I expect that you are all as busy as we are here, getting ready for spring, spring-cleaning, taxes and so on. 'Tis quiet in the blogosphere, though. Drop a comment to let us all know what you've been up to.
Latest doings here: Larry picked another big batch of creasy greens on our way back from the conference. We put 10 more bags in the freezer. In the process of cleaning them we managed to totally clog up the kitchen sink drain. So that's Larry's project for today--getting it unclogged. Yuck.
I know the conventional wisdom is that living in a print-rich environment is good, but I am buried up in printed matter right now. Stacks of books teeter on every flat surface in my office, along with stacks of mail, paper, magazines and who knows what. I need to spend some time sorting and straightening, and soon. But today's chore is income taxes. Another yuck. I started on them early in January, set them aside and that was that. So now it's on the high priority list, and I feel no more motivated to tackle them than I did in January. And I am sure that I will just be adding even more paper to the piles in my office as I work on this. Or spread the mess into the log room and have yet another piled-up mess to contend with.
But wait. The log room table is already covered in flannelboard-story-making stuff as I am in the midst of creating 4 large dragons for a Chinese story for this summer's programs. So that leaves the kitchen table--which Larry is fast cluttering as he works on the sink. Drat. I've got to clean one place up just to get started on the taxes.
Just for fun, here are a few photos from our drive to and from Harrisonburg, VA last weekend:
Snow was still very much in evidence as we crossed over the eastern continental divide (all water flows to the Chesapeake Bay from the eastern side, to the Gulf of Mexico from the other).
Larry sees some Holstein relatives:
Traffic:
I love Harrisonburg. We used to go over there a lot when I was a kid and teenager. The sandwich shop that you like the sign of, well, that place has THE best hamburgers ever. Go there around lunch time and the smell of hamburgers is all over court square. I think it has been in business since the 40's or 50's, my granddad said it'd been there ever since he could remember and he was born in '37.
ReplyDeleteHope you all get the sink unclogged and the taxes filed. Or the sink filed and the taxes unclogged, either way.
Matthew, right now it looks like the sink filed and taxes clogged. We're making little progress on either:/
ReplyDeleteMust be a 'house echo' - I haven't got a bare surface anywhere either - we started to paint the hutch (bottom was a toy storage and top was stacked and packed full of way too many things, all of which are in the living room surfaces, counter surfaces, table surfaces and quite a bit of the floor too). First coat on. I'm happy, its something we wanted to do for years. I can't even talk about taxes today, I am so far behind getting them ready.
ReplyDelete- Joy
Granny Sue,
ReplyDeleteYou just slipped in that sly comment about Larry's bovine relatives, hidden amongst your as always stellar photos -- you sneaky lady you... ;-0
Hugs,
Kate
Joy, you make me feel better. The sink is now repaired (yay Larry!) and I've cleared some tops in my office, tossed a lot of paper and put a lot of stuff away. AND found the tax papers in the process! It's progress of a sort, I guess.
ReplyDeleteKate, you noticed ;) I couldn't resist that shot. It was lovely dairy country, something I haven't seen for a while since dairying is now mega-agriculture business for the most part.
Re cleaning:
ReplyDeleteIn order for anything to be made clean, something else must be made dirty. Where does all the dirty end up?
Re books:
Almost all flat surfaces in the house are piled with books; barely room to eat and compute. Two or three walls in each room have bookshelves. Boxes of books in storage. Think I'll just move into a library and add a bed/kitchen.
That's the only thing that might eventually drive me to reading Ebooks... :-(
I hear you, steeleweed. But the book in my hand is something I would have a difficult time giving up. I haven't tried a e-reader yet; I can see some applications where it might be a good choice. Fiction, for example--I rarely re-read a fiction book.
ReplyDeleteIt's cold and dreary here in NC this Saturday and after having such a good time gleaning greens out of the garden, I feel like I'm due for a little rest time..but i can't wait to get our there and get things started..Only two days this week look promising for sunshine...so I'll have to go day by day...I think Blogland is quiet because everyone is feeling the cold pinch ...
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you've found more greens! Have you tried the wild onions? I haven't tried either but I would like to try the greens. Maybe the wild onions would be good with the greens.
ReplyDeleteMy husband sent our taxes off yesterday. I'm happy to report that my truck also passed inspection yesterday too!
Have a Great Day!
Angela
Enjoyed the link to your sister's quilt blog. I'm getting ready to do taxes, too - yuck.
ReplyDeleteI spent two days trying to make sense of what had become the "junk room". It is, once more, my office. Surfaces cleared and dusted. And adorned with a few choice pretties.
ReplyDeleteI read your entry about creasy greens to my Honey -- it made him hungry for ramps.
We'll take our own foray out into the green world in a day or so and enjoy.
love your photos, as always. And if I have to have "traffic" may it always be the Amish.
ReplyDeleteGranny Sue -- Your household surfaces sound like mine -- full of books, papers, magazines, etc. I am never caught up but that is the way my life has always been. Now I'm even taking a class online -- did I need to add this to my life -- yes and no.
ReplyDeleteI'm with steeleweed --- perhaps I better move into a library and add a bed and kitchen/bath -- barbara
It seems we're all in the same boat--too many books, too much stuff, and busy, busy.
ReplyDeleteAngela, that's good news about your truck! Inspection time is always a little stressful.
The cold is certainly impacting our plans, Ginferbread. It's snowing this evening!
Lee, Maggie will love knowing you visited. I am looking forward to the quilt she makes for me. What a sister.
I've been back from South Africa for a week but am still living in a bit of a fog hence the lack of comments and blogging:) It was a 31 hour journey and really exhausting. Hope fully I'll be back in gear again soon. Love the photo of the Amish horse and buggy, I'd love to visit one of the Amish areas of the US someday.
ReplyDeleteRowan, I can't wait to read all about your trip and see the photos, but a 31 hour trip had to be draining. See you when you're rested:)
ReplyDeleteI've visited Harrisburg! Very pretty country.
ReplyDeleteThe last few days are work have been so insane that I've barely been able to check my emails let alone visit my friends blog. I'm trying to catch up now.
Jai
Hi GSue! I read your blog almost everyday - and feel a bit guilty at neglecting my own. I have tons of good entry ideas, but never seem to sit down and write them out. Something always comes up. For example, Franklin was in the dang tree again on Saturday! Turns out the little booger has been shimmying up the little hemlocks on each side of the tree and making his way to to the big oak. So now we've had to wrap the smaller trees in flashing as well. He is a crafty little devil. Oh, we got him out - luckily he only went to the first branch and not all the way to the top like before.
ReplyDeleteI know all those scenes you've taken pictures of very well. When we were younger, our parents took us often to Harrisonburg, VA to shop and such. It was the first place I went to a real mall and had Chinese food. Of course I also ended up going to undergrad there in the mid 90s and worked for a year after that at a newspaper in Strasbourg. The buggies are actually Old Order Brethren, I believe, and not Amish. On a few occasions, the buggies will get hit by cars at night, sometimes with deadly consequences.
If you're ever in Harrisonburg near the courthouse square again, there is a neat little restaurant called "The Artful Dodger" right across from the courthouse and near the springhouse. It has a very colorful mural on the side of it. I highly recommend it! One of my favorite spots in town.
Jai, I completely understand that! I've been a hit-and-miss visitor this month as the work at home and at work has been pretty hectic. I'm looking forward to a bit of a slowdown in the next couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteOld Brethren? What is that, Jason? I don't think I've ever heard of it. Are they the ones who own all those dairy farms?
And I'll certainly look for the restaurant. Sounds like an interesting place.
GSue - I'm not sure exactly what Old Order Brethren is, but I found something online about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_German_Baptist_Brethren
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understood when I lived in VA, they are very similar to the Amish in dress and lifestyle, but are also similar to the Dunkards. Bridgewater College, where I went as an undergrad, was founded by the Brethren Church, and there were some of the old order students there.
The strangest one I heard of (and I'm not sure of the actual name) were called "black bumper Brethren" because they were allowed to own cars, but nothing on the car could be shiny. So they would paint all the chrome flat black - hence the name. Their bumpers were black.
The Artful Dodger started out as a coffee house in the 90s, where a lot of students hung out. Nowadays it still has the coffee house vibe, but serves real food and is a great lunch place. The interior is decorated in vintage everything - including a border of vintage sunburst clocks encircling the walls.
Interesting, Jason. And the coffeehouse/restaurant sounds neat. On the list for our next visit to the area!
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