Easter Past

Since I'm updating my blogs, I should put on some of the Easter photos I took. I spent Easter this year with my daughter Heather and her family and some friends of theirs. We went to church (12 of us! Quite a group!) and that was very nice. Then we went back to her house for Easter dinner. Fred had cooked a wonderful smoked turkey (smoked it himself) and I brought twice baked potatoes and potato salad (potatoes are a very important vegetable, you know!). We had strawberry shortcake for dessert that our guests brought and some bunny cake pops that I made. It was fun. We spent a lot of time outside because it was such a beautiful day. These pics are mostly outside.


This one is of some of the group as they arrived. What fun! They have 5 kids ages 12-2 (I think she's 2, but she may be 3).









Bella sure likes the sandbox! Sun was a bit bright, though.














Awww yes, the Easter egg hunt! The kids were so good! The older kids even helped the younger ones find the eggs. Very well behaved kids.







Hmmm, which to keep and which to give away? Such decisions!














Don't the guys look like they're having a wonderful time? Ha! Well, there are more pictures, but some were blurry because children move fast when they are looking for Easter eggs! Enjoy!

Spring Fix-Ups

Well, I guess it is time to start writing in my blog again. I've neglected this for way too long! I've been working hard getting things ready for Spring and Summer in Nebraska!! Two weeks ago I built an 8' x 4' raised bed garden. Went to Home Depot and picked up the lumber, screws, stakes and countersink bit. I was a little nervous about how I was going to fit 2 2"x6"x8' and 2 2"x6"x4' boards into my Nissan Altima, but no problem! I then came home and proceeded to build it. Cordless drills are awesome! The next week my neighbor ordered 5 cubic yards of dirt to share with me. He helped me level the raised bed (that was harder than I thought!) and then I hauled 18 wheel barrels of dirt down to the bed. Actually, I had some help from Gwen next door. I'm a lot more out of shape than I realized! It's now done and ready to plant!

An added bonus was that as we were getting the bed ready, I found one of the sprinkler heads on that side of the house that we haven't used for years! We got the hardware and extended it so it's ready if I ever get that line going again! At least now I may be able to find the others in that line!. Later that week I came home from work and Don, Gwen and I hauled dirt to the front yard to fill in some low spots and then hauled dirt to fill in under their pine tree. We have a little more to do, but have accomplished a lot!

Last week I had a sprinkler company come fix the backflow valve on the sprinkler system (it blew two winters ago and didn't get fixed). Today I went out in the cold (54 degrees) and got the sprinklers working. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was crazy because yesterday was certainly a nicer day to do that!! However, yesterday was filled with lots of other tasks. I started the morning out by getting my laundry started--had to wash bedding! The went to coffee with my friend, Mary. We had a wonderful, relaxing time. Then I came home, put some more laundry in and then went out and mowed the lawn. I then remembered that Menard's had wooden screen doors on sale for $14.99. We used to have a wooden screen door at the exit from the kitchen to the garage. It hasn't been there for about 15 or more years. Since I plan to work more outside and in the garage this summer, I'd like to have a screen door to get some airflow through the house. So I ran to Menard's and picked up a screen door and some hardware. Then proceeded to take the screen door out to my car. Oops! 81" x 32" screen door vs Nissan Altima. HOW am I going to do this? Well, since I don't know anyone with a pickup that can help and I no longer have mine, I guess we'll just have to make it work. Wait a minute, is that a raindrop? Oh great! So I proceeded to maneuver this screen door into the car through the trunk. Whoala! It was in, trunk was shut and I just had to drive home (If I could squeeze in between the back of the driver's seat and the steering wheel with my knees in my face!). No problem!

I still have lots of yard work to do such as mulch to put down, weeding to do, additional planting, etc. but that will wait until my budget begins again next month! Also, hopefully next month I can begin redoing the back deck and recarpeting the front porch. Stay tuned! I'll get this place whipped into shape yet! Ha! I need new batteries for my camera, but when I get those, I'll take a picture of the screen door (once it's up and working, that is!). Today will be spent getting the screen door on and running a few errands. JC Penneys has $10 off a $10 purchase and I need new towels. Penney's here I come! Free towels!

Take care all and I'll be back again soon!