Mama Bear Sends Her Love

Green Girl asked, in response to a comment I left on this post, what DOES one send to college students in a care package these days?

I send four or five packages a year. Generally Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and finals weeks. Precious Oldest reports that word spreads quickly when a package has arrived for her and she usually has an audience when she opens it.

Every time I go to Target I swing through their dollar section. The stores I frequent have several aisles devoted to cheap sale items right up front. (Sometimes I throw in a Target gift card too.)

Holiday themed fleece blankets have always been a big hit!

My girls love socks, so those are always fun.

For finals snacks are a must and just plain silly things; sidewalk chalk, gumballs, Disney princess pens.


And, if you are a REALLY good mother, a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints you found squirreled away in the deep freeze gets added to the mix!


I do this the old fashioned way. I save boxes (shoe boxes, catalogue delivery boxes, etc.) and packing materials from the office.



The correct size box is important. Things should fit snugly to avoid to much shifting during transport.





I wrap them in brown paper.







I didn't say I did a good job!

If I get these in the mail today they should arrive Monday.

It isn't extravagant. It isn't expensive. It isn't hard. It just says we love you and we're thinking about you. Isn't that all anyone wants after all?

The Waiting Game

I have tomato and cucumber transplants in the sun room hardening off. I've been leaving the windows open at night to adjust them to the cold and taking them outside for a few hours of direct sunlight (when we've had it!) to get them ready to plant.
I'm expecting some heirloom tomato transplants from a co-worker of The Saint's any day now and I'll do the same with them.

While not a good trait for a gardener, I am, by nature, an impatient person. The rain and cool weather we’ve been experiencing is killing me. If there is a window of opportunity to plant this weekend; weather forecast be damned I'm going for it!

Grace in Small Things, part 21

I started to write a post about this weekend…not being up to snuff. My level of dissatisfaction with the cold and the rain. And then I remembered way back when that I had signed on for grace in small things. And how I sort of fell of that wagon in spectacular fashion. And how I need to start re-framing the way I look at things. And why don’t I just start right now?

• Though the weather Friday was darkish and stormyish it cleared off nicely in the late afternoon.
• The Saint had a business associate in town whose flight home was cancelled. As he was at loose ends we took him to dinner and had a delightful time.
• Whatever the weather it’s spring damn it and we had our first gin and tonics of the season.
• We had a birthday dinner for my mother on Saturday evening: Grilled pork tenderloin with cilantro Chimichurri, asparagus and wild rice.
• My sister made some wonderful molten chocolate something-or-other cake. My mother was very happy.
• Last night I made chicken Spedini over fettuccini with a Caesar salad and we watched the last four episodes of “Sopranos” back-to-back.

It appears my M.O. in dealing with the shitty weather is to eat my way to bigger pants until the weather improves. I’m already plotting tonight’s dinner…

Snow? In April?

Oh, flower petals. Never mind!

Work In Progress

As predicted the weather over the weekend was perfect for spending time outside.
On Saturday I pulled out a patio chair I found these intriguing rings.

These are but a few of the places the masses of pollen pooled after our rain last week. (Precious Youngest reports feeling relieved of the worst of her allergy symptoms!)

This was the third weekend in row we were able to spend the better part of both days working in the yard. Clearing, weeding, pruning, dividing, fertilizing, mulching. By Sunday I felt good about the progress.


Good as in I put my feet up and read a bit and enjoyed all the green with the promise of flowers to come.

The challenge now is to lay off planting tender annuals and vegetables. My head knows it is too early but the urge to dig and plant is hard to resist!

Mother Nature is my Bitch

Ha! Mother Nature caved and did my bidding! Soft rain through Thursday night into Friday morning. Clearing skies and a pollen count below 800. Weekend forecast? Sunny and warm!

I love it when a plan comes together!

The Old Gray Mare

Poppy, who has changed her blog format to "beauty advice for women of a certain age”, wrote a post on going gray. I think she was spot on in her analysis, which is why I will continue to color my hair until the day I can no longer lift my arms high enough to reach the back of my head!

My mother, on the other hand, decided last spring at the age of 68 to stop coloring her hair. My parents knew by then they were moving to Our Town and my mother figured she would just make friends with people who didn’t know her when she DID dye her hair!

In consultation with her colorist (my mother and I have widely divergent views on what things are appropriate to spend wads of money on and which are not – but that is another post entirely) my mother decided to get a short cut after going several months without touching up her color.

After she moved to Our Town she started seeing my stylist and together they are working on growing her hair out a bit. I want you to take a look at this picture of my mother:



It is a candid shot taken a few weeks ago and I want you to note she is following many of Poppy’s suggestions.

• Great cut
• Great eye glasses
• Still fit and trim
• And you’ll have to take my word for this, still dresses well and has great accessories!

Mother will turn 69 in a few weeks. Something for me to aspire to, no?