It is a rainy morning here in Se Ohio, but warm. Over the last few days we have had temps from the teens to the 60's, rain, snow and sunshine!! Typical April weather in Ohio. The fields and yard are starting to get green again, which is nice. I hope everyone remembered to set their clocks ahead 1 hour, if your state participates in DST. That one hour does make you drag a little for the first few days!!!

I forgot to tell you all about the Lippazanner Stallions. It was a really neat show. They do all kinds of synchronized "dance" type acts. Those who have horses know how hard it is to get one horse to do what you want them to do, so seeing 8 or 10 do everything in unison was thrilling, and gave you an idea of how hard they work. The horses are supposd to be "gray" but are born black or dark gray and ultimately turn pure white. Some of them were beautiful with manes and tails that were so thick and shiny. One had a mane that was at least 2 feet long and very full. We had front row seats right in the middle of the stadium. But when we got there, there was no front row!!!! They had started the seating with row B, up on a platform and did not put down the A row. But after we showed up, and a bunch of other people with tickets, they quickly set up a new row of seats!!!! So it all worked out OK. The kids really enjoyed the show and have some new tricks to teach their pony!!

This weekend we worked in the yard a little, and mostly just did some chores around here. I found a new greenhouse to visit. I saw an ad in the paper and they had perennials for 20% off, and it said they had over 500 differnt kinds of plants. So we went ot this place. Took us about 40 minutes to get there, but it was worth the trip. I found a lot of new plants, that are very healthy looking. Also got 2 apple trees, and 2 grape vines, and some rhubarb too.

We are ready to start building some fence, and should get started on it soon. Today I am cleaning house and making jerky for Megan. She is doing an "Indian" project for school, and wants to take jerky for the class to try. She mixed up the spices yesterday and has it in the frig, so I just have to put it in the dehydrator. They can bring food, and we thought of jerky, corn bread, dried fruit, and nuts. I have to do laundry too. A lot of work is facing me today, so I had better get busy!! I might start some of my seed planting today or tomorrow. That will give the plants about 6 weeks before I can set them out.

Have a good day everyone!

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), April 08, 2002

Answers

This weekend was good. Today is rainy. Over the weekend I got a lot of housework done. Took Marques bed apart where it broke and now am trying to figure out what to do with the wood. There is a latter like piece and a piece I can use for a nick nack shelf. I hate to throw out good wood. I bleached the bathroom floor and the tub. Cleaned out kitchen cabinets and the pantry. I also found some 3/4" plywood I can cut down and make shelves for the pantry. Some wood from the bed can be used as reinforcements for the shelves.

My friend Heather bought me a shower curtain rod she found on clearance so I hung that up and am trying to get all the wrinkles out of the shower curtain.

Marques asked him if I would get him a club house and I told him we could probably get some stuff and build him a small one he can put in his room until we get a house with a yard. But that he would have to do a lot of the work himself. Maybe we could get grandpa up to help.

Jalynn and Journey are busy scrubbing walls they decided to color all over. They have to spend 10 minutes a day for a week scrubbing. I can easily take it off with wd 40 but will wait until they learn. I am going to make them an art center where they can put there talents to use on instead of the walls.

Tonight we are going to make choco banana's, choco chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. For dinner I am making turkey chili.

Everone have a wonderful day.

-- Melinda (speciallady104@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.

i'M cold (WHINING HERE)...lol . It is so windy that we had to latch the porch door and there is a moaning sound coming from the stove flue...Reminds me of that old poem, Little Orphant Annie". Anybody else have to memorize that as a child? In our family, each generation of kids going back to my great-grandmother have stood before the stove and recited the entire poem when we were around 6 or 7....one line is: ...."and the lampwick sputters and the wind goes "whoo, whoo", you had better mind your parents and your teachers fond and dear, and cherish them that loves you and dry the orphans tear, and help the poor and needy ones that cluster all about..er the goblins 'il git YOU if you don't watch out!"...EKE! I love old poems for children from the 1800s..they were such moral lessons, mostly geared to scare the kiddos to death if they thought of misbehaving..I was born in 1948 and they worked for me too!..anyway, the wild wind sound from the flue made me think of it. Hey Melissa...about those fruit trees..we were going to buy some a few weeks ago, but everyone says the time to plant them is in the Fall, not the Spring, so we backed off..maybe it's different in Ohio? I was able to go to church yesterday AND out to brunch afterwards.What a treat! We checked out a restaurant we had never been to and I met the owner, a lady my age from Greece..she and I really hit is off since I speak a tiny bit of greek and do a lot of Greek cooking..how nice to make a new friend! Then we were able to go over our oldest son's house and visit for a time.They had an extra recliner, so rather than buy a new one to see if one would make things more comfortable for me, Scott & Cathy loaned me theirs...Last night with the recliner and all my pillows, I looked like a middle-aged cleopatra on a livingroom barge, but boy was it ever comfortable! Neil is off this morning helping a neighbor put up a new barn....I'm going to finish my tea and hope that the weather gets warmer soon so I can plant those nice flowers that are growing by leaps and bounds indoors now...God bless.

-- LESLEY (martchas@bellsouth.net), April 08, 2002.

Praise God we are getting some badly needed moisture here---it is not raining---just spitting around-----but how ever we get mositure I'm pleased!!!

I have been soooo busy-this past week was Prarie Fire Festival---in our county---with many events I helped with----also garaged with my daughter some---- And on Sunday my hubby's Aunt celebrated her 95th birthday---hubby had to work --so I drove 2 hours to go to the party & helped her celebrate---

Have been on a dead run for most of a week or longier---today my house needs a good cleaning & catch up & laundry & pay bills & all that I ignored last week---

So thankful for any moisture we are getting!!!! Looking forward to warm weather & working at our warehouse & in the yard----

-- Sonda in Ks. (sgbruce@birch.net), April 08, 2002.

Sonda, I'll send you a little of our rain - I can't get into my garden beds today, and they're not finished yet! It rained here all day yesterday, most of Saturday afternoon, and is drizzly out today also. Tues. & Wed. are supposed to be clear, but rain is predicted again for Thursday and Friday.

We will probably work on the chicken house tomorrow, and maybe some this afternoon. We have quite a stack of brick to use for the floor (the kind that look like a cinder block on one side and are rough on the other - you see them mostly on commercial buildings, not residential). The catch is, Lance thinks we need to knock off all the mortar that is still stuck to them so they will fit together better. I'm partly of a mind that we could just fill in the cracks with some sand and not worry about it, but he's probably right (and that's a battle not worth having!). We are basically converting one end of our barn/shed into a chicken house for now, maybe in a few years we will rebuild and get a better structure, but there's too many other things that we need worse than a new barn right now!

The boys start swimming lessons at the YMCA tomorrow night - they've been looking forward to it for a month, ever since we enrolled. They wanted to get in the pool right then!

We also went out this weekend, to a pow-wow and spring dance contest held by the First American Club at the local university on Saturday night. My sister-in-law's nephew (one of her sister's sons) was dancing, and we wanted to take the boys when they could see Kelly all dressed up and not be startled by the bells, shells, paint, porcupine quills, feathers, etc. They were enthralled, especially with the drum, and Mitchell danced in one of the open dances. He is ready to go again! He tried to talk me into dancing with him, but I convinced him that I didn't have a shawl, and it wouldn't be right for a lady to dance without one (whew!). It was really fun, we'll probably try to take them to the Red Earth Festival in Oklahoma City later this summer. It is in June if anyone is interested, and is HUGE. Many different tribes, exhibitions, dances, you name it.

Well, I'd better get with it too, I spent some time making a doll quilt and pillow for Mena (my great-niece) yesterday evening instead of sweeping my dirty floors, and we all had dentists' appointments this morning, so I haven't done anything around here today! Time to start - as soon as I brush my teeth!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), April 08, 2002.

Hi Lesley, about those fruit trees, I have always planted them in the spring. We tried to plant a few other trees in the fall and they just do not do well. We usually have a lot of rain, and the ground is so wet and easy to dig in the spring. By fall you need a chisel to dig a hole around here. It is always a battle to get the fall bulbs planted. So I always like to plant trees, shrubs, bushes, and any new perrenials around April and May. Maybe in the south it is already too warm??? That is what I would say anyways...

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), April 08, 2002.

Christine in Ok.-------Hey---girl I'm sending you a shawl in the mail for some of that rain!!!!!!!! ha! later Sonda

-- Sonda in Ks. (sgbruce@birch.net), April 08, 2002.

Maybe Kelly will teach me a rain dance for you, Sonda!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), April 08, 2002.