Wednesday Hodgepodge: Springing Up

Why not join the Wednesday Hodgepodge? Answer the questions on your own blog, then hop back to From This Side of the Pond (click on the graphic) to share answers with the universe. See you there!

1. Has spring sprung in your part of the world? How can you tell? Did March come in like a lion where you live? Going out like a lamb or something more ferocious?

It took awhile to warm up, but things are starting to turn green now.

2. The last thing that caused you to spring to your feet?

Probably the stove timer reminding me that the banana bread was done. I could not live without a timer, I'd burn everything

3. Do you have a spring clean to-do list? What's one chore on the list you've already managed to accomplish? What spring clean chore do you most dread?

Short answer: we just clean as we go.

4. Tell us something you've learned about yourself or the wider world as a result of social distancing/the virus crisis.

In the worst crisis scenario I could think of, I never thought I'd have to include "No thrift stores."

5. Something you love that's the color pink?

The pink things in my Shopping My Closet post yesterday.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I included this quote in a recent post, but it also seems appropriate for this week's theme.

"We do not stir. It is a hard lesson...Of course YOU know how to keep still, for you are children. And so perhaps you do not need to take lessons of teacher Toad. But I do, for I am grown up...with a world of things to do, a great many of which I do not need to do at all--if only I would let the toad teach me all he knows." Dallas Lore Sharp, The Spring of the Year

Linked from the Wednesday Hodgepodge: Springing Back Into the Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

New Project 333 page is up: Spring 2019, The Colours of Clouds

Spring is on the way! Time to phase out the turtlenecks, and rediscover short sleeves. 

Time: March through Victoria Day (the May weekend when we pretend summer's here.)

Number of items: I don't know, I haven't counted.

This painting is my inspiration for  the coming season:

Tom Thomson, Storm Clouds in Algonquin Park

Thrifted bag, upcycled from upholstery samples

Clouds, from our balcony

OUTFITS

Jean jacket, grey cowlneck sweater, grey jeans, grey running shoes, blue backpack

Read the rest of the post here.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Lots of Socks

1. On this first official day of spring tell us something (besides the weather) you're looking forward to in this season of the year.

You mean there's something better than good weather? And no slush and salt?

Well, Easter. 

And celebrating the one-year anniversary of The Keys.

2. When it comes to spring cleaning would you rather wash windows or wash baseboards? Clean out closets or clean out the garage? Dust ceiling fans or dust bookcases? Wipe down the patio furniture outside or wipe down the light fixtures inside? Any of these tasks recently completed?

This week I organized all my crafting stuff that had been sitting around without a home. I do not have a lot of extra yarn or fabric or paper, but even my small stash needed a cloth bin (on hand), and a couple of clear shoeboxes (the store next door had a whole pile of them). It all looks much better now.

3. Your favorite thing to make/eat that calls for cream cheese? Sour cream? Whipped cream?

Baked potato soup with cream cheese. (We cut that recipe in half, and it still fills our 3 1/2 quart slow cooker.)

4. I read here a list of commonly mispronounced words. What is a word that gives you trouble when it comes to pronunciation?

Leisure, because one person's lee-sure to rhyme with seizure, is another person's leh-sure to rhyme with treasure.

5. What's a song you love with the word 'rain' in the title or lyrics?

The Eensy Weensy Spider?

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Are you wearing "lots of socks" today for World Down Syndrome Day?

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

Rhubarb muffins (maybe the last batch here)

Rhubarb, cut this morning

 A double batch of sour cream rhubarb muffins. Probably our last from that plant.

From the archives: Dolls and violets

First posted April 2014

We are in the peak of violet season.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Up and Down

1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Has your April been filled with showers? Do you carry an umbrella, wear a slicker, or make a run for it? Besides rain, what else has filled your April? 

Some years we seem to go almost straight from winter to summer, but this month has been very springy, meaning we've had some warm days, the snow stomped off in disgust, and yes, there's been some rain. People are, as usual, over-eager to buy things at the garden centres and get something into the ground, but around here they really should wait a bit, because frosts can sneak up.

I am not really one for walking in the rain just for fun (sorry, Charlotte Mason).

What else has filled our April? If you're just popping in here for the first time, One Word: Moving. The rest of you already know that.

2. What's something you could you give a 30-minute presentation on at a moment's notice and with zero preparation?

I have sort of done that, more than once. Usually it's been on a homeschooling topic, like ways to stretch your budget and re-use what you have.

3. Share with us a favorite food memory from childhood.

Food memories: Campfire Pie Irons. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were the best, alhough the filling got hotter even than a McDonald's fried apple pie. But bologna and cheese ones were good too.

4. What's a song you thought you knew the lyrics to, but later discovered you were wrong?

"Fly Robin Fly," by The Silver Convention. When I was younger, I thought (for no good reason) that they were saying "Fly Muffin Fly."

Muffin says, "What???"

5. According to one travel website, the most overrated tourist attractions in America are-
Niagara Falls (NY), Hollywood Walk of Fame (California), Times Square (NYC), Epcot (FL), Seattle Space Needle (WA), and Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market (Boston). How many of these have you seen in person? Did you feel like a tourist? Did you care? Tell us about a place (not on the list) you've visited that might be considered a tourist trap, but you love it anyway.

I have been to Niagara Falls and Epcot Centre. I used to walk past the C.N. Tower in Toronto all the time, but never went up there, and I probably never will. Too expensive, for one thing, and (okay I admit it) going up that high just scared me. A lot. But we're moving to the almost-top-floor of an apartment building, so we can just pretend we're up there.

Since I seem to be in a You-tube mood this morning, here's what's going through my head:

6. Your signature clothing item?

Do I have to have just one? Here's my 10 x 10 Wardrobe Challenge for our pre-move.

7. What's an experience you've had you think everyone should experience at least once? Why?

Not sure about that one! Sometimes things we're glad we went through...weren't that fun at the time.

How about....having a job with a boss that you don't entirely like, or that you don't think entirely likes you, and having to stick it out anyway? Good practice in relationships and the way the world works. (See #8.)

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Not my own thought, but something from a friend:

"And parents are persons. Teachers are persons. Each of our homeschools or our classrooms is unique, and the way things are this year might not be the way things are next year. So we adapt, according to the principles we know. If the weather takes on a deeper chill, we build up that burning fire to keep the room warm. If a child is struggling in math, or we’re adding another first-grader to our homeschool this year, or we have a chance to visit a foreign country, or…fill in the blank with your own special need…well, we have some solid principles to guide our decisions about curriculum, and language study, and schedules." ~~ Karen Glass, "The Spirit and the Letter of a Charlotte Mason Education"

Linked from the Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

Planet June takes us nature-walking in England

Planet June, usually a crochet blog, veers off today with some great close-up photos of English wild critters, including a red squirrel and a robin, which is not the same kind of robin that tries, every year, to build a nest somewhere inconvenient like our porch.

Backyard Nature in April (photos)

 Violets

Periwinkle

Tulips-to-be

Rhubarb

Dandelions, just a few so far

More violets.

Greener, greener, greener

Also sunnier.

Green, green, green

Drip drip drip

(Finally.)

What a whole day of snow in April looks like

Treehouse snapshots: Easter Weekend

These pictures are for The Apprentice, who may not be able to  get here because she is under the weather.

Chippy sympathizes.

Front hall

Love seat

Working on the dining room

Dolls kicking back

Family souvenirs

Coffee table 

 

Lydia's tissue flowers on a vintage box embroidered with porcupine quills

Stained glass we have had for a long time...I just moved it to another window so we would notice it again

Ceramics my mom painted in the 1980's

We decluttered some holiday things this year, but Mr. Fixit wanted to keep the rabbit.

Now all we need is the ice to melt. (It's dripping! Yes!)

 Actually it's less dripping, more sliding from the roof with great smashings and crashings (to quote Lloyd Alexander).  Those things that look like broken panes of glass are shovel-sized pieces of ice. They sound like thunder when they roll down the steel roof of the Treehouse.

Need some spring? Make some pansies.

PlanetJune has a new crochet pattern: pansies in baskets. Maybe what we need for a breath of spring?

June, outdoors

 

What's for supper? Chicken and spring things, now with recipe

Sunday dinner, first weekend of spring:

Roast chicken
Reheated rice
Butternut squash
Salad
Peach cobbler

Peach Cobbler

The batter is Bettina's Cottage Pudding, from A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband.

1 600 g bag frozen peaches (that's about a 20 oz. bag in Imperial)
A spoonful of butter or margarine, and a sprinkle of sugar

Batter:

1 cup flour
1 2/3 tsp. baking powder (who wants to measure that? I just put in about 2 tsp.)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)
1 well-beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. melted butter (I have used canola oil and margarine)
1/4 tsp. vanilla or lemon extract (I used lemon)

Turn the oven on to 350 degrees F. In a greased casserole or pan, put the peaches plus a bit of butter or margarine and a little sugar. If the peaches are still frozen, put the pan in the oven while it is preheating and you are mixing the batter. Leave it in at least long enough so that you start to smell the peaches warming up. If the peaches are thawed, it still doesn't hurt to warm them up a bit before putting batter on them.

Mix the dry ingredients first, then beat in the egg and milk, adding melted butter and flavouring last. Remove the pan (carefully) from the oven, and spread the batter on top. It will be thick and will probably not go right to the edges, but that's all right, just do the best you can. Put it back in the oven and bake for about half an hour, until the cake part is baked through and starting to brown. I baked it uncovered, but if you would rather have more of a steamed pudding, you could put a lid on it or cover with foil. Makes about six servings.

The Sun is Out

Spring is on the way; it's up to 3 degrees (Celsius), sunny, and it's supposed to be warmer tomorrow.

Maybe I will even have a snow-half-gone photo to put at the top of the blog.

Nature Walk by the Pond

The last month has seen a great change in the weather and the foliage.  Spring is still dragging itself a bit, but at least all the leaves are coming out.  We revisited the pond today, and Mr. Fixit took some photos to compare with those he and Dollygirl took early in April.  (I don't have photos of the birds we saw today: mainly red-winged blackbirds, ducks and geese.)

Dollygirl's holly bush photo taken in April (at least that's what we think it is):

Holly bush taken today:

Tamarack in early April:

Tamarack taken today:

And this is the coolest thing: I think we've found our blossoming shad bush! (Also called serviceberry: Dallas Lore Sharp's favourite sign of spring.  And if it isn't serviceberry, it''s something pretty close.)

All photos by Mr. Fixit and Dollygirl.  Copyright 2014 Dewey's Treehouse.