Spring is here!

 I am looking through the glass, through smudges and fingerprints at a backyard that has come to life in the past week. The deep pinks splash themselves against the almost fluorescent green as each tree is trying to out do the other with color. Michael and Quayde dragged an old tire from the beach. It is now hanging by a bright yellow tow strap from a branch waiting for a small child to swing. The sunlight streaming through the windows in our red room tells me that the earth indeed has shifted.  It is tricky though and one thinks that it could be quite warm outside but it is not the case. Lydia and Thayne still run out for a few minutes, then rush back in needing to be rubbed up to get warm. It is starting to be a glorious season. Even better...I have had not a single sneeze or swollen eyelid yet! Maryland agrees with me so far.

 If you are traveling through our county you will find these somewhat not too attractive birds. They are everywhere you would not expect them. Painted in random colors and designs they are going to be part of a scavenger hunt I think. I have no idea just how many there are around. Some of the poor birds are not in the best condition. I want to take the camera, the kids and snacks (of course) and spend a day hunting them down to see how many we can locate. It just needs to get a little bit warmer.

The sign does say "buggy parking only"! We live just a few roads down from a thriving Amish community. They have permission to come on the farm and go to the beach area, of which we have heard they spend a great deal of time at when it gets warmer. So what do you think the rules are for sharing the beach with the Amish???  There are many farmers markets that they frequent, most do not open up until next month. There is a combo farmers/flea/black market a few miles north. This pic of the wall came from there. When we went last,  Quayde said he had never seen so many blatantly pirated movies and cds sold out in the open in his life. Hey anyone need a little Beyonce? I can get you a cheap copy. Oh..to clarify it is not the Amish selling the pirated things. They are just selling over priced puppies and chickens right now. Yes...Maryland is quite the unique place to live.

Leprechaun Trap

 We heard tell of a legend, a myth maybe that if you catch a leprechaun that he must give you his pot of gold. Since we could really use some gold right now, we made the choice to try it.

So we laid a trap! It was a trap made from the things of nature. One must give every indication of authenticity when building a trap of this kind.

 

 With moss lifted from the backyard and a few daffodils we had the beauty we needed. Thayne donated his gold dollar he recently got from El Raton (another story) for his tooth. We used some gold curling ribbon also to try to lure the leprechaun in. With the coin being securely tied to the stick, the trap was set. Quayde then went out back and sang a song about how happy his was to have his own gold. We needed to let leprechauns know that there was gold to be found.

 In the morning the trap was tripped, the box was over the plate. Success!!! We thought we had trapped him.

Leprechauns are very tricky and this one got away. He did leave us a very nice treat for trying to trap him. I think Leprechauns appreciate sneakiness.  Next year we will try and build a better trap because one can always use some extra gold.

For supper we had a delightful dish of green rice with green gravy. It did not look very appetizing and Thayne absolutely refused to eat it. Lydia ate three bowls, she didn't care at all. Since our movies are back in AZ we did not get a chance to watch our typical viewing of Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Today we are going to go out and hunt for signs of Spring...the sun is out!!!

Totally fun!

I found these monster hand tattoos and thought the kids would love to play with on our trip across the United States. They ended up at the bottom of the travel box forgotten and were not used on the trip. We just found  them in the closet and the fun began!

They are a little hard to apply. Having your hand at just the right angle sometimes was a little challenging. 

Lydia and Quayde were having the best time with them I do believe. We all tried them and ate each other up, created funny dialog and had great time. Just remember though, one must remove prior to a grown up meeting later in the evening or you might be forced to explain what the heck is on your hand.

Discouragement is to the soul what the Flu is to the physical body......but I am getting better!

Mysterious Trunk

When I was a girl I loved a good mystery. Since reading was my favorite escape I found the mysteries deep within the written page. The Trixie Belden series was my favorite! I think I eventually amassed every one that was written and then gave them to a dear friend. When your ten years old and you find an old trunk in the attic, oh what imaginations run through your head. Lydia was playing in the attic and found this old trunk. We dragged it down the stairs and spent much of an afternoon reading the shipping tags and looking up old railroad information on the web.

Many of the tags were dated in the early 40's. We imagined what it might have contained. Oh what mysterious places it could have traveled. Lydia definitely inherited my love of all things of wonder. We still can not get the lock open....technically it is not our property so we are not breaking the lock. It is too light and nothing shakes or slides inside but we have had a dandy time though thinking about it's owner and the places that she could have traveled.

Do you like a good mystery?