How my garden grows

Here is an updated photo of my garden. I think we will be enjoying some yummy veggies soon. Scroll down to the bottom of this page and you will see what it looked like when we started.

solar fountain bird bath

Here is my new solar fountain that Ryan got me as a birthday gift. Pretty cool. You don't have to hook it up to any electricity it runs on solar power.

A Grand Birthday

Yesterday was my 28th birthday, and I had a great time. The best thing about this birthday was that Ryan took the day off work so we could celebrate together. It was so great!

We got up early in the morning and had a nice egg-beaters, and low fat bacon breakfast on our patio. I love eating breakfast outside in the morning.

Then we headed to the farm that I found to pick more berries. This time we picked strawberries, raspberries, cherries and some sweat pea pods. All in an hour. I just love it out there, it is so serene and I was so glad to take Ryan out to the country.

Our plan was to go to the beach afterwards, because it was 89 degrees out. However, on our way back, Ryan said that he could smell rain. And sure enough, it did just that. It thundered and rained. So after a quick birthday lunch, with birthday cake, candle and singing we headed to the movies and saw "Knocked up". It was pretty funny. I love afternoon matinees. You can lounge out and you never have to worry about finding a seat together.

Then we came home and I had to decide where to go for dinner. So we headed off to my favourite spot, "The Melting Pot". I put on my new dress that I bought at Kohls. It was very pretty, lacy white dress, that I had bought for my birthday dinner out.

We got there at 6:30 and didn't get out of there until 10:00. That is not because the service was poor, it was because we ate that whole entire time. Pretty sick eh. Oh, I am still full today. It was spectacular - so yummy!

For my birthday Ryan had set up with the Melting Pot for me to get a bar of fondue chocolate, with balloons. This we figured would come in handy with all the fruit we picked yesterday. As well, they took our picture and framed it and gave it to me. Pretty sweet.

The best thing about this birthday was having Ryan with me all day. That was the greatest gift of all. He made my 28th birthday one of the best days of my life. Thanks Ryan.

Long lost friend - the country

I am country girl through and through. Today I woke up excited for my adventure to the strawberry patch. However, I got even more excited as I started to drive into a familiar area that is so unfamiliar in Michigan - farm land! The picture below is what I would love to see every day out my window. Born and raised in the country and you can not take it out of me. To see cows and horses as I drove along made me smile. I love the serenity and peacefulness of a country road. I love that my car has dirt on it from the dust that I kicked up behind it. I miss this life, the life where everyone knows you by name. I can't wait to go back to my newly found country living for more fresh picking.

Here are the little beauties. Very sweet and very yummy. It took me about an hour to fill my flat and it cost 18 dollars. Not a bad deal. As Pam said, it doesn't matter how much they are, they are worth every cent.

I have spent probably more than the average person in a strawberry patch as I worked on a Strawberry farm for my high school years. It is the best summer job that I could have ever had. It gave me a strong work ethic and gave me the appreciation for the great outdoors, as well as a good tan.

I marched up to the strawberry patch patroller and asked him what variety I was going to be picking, and he didn't know. I was like "You should know". I guess I am getting to be an old person. However, when I worked in the patch we use to know the different varieties and what they were good for - cooking, jams, and of course all were good for eating.

I found a great row along the irrigation system, so note to others, these rows where more plentiful than some in the center of the field.

So what did I do with my berries today? Well, Janet Jenkinson, my other old boss, would be proud of me. I made a batch of strawberry jam. I worked for Janet for a summer or (2) making gourmet jams. It was my other favorite job. I learned a lot of home keeping skills that have been incorporated into my daily living.

So other than the batch of jam, I made a strawberry pie, and a fresh fruit salad. And then I ate a couple of bowls, topped in whip cream in honor of my sister Pam.

Here is my flat- what is left of it. Any suggestions for what I should do. I am going to make a couple of more pies in preparation for my Brunch that I am hosting on Sunday. But, I will take any suggestions.

Can you say YUM-O?

Nothing else needs to be said. This pic is for Pam! Come on over and enjoy some of my freshly picked strawberries with me.

General thoughts

Well, I have been enjoying the weather so much here. So much so, that I have neglected the world of blogging. So today, I am going to send you some general thoughts that have been filling my brain lately. These are things that would make a good blog story, but I just don't seem to make it to the computer.

1. The curse of the call light for an I.C.U. nurse

I had a patient about a week ago that really enjoyed his call light. So much so that I was ready to unplug it and walk out of the room with it. He would call me in to tell me he didn't recall hitting the light, or that he wanted me to find out how to get a copy of Oprah's show from that day, or the most frequent of calls to ask me what time was his pain shot - when it was already written the time on the board in his room for him, and it was only 5 minutes ago that I had been in the room to administered it. Now, as we say in the ICU, if you can use the call light it is time for you to move out of the unit. Unfortunately for me he was not at this stage yet. This made me reflect upon my patience and how usually I do have lots of patience to spread around. However, this day my patience was very thin. I did smile and bear it though, as the patient, or as we say in the USA, the customer, is always right. I am sure that any other fellow nurses reading this "thought" have often had the same experience.

2. Amish friendship bread

On one of my sunny days outside with my plants, my neighbour lady from across the road came over with a loaf of bread in her hands. She had made what she referred to as "Amish Friendship bread" and was offering me a loaf to try. As we sat out in the sunshine, we caught up on what we had done in the winter, as we don't see each other when the weather isn't nice. She told me that this bread was the most moist bread she had ever tasted and if I enjoyed it she would bring me a starter kit to make my own. A couple of days later, the door bell rang and here was my starter kit, and today I made my first loaf of friendship bread. The reason it is called friendship bread is because as Hazel had brought me a sample and the starter, I can now give a sample and a starter kit to my friend. It has been called the chain letter of the baking world. Truly a neat idea that gives us appreciation for our friends.

3. The first rose

I had my first rose bloom last week. Since then I have had one other bloom. My rose bushes are definitely smaller this year but it was great to see the first rose of the season.

4. Another garden

We planted another garden last weekend. This is to replace the overgrown area to the west of our house. We are still going to get some bricks to make a wall around the area. I am especially excited about the Hydrangea bush, Blushing Bride. This is supposed to bloom all season long. I also planted an Old Fashioned Bleeding heart bush. I have memories of this bush in my grandmother's yard, so I am keen to see it bloom again. I am thinking about getting a bird bath for this area and I would love a hand made garden sign to go on my old rail fence.

5. Our vegetable garden

Our vegetable garden is growing quite well. We have not had any critters in our garden so that has been good. I am looking forward to enjoying the fresh vegetables.

6. The Mailbox

Isn't it an exciting vision when your mailbox has all these letter/magazines/parcels inside them. I have to give a thank you to my sister Pam for this excitement. She has signed me up for many freebies. Today I got dish washer soap and deodorant in the mail as a trail. Very exciting. Thanks Pam!

7. The romance of raindrops

Does anyone else find rain romantic? I love it when it rains. I love hearing the rain on the window and on the roof. It is a relaxing feeling when you can close your eyes and listen to the rain. I have always felt this way about rain. I look forward to raining days with Ryan. We had a rainy day a couple of weekends ago where we watched movies and just had a quite day. Rain and peace seem to work well together.

8. Doctor Visits as a RN

So today I had to go see a Gastrointestinal (GI) MD regarding my stomach/intestines. As most of you know, I have had many years of nausea and vomiting occurring in the middle of the night. Lately, I have had cramping in my lower abdomen associated with my colon. When I was sick last month, the PA that I saw thought that I needed to see a GI doc. Now, as a RN seeing a physician that I work with at the hospital it is hard not to form my own diagnosis and skew the story to reach my diagnosis. Ryan told me to just tell him the facts and not make it sound like a diagnosis. So that is what I did, and my MD says it sounds like I have gastric reflux, which was one of my diagnosis', and a colon that spasms. I left his office today with 2 prescriptions, 1 blood work request, 1 ultrasound request, 1 x-ray request , and I save the best for last, 2 requests for scopes- gastro and colon! So, it looks like July is going to be a fun month for me. But, it is interesting how as an RN the MD looks at you for no bologna. They want you to give them just the facts. They expect that of you. It is also interesting that he sees you as someone special, making arrangements for testing to be done on the same day, which he doesn't normally do, but since you are an RN that looks after his patients, he will do this for you. Cool.

9. Car appointments

Our Saturn is reaching 100, 000 kms. Which means our warranty is almost up. So, at the last oil change I asked them to do a head to toe of the car to make sure things were doing OK. Well, the items that were under warranty were all fine but there was about 700 dollars worth of maintenance work that needed to be done. I opted for half of the items on the one day and will tackle the brakes another day. It is interesting to see how a car reacts to some TLC. After getting the transmission flushed I could feel the Saturn running more smoothly. I sure hope we have lots more of smooth rides left in her.

Anyways, that was just some general thought flying through this brain of mine. Sometimes, I just want to write them down and see where it takes me.