ate too many less-healthy snacks, during my good intentions of helping the local economy.  I need to cut out those snacks to see if that improves my energy level & anxiety/depression in the evenings, so I can get out walking more & riding that bicycle.

Talking a walk in the hills during our weekend 

4-wheeler ride, hike & picnic adventure.

Frugality, Savings & Spending

I spent approximately $180.40 on groceries & snacks this month.  There could have been more snacks not accounted for & Kevin picked up a grocery item or 2 or more.  I've been getting gas & snacks at the local family owned convenience/grocery store where I work on occasion to help their business during this pandemic time we're in.  Also, we got take-out from both the local restaurants, whereas we normally don't eat out except on special occasions. I hung laundry on the clothes line in the basement instead of using the dryer.  I walked to work the days I worked in town to save gas & also for exercise.  I took my lunch & drinks to work most days.

Crocus were pretty but not as abundant as they 

have been the past several years.

Social & Community Service Activities

No Lions Club meeting.  No bingo.  No nothing.  

Kevin's birthday cake & ice cream.  

 The 8 Easter eggs I dyed.

Other Activities

We went fishing a couple of times.  The fish were biting & we caught our limit.  I helped Kevin stack the wood he split for the firepit for roasting hotdogs.  I watched Dr Quinn Medicine Women on dvds & Cybill, Grace Under Fire & Roseanne on Vudu Free TV.  I did some blog reading but not much reading in my book since we've been doing more stuff outside.

Snow still on the hills near our fishing spot.

Proposal & other beginning of April Happenings

Greetings

She said yes.  I enjoyed sitting out on the deck a few minutes for the 1st time this year, sipping my morning coffee & soaking up some sun on my back before finishing my morning routine & heading to work.  

Daughter got engaged.  It was supposed to happen at the home opening 

game of the season, but since the season was postpone due to Covid-19,

there was scavenger hunting, decoding messages & trivia.  The proposal

caught her off guard when she was least expecting it, just as planned.

Grandkids

The penny project I sent the Grands will take a while to complete if the Grands stay interested long enough.  It's also a coin collecting project.  Four different time periods of pennies are needed to form a picture.  I thought the picture would be made using patterns of heads or tails of any penny, so now I'll be helping the Grands collect the 846 pennies that are needed for the project.  

These Grands thought it was funny that they each 
dressed in the same color top & bottom without planning it.

Cooking

I made fish cakes for supper using leftover fish.  I used a variation of Frugal Girl's recipe.  That was our last bag of fish in the freezer, so it's time to go fishing.

Kevin cooked pork chops on the grill.  There was enough meat
leftover to have with eggs for breakfast.

My fish cakes frying.  There was leftover tator that went into the cakes as well.  

I made carrot fries to go with the cakes.  We also had pork n beans, leftover 

mac & cheese & cornbread.  We got 4 meals out of 3 large fish.

Gardening

Work started in the garden.  I'm glad we got our seeds in January.  I've been hearing stories & reading that some are not able to get seeds due to being sold out or other places not selling, saying seeds are not essential items.  Our planting will start end of May & 1st of June.

Kevin opened up the rows with a rake to prepare for the manure fertilizer.

Cleaning

I did laundry, changed the sheets on the bed & the usual stuff.  I've not been in the mood for cleaning projects much, due to the extra cleaning & sanitizing I've been doing at work.  No Covid-19 cases reported in our county yet. 

I sent the Grands Easter goodies.  I wrote each one a letter & mailed

the items in a medium size priority flat rate box.  Daughter got a birthday

card with her age in $$.  Since she is trying to convince everyone that she 

is forever 29, I shouldn't have to increase her $$ each year.  

Health & Weight Maintenance

I'm still working to get my portion sizes down.  Being hungry & comfort eating is my problem right now, also eating the popcorn I got for Lions bingo since bingo is canceled for the next several months.

Kevin discovered our 1st crocus sighting of spring while we were out during 
our weekend 4-wheeler ride, hike & picnic.  My shadow is pointing at the 

flower.  It was about that same visible when we noticed them.  There was still

snow in spots.  None of the flowers we saw were open due to the cool windy 
conditions.

Frugality, Saving & Spending

We probably won't be getting any farm fresh eggs again for a while.  It was said that some are selling those for $7 & $8 a dozen.  Our egg provider sold out before getting to our drop off place.  Seems there is an egg shortage & eggs are being limited in the grocery store the same as toilet paper.  I got a chocolate cake recipe from the Prudent Homemaker that doesn't use eggs.  I'm going to try the recipe for making Kevin a birthday cake since I already have the ingredients on hand.

I saw lots of animals while driving to work; these antelope grazing, 

mule deer laying on a hillside soaking up the sun, flocks of geese 
flying north, sharp tailed grouse walking in the road.  It's calving 
season, so I saw some baby cows chasing after each other.  I know 
it's calves, baby cows sounds cuter because they are so cute.

Social & Community Service Activities

Our Lions Club meeting was canceled.  I did my part to social distance the best I could.  My work put up sneeze/cough barriers made out of clear shower curtains to help protect us employees & the customers as well. 

I facetimed with Moma also Daughter & the Grands.
This daffodil was blooming in Moma's garden, so pretty. 

Other Activities

I finished the puzzle I was working on & moved the patio table back out on the deck.  I finished reading the book I was reading & started the 6th book in the Little House series The Long Winter.

I worked 4 puzzles this winter.