Oh friends, how are you? We have had a long, chilly winter up here in the North. We certainly haven't gotten all the snow that much of the country has gotten but we've had some. But I think spring is finally going to make her grand appearance. We counted a flock of 30+ robins in our fruit orchard, Tom hit a skunk that was hiding under the snow on the road that had already been hit (man, skunks are nasty to hit!), and our Amish friends have crocuses up on the south side of their barn. She'sa comin!!!!
Tom and I decided to visit his sister, Nancy and her family down in Waco Texas a few weeks ago. Nancy's daughter Jenna was getting married. We haven't visited Waco in years so we were due! We drove down from our home in an ice storm. We saw over a dozen semis on their side, jack knifed, or just plain in the ditch along the highway. Same thing on our way home, we counted 46 cars in the ditch! It definetely was a white-knuckle drive there and back. I told Tom, "When we get home I'm going to kiss the ground, just like the astronauts do when they get back to earth safely!"
Our visit with family was wonderful though. Bob and Nancy are great hosts and we loved being a part of their every day lives for a few days. We shopped at Cavender's, a real for sure cowboy store. They had hundreds and hundreds of cowboy boots for sale. Tom had decided even before we got to Waco he wanted to bring home a real pair of cowboy boots. It took him a long time, trying on first this pair then that pair of boots but finally he made a decision. A nice softly squared toe pair. They have kind of a burnt orange stitching at the top but he says you can't see the tops anyways. They're nice. While Tom was looking for boots for himself Nancy and I were over in the kids department looking for boots for Shalom. Man, you want to talk about some fancy kiddie boots, they had 'em! Bright pink leather, red and black mix, fancy stitching. We settled for a sage green top and soft brown bottoms, size 6. She likes them and they match her jammies pretty well!! (above)
It was a very short trip, only 4 days, but we made every moment count. Tom and I even took a few moments for ourselves. We toured the Dr. Pepper Plant and the Texas Ranger Museum and he even replaced my wedding ring that I lost with a beautiful new one. He's so sweet. (Actually, I lost the whole head off my ring, diamond and all!)
Now we're back home and there are a million and one things to do. The washing soap needs to be made again, it's time to pick out garden seeds, we need to gear up for spring cleaning, and the foundation is poured and the walls are set for our new 2 dollar garage. The inspector needs to come and give us the go ahead so we can start putting the walls up. Also, Tom decided to try something new this year, he is tapping some of our maple trees out in our woods. Did you know it takes 40 gallons of maple sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup? That's so crazy to me, it sure makes me appreciate all the work Mrs. Butterworth does! :)
Spring is my most favorite time of the year. The whole world comes awake again! Birds, green leaves, flowers, grass, earth, the air smells different, everything is brighter, lighter, more friendly. It doesn't take as long to walk from place to place outside, you don't have to search for warmth, it's just there for the taking when the sun is creeping in the window. Do you remember that John Denver song...."Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, sunshine in my eyes can make me cry, sunshine on the water looks so lovely, sunshine almost always makes me high." love that song, he kind of sums up my sunny feelings!
As spring approaches look around for something fun to do, whether that's taking a short vacation to visit family (you'll never regret it!), or buying a gallon of fresh tapped maple syrup from the local market or neighbor, or trying on a brand new high falootin' pair of cowboy boots like Shalom, live a little, and take in some fresh new spring air and clear out the musty old from old man winter. Try it, you'll like it!!
Blessings on finding your rich homespun heritage!
janele ;)
