Dairy Daze...and Now Beyond

 In kindergarten at the Long Lane elementary school, they always got T-shirts for each of the different grades every year. That way when they went on the big school field trip they could better keep track of all of the kids.  That spring they went roller skating in Springfield. Ellen got the skates on, but she didn’t really skate.  I did snap this picture of her: The shirt says; “Class of 2025 Starting it off kindergarten style”.  All of the shirts were a bit too big for the kids.  I kept it of course! This week put it on so we could snap this pic of her on her last day of high school  A bit snug now, but it still fits!   So cute!  

 At the end of every school year the town puts on a parade for the graduating seniors. The police, fire, and sheriff’s departments escort school buses full of seniors around the square, through the main drag of town and to the other school buildings. The seniors wear their caps and gowns and march up and down the halls of the elementary, middle and high school buildings, all to much cheering and fanfare.  Gary and I dutifully headed to the square, on the corner of Maple and Main. But the odd thing was that right at that corner was a swarm of honey bees!  Some were on the sidewalk and some were on the street sign.   Eventually, by the time the parade went by, all of the bees were up on the street sign.   We could hear the sirens of the parade coming and when they got to where I could see them I started videoing recording.  But then some lady walked right out underneath the bee swarm, so my video doesn’t show the seniors going by; it goes all wonky and shows ...

 This is something my in-laws told me how to do and I have done so for years, I don’t think I’ve ever shared the process in detail though.  If you just leave a sweet potato on the counter, or in storage somewhere, it will usually start to sprout all on its own. You can just break off these sprouts when they get a couple/three inches long. Put the sprouts in an inch or so of water, not fully submerged, just to where it will have room to form roots. Like so:  They love full sun, so keep it in a sunny window.    If you want to get a sweet potato to start sprouting, then just put one in water in a sunny window and wait for it to sprout.   There is really no need to use toothpicks to support the tuber, unless you just want to. It will start rooting after a while, then start sending off sprouts, or slips as they are also called.   Wait til they are long enough, break off and put in water.   After they have a bunch of roots you can plant them.  They...

  Behold above my daughter’s earthworm interest. I don’t know why exactly but on occasion she likes to find them and hold them for a bit.  I can’t say anything against this. Back when I was a kid in California I used to keep them in glass jars. You know, I’d fill the jar with dirt, poke in a worm or two and make sure to keep it moist and topped with dead leaves and such. They’d live for weeks like that. But I’d usually dump them out after a while.  ******** Last year Ellen decided she wanted another ear piercing so she booked an appointment with Qui Qui, a very popular piercing artist in Springfield. He is usually booked solid several months out.  Anyway, as you can see she had an appointment this past Saturday to get her right conch pierced.  It’s the little green flower above. It’s still a bit sore today, the Tuesday after, but is much better. As for myself, I have not one piercing. I think earrings are pretty, and Ellen has a bunch of super cute ones, but I’v...

Ok. I will begin this by saying I readily own up to not being the most stellar housekeeper in the world. There always seems to be something more interesting to do than dust, vacuum, or mop, especially in the remote corners. The great outdoors and the garden call my name more loudly than the vacuum cleaner does. We live in the country so, yes, we fight mice, spiders and random bugs and dirt and whatnot that gets tracked in.. It happens. I have little room to criticize other people regarding their housekeeping skills. However this story takes housekeeping, or lack thereof, into realms I cannot stomach.  March 15th our long time tenant passed away. He’d lived in our little rental house for about 9 years. He was a very nice guy and always paid on time, always had a joke. We rented it strictly to him. But his daughter would bounce from living with her mother, his ex girlfriend, to living with him… at least for the first couple of years he was there. Then the last 5 or 6 years, or longer...

 Happy Resurrection Day!  It’s a wonderful wet Sunday morning. We’ve got a series of storms going over today. One woke us up at shortly after 5 AM this morning. It didn’t last too long, but made a bit of a racket going over. It is supposed to rain off and on all day. My mother-in-law always used to say that if it rained on Easter Sunday it would rain for the next seven Sundays.  We shall see… *********** Lasts day Ellen went to her last FBLA(Future Business Leaders of America) state competition in Springfield. They stayed in a motel down there. Her team placed 6th and was the only team from Buffalo to place in the top ten .  The teacher, Mrs Rice, is debating whether or not they can go to the Nationals in Anaheim CA in June.   Here is a series of pictures Ellen shared with me from last weekend. This is when the group of them made their FBLA bears.  It is actually a red panda.  The kids were able to earn vouchers for one reason or another then got to go...