Scared of the Dentist but Lemon Cake and Coffee to the Rescue!

 Meanwhile, back at the farm, life was continuing on at its usual pace.  Daughter has been packing, de-junking, sorting, and moving many of her belongings to the apartment they will live in after the wedding, a 2 plus hour trip away.  I am trying very hard not to accept any more junk er, valuable stuff to add to my own confusion.  Most of the wedding details are coming together now, enabling us to at least stop for a deep breath occasionally.  And even try to get the dishes done....or not.

 Wonder of wonders, Spring appears to be at least considering starting up here in SW Washington!  The skies refuse to clear completely, but we have had a few glimpses of...is it called sunshine?...and the rains have lessened up enough that we probably won't kill each other after all!  I mow the garden when I mow the yard, just to keep the jungle under control, but the bulk of this year's produce may be produced somewhere else.

We celebrated a subdued Mother's Day.  My kids were awesome, of course, but I started the day out missing my Mom and couldn't quite put it out of my thoughts for the day.

We also celebrated my son's birthday...complete with balloons, confetti, noisemakers and hats.  He's 31, by the way.  His request was Esther's Orange Marmalade Cake from the Mitford Series of books by Jan Karon!  If you make one, you'll keep making them, I warn you!

 I am a complete dental coward.  I wake up in a panic all the preceding days of a looming appointment.  In need of a tooth extraction, I bravely made an appointment and drove in to the office (45 minutes of anticipatory anxiety), fidgeted in the waiting room and finally got in to my...consultation.  My blood pressure was up and I was a nervous wreck and THAT was just the consultation!  I have now had the procedure done and am home recuperating, albeit I make a poor patient as I am in no wise 'patient' as I wait to get back to normal.

 The last time I had a general anasthetic I was 21 years old.  Decades have passed since that time and I'm pretty sure I got over it quicker back then.  Wednesday was my tooth-pulling and as of today (Saturday), my limbs still feel like lead and I'm decidedly cranky.  I'm pretty sure it's mostly due to the fact that I really figured mowing the lawn on my riding mower would make me better faster and when I got out there, it had a flat tire.  Normally I am a very sweet and pleasant gal, but I confess to having a small fit, stomping into the house and slamming the door.  I tiptoed out later to see that my dear husband has removed the offending tire and taken it into town with him.  Hopefully he won't be afraid to come back.

Mushy food is the theme this week and today's
special is Chicken Pot Pie!  Yes, even if I have to be propped up in the kitchen, we still eat
homemade food.  If I were totally honest,
I would have to say that today I probably would
have eaten store-bought, if the darn store
weren't so far away.  A 40 minute trip in,
major hike through Walmart and a 40 minute
trip back sounds as difficult to me today as
contemplating the Boston Marathon!

On the bright side....hmmm.  Just a minute.  No, just kidding!  There is always a bright side and I'm thrilled that dental technology is what it is.  Nothing like when I was a kid.

My computer has been my companion whilst recuperating, so I have new recipes to try.  This Lemon Cake was divine (and soft!).  We put Lemon Curd in between layers and a light glaze on top.

Recipe found here:
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com

 I did wander around and take some pictures of the mess place and there is much to do.  Warmer temperatures and plenty of rain have made everything grow like the rain forest, so no danger of boredom!  We're still milking three goats and raising a bottle calf, so I made the trek to the barn this morning.  I felt pretty good until I was washing up the milking machine and it seemed heavier than usual.  Actually, the house was farther from the barn than it was last week, too.
A few of the rabbits are having litters and the chickies are totally feathered out so I'll take pictures of animals next time.

Well, Chicken Pot Pie is almost ready so I'm off to gum it down, lol, and then sit on the porch swing and watch the grass grow for a bit!  WAIT!  I need COFFEE! That's the problem!  I missed a whole day of coffee back on Wednesday and you just don't get over these things that fast.  Huh.  Well, glad I've got it now, so I'm off (so to speak...)!

Skillet Burger Meal and Deteriorating Brain Cells

My brain cells are dying off at an alarming rate.  Does this happen to everyone who has a daughter getting married?  And, more importantly, will they come back (brain cells, not the daughter)???

In between all the 9,764,321 little details involved in getting ready for this special event, life has the nerve to continue happening!

I had naively believed that, why of COURSE I can handle a vendor space at our large Country Chicks Spring event.....

 And I DID.  I nearly did myself in trying to get everything accomplished.  Cute chickens, friendly foxes, rascally rabbits....I sewed, stuffed, painted, cut, wired.  And we went.  And we conquered.  And our vocabulary continues to shrink.  Soon I will be so tired as to be reduced to monosyllabic grunts.

The hubby figured a clamming trip was just the thing!  We could 'get away' and 'enjoy the beach'.  Fancy words for....let's get up before daylight and drive for an hour and a half and hike a mile to the beach, then dig like crazy for cold, wet clams!  Last dig of the season, so off we went.

 He forgot his toothbrush.   And his seizure meds.  I got stung by a hornet.  I remembered the meds for him.  The toothbrush was another matter.

Three morning clam digs and 90 harvested razor clams later, we were all 'rested up' and came home.  Can you say laundry, dishes, housework, animal chores, lawns to mow?  When does the 'rest' begin?

Did you know that you can make a really delicious meal in one skillet if you really don't want to do any dishes?

 I put a couple of lovely lean hamburger patties in and while they began to brown, I added chopped onion, then a sliced red potato...a few brussels sprouts and a handful of fresh green beans.  A little salt & pepper, lid on until veggies were tender and VOILA! a gourmet dinner in a skillet!  Quick, easy and oh, so delicious.



The people at the beach were a bit on the strange side.  This fella wouldn't even speak to us.

 His gal just gave me a funny look, but neither one objected to my taking their pictures.  They're quite photogenic - no doubt people ask them all the time!

 Francis goes on every camping trip with me, but she thought perhaps we should slow down just a bit.  She was also pouting because she was wearing a polka-dot dress that she hated.

A couple days after we got back (today) we had a group wedding-invitation-making gathering.  Six adults, five kids and we made a big dent in the work, but haven't finished yet (of course).

People no more than headed out than our beautiful sunny (80*) day turned absolutely black & stormy!  Hail the size of quarters, thunder & lightning....and one HUGE strike!

 Even inside the house it made our ears ring and scared me BIG TIME!  Still don't know what got hit, but the house, outbuildings and vehicles appear to be fine, so we stayed inside.  The storm seems to have passed over now, so I'm thinking a trip to the barn to check on the animals is in order.

Looking out the window at the peak of the storm I noticed that I'd left my truck window down.  Ugh...Did I mention my brain cells are rapidly deteriorating?  While getting ready for today's card-making gathering, I announce that I should put an apron on to preserve my clean clothes and then marched with purpose to the refrigerator and peered inside.  "We don't keep the aprons in here anymore," I proclaimed to the room at large.  And then I retrieved my apron from the pantry.

This is just after trying to make breakfast a day or so ago and, being unable to locate the pan spray for the pancake griddle, I say, "I need the....spray...paint!  No.  SPRAY paint.  Spray PAINT.  Hmmm.  Spray?  Paint?"

"STOP SAYING THAT!" says my alarmed younger daughter.  "Oh, I found it!" says I.  The...PAN SPRAY.

On that note, I shall stop this post.  And maybe go lay down for a bit, lol.  May the fourth be with you.  And your brain cells, too!