I've been busy preparing for Sarah and Dan's visit and our family Easter get together. Cleaning, planning, etc. The weather has still been so fabulous. I am still hoping it will hold for our Easter gathering. The birds and squirrels have been so active. There must be some stray acorns in the fire pit because I saw three squirrels one day. 

Then the next day one was back. I happen to see one on my front porch this morning!

The redbud trees are blooming. There is one tree on the path that I broke a few branches from.

The azaleas in front of the house are starting to bloom also. They never do reach "full bloom" because the deer always eat them.

And just a quickie of my spring mantel. It's a little different than most people's mantels. I used one of Daddy Paul's decanters. This one was in Seth's room. It actually tells about the Reds on the back of the bottle since they were the first major league baseball team. This is Seth's baseball glove with a ball that a Red's player threw to Sarah once at batting practice.

Baseballs that Stu got for me last year from the baseball field house. I'm glad he got them last year because the schools consolidated this past year and he isn't coaching baseball anymore. Countdown till Opening day! Actually it is down to 7 days now!! That's right, in one week we'll be watching the Reds!

Obviously, I will be changing the mantel for Easter. It is fun for now though. :)

At This Rate

At this rate my dogwood will have bloomed and gone before Easter.

Last year I used the blooms to decorate with at Easter which was around the 24th if I remember correctly.

Another day, another 80 degree forecast. I can't even remember the last time our heat pump ran. I am thankful for all this fabulous weather though because it has given me a chance to get things ready for our family Easter gathering in a couple of weeks. Gary Dee called last night and I think they are coming plus Teresa's family. Hmmm, so last year we had 36. So, 36 + Gary Dee's 5 - Sonny = 40!! Hope it stays warm so we can use our outside space!! :)

Spring

So I found out via facebook this morning that today is the first day of Spring...I don't keep up with things like that. And what a fabulous first day it is!! It is 83 degrees outside right now. The low tonight is only supposed to be 57. That is the normal high! So, today I have been cleaning the back porch. I had already moved the furniture back in place but I have been washing it. I'm hoping it will be warm enough in two and a half weeks to use it at our family Easter get together.

It's amazing how dirty everything gets even though the back porch is covered. Reminds me of

Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.

These periwinkle blossoms cover the bank right now. I just wish the environment was better so it would grow lush back there. Oh well, it is beautiful right now. We dug this up at Grandmother's house when we moved in to this house. That was twenty three years ago and it has spread onto the entire bank from a few little starts of it. Hmmm, that reminds me of 1 Corinthians 5:6 Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?

Jesus is the only answer to our sin problem. He can wash us white as snow. Even though I don't really want to think of snow on the first day of Spring. I am enjoying it too much. :)

Today

Daffodils in full boom.

Upper 70's.

Scattered thunderstorms in the forecast.

Windows open wide.

Wearing short sleeves.

I can't believe technically it is still winter but I am enjoying this immensely!

A Sense of Humor

This post is totally for me to remember a couple of "funnies."

I always think things are funny. Luckily I have a funny husband and a very funny son. When Seth comes up for lunch or after work he always has a funny story to tell. Sometimes I don't know if I am easily amused because he is my son or whether I just have a good sense of humor. Tim said a couple of things this weekend that cracked me up and I would just like to remember them. I had to write a little background on the first one.

A few years ago Seth and three friends, Brent, Rookie and Joe went to Cincinnati for the weekend to watch the Reds. They stayed at a La Quinta Inn and Suites and went to Friday, Saturday and Sunday's games. I don't remember who they saw play but when they saw who was coming to town on Monday they scraped their money together to stay one more night and attend Monday's game too. They couldn't afford to stay at the La Quinta another night so found a room at a budget motel. Seth said they carried their stuff into the room and sat down on the bed. He said they probably sat there a full minute in silence when Joe said, "I miss La Quinta." To which they died laughing.

Of course every time Seth retells the story Tim and I die laughing too.

So, I had been wanting to make some of my own cleaning products, detergent, etc. for awhile and just hadn't. Since I had pinning recipes I finally decided to try some. I have made a liquid detergent and recently a powdered laundry detergent which I am pretty pleased with. I haven't bought detergent for a few months. I also made liquid soap which I like fine but Tim hates because it doesn't foam. I tried to explain that the chemicals in soap is what makes it foam but he's not too fond of the homemade version.

The only picture I could find to go with the post.

So, getting around to the funny part...last night Tim said his shirt smelled good. He wanted me to smell it. It was a tee shirt he hadn't worn in awhile. I asked what it smelled like. He said, "I guess detergent." Then he was silent for a minute and said, "I miss detergent." We both cracked up because it was just like Seth's friend  Joe saying he missed La Quinta.

The other "funny" will be lost on everyone but but me and my children but I couldn't stop laughing over it. We used to have a cat named Leon. He was the type who chased dogs and could send you to the emergency room for stitches if he scratched you. But we loved him. So, now we have Pokey. Pokey is, hmmm, how can I say this nicely? Well, I can't. He's annoying as heck. He meows and wants food, then he won't eat. He goes out, he comes in, he goes out he comes in...He scratches on the door and it sounds like fingernails on the chalkboard. Seriously, he drives us crazy. Yesterday he was scratching on the door. We ignored him for awhile but Tim was getting up anyway so he let him in.

Pokey

I said, "What did Leon used to do when he wanted in?" Tim made a knocking gesture and said, "boom boom boom." We both died laughing. It was so Leon.

And it was so us...laughing about everything.

Daffodils

My daffodils finally bloomed. I had to cut a few and bring them in to enjoy. I put them in the milk bottle I found last spring at an estate sale in Norton. It came from the Greenleaf Dairy in Petersburg, Virginia.

I do believe Spring has sprung!

Red's Spring Training Schedule

Just so I'll remember.

Date	Time (ET)	Away Team	Home Team	Channel
Mon., Mar. 5	3:00 p.m. (L)	Cleveland Indians	Cincinnati Reds	FSO
Tues., Mar. 6	6:00 a.m.	Cleveland Indians	Cincinnati Reds	MLBN
Sat., Mar. 10	11:00 p.m.	Cincinnati Reds	Oakland Athletics	MLBN
Thurs., Mar. 15	4:00 p.m. (L)	Cincinnati Reds	L.A. Angels of Anaheim	MLBN
Sun., Mar. 25	10:00 p.m.	Cincinnati Reds	Chicago Cubs	MLBN
Mon., Mar. 26	9:00 p.m. (L)	Cincinnati Reds	Texas Rangers	MLBN
Sat., Mar. 31	9:00 p.m.	Cincinnati Reds	San Francisco Giants	MLBN
Sun., Apr. 1	4:00 p.m. (L)	Chicago White Sox	Cincinnati Reds	MLBN

Winter and Baseball

Even though I awoke to some snow this morning I am thinking baseball today. It's just that time of year. Spring training games started Saturday. Some were on the MLB channel. The Red's spring training game against the Indians will be on t.v. tonight.

It was time to change my chalk board and put some baseballs out.

There are only two seasons-winter and Baseball. ~Bill Veeck

So true in this household. Well, Tim would probably say golf.

Seth's glove and a major league ball a Red's player threw to Sarah during warm ups one time.

My little daffodils have bloomed. Thankfully they are resilient and survived the snow.

Now, just because baseball is on my mind, it doesn't mean basketball isn't. It is March after all. Which means basketball and March madness. The ACC tournament starts Thursday and since Virginia finished fourth they play Friday. Looking forward to baseball and basketball all this month!

Christmas Ironstone

When we went to Roanoke last weekend Sarah finally gave me my Christmas present since we hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving. She bought it at an antique store in Southport, North Carolina when they were at Dan's parent's for Christmas. She sent me a picture of it when she bought it. But I had to wait. I had already picked out a spot in my dining room.  

I didn't take a picture of the marking on the back but it said, Ironstone China J&G Meakin Hanley England. I looked it up and found that the bowl was made between 1890 and 1906. I am amazed that it lasted. Just makes me wonder where it has been the last one hundred years.



Seth also bought me ironstone for Christmas because he knew I liked it. He had gone downtown to Rocky's antique store and asked about it. There was a piece but it didn't actually say ironstone. So, a couple of days before Christmas he was here for lunch. I saw him in the dining room hovering over the sugar cookies (or so I thought.) I asked him what he was doing and he said he was just looking at the cookies. I told him he could have one (I was saving them for our Christmas get together.) I noticed he didn't eat it all.

After I opened his present at Christmas he told me that day he had been in the dining room trying to look at my ironstone pieces to see the markings to compare to the piece at Rocky's. Of course everything was decorated for Christmas and was covered with greenery so he couldn't disturb anything.

I looked up the marking on this piece and found it was made around 1906. Again, I just can't believe it has lasted that long especially without the lid getting broken.

It was fun to look these pieces up on the Internet and read more about ironstone. I need to look up my other pieces to determine when they might have been made. I am going to be on the hunt for more of these really old pieces.