Slacker Update

I troll my regular haunts online and realize what slacker I am about this blog. I didn't mean to be away for so long! Anyway, I'm heading to Colorado tommorrow to visit the College Boy over the Easter weekend, taking bright-eyed younger son with me. I'm very excited for the trip and promise to take lots of pictures. I'll get mauled by the grand-dog as an added bonus. It is College Boy's last collegiate race in Fort Collins, and promises to be very exciting. I have no idea how to pack; it was 80 degrees there last week, and it snowed yesterday. Layers it is.

Hard to believe this is the last year of college for Zack. The last four years have been a blur.

Happier Times

Today would have been my mother's 75th birthday. Hard to imagine. She was just a couple of years older than I am now when her MS advanced to the point that she needed nursing home care, and only 63 when she died. That seems so much younger now than it did then!

This photo is four generations, my grandmother on the left, my oldest brother, his brand new son, and my mother on the right. She was 40 in this photo. I remember her lamenting that, at 40, she was too young to be a grandmother. I rolled my eyes, as I recall, but I can certainly relate now. I'm ten years older than she is in this picture and I know I'm not ready for grandchildren.

She knew she had MS when this picture was taken, but it hadn't really slowed her down yet. It would be 10 or so years later when she was immobilized. I like to remember her as she is here. Healthy, glowing with pride, beautiful.

Happy birthday, mom. . .

Growth

My bff Wendy was in town for a visit this past weekend. The Bright-Eyed Boy (aka Texting Teen) wasn't able to see his Miss Wendy for himself, but sent this picture message.

He threatened to unfriend me if I posted that one to Facebook, so I insisted he let me get another one. Several attempts later (as he dodged the camera), I got this one. He doesn't follow this blog, so I think I'm safe. For now.

He's so much bigger than me now! I still sometimes can't help but think of him like this . . .

Ah well.

Texting with a Teen

This is an actual recent text exchange between the 14-year old Bright Eyed Boy and me as I'm cruising the aisles at the local grocery store.

Me: I'm at the grocery store. What kind of cereal do you want?

Bright Eyed Boy: Frosted flakes

Me: Not! Kix?

BEB: Hell no. Frosted Mini Wheats

Me: Watch your mouth or you'll get Fiber One

BEB: Heck no. Frosted Mini Wheats

Me:

BEB: What's wrong with Frosted Mini Wheats?

Me: POISON!

BEB: It's the healthiest frosted anything!

Sugar Fail

Bee partner Jan often laments that she does not cook. As in, "Sorry Bob, I guess it's cereal for dinner again tonight!" But as it turns out, she's the queen of cooking sugar for the bees.

The last time I cooked for the girls, I dissolved 10lb of sugar in 8 cups of water. This turned out to be about half of what we needed, so off to Costco I go, where the smallest quantity of sugar they carry is 25lb. Perfect! We wanted to increase the ratio of sugar too, so 25lb into two quarts of water would be good. Five more cups of sugar to the same ratio of water sounded just right.

The whole bag fit into one of my crab pots. Talk about a lazy man's load! Number one, I should have put the water in first, and B.) I should have divided the lot, or used a bigger pot.

But I was correct that adding the water would reduce the volume in the pot, so I thought I was so smart. It was very difficult to stir, though, and that was my undoing. Too much heat before I could get the water soaked in produced. . .

. . . caramel. (I know, it just looks like a slice of over-cooked bacon.) I dredged up this bit after spending 20 minutes trying to get the spoon to the bottom of the pan. Ugh.

The worst of it is, I can't use it at all now. Who knew that burned sugar is poisonous to bees? I scraped out as much of the caramel as I could. It's not really burned, but kind of a pretty brown toffee. I haven't tried more heat yet, but I'll have to if I want to dissolve the rest of the sugar. But do I want to? What to do with about four gallons of caramel sugar water? Epicurious, here I come. . .

THIS is for ME!

I promised my blogger pal Pam J. some Homegrown Honey-- Dinwiddie Reserve-- and when she got it  she was most appreciative. SO appreciative, she, in turn, sent me a gift.

I LOVE getting packages in the mail! And this one was very special. She might have appreciated my honey harvesting efforts, but she actually made something with her own hands that I could never replicate. And I've tried, trust me. I loved her note card too. In it she says she hopes somebody in my household can use this beautiful scarf once the weather turns more fall-like.

Well, trust me Pam, THIS one's for ME! It's just the right length, just the right heft, just the right color. (The model doesn't do it justice.)

I even liked the recipe on the back of the card.



Pam, you are so welcome, and thank YOU!

Civil War Re-enactment

Bright-eyed boy Troy was invited to participate in the Battle of 1st Manassas at Bull Run re-enactment July 23 and 24. Serious business! Troy and his buddy Bill were privates in Stribling's Battery. You can't tell from the photos that it's about 325 degrees. Their uniforms are cotton and wool, and are very authentic down to the hobnail boots.

Troy and Bill took turns as buglers and water-haulers. This is Troy as bugler.

Bill and his dad Ed (below) are regulars at this sort of thing. Ed even changes out his glasses for a style that is more period correct.

I like this last shot. Kind of shows how it probably was back in the day; hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait. I can't imagine sending my 14-year old off to war though. It would break any mother's heart that their sons would want to, and so many did.

The boys had a great time, though, and came home sweaty, dirty, and hungry. But they came home.