monday is popping up again!

Oh my, Monday sure came around quick again! Good morning, everyone!  I hope you had a lovely, productive weekend, as Rob and I surely did.  Stepping out on the back deck this morning for my greeting to the mountains, I caught a good whiff of the lovely, fresh manure Rob blanketed on the garden yesterday.  That’ll sure get your senses going in the morning! It took Rob yesterday and last Sunday to get enough to cover the whole thing, our veggie garden being the size that it is.  Today we’re supposed to have a mix of rain and snow and that will be just perfect to get that manure soaking into the garden.

We actually have kale coming up already in the garden, too. Rob says there should be some ready for eating in a few weeks! I just love that stuff and it’s so good for you. I used to hate it when I was a kid as they used to serve it in elementary school in the South but I learned that the reason I disliked it so much was that they chopped it up, stems and all when cooking it.  You have to remove the bitter stems and it tastes just like spinach, only it doesn’t get all mushy like spinach does. Now, it’s a staple in our house when it’s growing, which is all but the depths of winter.  It’s actually a perennial vegetable!  The first year we planted it, we did a whole row and Lordy, that was way too much! I found out that year that not too many people had ever eaten it, only seeing it as garnish in restaurants.  But, that was the year I found out you can grind it up and freeze it (I hate to waste food) and I found this awesome recipe for Kale pesto that I used the ground kale for.  I hope the cops never look in my freezer, because it looks funny with all the baggies of ground kale in there! They’d be in for a surprise when they got it down to their lab and opened it and smelled the distinct odor of garlic emanating from the baggies! I’ve already had a few friends do a double take when looking for something in my big freezer.

The garden last year!

Anyway, as you can tell, I’m starting to get really excited about spring.  We are supposed to have just today and tomorrow that’s a little nasty and then we’re to return to the glory of 60’s and 70’s for the remainder of the 10 day forecast.  Since we cleared the front gardens, things are really sprouting now, I guess they just needed a little sunshine to get motivated.  Last year, we had hollyhocks mysteriously appear in our garden and this year, I’ve been having to pull little ones all over the place.  Don’t get me wrong, I really like them but they need to stay in the back of the garden if they want to stay!  Hollyhocks are very pretty but they are an invasive plant and will take over your garden. Not only that, they get about 8 feet tall.

Today is my usual tanning day.  That’s first thing this morning, after which I’m going to have to stop by Gin’s house and see how the festivities out at the Lake turned out over the weekend. This afternoon, I have my second physical therapy appointment with Joey about my neck.  I have been faithfully doing the exercises he showed me how to do and by gosh, I think they are really helping!  He’s had me doing very subtle exercises where you push very lightly on the front, back and sides of your head, just enough to exert pressure, to strengthen the deeper muscles of your neck.  He says we use the big muscles to hold up our heads instead of these smaller ones and those are the ones I need to strengthen.  I feel a little like Mr. Spock when I do them, because you only use two fingers and I’m glad no one’s around when I’m doing them. But, heck, whatever works, right?

The other big thing Rob and I did over the weekend was to plan our trip to see my relatives in Alabama in May.  It was supposed to be for a memorial for my Great Aunt Becky, which we are still planning to do in a fashion, but it’s not looking like her daughters will be joining us.  I am really excited about this trip as I haven’t seen some of my family in decades.  I think the last time I was in Alabama was 1993, when my mom and I did a trek through the south, researching and looking up family records and dropping in on family.  That was also the year my birth father died and I just happened to be a state away and was able to be with him to say goodbye in North Carolina.  So, this is gonna be a lot of fun!  We are going to stop in on our friends, Denny and Paula, who live in Oklahoma on the way down and back, as well.  They used to own one of the motels here in Buffalo and they still come back frequently for visits as they have property over in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We arranged the trip so that I’ll be spending my birthday with my aunt and uncle in Huntsville!  Becca, my aunt, is working on getting my uncle Kip and my cousin, Chuck, to maybe drop in while I’m there, too.  Kip lives in Georgia and Chuck lives in North Carolina.  It’s been so long since I’ve seen Chuck, I don’t think I’ve ever met his son, Chip, who I believe is in his middle 20’s, at least. Kip had come for a visit with his family back when we lived in Manchester, but his boys were very young at the time.

Visit to Denny and Paula's a couple of years ago, Paula is the redhead.

It’s crazy how far apart families can get as we are trying to sort out our own lives.  Becca, Kip and I were pretty darn close when we were little kids, as we are close in age. I think I told you my grandparents had two sets of kids, practically.  When my mom and Uncle Charlie were practically old enough to leave home ( well, mom was 15, and Charlie was older), Nana had Becca and Kip.  Just a couple of years later, at age 20, Mom had me.  So, Becca is only 6 years older than me and the same age as Rob and Kip is 4 years older than me.  Then, when Mom decided to move from California to Maryland, we moved in with my Uncle Charlie and Aunt Dot in Kingville, MD for almost a year until we got our own place, so Chuck, Rick and I were pretty close for a while, too. I doubt that Rick will be able to make the trip to Alabama as he lives in MD, still, but we’re going to be there in August for my mom’s 75^th birthday, so hopefully, I’ll see him and his family then.

Being an only child, these offshoots of my family are very important to me.  Sometimes, I regret not keeping closer in touch over the years, we all do.  But, life got in the way and I’m just happy we’re all getting back in touch with each other now. They all have great kids and have been busy raising them and now, we have all raised our children into fine young adults and it’s time to reconnect! I have a feeling there won’t be much sleeping going on in the Burke house while I’m there, as we have so much story telling to do and catching up will be our highest priority.  Can you tell I’m excited?

Well, it’s Monday and there’s lots to be done before I head out into the town to do my errands.  I hope you have a wonderful day planned, too!