What a Fine Day to Make Pickles!

Today is...making pickles day!
Thanks to Grandma, Leonard & Linda, we have about 4 dozen FRESH cucumbers to make pickles with today! I have been wanting to try making Bread & Butter Pickles for a long time, and now's the chance! You just don't get any better veggies than those fresh from the farm.
However, since I was "wanting" to make pickles, but was not yet prepared, I had to hunt down the ingredients, including the special salt for pickling. Wish us luck!
We are making half Dill Pickles and the other half will be Bread & Butter.
Good thing we waited a few days, because I remembered that I had my canner and other canning tools in a bin in the basement, which will make the process much easier.

It's been awhile since I put much up here, life is a little busy it seems. And, I'm tired...
Looking forward to the conclusion of my 2nd class the end of Sept, it's been a long haul this time.

But lots has been going on anyway. Here are a few pics of just some of our activities.

Father's Day, for my Honey and little guy to dress alike (again!). Seems it's not okay to dress alike as spouses, but best when it's father and son. that's okay, tho :)

My family (brothers and sisters, and all the kids) have been involved in demolition derbies for about a decade now. I've never been in town when they were happening, so I only got to hear about them over all these years. Mom was excited to also be involved, helping to paint and to arrange for other accessories, such as matching t-shirts with "Team Nickless" printed on them.

Here is a picture of Mom's car as one of the entries in this year's derby in June, at Budd's Creek. I will be honest, I didn't have any strong feelings in the past, but when it came time for the guys to strip the car down to ready it for the derby, it brought up some feelings of apprehension for me. Perhaps that is irrational, maybe it has something to do with the fact that the 2nd anniversary of her death is quickly approaching....it doesn't matter, though. Cars are cars, they are just things. I miss Mom, and I'm glad that her car was able to provide pleasure and entertainment for many.

Here's a pic of 9 of the 10 kids Mom had, plus spouses and kids. We missed you, Juanita & Dan, Danny & Cindy! The pic is a little blurry, hoping to get my hands on one that is a little clearer. It was a little dark outside that night after the derby.

My brothers: David, James, Keith, Charles, Darryl
David and Keith drove derby cars or trucks this night, the rest helped
out in the pit or cheered them on.

Nieces and nephews...Amanda, where did you go when this pic was taken?!
Christopher has to be the luckiest boy of all, he is so "RICH" in cousins, all around the country. For some reason, most of them are boys, and many around his age.
When we go on road trips, now he automatically asks,
"Which cousins am I going to get to see and play with?"

Attempt at a family picture....no we can't get it coordinated, apparently! :)
And then the flash card was full after this, so this is as good as it gets for now.
Maya wouldn't even turn around...

Family pic with Grandma on the farm.
Thankfully, it worked out great having Maya visit there and stay with her.
She was the security for the house, patrolling all the rooms, including Grandma's,
setting up shop in the doorways as folks slept.

While there, two thunder and rain storms rolled through for about 30 minutes each, then the sun came out again. Most peculiar!

One of my favorites...lightning bugs! While sitting on Gramps' bench outside in the quiet of the morning, I was surprised to find these critters actually landing and crawling all over me. There were about 3 on my foot at one time at one point, lots on the bench, others just flying around.
In all my years on the farm, I don't remember ever seeing so many, especially in the light of day.

Good morning, Farm!

hanging upside down tomato plant

Linden tree next to house, 1 of 3 around the perimeter of the house

Linden tree #2, before Grandma sprays the ivy down

these, for anyone who has never seen them, are the seeds that drop from the huge Linden trees! when a wind blew a little the last night we were there, these fell like crazy onto the tin roof, making us think it was hailing outside! I had swept up the old ones from the previous week, filling three 5-gallon buckets that Christopher proudly worked hard to take and dump in the corn field. in the morning, there was enough on the back sidewalk to almost fill another bucket!

back at Mom's the outdoor kitty setup shop on the trailer almost immediately after we returned it (from moving the last of our stuff from southern VA to a storage unit in MD....yay for moving....)
Maya loves to chase kitties, but didn't seem to notice this one so close by, even when he was hissing and hunching shoulders, daring her to come closer. all I could think of was, "please don't scratch my girlie's face, you little kitty"

I think this is the closest Maya has ever actually gotten to a cat, usually they run and she chases, and the pursuit makes her all perky and chatty

besides the fun you can have using a magnifying glass to enlarge images, I just find the think it's fun to also enlarge body parts, such as the eyes. Christopher thought it was fun, also!

We went to Flag Pond in Calvert County to look for sharks teeth and let the guys swim for awhile, but we only had about 90 minutes before the beach closed. Didn't take the camera to the beach this time, which was a shame, because we found the biggest live horseshoe crab I've ever seen, hooked to another one, on the beach. This thing was at least 12 inches wide, amazing! they finally swam off into the water. Also saw blue crabs (yum!!!), lots of fish, lots of fun shells, and just had a good time. Maya didn't like it as much, as she gets tired a lot easier now that she's starting to show her age a little. Mike even had to carry her from one sand bar to another so she wasn't having to swim in the water when it was time to leave. And we practically had the beach to ourselves, since it was close to closing time. THAT was a nice bonus!

Here are some of our treasures we found. Anyone know what these little fossils are? I can't seem to find their proper name anywhere. One person told me they were prehistoric sand dollars, but I'm not so sure. Some of the other pieces are shells, coral, pretty rocks, beach glass. Mike found a shark's tooth, but lost it in his pocket when swimming. I didn't get to look much for the sharks teeth...Maya didn't want to cooperate with me, so now we know...

And finally, for today, here is evidence that my Christmas cactus FINALLY bloomed after not blooming for 3 Christmases past. We move to NJ, and it starts to grow buds. Two buds survived the move and made my day.

And the Countdown Continues! 12 more weeks!

final paper for this class has been turned in...finally!

and now:
...only 2 more courses to go
...12 more weeks
...97 more days!

WOO HOO!!!!!!!

and for the little guy: 4 more days of Kindergarten until his summer adventure begins!
a better summer, one of less uncertainty than before, which is good
a summer where he will finally get to meet his Great-Grandma Nickless in Indiana
the kid has more relatives than anyone I know! he has grandparents that have claimed him from before we got him and who hold him near and dear. he has cousins that have no familial relation, except that, as the last one announced, "I want Christopher to be my cousin, because we are family" beautiful Brandon, who is an only child without any first cousins, we would love to claim you...that was really sweet! why, he keeps your picture upstairs and sometimes we catch him walking around with it, and he asks when we can go see you again. just tonight he mentioned you (something about a conversation of what pigeons do on Papa's head) and "when we went to New York with my cousin Brandon"
when we get to Indiana, he won't know what to do when he meets layers upon layers of new cousins out there. one day he will do the math and it will make his head explode! LOL! between all the cousins he has all over this country, he'll never lack relatives, that's for dang certainty!

anyway, it's off to bed for me. this is the last time I'll have to suffer the trying to catch-up blues for a course. this one started of on a "lateness" mode and once you go there in to the darkness, it's so hard to get out. the next course is project management, which should be a lot of fun for me. after a year of hellish classes, this is a GOOD thing! :)

Happy days to you and yours!

(and this is me singing my way to sleep now.....la la la)

Paddy's on a Saturday Night

He asked me to go on a date, and I said yes. We have gone on the occasional date since we've had a son, but it's different now. We're older, too, or so they say. After fixing food for half the day, a spice cake that didn't rise because I realized this morning that I had forgotten to put in the baking soda, and running interference between a kindergartner and a first grader set of cousins, and more, we quickly changed gears, clothes, and hopped into the family mini-van to seek out a rock and roll band from Mike's high school. He remembers some of the folks in the band, and Victor, one of the drummers, came up to us between sets and recognized/remembered Mike, as well. We saw these folks at the 25-yr class reunion, and they were pretty good then, also.

We go inside this little pub or bar called Paddy's, after finding our way through the winding streets in the drizzling rain, rain that has lasted all week now in various degrees of intensity. There is a square bar in the middle of the room as you enter, with swivel seats all around and enough room to stand about 3 people deep behind all the chairs. Not much room, at all, especially when you add in a few video arcade games in the various corners or walls. Then, to the left of this room is a much smaller room, where the band has setup their equipment, across from the Lads and Lasses rooms. There was even a multi-colored disco ball hanging almost between these two rooms. We ordered our drinks, and just about then is when the band began their second set of songs for the evening. There were two lead women singers, who took turns. The first was rather small, wearing tight fit jeans and a tie-dyed tank top that had a heart in the middle design, with glitter dots all inside the smallest tie-dyed heart, and it looked like she is married to the keyboard player. I remember standing there thinking about how in the world would you be able to pull the material together to make the heart shape come out right. Then I noticed the electric guitar player also had on a tie-dyed shirt, which renewed the interest we have in doing a tie-dyed party in my hometown sometime this summer. Everyone is supposed to be gathering up their t-shirts they want to dye, and I'm bringing all the bottles and dyes, it'll be a blast!

Well, the other female singer was super-skinny, wearing tight fitting hip huggers with a wide belt, and a lacy black negligee-looking top. She had such short bleached hair, she almost had no hair. I imagine it was her girlfriend she was often gesturing to, as she finally came out and brought her forward to dance together. Some of the guys also took time to sing a song, including the electric drummer, who sang the obligatory "Play that funky music" by Wild Cherry. It was no surprise that it was this song that got the crowd moving around and the "dance floor" overcrowded. Amusing to see all the really bad guy dancers who just couldn't bend low enough or gyrate fast enough to look good. We laughed, though! There was this one guy who looked like a pot-belly marine, who stayed on the dance floor for almost the entire set. At one point, he started to raise his shirt up from the back, in a mock-strip-tease-like manner, and then we could all see the tops of his worn out whitey-tighties. Ewwwwww..... too much view for us! Funny, though, because as he walked by several of us later, he was talking to someone about "did you see my whitey-tighties?"

People watching is one of my favorite hobbies, especially when the opportunity was unplanned. Being in the market for a new haircut, I found myself scanning the crowds to see if there were any "looks" that I liked regarding hair colors or lengths or styles. Unsuccessful on this venture, but maybe next time it will work out. I'm pretty sure that I'll be cutting off most of my hair, but we'll see. It'll surely grow back if I change my mind, but it will take a year to get any substantial length. We'll see.

All I know is that all the folks at the pub looked a lot older than I feel, so they must be! There were those who kept putting their fingers to their ears as they stood too close to the speakers. Then, those who just let it all hang out and who quit dying their hair a long time ago, and those who were looking for a good time. It was easily apparent that everyone was enjoying the music, though, and that is what was most important, to go out and enjoy the evening.

We had a good evening, for a couple of hours out without having to keep the "mommy ears" tuned in, a nice break that included a few hours with the guy I love. It's strange, though, how the experience of going to listen to a band has changed so much in just a decade. No, wait, almost two decades! No, no, I'm not that much older, I don't feel it. Not today.

Then, we left after the set of music, before 1 AM, to return to the homefront, in the rain, in our family mini-van. Dodged all the many police cars that were out, perhaps because they are not interested in folks in mini-vans? Either way, it's okay, because I really like the people in and the direction of my life, and that life currently comes with the ever-so-convenient mommy-van!

Till next time....

Lifesavers 101

did you know that if you bite down on a peppermint or spearmint lifesaver in the dark, with your lips open, that you can see the inside of your mouth spark up?

....guess what we were doing earlier tonight!

it all started with discussions between Mike and Christopher about how lightning storms work, and what other things sparked, and then the time from 4 PM to dark and bedtime couldn't get here fast enough. Christopher walked around with his lifesaver, waiting patiently, talking about it, anxious for the dark and bedtime to get here.

what I will say is, it apparently doesn't take much to amuse me these days! I can't wait to bite down on a lifesaver in the dark again! hee hee hee!

life is coming along, settling down, even though we are not fully settled. well, we did move out of the guest room and put our personal belongings upstairs in our new
bedroom, got Chris' bedroom about 80% setup with the little piggies also now residing happily in his room in their plenty-large enough house. we still need to get the alcove cleared of stuff and have his shelving unit assembled to hold his bins of toys, like his legos, train tracks, lincoln logs, etc. we think he really likes his new room, and he also likes being around his grandparents, getting to see his cousins up here from time to time, and knowing that we can go on road trips to see the other cousins. we still need to pack up a few things in our space and then get our own things arranged the way we like. in the meantime, we consider it like camping. at least we have our bed setup and comfy. sleeping is not a problem.

...well, sleeping is not a problem when the DANG SKUNK isn't fluffing his nasty tail and spraying the neighborhood with his odiferous funk. funky skunk, OMG, it's horrid! two nights in a row last Thurs and Fri, and then again last night. on Thurs, he sprayed so much, and so close (yes, we've actually SEEN him in the driveways, in the liquor store lot behind the property here, etc, he's quite large for a skunk!), we think he sprayed from the hedges outside our windows. well, he sprayed so much that it got "stuck" in the house, and gave me a headache! then, I couldn't get the smell out of my head, or out of the house. then, he sprayed again the next night. Mike's parents come back from being gone a couple of days, and they don't believe us, because, well, he must have decided to take a few days off for some reason. then, last night we moved the vehicles off the street (no one is allowed to park on the street up here at night, unless you have a permit. seems
the street cleaners come along on a regular basis) and we weren't in the house for 10 minutes and the little nasty critter sprayed again! we quickly shut the windows and then lit some matches to diffuse the spray funk. fortunately, a hail-storming thunder and lighting show came along and washed out the pheromones from the air. so far, tonight, no skunk.

and the only way to get rid of the problem of skunk funk is to do a live capture of the little guy and then have him relocated. if you opt to kill one, then you get the instant dead funk smell. I don't see how if you get a live trap that it would keep a skunk from spraying, but maybe if he can't lift his tail up all the way it may stop him? of course, all the instructions about ridding of the skunks include warnings to see if the skunk may be a girl and taking care of babies. if so, and if she leaves them too young, well, the stink problem could end up being even BIGGER than with the one skunk.

of course, we have a garage to clear things out of. while skunks often dig burrows or make homes in that sort of dwelling, it is also possible that one may have made a home in some of the spaces in the garage. there are things in this space from Nana's estate, from leftover garage sale boxes awaiting the next sale, and things of ours, like a tent and chairs, etc. in summary, too many things that have not been moved for months, and would easily be safe zones for critters. or cats. whatever lives or has marked territories here, there has been something in the garage. we know, because Maya says so. and a dog's nose Knows!

Christopher is doing pretty well. he's loving his bike, even though he hasn't been able to ride for about a week due to schedules and lots of rain storms. he's shown a renewed interest in learning how to write his letters and numbers, and beginner math, etc., which is great. we will be on a daily learning schedule from now until he goes into 1st grade, which is a good thing. we usually tackle the areas he has the most trouble with, and that works, but now we need to get a little more structured and consistent. for example, his kindergarten teacher says she will send us a list of things he needs to practice before 1st grade. she says he doesn't know things like the days of the week. I know he does know, but he acts like he can't remember. so, we practice and play with games about the days of the week. 3 days later, he knows them like the back of his hand, he even offers to tell us about them at random times. he remembers a lot, he knows a lot. he gets distracted and
nervous sometimes, and well, dang, he's been thru 3 moves in the past 11 months, that's enough to make anyone crazy. I say he's doing fine, and now that he's settled, we'll all be perfectly fine.

school is coming along...103 more days to the end of this program. it will be a welcomed change in lifestyle, I'll say that. last night, we had a team paper due, from a team of 4 of us. mind you, these are MBA candidates. two of us were fine. two of us were not so fine. one did a bit of plagiarizing...not a good idea when there is a plagiarism checker that the school uses! one did not follow the directions, and it took an hour to fix her part and at least an hour to fix his part...two hours of my time in order for us to get a good grade on a paper that ended up being 25 pages long. I don't believe I signed up to go around doing the assignments for my classmates. by my calculations, though, I have 4 more group papers to do between now and the end of September. I can get thru that. I
am just appreciative that I've actually learned a lot from going thru these courses, so that's a good thing. like, for instance, from this HR course: did you know that Chinese employees are not allowed to accept benefits in the form of stocks? Japanese consider it disrespectful to write a review of someone else, especially of a superior. when American companies expand businesses to overseas locations, they have to learn about the cultural and business rules and expectations, or run into trouble.

lots of other things have been going on lately, I have to stop and think about them, it seems like the days just run together sometimes. most recently, my nephew Danny had emergency surgery for his appendix. Juanita and Dan quickly drove down and took him to the doctor when he wasn't getting any better, to find out it was his appendix. I believe he mentioned feeling the sensation equal to what would be the poking of "shards of glass" in his side. I remember that sensation as if someone had a sharp knife poking in me, and they then kept turning it around and around. let's just say...it's NOT a good feeling! surgery, morphine, and loving family and friends taking care of him, Danny is on the road to recovery now. thank goodness. he's up at their house for the week, which is a good place to be, very healing.
my brothers are prepping Mom's stationwagon so that Darryl can drive it in a demolition derby on Saturday. I don't think I can go to the derby, it's Mike's Dad's birthday on the 10th, and the family is all coming over to help him celebrate his 73rd bday on Sat. but, having had time to think about it, I don't think I'm in a place to enjoy watching Mom's car get crunched. she told Darryl he could have it, she knew he'd be taking it to wreck it. heck, she probably would have helped paint it and perhaps even gone to the derby for that one. but, it's the weird things in life that stir up emotions, and I am glad they can all do this, and I'm sure they will have fun and that Darryl will be safe. but, I don't think there is a place for me in the bleachers for this one. I'll go to the next derby, and have fun there.

and yes, it's been almost 2 years since Mom passed on, made her transition.
if there is Anything in Life that will make you stop in time and wish for a few more moments, it's letting a loved one pass on. and there is no one that can fill the spot or love of a Mom. no one. it's unique and special all by itself. there isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss her, even though I know she can see and hear and know all that I ask and tell her. it would be nice to see her again, and to hug her again. I'm eternally grateful when she comes to visit me in my dreams. the last time was just a few days ago, and she was smiling and waving, and it seemed to be a younger version of herself, because her hair was darker, like her natural dark brown. I miss and love you, Mom!

one thing I do look forward to, and will be making time for in the VERY near future: something creative! a couple of sewing projects, a quilt in the making, a typing project, writing project, beads...all the things that help keep my sanity so I'm a better wife, mother, and friend.

the best part of life is the journey, so they say, and it's true. I'm glad that our journey has settled down a lot. finally. so glad.
and I'm also glad that I don't live with anyone that honestly believes that cherries will make their knees hurt.