Sunday, April 13, 2008

Spring...At Last!

I am happy to report that I believe that spring has finally arrived on Bowmansville Road & none too soon for me. I am so tired of being cold. Jerry doesn't believe in keeping the house above 64 degrees-due to the ridiculously high price of oil. So, I am usually forced into wearing several layers in order to keep luke warm - not toasty warm (which I prefer!).

We went to Black Creek Greenhouse on Saturday and got some plants & herbs. I'm going to try planting my herbs in terra cotta pots & then placing wire around the top lip & hanging them from either a piece of split rail fence or a piece of lattice. Then I can take the pots in the house to cut them & they can still hang outside to get fresh air, sunlight & rain.

I got a chamomile plant (which I bought on a whim) because I thought to myself "How lovely! Fresh chamomile tea after a long day!" Only I discovered after I got home & Googled chamomile that chamomile tea is made with the dried flowers of the chamomile plant.

I have a green leafy plant - no flowers. Probably won't have flowers until the fall (according to Better Homes & Gardens). So I will have to wait patiently for my "fresh" chamomile tea.

I also got the following herbs: Oregano, Italian Parsley, Curly Parsley, Lavender (one of my favorite scents), Stevia (supposedly 300X sweeter than sugar, Cinnamon & Sweet Basil. You are supposed to put cut Cinnamon Basil in a vase on an outside table & it is said to keep bugs away. So, we thought we'd try it. We also got two water hyacinths - one for my fish pond & one for Austin's turtle. I loved walking around amongst all the plants & just "feeling" Spring. It was so pleasant.

Jerry worked outside for most of the day on Saturday. He mowed the grass (second time this year!), weeded most of the flower beds, planted a lot of flowers & cleaned up the front porch.


Today we went to pickup chicken BBQ at the Mohnton playground. The boys wanted to go along because there was a good chance they would get to play on the playground for a little bit. It amazes me how athletic they both are. It is apparent that Austin's growth spurt over the last several months has helped him tremendously when running after Aidan. Austin got weighed & "heighted" (as he called it) at school this past week. He weighs 75.8 pounds & is 61" tall (5'1"!!!) Jerry, Austin & Aidan have a bet going that Austin will be taller than me by the end of December. Considering he grew over 6 inches since the beginning of last August - it's probably not such a far fetched thought.

Look how tall Austin is!

Aidan stopping & posing for a brief moment.

Aidan cruising across the monkey bars.

Austin's legs are too long. He keeps hitting them on the ground as he goes across.

And now for my new favorite snack. As if the name weren't enough..."Hanky Panky". It is delicious. We all really enjoy this little treat we get at King's. I always have a bag in reserve so we don't run out!

No comments: