Summer and Stuff

Jalon R. and Benny after church Sunday.

    It's a classic Wisconsin summer day out there. One of those days that makes you want to just live out of doors. I planted garden while Benny napped. It's supposed to be nice the rest of the week. I read on AccuWeather today that those of us that live in the Great Lakes region might not have summer. Meaning that our temperatures won't top 90 very often. Sounds good to me!!
    Yesterday the family was here and helped us get our yard work done. It's amazing how much work you can accomplish with more then just two people. Maybe we need to hire some servants or something.
     Here is a picture for your enjoyment. It was taken several weeks ago; I found it the other day and remembered I threatened to post it.  Can't you just see the ego?

HOW REAL MEN SHOOT CROW

Don't worry, no crows were harmed in the filming of this picture. After all, pellet guns aren't noted for being able to hit their target at 100+ feet. Especially not crows.  

The Best Blueberry Muffins

We had these for breakfast this morning. I think this is the best recipe I've ever found.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder (yes, really, use that much)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup granulated brown sugar or white sugar (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. In another bowl, combine butter, egg, and milk and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and with a spatula, stir until just combined. Do not beat or over mix; it's okay if there are lumps in the batter. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
Spoon the batter into the muffin tray, filling each cup about 2/3 full. (It's more like fill the cups 3/4 to all the way full. The batter will be VERY stiff.) Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the granulated brown or white sugar and return the muffins to the oven to bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes (again, optional, I bake for 20-25 minutes and skip this step), until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before turning the muffins out.


I'd like to try these with whole wheat sometime and see how well that works and if Clark would like them. 

Busy Morning at the Bird Feeder

Hello,

          We had a busy morning at the bird feeder and it wasn't because of the cowbirds, Hooray!! I think we found a bird feed they don't like.  Yes, these were all taken today and I think a majority of them this morning in about one hours time.

There is room for a few more.....

Baltimore Oriole (Adult Male I believe.)

Another Baltimore Oriole (Immature Male I believe.)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Female)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Male)

Indigo Bunting

Cyanocitta cristata

        I think this was a record for variety for bird kind at our bird feeder. There was also a cowbird, a grackle, a goldfinch, and a nuthatch that happened by. My wife says she saw at least a half a dozen different orioles and about that many grosbeaks.

That's all for now!!

Normal Bits of Life.

   I'll ramble and blather along and see if if I get something worth posting.

• We finally have real spring and summer weather. The bird feeder was busy all day. I think Clark is going to post pictures he took earlier today. I think we figured out how to get rid of those stupid cowbirds. We found seed they don't like and the song birds do. 
• My stupid computer mouse is acting up and keeps changing the fonts on my page. I do not appreciate it, especially as I can't figure out how to get it to revert to original size. 
• I detail painted a part of my kitchen that I've wanted to for quite sometime. I sponge painted for the first time, and I love it. I think I'll do more of that. I don't have a picture to show you though. It's amazing how good a little thing like paint makes you feel.
• I figured out today that I had a crocheting stitch wrong. Duh!!
• My flower bed is planted in seeds. Morning glory, marigolds, four o'clock, cosmos, hollyhocks, butterfly weed, zinnias. We'll see what comes up. I need to get a few pansies to add color for right away. 
• Next up, the garden. I am going to have a garden after all. And I am looking forward to it. 
• I decided to paint the interior of my kitchen cupboards. After house cleaning and garden.
• Benny has a severe case of Apron String Attachment Syndrome today. I think teeth are the culprit. It looks like he might get a bunch all at once, poor kid. Oh well, as mom says, he won't do it when he's 18. 
• Chicken and potatoes for supper.
• My font zoomed again. Whatever. 
• We went to Duluth  on Saturday for our anniversary. Fun. We went to the Aquarium, drove across the Lift Bridge, and then went to Barnes & Noble. And I went to Hancock Fabric as well. There were two ore ships that went through while we were at the Aquarium, and we were always on the other side of the building and couldn't watch. There is way too much stuff to do in Duluth. You would have to spend a week there.  We came home with a few books and a game. Benny did super. Only he slept the whole way home and wanted to play until 11:30.
• Consequently, we did not get out of bed until 8:20 Sunday morning.
•  Stupid mouse.
• Singing at church was wonderful. 
• We hung out with the youth for Lance's birthday party. 
• It stormed and the electricity was off for quite a few hours. 
• You are likely getting tired of this. So I shall close.
•  My washer emitted a greasy, hot rubber smell this morning. The Internet was off. The car did not want to start. Clark's comment: "You  can tell I have to teach Sunday School this week."
• Goodbye  :)
• Stupid font.

Signs of Spring

Hello,

          Some one told me I had not posted in awhile so I guess I will remedy that. Spring is here and I believe that winter has puffed its last icy breath. Anyway, it is nice to go out and see green now instead of just mud, sticks, and remnants of snow.

Some green in my Mom's flower garden.

A flower is a pleasant sight to the eyes after a long winter.

It is warm enough to eat out side and the Grabers are enjoying that.

Pussy willows.

Leaves!! Little tiny green leaves.  (I know some one is going comment that they have had leaves on the trees for the last month.)

That is all for now!! Hope you enjoyed it.
 
Oh, and I updated Photo of the Week.

Nothing In Particular

     It's COLD out there. And this is the 2'nd of May folks. The temperature is supposed to dip to 24 for the next two nights. I think spring forgot where we live. There were snow flurries, yesterday and today. But I'd rather have snow then be facing my life blown apart by tornadoes.
     Lets see...the royal wedding. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it, until I woke up Friday morning and it was plastered all over the news. And so I watched clips and read articles and stuff. I think Americans could stand to learn a few things from the British. The wedding looked pretty simple to me. Yes, I know it cost 30+ million. More because of who it was then what it was. I liked her dress. Sure, it wasn't anything I would wear, but compared to your general run of the mill stuff you see now days, it was pretty good.  I didn't know hats were such a big thing in English fashions. And for some reason I thought the Queen was a widow. Not sure why I had that impression. Clark's comment: "You ladies are enjoying the news aren't you?" Yes dear. Lance's comment: "What's the big deal about the royal wedding?" Ummm yeah, the ladies were way more into it then the men.
     So then this morning, we woke up and saw the news about Osama bin Laden. And Clark just taught Sunday School yesterday on Non-resistance. So, I wondered, what's our reaction to the news? Are we happy? Or sad? Or neutral? I think I'm mostly neutral. And sorry for his soul. I think what's most intriguing to me about it, is the detective work to figure out where he was. I've always enjoyed stories about espionage.
     And now for the local news from our house. A certain two-foot boy has the radar to know when Mom is taking a shower. Either he pounds on the bathroom door calling for "Mam-mam", or the house gets quiet as he digs in things he knows are off limits, like Mommy's basket by her chair.  The spice of human naughtiness manifests its self very young.
     I started spring cleaning my house. I managed to get a whole bag of trash from just my living room. How did that happen I want to know? I like living in small houses, you simply can't accumulate. But I have two totes of clothing already full of clothes for my baby. That does not make me happy, but I don't think I'm going to give it away, because I do not want the hassle of trying to find clothes for another child someday. But if I have a little girl next, well, the amount of clothing totes is sort of mind boggling. And I wonder, do I really need that much stuff?! I talked to another mom with ten children that lives in a house the size of mine. And she said she had the same problem. Which made me feel a little better.
     My brain dump is complete now. I brain dumped to Clark last night, and then composed another essay  in my mind on something else in the middle of the night. Because I need to sort my thoughts about it in case I ever get in a situation where I won't be able to remain silent, but I need to be tactful. Tactfulness is not a huge character trait of mine.
    A nice warm spring to you! :)