But I refuse to let go of this blog again. So here's the update.
The garden is so beautiful, green, frustrating, and sad. The veggie garden is in waiting mode. I wish that we lived in a warmer climate but I live in fear of "The Killing Frost!" so I will not plant until Memorial day (except for cold weather crops). But as it waits, with fresh mulch, and new boxes, and lovely weed free pathways, it is beautiful.
My flower gardens however are under attack. The enemy (aka: dandelions) snuck across the border and have launched several forms of low tech warfare. I plan to battle the enemy soon but for now they stand in my garden in a mocking salute when I hurry by.
While I am saddened by the dandelions in my garden bed I am happy to see how large and happy by iris and day lilies seem to be. It should make for beautiful summer blooms. After I decimate the enemy. LOL.
I wish, however, that all my favorite plants were healthy but tragically, that is not the case. My prized Lilac bushes are in bloom. One is large, lovely, and perfect (as always). The second lilac is spindly, sad, and only offers a few leaves or blooms. It didn't bloom well last year but this year is heartbreaking. I've been told that a hard pruning of all the old wood will give the bush new life but...I don't hold out much hope.
Meanwhile, life continues. The children are under near constant NYS testing (4th & 7th grade) and are doing their best. William will be heading to the hospital for his V-EEG monitoring the week of May 17th. He will stay anywhere from 48 hours to 5 days. Hopefully, we'll finally find whether or not he has nocturnal seizures or a sleep disorder. Whatever the verdict, we are prepared. The waiting is the hardest part. Except, maybe, for the preparation. I'm in search of pajamas, games, books, DVDs, etc. And I need to bring his favorite cookies, and make cookies for kindergarten snack day.
With all this going on I was really very stressed so I decided to try OAMC. Have you heard of this? Well, I hadn't until I went in search of a few recipes that could be frozen ahead of time. Google offered OAMC in answer to my search. With a bit more research I was hooked on the concept of Once a Month Cooking. I spent a day searching for recipes and planning my meal calender for the month. I spent a day shopping. And on Saturday, May 2 I spent the day cooking. My mother came to help me. Together we put 24 meals into the freezer and two into the fridge. Unfortunately, with only my small freezer I did not have enough room to complete all 30 meals but I got darned close. It's already been a lifesaver. I get up in the morning and check my menu calendar. I then retrieve the frozen package from the freezer. I can either cook in the slow cooker all day or unthaw and reheat later. It has made dinner so much easier. No asking, "Whaddya want for dinner?" No last minute trips to the grocery store. No "I give up" trips to Burger King. And there's an unseen bonus. Because dinner is already taken care of I use my normal cooking time to make homemade desserts! Yes, it all boils down to chocolate for me.
Everything from homemade chicken pot pies, stuffed peppers, casseroles, soups, meatloaf, pulled pork, boneless buffalo chicken bites, pizza makings, to hamburgers and tater tots.
Update Complete. Another thing checked off my to do list.
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