The last few months have been crazy! So much has been going on!
My Aunt Nancy moved in with me the middle of January. She has had to step aside from the ministry due to dementia. It's somewhere in the beginning to middle stages at this point. It's going quite well! The one thing with dementia is stability is needed and moving from one place to another makes it very hard. I am enjoying having her here and I sure hope she's enjoying it as well!
I took a trip to Arizona the end of March! I was so awesome to see a very dear friend that I haven't seen in many years. She took me to a lake near Mesa and we went on a boat around the lake. There wasn't any wildlife to see that day but it was a gorgeous tour! (pictures below!) And the cactuses! Fresh grapefruit off the tree. YUMM!!! Wonderful fellowship! The one part I may never forget is meeting the guy my mom mentioned a few times over the span of her life. They were close but he went into the ministry. When I went to a dinner he walked in and said I looked like a Layman. Then he said I looked like Alma. I told him that was my mom and his response was 'I was the guy she wanted to marry but my heart led me to the ministry'. Got to say it was pretty awesome to actually meet him! Turns out I do know some of his family but wow, that was a crazy coincidence to go to a dinner all the way down in Arizona and meet him! I'd love to sit down and hear more stories. He had some to tell that I'd never heard! I think it was a couple of years after that that she met my dad.
Erika had a baby the first of this month (May). And it's a boy!!! He's sooo sweet!! And very strong! He's already half rolling. They said he did that the night he was born and has continued to do it! We went over to see them the week after the birth. It was so awesome to see all of them! The last time I was over there was the end of September. The weather was beautiful so we got to spend time outside. Jameson is quite the character and I love him dearly! He climbs on EVERYTHING! We went out and around the property every afternoon for a bit. It's been a long time since I trailed a little one everywhere and thoroughly enjoyed it! Teagan and Scarlet are doing good! Scarlet now has a pump to help handle her diabetes. The technology is so amazing anymore! They both are doing awesome with their gymnastics. I'm looking forward to the next visit!! I also got to see a very dear friend (who sent me home with lots of garden goodies!)! Aunt Nancy got to stay with her sister in Vancouver and get a visit with her! It was a really good week all the way around.
Christina went through basic training (Air Force-picture below) and has now graduated and is now an airman and, as of yesterday, is at her new spot. She did really, really well on the PT (Physical training) testing and on the EOC (academic) testing. She'll be at tech school for around 6 months and then we'll see where she goes next! She's come a long way this year and I'm very proud of her for persevering! Her FLT got the virus during basic training and the whole unit ended up being quarantined for 10 days so they got bumped and ended up graduating May 20th instead of May 6th. They also ended up having to bunker down for a tornado! She said it was quite the experience.
This week I'm hoping to get the garden planted! So far nothing has been put in. The weather has been up and down and all around. :) Technically we can still freeze for the next two weeks but the next week looks good so I'm hopeful that the freezes are done! The cold frame did AWESOME! The lettuce and swiss chard are being picked, the onions and carrots are growing well. I've got lots of flowers reseeding. Lots of calendula and in the wildflower area. All the perennials are coming back quite well now. We've had some days in the 80's but have also had days in the 40's this month (for high's). I did lose a few that don't appear to be coming back but that's to be expected in this growing zone! The rhubarb and asparagus have also returned! I won't be able to pick them until next year though. I'm going to try a new method of composting. My thoughts turned to the possibility when the poppies and Iris's, next to the pile of pulled weeds and corn husks that I started a couple of years ago, got huge compared to the rest of the poppies that have reseeded. The poppies are a good three feet tall and are absolutely loaded with buds. (picture below) I can't wait for them to bloom! So I researched it and since I have a fair amount of compost scrapes in addition to weeds I'm going to start digging foot deep holes depositing my compost into the hole (4-6 inches worth) and then covering it back up. According to what I can find that 6 inches of dirt is enough to contain the smell so that it doesn't get dug back up. All going well I should have really good soil in a couple of years. My soil is very sandy so it needs to be well amended at this point.
