Jigsaw Puzzle Fun

There are a few things my Mom loves to do.  Playing bingo, reading and putting together jigsaw puzzles are a few that come to mind immediately.  Yesterday I picked her up for some jigsaw puzzle time at my house.  Some time ago she and I started to put together a jigsaw puzzle that Only Daughter had sent to her as a gift with a frog theme (frogs are another of my Mom's favorite things).  The first time we worked on the puzzle about 1/3 of the puzzle had been completed and we left the rest for the next time.  Now there is almost 1/2 of the puzzle done and the other half will wait for the next time we get together. I will make sure to get a photo of the finished puzzle when we are finished since it will be pulled apart and put back in the box to be put together again at a later date with another one of my siblings.

Tuesday's picture will be a startling contrast to the usual 1st of the month photos at The Puddle Pond since the clearing by the power company is finished.  The crabapple trees have been planted and a picture of the new plantings will be posted.

Have a good week wherever you are and whatever you do this week.

New trees...

In my last post, I mentioned that The Puddle Pond sits under a power line and the power company was trimming trees and clearing brush in a specific area underneath the lines that run from tower to tower.  

We had two crabapple trees that had just bloomed with beautiful pink and white blossoms during the time the tree company contracted by the power company was chopping away.  We both came home from work on a Friday to find that our crabapple trees had been sheared at the ground and dumped unceremoniously near a brush pile.  While we understood that the power company has the right of way under the lines, we were understandably upset that no one mentioned that the trees would go.

Mr. P sent an email to the power company and a representative arrived at the house to explain that the tree company would be clearing everything under the power lines but they would see if they could have our trees replaced.  The only stipulation is that the trees need to be planted beyond the outside lines on the towers.  

Lo and behold, we got home tonight to find two crabapple trees sitting on the lawn next to the garage.  They are Golden Raindrops Crabapple trees and while they may or may not be exactly what we had originally planted, we are delighted.  I will be sending a thank you note to the power company for their handling of the situation as they did.

 

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 The next two pictures are of a shrub we have planted next to our family room that fascinates us as the seasons move along and always prompts comments from visitors who see it.  I forget the name of the shrub but will look it up.  It gets those lovely clusters of green grapelike "fruits" that turn purple and attract the birds who eat them.  The leaves are jaggy like a holly leaf but when they first appear they are soft as can be and not jaggy at all.  It has grown quite a bit since we planted it many years ago.  We are going to try and transplant some of the "babies" that we see have germinated in the ground around the plant. 

 I will try and figure out how to rotate the picture above so you can see it from the correct angle.

Here is a closeup of the green grapelike "fruits" that will eventually turn purple and be gobbled up by the birds.

We finally got some much needed rain and now the weather is cooler and more seasonable.  There will be a big difference in the May 1st picture from The Puddle Pond.

Have a good weekend wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

A sure sign of spring!

 

My father passed away almost 24 years ago this August. A number of years before then, a lawn chair was set in the backyard and  my father sat like a king and supervised the planting of an asparagus bed.  We replaced that bed of plantings completely once since then.  Two years ago we expanded the bed so that we will always have asparagus to cut.  When the "original" bed needs replanting the expanded area can continue to be cut. 

  

 

This is our third "cutting" of asparagus this season.  As a result of the exceptionally warm weather we have been having, the spears have really begun to sprout.  I will be able to snap off fresh asparagus, if not every night at least every other night and enjoy.  Mr. P doesn't eat it (he doesn't know what he is missing!) so it's all mine.  Tonight I steamed it and enjoyed it with pork chops and potatoes.  Yum! 

 

 Our weather today is beautiful!  Hope you are enjoying nice weather too!

So much time...

has passed since my last post.  Below is a picture of The Puddle Pond taken on April 2, 2012 instead of on the first of April.  I was not at home on the first of April to take a picture of The Puddle and Mr. P forgot to take one for me.

Every year we have a pair of Canadian geese that stop by The Puddle and lay eggs.  This year was no exception and I like to think they are the same male and female each year that stop to raise a family.  Last year, the female made her nest on the bank near the dock but disaster awaited.  We had such a wet, wet spring that the eggs washed into The Puddle and there were no little goslings.  Some years there have been as many as six little ones gliding behind Mom and Dad on the water.  The only downside to all of this is the goose poop and there is lots of it and its sloppy. 

 Our local power company notified us last fall that they would be working on power lines/towers in our area in the coming months.  The Puddle Pond sits under high tension towers and we were informed that trees would be trimmed/cut down and some high tension towers replaced.  While our towers weren't replaced, we noticed pink nylon ribbons along the tree line on the left side on our property.  They were put there by the power company as a guide for tree trimming/removal company to use as a guide.  I'm not sure what caused Mom and Dad goose to vacate The Puddle Pond but we hadn't seen them in about two weeks. All the activity at The Puddle Pond once the tree trimming company got going this past week would have surely stressed them out and if the little ones had hatched, I don't know how Mom and Dad would have handled things.

Chain saws could be heard buzzing away when I returned from work each afternoon this week.  Mr. P walked down one day to check on their progress and told me about all the large trees marked to be chopped down.  The last time the power company cleared the lines, Only Daughter was still at home and possibly in middle school.  The red oak trees that were felled back then were taken to a local sawmill and dried for three years out back before Mr P laid them as flooring in our living room and hallway.  What a job that was! Mr P ended up needing surgery for a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder from laying the floor which was hard and unyielding.

The time and logistics of what we did back then are mind blowing to us now and so we will work our way through the trees using a chain saw and log splitter to add to our wood pile for the coming winters.  Next month's picture of The Puddle Pond will show that our two lovely crabapple trees (you can see them in bloom in the first picture) that we planted about ten years ago were cut down and tossed aside even though they wouldn't have gotten any taller than 10 feet.  A complaint was lodged with the company contracted to cut the trees so I will keep you posted if we get a response.  I wish someone would have at least mentioned that the trees were slated to be chopped down since we were both down talking to the safety foreman at times during the week.

The final picture is the birthday cake I made and took along with me for a five day visit to babysit Grandsons #1 and #2.  Only Daughter and Only Son-in-Law went to a writers convention and I had a good time with the boys.  Grandson #2 celebrated his 9th birthday a week prior to my visit so we extended the celebration and enjoyed his requested cake, orange with buttercream frosting and Pickachu decorations.  The boys and I had a good time.  Three times a day, Grandson #1 rode his bike while Grandson #2 and I walked the neighborhood.  We baked cookies together, read together, played board games and set off the smoke alarm again.  I was tired when I returned home but was delighted to have had time with the boys and thoroughly enjoyed my visit.