Good morning on a Sunday

Fran

Former desparate mom
I'm up bright and early this morning so I thought I'd start the good morning thread for once. I'm heading home to my mother's for 2 days. She has a doctor's appointment and seems she fell but hasn't told us(kids). Not sure if I can convince her to return with me or not. Probably not. difficult child's come in all sizes, ages and function, don't they?

difficult child on the other hand seems to be doing very well. He initiated cleaning his room all by himself, as I mentioned yesterday. He is thinking things through and pitches in. We are moving forward.

It continues to be hot with almost daily storms. Feels a lot more like Florida than I'm happy with but what can you do?

Hope you enjoy your Sunday. :swimming:
 

goldenguru

Active Member
Morning Fran. And I thought I was up early. LOL.

Have a safe trip to see your mum. I envy your heat. It's only about 50 here this morning. Too cold to have my coffee on the porch. Brrrr.

Church. Naps. Dinner with our daughter/grandkids.

It's all good. Happy Sunday to all those who follow. :)
 

timer lady

Queen of Hearts
Good morning all,

Fran, the weather this summer is so off. difficult child makes his strides doesn't he? What's the saying slow but sure goes the ....?

GG, sounds like you have a pleasant day planned ~ have fun with the grandkids.

A friend of mine dropped by yesterday wanting to take me to a movie; I hesitated because I didn't want to sit that long in one place & wanted to take a walk. I promised to go to a movie with her on a colder more wintry day if we could go to the garden nursery. Perrineals (sp?) are on sale & I was just chomping at the bit to take a look. I purchased $40 worth of plants to put in my shade garden on the east side of the house. Now I have to fill in with hostas & ferns that I have growing all over the yard. I found the greatest kneeling device that I can use with my walker. Much better than a day inside a theater.

Not much happening today - I believe that a visit to kt will be tomorrow & wm on Tuesday. Don't know yet.

Have a good one all.
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
Golden, I hope worry and anxiety isn't what's keeping you from a good night's sleep.

Timer, I have hosta's and ferns under my trees also. I also use different shades and colors of calidium(sp)? I'm starting to put plants in pots that I put in the garden. It's easier to change them out with the season.

Unfortunately, my quiet morning was disturbed by our Miss Lizzie whimpering. Seems she had an "accident" in her crate and all over her white fur. PeeYeeew! So she had a bath already this morning and the crate got a good hosing. Not the way I want to start my morning.

Linda, slow and steady wins the race. We got a note that difficult child doesn't qualify for the compensatory ed. at the county vo-tech school because IQ is over the allowed limit. difficult child always seems to fall through those cracks. He is bright but function isn't measured. He may take an ungraded course with some supports just to get him over his anxiety. If I could make a wish, I would like to see my difficult child able to go to school and be able produce what the course requires. Basically, learn in a way that he can get credit for his education. He is self taught on a multitude of subjects but doesn't have the foundations of education like basic math, grammar with sentence structure and writing.
In a small teenie weenie corner of my brain is a candle of hope that he will get there even if it's 10 yrs later than a n/t person.
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Good morning. :coffee:

Sorry I'm not responding to everyone but I'm already running late! Just wishing all a happy Sunday. :salute:
 

Marguerite

Active Member
G'day, folks.

Fran, aren't mothers the pip sometimes? mother in law is similar, will have a problem like a fall or something and not tell us (even though we live only a few houses apart). But if WE have a problem or an adverse doctor's report we get, "Why didn't you tell me?" when we ARE telling her, at the first opportunity.

GG, sorry it's cold where you are. It's about the same temperature here, overnight most nights. That is what I consider a cold winter! At least here, there's an excuse. But I thought you were in summer still?

Linda, I love gardening too. The kneeling device - is it one of those with handles to help you get up? I love those. I haven't got one but I've used one. I use really good knee pads, they actually got used in "Black Balloon" by one of the boys playing a turtle, he had to kneel and his knees hurt so I brought in my Gardener's Knees for him to use. They even matched his costume!
I love moving plants around and I'll even scavenge discarded plants to salvage some treasures from the roadside. We don't get frosts here which widens our scope. Enjoy your perennials!

We've been gardening today, in between peeking in the studio of our artist neighbour. He's got the job of painting the official portrait of our former PM, we saw the head study over the last two months and today we saw the well-developed full portrait. The artist told us of the changes he's making, he wants the great man to seem to be in mid-debate, his hands about to raise to emphasise a point.
It seemed so mundane - husband & I were standing there in our work clothes, I was clutching my work gloves and secoteurs because we were about to tackle some pruning at mother in law's place while she is away. She hates it when we prune but it has to be done, spring is in the air here and the peach trees are already in blossom. We attacked the hibiscus which has not been properly pruned for years (decades, probably) when they're supposed to be cut back hard every winter. Then we tried to feed it all through the marvellous muncher, but found it has met its match - hibiscus is too wet to mulch, it clogged the mulcher and NOTHING worked. So all that work - we have to bundle it up and cut it down to one metre lengths in the next few days or mother in law will find it all when she returns and know we've been cutting back. Seriously, despite the severe trimming we've done, there is a good chance she won't even notice!

My hands are scraped and bruised, skin dry so I used my home-made body scrub when I got home and the scratches now have stopped stinging and my skin feels soft and not in the least scaly. I love it!

I wasalso in cooking mode today, plus despite spring being in the air, it is still wintry casserole weather. I made another slow-cooked Moroccan dish (beef with vegetables and home-made preserved lime) but tonight felt even more tempted so I've begun making Nipples of Venus (did you see that scene in Amadeus?). I'm playing with the recipe, doing a rum-flavoured dark chocolate ganache which I'll carefully shape then dip in a blend of mostly white chocolate with just enough dark to give it a pale skin tone. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll dip the tips of the truffles in pink castor sugar for that naughty effect... an innocent look freshly born of sea-foam, but very adult and knowing on the inside.

I saw the recipe in a friend's cookbook written by the same woman who wrote "Chocolat". Just reading that recipe book was inspiring. And not a little bit scary, all those calories in detailed description.

I'll let you know how they turn out. I've never made chocolate truffles of any kind before, so there's nothing like starting with something tricky.

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone.

Marg
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
Yum about truffles. Hope they come out well Marguerite.
I did a slow cooker beef roast with a wine tinged gravy. Added baby carrots and onions and Voila, a nice dinner. Since we are trying to go low carb, I made a head of cauliflower into our mashed potatoes. It was a big hit with husband and difficult child.

I have some sort of critter or disease that seems to shrivel my flowers almost overnight. The leaves get yellow spots and everything just shrivels. I am so disappointed. It attacked the petunias first. Now I see it in some of the other plants and even the watermelon leaves. Not sure what to do about it. I'm not expienced enough of a gardner to know what sort of illness my plants have.
Any thoughts?
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Sounds possibly fungal, Fran. Unlesss it's too much heat and not enough water? You need to avoid watering in te heat of the day, and if there is a risk of fungal disease (the lower stuff goes spotty & yellow first, often powderry mildew on the leaves as well) then avoid letting the foliage get wet. Instead, pour buckets of water directly onto the soil. See if that helps.

Petunias are fairly fleshy petals plus they're more prone to dehydration wilting. But if it's affecting everything else equally - it could be the high heat. WHat I find in summer, is the larger leafed things sag in the heat of the day but perk up again in late afternoon. I often have to pour buckets of water on the soil of the leafier plants to reduce the wilting. Leaves which have wilted badly due to lack of water will often turn yellow and fall off a few days later.

If it's fungal, look for what looks like a faint dusting of talcum powder on the leaves and stems, especially lower down. This is worst in humid areas.

Your casserole sounds lovely. Have you tried making caulifower soup? Also an alternative - we really don't need our white vegetables that much. Try brown rice instead. Forget about the carbs in brown rice - the high fibre content means the carbs are good carbs. I cook a pot of brown rice and keep it cold in the fridge, I simply reheat in the microwave in single serve amounts.
I also cook rice in the microwave, it's much less mess, much easier. No soaking of pots in the sink afterwards, no watching pots. No need to drain it off. Simply put rice in a microwave safe container (no more than a third full with rice), add water until it is an index finger knuckle deep over the top of the rice, then put it in the microwave oven. Set the microwave to bring the water to the boil (about 4 minutes on HIGH) then simmer for 10 minutes (white rice) or 20 minutes (brown rice). When the microwave oven stops, take the rice out, stir it (fluff it up with a fork), taste it to see if it's done and if it still needs more time, put it back in for another few minutes. Add a splash of water if it seems too dry. It won't take many tries before you'll be able to do it perfectly every time. The first attempt may not be perfect but it's likely to be as good as anything you've ever cooked on the stove.

Really. It's that easy.

Marg
 

timer lady

Queen of Hearts
Fran, Marg, a landscape artist came around with her boyfriend (one of the carpenters who worked here) & gave me great ideas & a drawn out long term plan for my yard.

The best hint ~ when transplanting tall ferns cut out the bottom of a coffee can sized plastic plant pot, put the fern in it with the root ball & bury it in it's new place. It will help an especially tall fern to stand thru the season. And if you go to move it again it will be much easier to do so.
 

Andy

Active Member
GOOD MORNING
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:D:wince::yawn::weird::D
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Fran - I hope your mom isn't hurt too bad. I wish I could get my difficult child to tackle his bedroom. Should we switch kids for a week? I will get indoor chores done and my difficult child can do your lawn work and plant flower gardens.

Goldenguru - Sounds like a nice peaceful day for you!

Timer - I am glad you were able to enjoy the beautiful outdoors weather. The summer is going so fast that those miserable cold winter days will be here soon. Hopefully the West Coast will send us back our hot weather when that happens.

Tired - Have a great day!

Marge - You put in a busy day today! Have a great night!

8:00 am is so hard to read when you don't get to bed until 4:30 am.

I did start out in bed about 11:00 pm. Then Diva called about 1:00 am, "Mom, can I take the van to help K with her last load?" "No! I will go over and help her, you stay here with difficult child." (husband had the truck overnight and we are not putting more gas into the jeep right now and no one but husband and I drive the van.)

I got home about 3:00 am and spent time on the compter.

Diva then got a call from a friend at 3:45 asking if she would pick him up from his girlfriend's home and take him to his mom's home. She put about $5 of gas in the jeep in order to do this. At 4:30 when she didn't answer her phone, I got girlfriend out of bed and started out to look for her. She finally answered her phone and I told her I was about to call the police to check on her and to get her butt home. She had more than enough time to drop the kid off and put a little gas in the jeep.

So, morning comes early. I now have to dress quickly. I told the girls (Diva and K) I would take them out to breakfast before they head to Nebraska. Diva is K's traveling companion. It will be an icky day of traveling with K's vehicle stuffed as much as possible and Diva's suitcase will need to travel on her lap. Also a small lap dog in the car. About a nine hour drive! So, shake beads, ect for their safety.

Diva flys home Aug 10th.

Everyone have a great day and find a way to make your kids laugh.
 

therese005us

New Member
Hi everyone - and goodnight.
What a day!
We had a little sleep in this morning, I didn't get up till 6.30am!
It was just DD12, and the GS16 as DS was overnighting at his friend's and cherub was with her biomum.
However, now I have a FULL House!
After breakfast, we had to make a busy day of tidying the bathrooms, and music practise, before a quick getaway into town as daughter had a dance exam (1 of 4 this month). While she was doing her exam, I went to fetch cherub, and my German student stayed home to make dinner. there were a few calls between us, as she translated her recipe and hunted the ingredients down in my cupboards. Then she rang to say her friend, also a student from Germany, was in distress at her host family. Apparently they have been drunk every day since she arrived and she wanted out. So, off I drove to rescue her!
She's now sleeping happily here (taking my family to five children!) and the co-ordinators are going to sort it out this week. In the meantime, I'm going to be pretty busy as my aunt and uncle arrive for five days on Tuesday!

Tongiht I folded washing and watched that movie Australia, with Nicole Kidman on DVD. I didn't like it much, but the scenery was fabulous, and the background history of the tragedy of the Aborigines was interesting. Being British, I am always fascinated by history. What one human race, does to another is certainly tragic at times.

Well, I'd better get the table set for breakfast, as I'll be driving in five different directions again, all before 9.00am. First exam for daughter is at 10.00am, second at 1pm.

Have a blessed Sunday everyone.
 

JJJ

Active Member
Good morning all! We are having a great weekend so far! Glad to here most of you have at least one good thing going on as well!

Off to scrub the kitchen floor (oh, the joy LOL)
 
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