I had a good time photographing these old earth movers.
Between then and now they were cut up for scrap and sent to the smelter, or China.
Glad I did not have to drive one of them, but they were colorful to photograph.

travel day

Today was travel day.

We are visiting a couple of daughters this week end. Mothers day is Sunday. We will have 4 or 5 mothers for brunch!

Packing was more complex this time. She did not get much done, so I choose a lot of her clothing, she is just not able to make those decisions right now, at least not quickly.

I asked her not to wear the old sweat pants and shirt she had on and war erupted, but later peace reigned and she change into the clothes I chose for her.

Next time, I think I'll do her packing and just answer her questions later. Most likely there will be few questions.

For a very long time we traveled with Leo, and this was the first trip without him (except for the trip home after we left him with daughter 4.

Strange feelings. Leo is still in my head and in my memory. I make sure I turn on the light before going into the downstairs bathroom, “just in case.” When I leave the door open for a minute, I expect to see him make a run for it. When I lay down for a nap, where is leo who would sleep beside my knees.

Tonight we sleep in the teardrop trailer and where will Leo sleep? Oh I forgot.

It is good to see the grand kids again. Alan will be 20 in a month or so, and his sister Amy (the youngest of my grandkids) will be 13 a week or so later.

Gas at $3 a gallon (and more), travel will be less frequent this year.

Maybe!

happy birthday sister

Today is my kid sister's birthday (I only have one sister).
Happy birthday sis.

Portrait of a Lady done by daughter 4 (Lia) when she was in college a long time ago.
I came across a couple of very thick folders of her work while moving my studio, and this was one of that I found.
She has made a good living as a graphic designer for about 25 years now.
I have popped buttons over her (and her sisters).

asparagus

This is Asparagus season here on the micro farm.

Our patch is not huge, but it provides about as much as we can eat. In fact we give some away at times.

Last week (Tuesday) I made some Asparagus cream soup. It was good, but for a cook that never made gravy or has any real knowledge about thickening things like soup, it was too thin. We ate it any way!

Wednesday, I made a thicker soup, added more asparagus, the soup left over from the day before and some sauteed tofu cubes. It was pretty good.

Thursday, I extended the soup base again, adding more asparagus and this time shell pasta.

Then I skipped the asparagus for a while, (but today we start over).

Until hot weather sets in, asparagus is a cool weather crop, we will have more than enough for soup every day.

It is sort of like my squash. Last year I had a bumper crop of winter squash. My favorite (butternut) grew in profusion and I still have a pile of them in the pantry.

Trouble is that I don't know too many ways to use them. I made squash soup a time or two, but it didn't ring too many bells. Baked squash is good sometimes, but some how I don't get to it often enough.

So I make pumpkin pies. I make them two at a time and for two people that is a lot of pie. Takes a good week to eat them both, but I force myself (haha).

It is a tough life. (But we eat well).