Bulk buying

I am so thrilled that the Kroger in a nearby town has remodeled.  Yes, the sushi bar where I can get vegan sushi is great, and yes the expansion of the natural foods section is phenomenal.  But the main reason is this:  BULK!  

Whenever we travel to the big city, I am sure to take along my bulk bags and load up from the bins at Whole Foods.  But to be able to get my loose bulk items from the town just down the road?  Lovely.  

I do use their stickers for right now.  If the bag needs washing, I just peel the sticker off and save it for the next time.  I was thinking of using a temporary fabric marker for the bags that are solid.  And maybe attaching something with some rigidity (like card stock) via safety pin to the mesh bags.  

I do wish I could just take my glass jars with me as I do at Whole Foods.  But they don't tare the weight at my Kroger as they do at WF, so that's not an option.  

And yes, you do see *one* plastic bag in this picture.  We ran out, and really wanted those dried blueberries.  I chose the resealable plastic bag instead of the produce-like bags people generally use for bulk.  We will use that bag until it is completely worn out, and I might see about purchasing a few more solid cloth bags so that doesn't happen again.  

Around My Yard

The beautiful irises are blooming.  Too bad they don't last longer.  

I love this mound of phlox.  I can spot it from the bottom of my driveway whenever I'm coming home. 

The peonies are very close to blooming.  Can't wait to being a bouquet into my home!

And the compost is growing, which is just hilarious to me.  All it takes is a bit of potato to start a plant growing. We have 4 raised beds and rotate which one is a designated compost bed each year.  And every year we get potatoes from our compost bed.  

Mr. GV has the rain barrels set up, and they've already been used this year.  Right now as I type this, the one we have (barely) emptied is filling back up quickly with the pouring rain we are getting. 

Macy supervises me. 

As does Milo. 

These are kale plants that have been growing for about 3 years now.  I keep expecting them to die off, either in the very cold or very hot weather, but they just keep getting taller and putting on new leaves!  Right now they are flowering, and I am going to gather seed when it is ready, then probably pull up some of the larger stalks.  I have watched several bumble bees, and what I think was a honey bee, hanging around and enjoying the flowers.  I'm overjoyed by all the beneficial insects that hang around (after all, that's a sign of a healthy garden) but I'm especially thrilled about the honey bee because of all the talk you hear about their declining numbers.  

The lilac bush has greened up. 

Mrs. GV has been working hard to make the flower beds look good by trimming, mulching, and the other back-breaking work that is needed if you have landscaping.  

The pear trees are blooming.

And my Japanese maple looks so beautiful right now.  I just love it.  It was here when we bought the house, and I'm glad, because I don't know that we would have spent the money on one otherwise.  

I do love these days of spring, before the terrible humidity arrives!

Superhero Capes, Magic Carpets, and Skillz

You know what else comes in big, child-size boxes?  Superhero capes, also known as brown wrapping paper.  

Perfect for playing bad guys vs good guys....

This is the rug in J's room.  Milo seems to think it's his, though.  So far he has dragged it all around, chewed off a few loops, and just generally roughed the thing up.  

And....someone has really shown a lot of improvement with his reading!  It's like it all "clicked" one day, and since then you can catch him reading, or for more advanced books, sounding out the words in books quite often.  Love it!  

Today

Today was like this:  rainy, dreary, and just blah outside.  

Mr. GV had to go to work, but the rest of the creatures in this house didn't feel like doing much.  It was much nicer to just curl up with a toy and do nothing. 

Ahem.

I did do some sitting around, but I also got a few things accomplished.  

Fitting for a dreary day with a couple days after that which will be much colder than earlier this week, I made a big pot of vegetable soup.  

I also made up enough oats to last for the next few days.  This time along with the dates and raisins I added dried cranberries, blueberries, and an apple.  We have a couple apples that have seen better days, so I just cut out a couple bad spots, then added the rest in chunks.  We gave it a try, and it was great.  I'll be adding apples to our oatmeal a lot more I think!  

A couple days ago Mr. GV, he of the tallness, got a few forgotten things out of the top cabinet in the pantry and set them out for me.  This morning I finished off a sample size box of cereal that had been up there a while.  The rest of the items are sitting out on the cabinet, reminding me that they need to be used.   

Today I also noticed that J's basket of plants he put together at the garden club has a strawberry bloom on it!  Hopefully he will get some fruit.  

Hopefully the next few days will be a little bit nicer.  Mr. GV is running in a half-marathon this weekend.  The forecast looks like it will be cool but dry, and hopefully perfect running weather for him.   

Baskets and Boxes

The last little bit of Easter pictures:  J's basket.

The perfect box for a 5-year old:  Just big enough to lay down in, and shallow enough to still be able to watch TV.  Bonus:  it also keeps his snack safe from Milo, who has no manners when it comes to food.  

Home Hunt

While J and I were in the backyard gardening, his mom was fortunate enough to see the Easter Bunny hop into our woods.  It turns out he had hidden some eggs in our front yard!

Found one!

Uncle helping 'sight' J to one he spotted.  

That bunny hid one in a tree!

Some were hidden in new green foliage.

Naturally they had to be lined up to be counted...

Love this.  Not sure if there was something on his foot or if he was just posing.  

"One, two, free, four...."

And then it was J's turn to hide them so his Mommy could look for them.  Only he decided she had a time limit.  

Hustling to find an egg.  Nah, just coming back from a run. 

Helping his Mommy hunt.

The dogs got to come out for a bit and run free in the front yard.

It was a very good day, this Easter.  

First garden post of the year

When J was here Easter weekend, we started our gardening.  He has always seem to be interested in growing things, and we want to make sure it stays that way.  

Adding the soil to a couple of indoor pots.

Favorite picture of the day.

Aforementioned dirty hands, which he does NOT care for at all! 

Planting celery I grew from the base I of some that was store-bought.  

Rinsing those hands for the umpteenth time.

We planted some lettuce plants we bought from our local organic farm and the celery plants.  Some of the lettuces are going to make it, and some aren't.  I got sidelined by the last cold I had plus two sprained ankles, and they got a bit past their prime unfortunately.  

The Hunt

J participated in an Easter hunt in my town this year.  It was very well organized, and with a large amount of children hunting, I suppose it all had to be done this way.  But I kinda hate how egg hunts have changed from when I was a kid.  Back then they, you know, HID them.  To be fair, I never went to a large city-sponsored hunt, just ones given by my church and others by my extended family on a large piece of vacant land with trees and other places to hide the eggs.  Maybe they were doing egg hunts in cities this way even way back 35 years ago.  

I suppose you could look at it as a hunt for the prize eggs amongst the regular eggs.  

The hunting area for the 4-6 year olds.  

The prizes for his age group.

The waiting area.  It was a bit like being caged up.....

The frenzy of hunting.  There were plenty of eggs and candy for all the children, and thankfully they had a rule that parents could not help (except for a few children who had disabilities.)  J is in his mom's blue jacket in the center of the picture. 

The loot!  Oh, it was hilarious.  J got a few eggs but concentrated on picking up all the loose candy he could find, specifically 35 packs of Smarties.  Smart kid that knows what he wants!  

J and K looking through his basket for a possible prize egg.

He got a glitter star inside an egg, which meant he won a prize!  

J's prize basket.  A lot of fun stuff, including several things to be used in the pool this summer. 

Afterward, J had a few minutes to play at the playground. 

Calling out to the other kids....

And for good measure, a picture of my 11 year old Macy, who has stood guard over J since he was just a few weeks old.  She is a bit grumpy in her old age at times, but we still watched her guard her boy this past weekend.