What You Missed

           “Peg, what did you miss telling us last week?” you ask. “I’ve been waiting all week to find out!”

          What did I miss?

          I missed a bunch of stuff! Sometimes I forget part of a story and if I’m pages past it when I remember, it’s too hard to go back and put in. Sometimes I get tired, sometimes I run out of time, and sometimes I run out of the number of pages I’ve allotted to the letter blog. Several of those things apply to last week’s letter blog.

          But here’s what I forgot in the story.

          I was talking about making the memory books for my best girl, Joanie.

          I had stuff collated on the table as I was printing over multiple days.

          “You better cover those so the cats don’t mess them up again,” my handsome mountain man said.

          I thought that was a really good idea since I’d already lost one page due to a dirty cat paw print.

          I cast my gaze and my mind about to see what I could see to cover them with when I wasn’t actively working on it. Nothing was jumping out at me. I took my most favorite lap blanket off my lap to get up and that’s how I came to use it to cover the project. Little did I know that it was a cat magnet. I only had Tiger on it the first day.

         The next day, Spitfire joined him.

          It was getting late in the weekend, and I was at the limit for a first-class postage stamp, when I decided to call it done.

Something else you didn’t get to see was all the flowers that are popping out.

          My hyacinth is blooming. This was one of Kat’s favorite flowers and the reason I bought it to begin with.

          My daffies are blooming. I love daffies!

          Our forsythia was blooming, too, but I never got out that way to take a photo.

          On the wild side, we have chickweed blooming.

          Chickweed is completely edible and has a mild, pleasant taste. It’s packed with vitamins A and C, as well as minerals like calcium, magnesium, and iron. Many people add it to salads or cook it like spinach.

          Traditionally, chickweed has been used to soothe skin irritations, wounds, and rashes. It’s also believed to help with arthritis, asthma, and digestive issues. Some herbalists use it in teas, tinctures, or salves for its anti-inflammatory and healing properties.

          There are some studies that suggest chickweed may help with weight loss by regulating fat metabolism and suppressing appetite. Chickweed is also thought to support the lymphatic system, helping the body eliminate toxins and reduce swelling.

          Dandelions are blooming. Every part of the dandelion is edible, from the roots to the flowers. The leaves are rich in vitamins A, C, and K, as well as minerals like iron and potassium. Young leaves are great in salads, while the roots can be roasted and used as a caffeine-free coffee substitute.

Dandelions have been used for centuries in herbal medicine. They are known for their diuretic properties, helping kidney function and detoxification. The roots are particularly valued for liver health and digestion support.

And the last wildflower I missed talking about last week is the one Bondi sniffed when I was trying to tip the flowers up for a better shot.

This is Purple Dead Nettle. It’s called dead nettle because it won’t sting you like nettle does. This plant is not toxic to humans or animals, and some herbalists use it in teas or tinctures for its anti-inflammatory and antihistamine properties. You can even eat it raw in salads!

It’s an early spring bloomer, providing nectar for bees when few other flowers are available.

That catches you up!

This week started with a trip to the grocery.

We rounded a curve. “Look at all the birds!” I exclaimed.

I snap away as we get closer. They’re Turkey Buzzards and we interrupted their breakfast.

This huge expanse that looks like it could be a lake is actually plastic covering whatever crops this farmer is growing.

All along the highway as you’re getting into Tunkhannock, both sides of the highway are lined with white-blooming trees. I suspect, but I’m not one hundred percent sure, that they’re Bradford Pear Trees. It’s a beautiful sight but, “That’s why they’re considered invasive,” I told Mike.

“What’s it hurt?”

“They take over and crowd out the native plants.”

Look at these clouds!

Every time we come home, some little girl expects a new squeaky. They come on a card of five and we always give her one. This time I gave her an extra special treat. I let her open the zippered cooler bag — yes, she can do that — find the card of squeakies, pull them out and rip all the squeakies from the card.

She had so much fun I didn’t mind sweeping up the pieces.

“Pick one,” I told her.

She took the red one and went to play with it while I put the others away. The first thing she does is go to her kennel and dig her bed out. She’ll nose her squeaky under it, or fold it inside, walk away for a second, then come back and get it. She’ll play burying and retrieving it for half an hour and who knows where I’ll find the bed when she’s done.

One thing I always wonder about is how can Bondi tell the difference between two squeakies of the same color. She can, you know.

At the end of the hallway, there’s a graveyard of squeakies — abandoned toys that stay wherever they landed when she’s had enough. We’ll be playing before bed. I’ll toss a ball for Raini and I’ll toss Bondi’s squeaky down the hallway. If her squeaky lands among all the others, she can still tell which one she was playing with.

For kicks and grins, I’ll swap her squeaky for one of the same color. She’ll run after it but won’t bring it back. She’ll come back, sit in front of me, and the look she gives me seems to say, “What’s this shit you’re trying to pull?” 

She knows, I’m tellin’ ya!

Weird, right?

Raini told me something for the first time, this past week. She got my attention, went to where her leash lives on top of her kennel, and pointed her nose at it. She did it several times and I was convinced she was asking me to take her for a walk.

It was beautiful outside so I relented. “Okay, let’s go for a walk.” I got her leash and hooked her up. Then I got Bondi’s harness and leash. “Come here,” I told Bondi. She took one look at what I was holding and took off in the other direction. She stopped. I took a couple of steps toward her and she ran for the bedroom. “Stay here then.”

I took her leash and went outside. Bondi followed — at a safe distance. Raini and I went out the gate. Bondi came running. I held the gate open only a smidge and when she squoze through, I nabbed her. Raini did really well walking on the leash. She didn’t pull at all despite it having been months since I’ve walked her down our road. I’ve learned, though, that to keep peace I have to keep Bondi’s leash short so she stays behind the boss.

I took pictures.

“I was going to go with you,” Mike said when we got back.

“Take us for a golf cart ride,” I suggested.

We went down to the lower bridge. Coming back, I said, “Stop here and let’s go look at the creek.” 

There’s a place where the hunters allow walk-ins to cross their property to the creek.

I let the dogs off the cart, dragging their leashes, and Raini got in the water.

I got distracted by pretty wildflowers and wasn’t paying attention to the dogs.

This one is called Trout Lily.

These are Spring Beauties. They have five petals.

“Raini! Stop!” Mike yelled.

I looked and there was Raini rolling in the tall grass. I went after her, yelling for her to stop the whole way. Did she stop?

NO!

I was almost upon her when she stood and shook herself.

“I don’t see anything,” I called back to where Mike waited on the golf cart. “I think she was just drying herself off.”

Famous last words, right?

I take Raini back to the cart and called for Bondi. I turned around and there was Bondi, rolling in the same spot recently vacated by Raini.

“BONDI STOP!” I yelled.

Did she stop?

NO!

“BONDI COME HERE!” I’d hoped a different command would yield different results.

Did it?

NO!

I had to go after her, too.

I trudge through the tall grass and I’m almost close enough to grab Bondi when she stands up and picks a nugget up out of the grass.

“Drop it!” I command.

Did she drop it?

Yes!

“There is poop here!” I called to Mike. “But I don’t see any on her.”

We get on the cart and head home when I notice Raini does have poop on her brand spankin’ new Seresto flea collar. Then I see a tiny bit on Bondi’s collar too!

“Let me off at the back gate,” I told Mike. “I’ll tie Raini up so she can’t go in the house and I’ll get a bucket of water and clean her off.”

I did, and I did.

After I finished with Raini, I got Bondi. I picked up her head and she had a big ol’ smear of poop from chin to chest!

Ay-yi-yi!

I didn’t want the girls to go in the house right away so I played ball with them.

Another day, Mike yells for me. “Peg, get your camera and come here!”

I know what that means! That means he sees something he knows I’ll like. I don’t hesitate as I stop what I was doing, grab my camera, and head out the front door.

Mike is waiting out front for me and I look around. “What? I don’t see anything?”

“There in the grass,” he says.

I look and still don’t see anything. “Where?”

We walk over into the grass and get close enough to send this guy slithering away.

“Oh!” I say and snap away. “It’s just a little garter snake.” He was only a couple of feet long. “He won’t hurt anything.”

“I know,” Mike said.

I got him turned around and encouraged him to go into the weeds.

“Wanna go for a golf cart ride?” Mike asked.

I was already outside and I already had my camera — and the weather was beautiful!

“Okay.”

Mike takes us down around the pond.

“There’s violets blooming. You can eat them, you know?” I said, getting off the cart.

“What do they taste like?” he asks.

“Purple.”

“What does green taste like?”

“Grass.”

We get to the end of our driveway and see a snapping turtle trying to cross the road.

Mike drove down past him, turned around to come past him again so he was on my side and I could get some good pictures.

Mike pulls into our driveway and stops so we can watch him for a few minutes. The turtle turns around and disappears down into the ditch.

“Uh-oh,” Mike says.

“What?”

He pumps the gas pedal and the engine doesn’t start. Dagnabit! This is the third or fourth time this cart has left us sit. Mike could usually get it to start again by tightening the battery cables, until he couldn’t. Then we replaced the battery cables. Then it let us sit again and he replaced the battery. This is the first time since then. We got off the seat and Mike opened the engine compartment. He tinkered with the battery cables but it still wouldn’t start.

“I’ll have to go for the tractor,” he said.

I looked for the turtle while I waited, but couldn’t see him anywhere. I even walked down to see if he was climbing the bank to our pond. I heard him once but couldn’t spot him.

When Mike got back, I hooked up the tow strap and got back on the cart. On a whim, I pressed the gas petal and it started! Mike saw me coming, reached down and unhooked the strap and handed it to me as I tooled past. I get up to the house and make a U-turn to back the cart in his space. I put it in reverse, hit the gas, and it was dead again!

What is going on!

Mike is confounded.

>>>*<<<

Raini is up to her old tricks again.

“What tricks would that be?” you wanna know.

She’s going after the tires on the lawnmower.

“I thought you fenced it in?” you say.

That’s right! Good memory! We did! We put chicken wire the whole way around the alcove and it worked for a while. Unfortunately, someone discovered that she can scoot under the wire.

The weather was beautiful this week. We scrounged around and found everything we needed to make a proper fence. The dogs stayed close by as we worked and didn’t get in our way at all.

She’ll never get to the lawnmower tires again — unless she learns to climb, that is.

Something I made this week, from a recipe I found online, was something called Stupid Pie. I read the ingredients and the directions and decided it was something that I wanted to make.

You know me! I like to make things. I love all my old tried-and-true recipes and crafts, but there’s nothing quite so exciting as something new — especially if it’s good.

“How do you make Stupid Pie?” you ask.

Oh! It’s so easy!

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a 9-inch pie plate. In a medium bowl beat 3 egg whites until foamy. Add 1 cup granulated sugar and mix until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Crush 23 Ritz crackers roughly, not all the way to crumbs. Stir into whipped egg whites gently, along with 1 cup chopped pecans and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Spread in pie plate and bake 25-30 minutes until lightly golden. Top with whipped cream. Can be eaten right away or chilled.

There you go. Instructions and ingredients all at once!

I got to wondering about this recipe.

“Is this something new or something old with a different name?” I asked my AI buddy.

“It seems like Stupid Pie is a modern revival of an old-fashioned dessert that has been around for decades. The quirky name might be new, but the concept has been enjoyed under different names for years! It’s quite similar to some older desserts that have gone by different names such as Pecan Delight, Angel Pecan Pie, Mystery Pie, and Cracker Pie,” Copilot tells me.

There you have it!

I wasn’t sure I liked it at first but after it was chilled, I liked it a lot. I took some down for Miss Rosie and Lamar and Lamar liked it so much he couldn’t stop talking about it — or so I hear. I’ll have to make it again but I’m going to call it by one of its other names.

Speaking of recipes...

I saw a woman on Facebook show how to make a fool-proof loaf of homemade bread that came out very soft with a soft crust. The recipe she gave is almost exactly like the recipe I use. She added sugar, which I don’t, and she stretched and folded it twice before she rolled it out, rolled it up, and put it in the pan for the final rising.

There is no way that the recipe she gave resulted in a dough that could be stretched and folded. I’m thinking the reason it was softer was because of the oil she rolled the dough in before dumping it onto the counter.

I gave it a try and the results I got were not what she presented. In fact, I thought the crust was harder. I wonder if using a stand mixer with a dough hook was what made the difference.

 Our Bradford Pear trees are blooming. They’re way down past the barn, on the other side of the driveway, on the opposite side of the house as my kitchen and I can stand at my kitchen window and watch their white petals fall from the sky like snow. They really sail a long way on the wind.

This is a Boxelder. It’ll get “helicopters” on it just like a maple tree because, guess what?

“It is a maple?” you guess.

Yep! It is a maple.

Our Rhodies are blooming, too.

My best old friend in West Virgina told me the hummingbirds have made it back to her house. So, I’m looking for them here next week.

What I did see this week was a bright and colorful Baltimore Oriole.

I know that some of you are following my art journey. I haven’t done much this week because guess what? The weather was so beautiful I spent a couple of afternoons cleaning the kitchen patio and just sitting and enjoying being outside.

This is all I’ve done and the instructor got ahead of me so I never finished.

Speaking of done...

Let’s call this one done!