Brrr...it's cold out this morning. The wood furnace is going full force while the wind is blowing outside. We are under a "hard freeze warning" for tonight. While I've been sort-of hoping we get enough of a freeze to kill off the bugs we have already out I'm wondering how the fruit trees that are blooming will fare and trying to decide which flowers, if any I need to cover. I've mainly put perennials in as I'm not fond of spending loads and loads of money on things that don't come back so most will likely survive. However there are a couple of lilies that I think I will cover lightly...and my rhubarb possibly.

Yesterday morning was gorgeous - all shades of red and pink as the sun come up as a glowing red orb. It was all set against dark dark grey clouds. I really wished I had a camera on bus route.

Speaking of bus route - hard to believe that yesterday was our first day back from spring break. The week did indeed go by very fast. I never did get the vacuum sweeper working correctly. (Good thing we don't have carpet anywhere except upstairs!) That still needs to go out to the shop to be looked at. I did get my desk cleaned off to a workable spot. Still need to take a picture of that. I spent some time working on albums for Stretch and Squirrel. Wednesday I went for breakfast with B's mom after which we visited some garden nurseries. I did not find any affordable forsythia to plant in the yard. However I did find a new plant tower thingy with hooks and two rings that will hold hanging plants. I'm quite excited about that though I've not got it put together yet. I used to have a spring-loaded tension pole that held inside plants. The spring finally died and I've never been able to replace the pole. Since that time my plants have been on stands - they just don't do as well that way for me. And I'm hesitant to ask B to install ceiling hooks. Anyway...we got home and B took the afternoon off. We went north to an amish town - went into one shop that was excessively expensive for most things but I thoroughly enjoyed it. B wanted to look at windmills but he forgot while we were there. From there we drove to another town about an hour away - maybe a little more - to visit "The Olde Bag Factory". It used to make feed sacks. Turned out to be a major disappointment overall as it no longer makes feed sacks and the little stores in it were decidedly uninteresting as well as mostly closed. I was expecting crafty stuff and there was very little of that. (It was supposed to be a major "tourist" attraction when one comes to this state). AS a result of that trip, B and I will make a list of things he wants to do when he takes a day off - drag races, tractor shows, etc and I will do research to find dates and locations. That way we have options that are not totally spur of the moment and usually end up disappointing for at least one of us. We did have a nice time together though. Stretch came home that evening - that was the end of our "no kid" time.

Friday morning Squirrel got in about 8:30. He was a couple hours earlier than anticipated. However we and 2 others kids that went on his trip went and had breakfast in town and did some shopping before we came home. I enjoyed the breakfast as it gave me a chance to hear how the trip went in a relaxed setting. WE did some shopping before we came home. Squirrel had managed to not get sunburnt the entire trip - that was awesome. However that afternoon he mowed our yard - it was cool and windy and not overly sunny. He didn't even think to put sunscreen on - by that evening he was looking a little pink and was itchy. He ended up with a mild case of sun poisoning over the weekend - just on his face. We joke about that a bit but he will no longer mow the lawn or do other outside work without sunscreen on his face. (He is a true son of his mother in this area. I used to burn on my face even on shady days).

Saturday B and I drove back to Chicago to pick up Dipstick from the airport. That trip went smoother (more smoothly) then the trip to drop him off. We did not get majorly lost even though we didn't take the same route to the airport. I had my first experience on the skyway - and will never do that again. Even though I got my driver's lisence in that area I do not enjoy driving in that traffic. So thankful to live in the country.

One more thing - self-cleaning ovens really really smoke when one cleans them! Especially when it's not been done in a while. And trying to open the door in the middle of the clean cycle usually results in a repair call!

Day 1 - No kids

This week is going to fly by I think. B and I got home about midnight last night from taking Dipstick to catch his plane. The day would have been slightly shorter (and we would have been able to attend church) if I had remembered that there was a time change involved. However we were halfway to Chicago when I remembered it. So we had a good laugh and continued on. We spent some of that time checking out the giant camping supply store that I've passed several times - complete with stuffed (is that the right word?) animals from all continents. Think B enjoyed looking at the African animals which of course were my favorites. Then more of it was spent getting slightly lost. We still don't know if we read the computer generated directions wrong or if they were indeed wrong. Anyway...we had a nice drive through the countryside off the freeways. We did eventually make the airport, get the car parked and get Dipstick on the plane. B was able to go through security with him, get him fed and watch him board. Of course I had left my book in the car so ended up going to purchase a magazine to read while I waited. I understand all the security issues but it sure would be nice if they actually had more shops and nicer places to sit if one has to wait there.

Today I actually spent all day at home - can't remember the last time that's happened. I have finished Dipstick's closet except for the vacuuming. Went to do that and found that the sweeper needed some work. So I will finish that up completely tomorrow morning. I've also started washing the mountain of blankets we found up there and folded all the laundry that had been done previously. Kitchen got wiped down and dishwasher ran. I spent a couple hours working in my craft corner in our bedroom - made noticeable progress there. There's still a couple more hours work to do though. And I still need to figure out a good way to store/organize my beads. I function much better when I can see my stuff and they are out of sight mostly at the moment. In my dream craft space I have a work area for each craft - so there's a sewing area, a beading area and a scrapbooking area at the very least. I spent time outside clearing out my flower-beds - only to hear that a freeze is possible the end of the week.

Tomorrow it's more cleaning, paperwork and maybe a run to town. Not sure I really want to do that...maybe that can wait until breakfast with Mom K on Wednesday. The pile of garage sale stuff in the dining room is getting larger and I have a few books I want to add to that stack.

B is waiting for the computer and I need to finish getting supper put away and spend some quiet time.