Change is the Only Constant!

Some time ago we had to rip the canvas roof off the swing set because it was falling apart and blowing in the wind.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided to investigate replacing that roof (what made me wait so long???).  So off I went to Joann Fabrics.  I just happened to get there on the day they had a 50% off sale on all their canvas fabrics.  How timely.  So I bought enough to make a new roof for the swing set.  What do you think?  

 

I was amazed at how little I ended up spending to put a finishing touch to the play area for the kids.

Another change involves a dear friend of mine who recently went into business as an interior decor consultant.  I asked her to come to my house and give me some ideas on things I could do to add some interest to my living room, dining room and kitchen areas.  She offered a number of suggestions and ideas, some of which will be on future blogs.  However, one of the things she suggested was to put some color on the lamp shades in the living room.  That cost all of $2.00 to buy a spool of grosgrain ribbon and that little amount of effort added a lot of pizzazz to our living space.

Before:

After:

Another change that needed to be taken care of was a huge maple tree we had by the side of the house.  Almost seven years ago when we put in the driveway to the in-law addition, Andy warned me that all that blacktop was not going to be good for the tree.  But I was insistent I didn't want it taken down at that time.  It was not only a beautiful tree, it also had fond memories for the family.  Andy built a tree house for the girls when we first moved here and they played in it for hours.  They would climb up with a pile of books and spend hours reading in the solitude up there.  They also rigged up ropes and pulled up all kinds of treasures, including our little Yorkie.  I caught them pulling her up in a bucket.  Fortunately, I did catch them before she got too high up in the air and was able to persuade them that it wasn't a good idea, especially since the dog looked like she was considering jumping out.  And that tree house was very high up off the ground.

But I digress...So in the last couple of years, we've noticed the tree did not have many leaves each summer.  Then it developed mushrooms growing out of it, an indication that the tree was dying.  Christian, our expert tree guy, kept his eye on the tree whenever he came over, and we finally decided it was time to take it down before it fell on the house.  When a date was decided for him to do the job, I thought it might be a good excuse to have the whole family over.  I had been given a 20 pound turkey at Christmas time and it was taking up room in my freezer.  So there was another good reason for inviting the family to join us.  


Christian got here around 9:00 am on Saturday morning.  He brought the truck, all his climbing gear, several chain saws, and the stump grinder.  He cut the branches and dropped them, then Dawn and Andy cut them into smaller pieces and dragged them to the street.  Christian is quite amazing to watch up there doing his work.

The tree is gone (sigh) and all at the street.  Thankfully, our township will come by and take everything away.  I guess that's why our taxes are so high!

Christy arrived with the kids around 12:45 and I fed them, plus the tree workers, lunch of minestrone soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  Christy then helped me update the look of my blog (so if you notice any changes, thank her!) and did a few other things on the computer.  She taught me a couple of tricks and I actually showed her something, too!  

I put the turkey in the oven at noon.  Mid-afternoon all the others started arriving.  And then it began.  I thought I had organized everything and was prepared:  start the stuffing at 2:30, start the pineapple casserole at 3:00, etc.  But things got pretty intense with everyone arriving and greetings and hugs.  Grace started peeling potatoes, and that was enjoyable:  working side by side with her in the kitchen.  Everyone else pitched in and helped.  Tommy and Ricky set up the tables in the dining room, including putting in the extensions and bringing up the extra tables from the basement.  They put the plates and silverware on, then helped with the drinks and napkins and reaching the serving bowls on the top shelves for me!  We were ready to sit down and eat by 4:45 (only 45 minutes later than the original plan).  It was quite a spread:  turkey and gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes (made by Dawn), mashed potatoes (made by Grace), pineapple casserole, corn and applesauce (brought by Amy), homemade rolls and strawberry jam (made by Amy).  What a feast.  

Then it was time to celebrate 4 birthdays.  Asher had been 4 on January 31, Dawn had her birthday on February 3 and Christy and I have February birthdays too.  Christy's is on the 11th and mine is on the 13th.  It was a pretty awful birthday song with Tommy and Ricky purposefully singing off key (they do it on purpose to irk the Wallins' musical sensibilities!) and singing happy birthday to Asher, Dawn, Christy and Grammy all at the same time.  

And of course, with birthday celebrations, there needs to be a cake.  I had made the carrot cake the day before and it was so good and moist.  I have to admit, though, that it probably would have tasted better if I had not already been so stuffed.

I didn't realize till too late that I didn't get any pictures of the family dinner and party time.  It's somewhat difficult to concentrate getting all the food ready at just the right time with a camera in hand.  I usually depend on Christy or Amy to do the picture taking, but Christy had forgotten theirs.  I think Amy took some pictures but by the end of the evening, the kids were tired and not too eager to sit still and smile for pictures.