Getting Ready for Girls Camp

I received the call to be the camp director for our ward a few months ago.  With my Young Women calling, and then filling in for the seminary teacher in April and May

I didn't have a lot of time to plan and mentally prepare.

But now I do, and I have come to realize that although I usually

way over prepare,

that's the way I need to do it or I 'll wake up in a panic during the night--"what about ...?"

So, camp is always on my mind.

What food to prepare?

How to make it fun for the girls?

What about all the equipment?

So we've been doing some dry run-throughs.

Yesterday, Alice and Elizabeth set up the new tent to make sure they

knew how to do it--since it will be the tent they are sleeping in.

I bought the tent 2 years ago and we've never had it out of the box.

And, since it was still raining, off and on outside, we swept out the garage

to try it out.

While we had it set up, we sprayed on some water-proofing around

the seams on the inside

(recommended in the instructions).

We are going to stay dry this year!

***

I've also been brushing up on my outdoor cooking skills. 

In the case of the Dutch oven, I'm starting from scratch.

We got the oven a couple of years ago for emergency preparedness,

then hoped we never had to use it.

Well, I'm happy to report that I have now cooked a casserole in it, and it was delicious! 

And NOT burned, like so many dutch oven meals I've tasted.

I used Grandma Bailey's chicken enchilada casserole recipe.

I started the charcoal in the chimney. 

The one shown is a homemade one, but I actually purchased a bigger one.

And it works GREAT!

2 sheets of newspaper wadded up in the bottom.

24 briquettes in the top.

1 match. 

And in 15 minutes the charcoal was all ready to use. 

(NO stinky lighter fluid).

Then I put 9 briquettes underneath and 15 on top

(using the tongs to place them).

I found out from a presentation that the secret is to rotate the

oven a quarter turn every 5 minutes so you don't get a hot spot.

Also turn the lid a quarter turn.

I REALLY wish I'd remembered to take a picture before

we devoured the food.  The taste was superb!

Tonight, we're going to try monkey bread in the dutch oven.

And, we got out the old camp stove

and cooked dinner on it last night.

I'm really determined to not have any

bad surprises at camp this year!

Sunday Morning

The gym floor at the ward is being refinished and the smell was so bad this morning that the rest of the block of meetings was cancelled after sacrament meeting.  People were getting headaches, and some of the more environmentally-sensitive had raspy throats.  The real clincher came when the Primary president was home with sick kids and both counselors are pregnant and the smell made them nauseous.  So there was no one to take care of Primary.  So... we have extra time here at home today.

I'm listening to the gentle rumbles of thunder as it softly rains and love seeing the bright green of a well-watered landscape.  There is nothing greener than Iowa at a time like this!

 And, speaking of landscape,

I'm amazed at how the colors entirely change in

just a couple of weeks.

In May, the mailbox garden was all purple, bright pink and soft yellow.

Now it is almost all yellow.

The wisteria has been beautiful this year. In late fall two years ago, I trimmed it back severely.

Last year it was pretty sparse and I was afraid I had made a mistake.

But this year it is full and lovely again-, and hanging down over the windows

(with Elly practicing her viola in the background).

Now we're back to constantly trimming wandering tendrils as they try to wiggle up under the siding, or they want to hang over so far (and so heavily) that they pull the wire trellis away from the wall.

I guess it gives us something to do (on a day other than Sunday).

How does our garden grow?

Very well!  (This year, at least!)

On May 24:

Today:

It's growing so well that the finches gather, 2 or 3 at a time,

to drop in and snip off baby beet leaves. 

They must be tasty!

And for the first time this year, a deer has gotten across our fence and left deep prints.

It also left several pea plants with empty stems

 where there should have been pods just beginning to fill out. 

Those deer know just when the peas are their most tender and delicious! 

Still, I'm so happy to have real pods this year. 

It helps me realize that the gardening failures of the past two years

really were weather-related, and NOT my fault.

And the tomatoes seem to like the trampoline spot.

Lots of sunshine.

Lots of room.

I put garbage bags around the new plants when I transplanted them, to protect them from the winds.  After a few days, I pushed the plastic down to expose the plants more.

Funny thing.  The plants with the black bags are larger than the others,

even though they all came from the same group of nine plants.

And all of them are larger than the two plants that were left over and were planted by the white fence where there was a spot. 

Kevin's Feeling Better...

All last week, Kevin was sick with a flu

he picked up on the way home from France.

With a fever, cough, and aches, he wasn't doing much of anything

except resting--and fretting that he wasn't

able to get the garage siding done while the weather was so nice.

As you can see, he's feeling better, though he's still not 100%.  

He used the siding from up above to repair the damaged spots down below

(and found a chuck of metal pipe embedded in the wood behind one of the holes.)

Then, up went the new shakes. 

Fortunately, Kevin remembered to put on his hat

to shield his neck from sunburn. 

Too bad he forgot about the backs of his calves in this all-day project.

He's going to have hurting legs tomorrow morning,

from sunburn AND the countless times climbing up and back down,

and having to lean into the ladder for balance.

I LOVE the end result of all his labor!

***

And now all is repaired from the mail box incident...

--A bit of adversity that brought about some good things.

Several neighbors stopped by to comment on how nice

everything looks, and one (he's an attorney that works for

the county), said that it looks like all the kids will plead

guilty and there won't be a trial.

I hope the judge has a lot of wisdom to sort out how

best to determine if they learned their lesson and won't ever do anything like this again.

Early May Happenings

Recently, Elley had this artwork displayed at the high school. 

She is in the beginning drawing art class.

Then, last Friday evening we were gathered in the living room for scripture reading when we noticed, out the window, that someone was using our fence as a backdrop.  It was our neighbor, Hunter, and his date for the 9th grade dance.

.

I'm glad others appreciate our work!

On Monday this week, I went to the Amana colonies with some friends.

It's always fun to see the antiques, the quilt shops and the fudge store.  There are tons of things to tempt you to buy!  When I look at that stuff, I think that it looks nice--for someone else.  I don't want more "stuff".

  So, what did I come home with?

Some Haribo candy and two purple african daisies (one is a taller than the other).

Now they are already planted in the triangle garden--the shorter daisy in front of the birdbath and the taller one behind.  They will look great with the pink speedwell!

Goodbye old door, Hello New!

Goodbye, 10-year-old door, with the holes in it from the mailbox blast. 

Hello, new!

We changed the window style--and it is a better insulated door. 

It's supposed to qualify for an energy credit on next year's taxes.

We also have the shakes for the gable, but will probably wait to put it up when we do the north side of the house (with its hail damage).

My own environmental disaster...

Okay, for a bit of perspective, tt's not an erupting volcano.

Or an oil slick.

It's nothing that major, but it still caused me to mourn--it got down to 27 degrees yesterday morning (on Mother's Day!). 

I know, it is still May and technically, the last-frost-date is May 15, so of course it is possible.  It's just that all the plants were at least 2 weeks ahead of schedule.  To them, it felt like it was AFTER May 15.

All week long the cold snap had been forecast--I kept hoping they were wrong.

But I didn't plant my tomatoes or other bedding plants.  I kept them safe.

Then Saturday night, I gathered up every tarp, bucket, and sheet I could find and began covering things up.

It's kind of tricky when the plants are tall. 

How do you cover them without doing more damage than the frost did? 

Then at 5:30 a.m. yesterday, I dressed in winter coat and boots, and went out to spray everything with water. 

I don't know why that works, but my mother used to do it to save our vegetable garden, and it was written about in "Farmer Boy", from the Little House series.  So it must be a true principle!

 (I came after an hour and had some hot chocolate.  About that time, Alice came into the kitchen to fix a mother's day breakfast for me.  She had arisen  a half hour early to surprise me.  I was sad to have spoiled her plan!)

When I checked awhile later, the water droplets had frozen.

And things looked so sad.  So droopy.  So frozen.

But there is hope.  The peony bush, above, with frozen droplets.

And the bush, below, later in the day.  The heads were standing up again! 

I had spent an hour, dragging hoses around, trying my best to save things, besides the hour it took to cover things up, and the hour it took this morning to fold up the tarps.  I still have to wash all the sheets.

 

My footprints through the frosty grass left a visible path. 

And today, that path is still visible with the grass darkened on every foot fall.

The blooming strawberries look alright.

Most of the potatoes survived, and the peas look fine.

My hostas don't look so good--kind of like frozen lettuce leaves.

Still the "disaster" could have been so much worse!

May Birthdays

I just love the month of May: birthdays, Mother's Day, fresh spring flowers and green grass after the monochromatic colors of winter.

First came Kevin's birthday.  He was born in '55, and he turned 55.  We are both finding it very difficult to reconcile our chronological age with our interior age. 

Fortunately, we FEEL younger.  (Wouldn't it be terrible to feel older than you really were?)  And true to every cliche, he received gifts of socks and ties (but he hasn't had a new tie in a couple of years.  It was time!) 

Then, yesterday, Alice became a teenager.  This was just a technicality. She's been a teenager for a year or two.

   

She had to share Mother's Day with me, so I got the morning half of the day (and opened my gifts and cards), and she got the afternoon half of the day (and then opened her gifts, etc.). 

We even had another family come over for cake and homemade ice cream in the evening.

She was thrilled to receive a freshwater pearl necklace & earrings; a beautifully embroidered pillow case, some money, and a gift certificate for a manicure.

It was a great day!

Busy springtime...

It has been pretty windy lately, so...

to keep my gazebo in good shape, I took off the tarp. 

It took 5 minutes. 

And saved having to mend tears, or even replace it. 

***

Then, last week a friend reminded me that April was the month that wood mulch and compost were free at the Cedar Falls yard waste location, and it was the end of the month!

So we each got our Honda Odyssey ready.  Backseat folded down.

Protective tarp laid.  I even had some large cardboard pieces that I put down to protect the tarp from tearing.  Then I gathered up every container I could think of (that I could still hoist!).

We made 3 trips for wood mulch and compost.  Some went to Sharon's house to finish out the plan we'd had for putting in no-maintenance hostas under her front trees where the grass was sparse (and it looks beautiful--using hostas from our yards that needed to be thinned).

I couldn't believe how dark brown and rich the compost was,  They have another free month in October, and we're going to borrow a pickup truck and get enough for the vegetable garden!

***

In Idaho, irises bloom in June, even into early July.

Here in Iowa this year, they began blooming the last week of April!

The spring has been so lovely!  All my flowers look healthy and vibrant.

And speaking of vibrant...(girls)...

 Elizabeth was asked to take the picture of the girls at the Beehive Conference held last Saturday.  It is an annual stake activity of workshops (and lunch) for the Beehive girls--to give them a taste of what to look forward to when they turn 14 and get to go to the youth activities.   Elley has been working on a school project with photography, and a professional in the ward has been mentoring her and has lent her a really nice camera for the duration.  The pro was originally asked, but since it is her profession she passed this opportunity to Elley.  E. wasn't very comfortable with it--she hasn't taken pictures of groups; she has experimented mostly with nighttime flash.

But she did her best.

Then the memory card was taken to Walgreens to get prints for the girls,

and... the pictures weren't on it.

So we (I'm really beginning to wish that Elley was 16 and could drive herself!!) went back to the church and Elley used the camera she was most familiar with, took the pictures, got the prints and got them back before the end of the activity.

All's well that ends well, right?

My Spring Project...

I'm grateful for all Catherine has done to make her yard beautiful.  I was inspired to make some of my own upgrades. 

The corner garden has been out-of-control for the past couple of years--overgrown with an ugly color of daylily.  Full of weeds--despite my periodic efforts to regain control.  The flowers not blooming well because of overcrowding and pests.

So I determined to do something major.

Dig out the bronze daylilies.

Put in a pathway.

Set the bench.

Move the birdbath.

Lay down weed-barrier cloth.

Cover it with mulch.

It was nice having the bench for a moment's rest while laboring in the garden.

The first thing I realized was that with the garden space defined, it is much more manageable!

The bench is beneath the lilacs, with shade and that unparalleled scent.

They are in full bloom right now.

Maybe we should have a backyard party soon.

On another gardening note,

I'm leaning towards planting the tomatoes in the trampoline spot.

Either that or put the fire pit out there with some chairs.

Except no one else in the family likes to have campfires.  :(

Sitting out in the garden,

I've noticed more birds in the yard.

Some purple finches are building a nest in an arbivitae.

A pair of cardinals is building somewhere nearby, as are a pair of robins and goldfinches.

It is nice to have trees large enough to attract the birds.

I even saw a real eastern bluebird the other day--with its peach-colored breast and vibrant blue.

I just hope I make time this summer to continue to actually enjoy my gardens!

An Early Mother's Day Gift...

What I really wanted this year was a gazebo.

I've wanted one for years but wasn't sure about the type, or the place to set it.

This year,

it all came into focus.

I wanted a wrought iron one with a cover and mosquito netting.

And I wanted it on the deck--someplace close by and convenient,

with the added benefit of shading the dining area doors from the hot summer sun.

It seems like another room, just outside the back door.

It has plant shelves in the corners.

I can put out my tropical plants and they won't get sunburned leaves (like they usually get during the summer).

Already, it has been so fun to just sit out and read, or even just take a few moments to enjoy the backyard spring happenings.

I'm thrilled with my gazebo!

From winter to summer

Just six weeks ago, there was snow.  Everywhere.  Deep.  Everlasting. 

Or so it seemed. 

It really felt like we would never again see green grass--or flowers.

Masses of flowers spring up from the earth.

With all kinds of bright colors.

And I especially love the vibrant green grass.

Even the magnolia still had plenty of blossoms (despite the hail).

What a miracle spring is!

Who would have thought?

When I was released in the spring of 1996 from the calling of early morning seminary teacher, I thought I'd never see that calling again.

Technically, I still haven't.

Only "assistant early morning seminary teacher."

And it was only supposed to be for one week while the teacher was helping with a new grandbaby.

Except the baby hasn't come yet, and I'm in my 3rd week of teaching.

I'm glad we rearranged the TV room--it seats 8 students quite nicely

and I REALLY appreciate not having to go to the church.

Other than missing an hour and a half of sleep each day

I've been enjoying it.

These students are awake and other than liking to talk a lot

(they are all great friends),

we have a great time together at 6 a.m.

Maybe I'll get in the habit of arising early, again.

A Bunch of Stuff

I found a bunch of things I'd wanted to post, so to get caught up, here we go!

First, a couple of weeks ago we rented the movie "Bandslam", on the recommendation of Justin.  I'm always on the hunt for clean, enjoyable movies, and we were pleasantly surprised!  It was hilarious--the story isn't a new one (nerdy high school boy doesn't fit in and finds fame), but the way it was handled was clever.  If you don't like indie music (or at least don't mind it), don't bother because there is a lot of music.  But no "innuendo".  No bad language.  Just PG clean!

Second:  For Easter we made a lemon tiramisu cake.  The missionaries got to eat with us--A & E treat them like idolized big sisters.

 

We got out the candy molds because Alice shared with me that she has NEVER had a chocolate rabbit, and the other kids at school said she was deprived.  I realized she was right.  Those molds hadn't been used in a LONG time (probably since we moved TO France).

So we made milk chocolate rabbits (out of milk chocolate chips)

and the girls seemed to like them a lot.

Within a few days they had all disappeared (and the dark chocolate lovers-- i.e, Kevin and myself, didn't bother them).

Next:  On April 1st, i got the peas planted.  This is earlier than typical (by about 6 weeks).  Some years we don't get the garden planted until Memorial Day.

And they poked out of the ground this weekend.  Just in time for a possible freeze.  But all seems well.

Fifth:  The rabbits over the winter did a lot of damage to the arbivitae bushes.  Some now look like trees while some others still have some of their lower brances.  Sad.

But there is an upside.

With more sunlight around the bases, the daffodils that haven't bloomed for the past few years are blooming profusely this year.

They had been planted back when the bushes were smaller and as the bushes began crowding them I planned to dig up the flower bulbs.

But never got around to it.

Now I'm glad that I didn't.