Monday, April 23, 2012

Dandelions, Morel Mushroom, and Wild Leeks


Nope, this is not some weird recipe concoction I came up with.  They are all just signs that warmer weather is here to stay.  Those delicious little lovelies up there are wild leeks.  Last year while out in service a sister told me that you can find wild leeks in the woods.  Since that day I have been looking to no avail.  Last week while out in service a brother said he saw some so I asked him to point them out so I knew what I was looking for.  He stopped the car, jumped out, trudged through the woods and pulled one out for me.  The brothers in our hall are so funny.  And the things they do while in service.  Two weeks ago, our service group overseer caught a turkey with his bare hands while out in service.  He has photographic evidence and eyewitness testimony.  This is the hubby of the wife that told me about the wild leeks.  We have all decided that when the great tribulation comes we are all going to hang out with them since they obviously will not be going hungry!

Anyway, a couple days later Cameron and I loaded up the kids and headed out to pick some wild leeks.  Turns out they are not so easy to get out of the ground.  So living in Michigan Lesson No. abagillion, carry a garden spade in the car with you.  We also stopped at a farmside veggie stand and picked up some fresh asparagus, so we put them under the brother together with some olive oil and sea salt.  YUM!

Cameron and Z. picking wild leeks
Morel mushrooms are also popping back up.  This year we are not going to chicken out and we are actually going to fry some of these up to see what the rage is all about.


We have a little patch growing under our blue spruce tree on the west side of the house.  Hopefully they can manage to get a little bigger before the animals come and munch them up.


And the pretty little dandelions are back.  I know, I know, they are pesky little weeds.  But I can't help it, they are so sunshiney and happy.  And there are a TON of them this year.  Dotting the fields everywhere we go.


And this is one of my favorite roads to drive down.  I posted a photo of this road last summer.  This is what she looks like in spring.  It is almost like a second fall.  The trees bud out in color before the green leaves pop out.  Beautiful!


And this cute little thing is a chickadee.  A. and I were out trudging through our woods last week and a little chickadee was sitting up on a branch very close to us and making a lot of noise.  I pulled up the camera to take a picture and he dove towards this branch on the ground and then took off.  What in the world?  Then we noticed a little hole in that branch and his little honey was curled up inside.  So cute.  Now we have to check back in a week or so and see if they have laid any eggs.


And this picture here is for a certain little friend of mine.  We passed this last weekend in service and everyone in the car thought of you.  Miss you!


And just in case you think I have forgotten about my kiddos.  Here they are enjoying the sunshine.  Oh and chasing Roscoe with the rc car while Roscoe chases the ball.


And the hubster cleaning up a fallen branch.  We had a crazy windstorm go through.  This branch happened to fall when my Dad was here and it fell within a couple feet of his beloved truck.  Close call!

That is all the news for now.  We had our circuit assembly this weekend.  Awesome as usual.  We were so spoiled in Tucson, to have the assemblies and conventions minutes from the house.  Now we drive an hour and a half to get there.  So tiring, but we are all stuffed with food from Jehovah and are trudging on.  Well, starting tomorrow because today I have to catch up on laundry and the cleaning of the house.  Sigh, maybe I should practice singing the new songs while I go.

Love you all and see you in a month!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Pausing to Catch My Breath and Give You All An Update


Here is our happy little bunch Memorial Night, 2012.  It, as always, was a great night.  We had almost 170 in attendance.  Not quite as many as we did last year, but still a pretty packed house.  We were busy with our invitations but still only managed to cover close to half of our territory.


Here is part of our bunch before the Memorial.  Two of our menfolk were off to help with parking.  We had to pick up a study on the way in, so we couldn't leave as early as we wanted to.  So, why not goof off with all that extra time.  This is what usually happens before you get a decent photo:






So goofy!  It has been a busy month, as always.  Cameron and I auxiliaried again in March.  With kids and I trading off sickness the first couple of weeks it was a very busy second half of the month.  But well worth it.  The kids had the first week of April off for spring break.  Z. and A. joined me in service and J. went off to work with his Dad for a couple of days.  Then they did some work at Aunt Carol's and over at Grandma and Grandpa's place.  Not exactly a super fun spring break but at least it was a break from school.

I didn't forget our Monday night goodies.  Here is last Monday's goodie.  Blueberry Angel Food Cake, fat free, surgar free ice cream and fresh blueberries.  4 PointsPlus


Plans are all set and we will see you all in May.  Squeeeeeee, can't wait!