Ok, I’m done updating. If you are wondering what the heck is going on, the last 6 posts are day trips that we’ve taken in the last month. And I just now finished posting them all. It took me almost 2 days!

Let’s get back to our regularly scheduled  programming…let’s see…what’s up with us lately? I’m busy working on the June Songbird kit, trying to squeeze in some of my own designing in (there seems to be a severe shortage of new designs coming from me, huh?), we’re in the middle of spring cleaning. We’re being ruthless and taking it slowly. Room by room, this house is being purged. We have a ginormous box of books, dvds, and magazines that we are donating to the library. Another box is set aside for all the clothes that are going to the thrift store. We’ve done the garage, the living room, the hallway and our bedroom. I think tonight we are tackling the sun room. The sun room used to be my office.

To add to the chaos of the last few weeks, I decided to move my office into the dining room. I love love loved the sunroom, but it was just too darn bright in there. It got to the point where I could barely see my screen and I had a serious twitch in my lower left eyelid that was insanely annoying and so not conducive to work. So, I decided to move my office out of direct sunlight and lo and behold…gradually my freak eye calmed down. And now it’s completely gone. It was just so bizarre having a twitchy eye. I would press my fingers to my lower lid and hold it down so I wouldn’t feel the movement. But every time I took my hand away, i could feel it again. UGH.

Anywho, problem is now solved. No more twitching. Jan is happy.

So the sun room is now the playroom. We’re going to clean it out tonight and figure out just what kind of storage we’ll need in there. We don’t have a good mental inventory of their toys and games, so it’s kinda hard to judge what we’ll need til after we clean it all out… and sort it. *shudder*

So, wanna see my new office?

The dining room table is about 4 feet behind my chair. I just moved the table so you could see the whole thing. You see my ladybug? Noodle made that for me at the gym daycare yesterday. I love it. It’s a happy little bug.

My office is much smaller now, but I think it’s better. It’s much more efficient. I still have some very large boxes of scrap stuff that I need to go through, but I have a place for that. The hallway cabinet is where we kept the girls’ art junk. But since we’re going to move that into the sun room tonight, I’ll be able to use that cabinet for my scrap goodies. It’s the perfect size, too.

Let’s see…what else? Our van should be here in about 4 weeks. That seems like forever. What seems even stranger is that we have already been waiting 8 weeks. With all these trips we’re taking in a cramped car with no A/C and more noise than a helicopter can muster, the van seems like a million miles away.

And…I’ve started my own site. I’ve actually owned the domain for a while now, but I haven’t gotten the design the way I really wanted it. It’s only halfway done right now, but you are welcome to check it out so far. It’s not hidden or anything.

www.thequeenofquirk.com

It won’t be anything fancy..just a portfolio sort of site where you can find everything I’m doing. The blog is already linked up there, so if you want to change your blog roll you can do that.

Let’s see….anything else?

OH! How could I forget? Lara’s birthday is next weekend, but since it falls during their school break we are having her party this Saturday. We’re hosting a luau for her and 7 of her friends. I’m pretty excited. We got grass skirts, (I was bummed because in the description they were natural, but the ones I got are green. Oh well. Too late now.) leis, an 6 ft inflatable palm tree and tons of decorations. We are going to stage photos with all the girls so they can take them home. Oh! And we got a ukulele.

I’m trying to figure out what we’re going to do for food, though. I have no clue. I’m going to make fruit kabobs, but after that I’m stuck. Anyone have any ideas? I’d be so grateful!

K, so I guess that’s about it. I need to get a few things done before Noodle and I go pick up the big girls. And then I want to get started on the cleaning a bit before Colin gets home. Ciao, all! Happy Wednesday!

For Mother’s Day, Colin chose to take us to Hampton Court Palace just outside of London. This was the home of Henry VIII and it was sooo incredible being there. Tudor England is the time in history I am most familiar with. I know more about Ancient Roman social culture, but as far as history (time lines, lineage, wars, etc.) I know more about England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I. So to be in a castle in which I recognize the paintings and can actually name the people in them and their historical significance is really quite unique. In all of our traveling, the places have inspired my research. Like, we’ll visit St. Peter’s Basilica and then I’ll be inspired to read about it. Here, it was the other way around. Being in this palace was like finally getting to see what I’ve been reading about and studying for so long. It was just an amazing experience.

So, there are two parts to this castle. There is the Tudor part which is much more rustic and stripped down…large wooden beams, stuccoed walls, ornate painted wooden ceiling medallions. That sort of stuff. The castle retained its integrity for almost 200 years and very little changed. Then in the late 17th century when William III took the throne, significant changes were made but then halted due to the death of Mary II. William had made a ton of changes and the result is a part of the castle that is much more elaborate and baroque in its design.

Ok, class. Lecture’s over. Let’s begin the tour shall we?

We packed a picnic lunch (actually Colin packed it. I wasn’t to lift a finger on Sunday) and we had a lovely little lunch in front of the palace. From here you can see the Tudor facade. It’s quite different from the Baroque (I’m pretty sure it’s baroque) facade you’ll see later on. This is me and the girls just after we ate. Also, this is just after we realized Colin had forgotten to pack diapers for Noodle and he had to dash around downtown (we’re facing it) to find some. The situation was made a little more urgent as Noodle’s diaper strap had broken and she was literally hangin’ by a thread. hahahaha. Good times.

This shot was Lara’s idea. She insisted on getting one in front of the golden flowers.

We went all over the palace and saw the apartments of Henry VIII, William III, Queen Anne, and King George I. They were really spectacular…but my favorite part was Queen Anne’s bathroom. I know that sounds silly, but it really was neat. We couldn’t take photos inside the palace, but I’ll sneak ya this one from the guide book.

It’s not the best picture, but it shows the basics. Anyway, I just thought it was neat. Historical hygiene (or lack thereof) is one of my “mini fascinations”. I love picking up little nuggets of information about the beauty routines and medical remedies that were popular in different times throughout history. Anywho.

In the kitchen, there were Beefeaters playing traditional instruments and talking about them. I didn’t have a very good view, but I still managed to snag some photos.

That’s not real meat, by the way. There were tons and tons of displays in the kitchen…sound effects as well. There was even a part where you could see a fake meat pie filling being prepared in a huge cauldron and they actually had the smell of it wafting through the air. That was really bizarre.

Next stop, the kitchen shop. We are huge suckers for gift shops. We don’t necessarily buy a lot of stuff…we just love checking them out. But here, we snagged a bottle of mead, some lemon curd made from an Elizabethan recipe (for when I get this bad boy), and some bramble berry & honey jam. (We have some growing in the backyard and I’m curious as to how it tastes…I don’t know what the American equivalent is.)

The girls got some lollipops and Noodle got a peppermint stick. The coolest find was, by far, Colin’s leather & pitch tankard. Lemme go take a photo of it real quick.

Hang on…

Ok I’m back. Here it is.

Colin tried it out on Monday night and announced. “Mmmmm….pitchy.”

He had a hard time deciding between this one and THIS ONE. Whew!!

Next we headed outside. Sunday was an incredibly dry day. It was scorching hot and we were on the last day of an 8 day streak with no rain. (A record for these parts? I dunno.) Anyway, we were baking alive, so Colin sat down on a bench to rest for a minute, rearrange the stroller, and re lather the kidlets in sunscreen.

I headed down to the fountain.

And then I walked around it and found a mama duck.

AWWWW!!! This makes me want to grow chickens just so I can hold baby chicks.

Then I walked back to towards the bench and I was spotted by the Noodle.

MOMMY!!!!

getting closer….

hahahha. Not really. Zoom out.

Ah, here she is…

We walked back towards the castle. See the two large pedestal lamps on the pillars? We’re on our way there to see the Privy garden. Stopped to snap a pic of the train that goes around the grounds. (complete with tour)

And here we are in the garden. This is just the left side.

Walking down the central path, looking left.

At the end of the path, we turned around and Colin snapped a pic pf me and my girlies….ahhhh.

See the baroque facade?

Now, who put that in there!???!

On the right side of the garden there is a tunnel which you haven’t seen yet. We headed towards that and the girls saw a rainbow and flipped out. So we had to take a photo of it.

Back towards the tunnel.

Ahhh….doesn’t that feel nice and cool? I could have stayed in here all afternoon. That’s me at the far end…that tiny coral dot.

Ok, now we’re out of the tunnel and heading towards the pillars again. See the sundial? We just finished a loop of the garden. Try to keep up with Noodle.

Stopped at the pillars and took one last shot of the garden. You can see the tunnel in the top right corner.

Here comes the (t)rain again…

hahahahaha. Sorry,. I just had to.

We then turned away from the train and continued along the side of the house. (This is the more baroque part)

Next, we headed into what they call the “Wilderness”. I had to laugh…cuz the “wilderness” was essentially a gorgeous field filled with thousands of daffodils and 4 hundred year old trees…and paths…and benches….and ice cream shops. Oh, and a cafe….and on and on.

At the far end of the “wilderness” is a hedge maze which dates from the 17th century. It’s in amazing condition and we had a blast walking/running/making faces through it. The goal is to find the center and then there is a quick exit out the side.

My wonderful family who made my Mother’s Day so so special. I <3 them!

Look! A piggy!

Ah…we finally found the center. At first Lara was leading us and every single choice she made led us to a dead end. We were really hot so after a while we told Lara to choose and then we’d head down the opposite path. Sorry, honey, but you’re no navigator.

Don’t really know what this dial was for…it was all whackadoo and spinning wildly. ???

After that we walked around the gardens some more…admired the climbing roses, the allium, and the grape vines.

Outside the palace there is a phone booth. I’m sure the British are like “What is up with the phone booth fascination!?!?” But like I’ve said before, everything in England is frickin’ adorable. And red is a rockin’ color, yo. So, yeah…that’s it. It’s just plain cute.

After we walked away from the palace, Colin had the brilliant idea that we should snag some Indian take out and have a picnic in the shade. So he went to the grocery store and then found a spot across the river from where we had our first picnic and I went to an Indian joint down the street and ordered some lamb Korma, naan, and pilau rice. We ate and put our toes in the cool grass and then the kiddos walked around for a bit. By this time it was after 7 pm and we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us.

Just after we packed up the picnic, Colin surprised me with a new necklace. It was seriously a sweet day. And then Lara said. “awwww…she hugs…and then she cries….”

Needless to say, Monday morning was a really hard morning. We were all dragging ourselves out of bed. But we had an amazing time and I am so happy we got to go.

If you made it this far, congratulations! Thanks for coming along with me on all my countless little trips. I hope you enjoyed the tours! Ciao, all!

Gibraltar Point was something we thought we’d love. Going to the coast and dipping our toes in the sea… All was fine til about a half hour before we got there. The rain and the wind set in and it really made for a crummy day. It was just uncomfortable enough to make us want to leave. We did get to see the nature preserve and lots of birds and some really neat landscape. It reminded me a lot of Carmel, CA. Both places has a rugged, sorta wild look to them, not the typical beachy look.

We had even brought along a picnic lunch and were bummed that we weren’t going to be able to enjoy our tasty sandwiches on the beach. Oh well.

I tried to find the timer on my cam, but I totally forgot where it was. :)So we got two separate shots of the family.

From the shore, we walked back towards the information center.

And let’s just stop here and talk about Mia for a second. I love my daughters. I love them all very much. They just all have a different way about them. Like, take this incident for example. Noodle has fallen. Where is Mia?

Mia is looking at me.

And Lara, the ever-helpful one, is picking Noodle off the ground from her recent splat.

Now Mia is making a pig nose.

It’s contagious!!!

Ok, so we found a bench and Noodle had to try it out. This is her saying “cheese”.

Then she ran up to me and pretended like she was going to kiss me and then darted out of range.

So, we keep on walking. And lo and behold, Noodle falls again. (This happens quite frequently, ya know.) I don’t think I have ever caught a child “mid-fall” on camera before. So anyway, let’s see what happens shall we?

Oh there’s sweet little Lara being the best big sister a mommy could ask for.

Mia has not yet moved. Nor has she acknowledged the fact that the baby has fallen on her face.

Oh wait…she’s on the move…

Wait Mia…you’re walking past the accident.

Ah….she was just getting into another perspective.

Ah! Now she joins them.

Gosh, I love this photo. I just looooove it!

So, Colin and I get a little closer and we have a bit of a meeting in the path. Noodle is coming to greet me.

This is “CH”

and this is “EESE”

We went to the information center and they had a little gift shop. We bought some lemon drops and headed out behind the center to see the “river”. It was lookin’ a bit low. (Colin took these, by the way.)

We then strapped Noodle in to make our way back to the car. She hated it even with a homemade white chocolate & macadamia nut cookie. Hmph.

And that was it. That was our day at the sea. It wasn’t quite as impressive as I had hoped….I think we just need to find some better shorelines. Dover sounds nice.

Besides, Gibraltar Point is mostly a bird watching place. We were, by far, the youngest people there and we didn’t have binoculars the size of brooms, so we just didn’t fit in. Long live bird watching! Cuckoo ca choo!

ahhh….Burghley House. I had been begging Colin to go here for weeks but he insisted that we wait for a beautiful day. Turns out, father knows best.

Burghley house is really close to us, so we left mid-morning and decided to have a picnic there and check out all the grounds and the castle. If this particular house looks familiar to you, it’s probably because you’ve seen it in the movies. The house was used in The Da Vinci Code and also in the newest Pride & Prejudice. (It was the famous Rosings Park, home of Lady Catherine de Burgh.) They even had some costumes from the movie on display there. Lady de Burgh’s incredible purple gown was there as well as the simple brown dress that Lizzy wears to dinner at the House on her first visit there. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside the house (a great marketing ploy to get you to buy the guide books) but let me just tell you it’s incredible. The displays are amazing and what’s even more amazing is that the house is still occupied by the descendants of Lord Burghley. Lord Burghley, you might know, was Queen Elizabeth I’s right hand man for many years. (This is a great excuse to go watch Elizabeth again!) Anyway, the house is rich in history and I was in heaven. Let’s start the tour, shall we?

When we came onto the grounds, we parked and just beside the parking lot is an incredible meadow with the cutest mini deer. The deer in Europe seem to be a lot smaller. They were small in Germany, too. Maybe it’s because the cars are generally smaller in Europe. The deer in America must have increased in size over the centuries to keep up with our ever-growing vehicle sizes. That sounds about right, doesn’t it?

The girls thought the deer were the coolest thing ever.

See? Very snuggly.

And all that fun was just in the parking lot!

Off to the house!

Just inside the House…The door right in the middle of the photo leads into the main house.

Ok, like I said, we couldn’t take photos inside. Afterwards we stopped by the gift shop and Lara picked out this frisbee She was ecstatic about it. And it turned up in every photo of her while we were there.

This is use walking around the house, counter clockwise, to try and get to the gardens on the other side.

We’re on the west side of the house now. I’m leading us along a path towards a bridge which I am certain will take us back towards the south side of the house (on the right).

Another west view of the house.

We made it to the bridge. And guess what. No access to the south side. Sooooo….we trekked back to the house. I was profusely apologetic.

The view from the bridge.

Us, leaving the bridge.

Ok, we got back to the house and went out through the cafe and into one of the small gardens.

DUCK!!!

KOI!!!

This is the view of the garden you just saw. We are heading out the east side of the house now.

This is the path that the party walks up towards Rosings Park in the movie. It’s funny because this path actually leads to a river.

In between the large shrubs, there are some really cute topiary. I love the snail.

K, so if you turn around you will see the facade from the movie. (I’m pretty sure this is it….maybe I should watch the movie again?)

Keira Knightley stood on this spot, so I insisted I have my picture taken. I wish I was Keira.

K, so if you keep going towards the river, there are some pretty trees along the bank and I snapped a few photos of Colin and 2/3 of his girlies.

Norah, however, had been sleeping and woke up just in time to miss the photo and start breathing fire at us.

We then headed back to the house.

After the house, we went to the Garden of Surprises which is based on 18th century designs for a “trick garden”. There were lots of fountains and moving sculptures to look at. A mini grotto, a smooth waterfall you could walk in, and self propelled waterfalls were just a few of the neat things we got to play with. I didn’t take any photos because I didn’t want to get the cam wet.

Afterwards, we headed back to the car. Noodles was soaked. The only dry things on her were her tights and shoes.  She ran away from us as we were trying to get into the car, so I ran after her. It looks like we are in a sweet meadow, but in fact, this is the parking lot.

And on a side note: Who the heck designed these tights? What child clothing designer was exposed to babies with calves that short? The only way I can get those patches on Noodle’s knees is if I pull them up so high her toes curl under.

Ok, anyway. So that was Burghley House. Well, some of it, at least. I hope you enjoyed your photo tour. Ciao all!

All around our village, there are fields and fields of rapeseed. It’s used in making canola oil. I’d never known what it was and had assumed it was mustard. Turns out, rapeseed is in the mustard family. Whodathunkit?

So, we went for a walk along one of the roads that Colin takes to work. It was so pretty.

I love Noodle’s face in this. And I love that she’s playing with Colin’s ear. Priceless.

And the view of our little village as we were walking back to it.

St. Albans was a place we’d been wanting to see for a couple of weeks. We really wanted to see the Verulamium. I didn’t get photos of it of course. However I did get some other pictures.

We started our day off at the Verulamium and watched a lecture (in costume) all about the Roman Legionnaires. It was really neat and we learned a lot. The kids were kind of bored and Noodle kept yelling, so I took Noodle around the museum while the lecture was wrapping up. I don’t think even the Noodle’s cuteness could stop a short sword.

After the museum, we walked up a path until we got to a small lake/very large pond. There were swans and ducks and geese and lots of people enjoying the afternoon.

Of course I didn’t take a photo of the lake. I took one just after we had passed it. So, we kept on walking and then we came upon a pub.

Colin, I’m afraid, is still upset with me because I didn’t want to eat here. Namely because most of the menu items were unimaginable. (Meaning I had no idea what it was). Like…Lancastershire hotpot with bubble and squeak. Does that sound good to you? Well, all the stuff on the menu sounded that way, so I nixed it. Come to find out, a Lancastershire (pronounced sorta like Lan-cu-sherr) hotpot is just a stew. And bubble and squeak is mashed potatoes with either boiled Brussels sprouts or cabbage mixed in and then baked in a pan. Ok, so it still doesn’t sound very appealing to me, but Colin was upset because it could have been edible and it was supposed to be traditional pub food and I rained on his parade. So, I am going to have to make it up to him by going to a pub. Of course, it won’t ever be the same because that pub won’t be called “YE OLDE FIGHTING COCKS”. (which is the whole reason I think he wanted to eat there in the first place.)

After that, we walked up the hill to head into the downtown area. The girls are at this really cute, snuggly, posing phase right now and I try to capture it as much as possible.

This is the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Albans.

Then we walked into St. Albans itself to find the Clock Tower. Of course I didn’t take a photo of it. However here’s the view from the top. If you can imagine that our heads aren’t in the way, you can see what the town looks like. Can you picture it?

This is coming down….the steps were so narrow.

Then we made our way back to the parking lot by the Verulamium and we took in one last site. There is a preservation site where they have built a building over a Roman mosaic. We got there just in the nick of time and the lady let us in before she locked the door. It was in such incredible condition. It was about 30 x 30 feet, I’d guess.

After that we started heading back to the car. We grabbed a frosty treat for our walk back past the lake and Noodle, by far, had the most fun with it.

So that was about it. That was our day in St. Albans. Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Bekonscot was a total surprise for us. Colin only told us that we were going to see a village. What he failed to mention was that it was a model village dating from the 30’s. It’s the oldest of its kind in Britain. Pretty cool, huh? K, everyone had a tinkle? Good. Let’s go.

First up, let’s check out the nuns at work in their garden.

Watch out for the train!

Dang, that kid is cute.

This one’s pretty darn cute, too.

A view of the park from the entrance. (some of it anyway)

Leg of lamb, anyone?

I feel so so sorry for the folks in that post office.

Another view of the park.

Really cool half-timber houses.

Colin & Lara checking out the carnival. Not sure what Mia’s looking at.

From the large lookout point at the back of the park: this is the left side of the park.

And this is the right side.

Seriously cool model work, y’all.

Stopped to take a breather, have some slushies, and ride an antique, hand-cranked carousel.

Anyone up for a picnic?

Checking out the fish in the mote around the castle.

WOAH! These babies were about a foot long each.

Loved this. Makes me miss Germany.

A view of the carnival from behind it.

The Noodle Boodle.

This was the lake in the center where all the fish live. The maintenance guys put in some wires to keep the bird from feasting.

Love all the incredible details.

Me and 2/3 of the girlies.

This part was sooooo cute!

Cheese!!

My favorite house in the village. I just adore that little gate and the conservatory!

Hee hee.

So, that was the long and short of it. All in all, it’s a really clean, well-preserved little family park. They even have a book, forever england, that you can buy with macro shots of the people. I checked it out in the shop but didn’t buy it because I knew I could get it cheaper online. It looks really neat.

After we finished at the park it started to rain, so we opted to not see the town and we just headed home. I hope you enjoyed this little photo tour. Ciao!

Ok, starting today I’m going to compile the ridiculous amount of day tips that I have skipped over. It’ll take me a while, but I’m hoping to get them all done today. Lots and LOTS of photos to alter and upload, but I’ll get it done.

I hope all the Mommies had a wonderful Mother’s Day! I was a lucky duck and got to have it twice (Once for the British holiday, as well!) On Sunday, the kiddos and hubbie woke me up with breakfast in bed. And then we spent the day at Hampton Court Palace. Photos of that to come as well.

I’m off to the gym. Ciao, all. Happy Tuesday!

Ok, so last night I’m walking past Noodle’s room and I poked my head in to see if she was still chubby. (She was.) Out of the corner of my eye, I see this black dot move. Keep in mind, it was in the evening. There was hardly any light left. So, I walked further into her room and there is seriously the biggest spider I have seen since we moved form Georgia. (The ones in Georgia could kill squirrels, I’m sure, with no problems. Don’t even get me started on those nasty suckers.) So, being the good Mommy I am, I run into the bathroom and get the rinse cup from the tub and run back into the bedroom and try to slyly slip the cup over the big, honkin’ thing. I missed. And let’s just say when this thing moves, she moves. Holy crap I flew back so fast.

To say I don’t like spiders is a huge understatement. I understand that spiders are God’s creatures and that they serve a purpose in this world, but I’m almost positive that the Almighty was experimenting when He made them. He probably thought they were bizarre and weird (I mean, what would you create if you could?) But, being all powerful and compassionate and all that, I’m sure He let the spider live for the sake of His own divine conscience.

It’s all very Trek-y if you ask me. Like when Captain Picard got that one, lone Borg and taught it be independent with the intention of sending it back to the Collective to infect the others and destroy the Borg completely. And then he felt bad because it was interfering with the Prime Directive because he had essentially created new life and now he was contemplating destroying it. What? You didn’t make that connection? Is my nerd showing? Ok, sorry. So…where was I? ah…

Ok, so the spider got away from me and ran behind Noodle’s dresser. So, I hatched a plan. I pulled out the changing table and the dresser to find Spidey in the corner. I didn’t want him to run back under the dresser and towards Noodle, so I took some books off the shelf and lined then up along the bottom of the dresser. The only way to get out of there was through me. I got my trusty rinse cup and place it just above his head and then I dropped it down.

BIG SIGH OF RELIEF

Ok, so now I had to find a way to get him out of there. And ya know, let’s just stop a second and think on how deep the Noodle sleeps. She stirred not once. Nothing. No twitching, so stirring. Nada. No clue as to the heroic efforts I was displaying to to save her little, chubby life from the big, bad spider. So, I grabbed a flashcard from the shelf and slipped it under the cup. I marched that nasty thing downstairs and triumphantly showed it to Colin who guffawed loudly and was surprised and proud that I hadn’t screamed like a little ninny the second I saw it. He said I was like a ninja. A ninja with board books and rinse cups. Hey, it’s still a ninja.

We sat around and looked at it and said “Holy crap.” many, many times. Then we tried to find a suitable object to display it’s scale (hence the Carmex).

Now I’m off to release it in the far side of the garden. As much as I hate it, I can’t kill it. I will just glare at it until I’m sufficiently satisfied.

K, so that’s it. That my excitement for the week. It’s amazing how far I can stretch a tale of my so-called heroics, huh? I mean, the spider’s not that big in real life. But for the future stories I will spin (pardon the pun), the spider will be the size of my hand and I will have caught it MacGyver-like with a needle and thread and a basketball hoop.

Observed, that is. Today there is no school. It’s a bank holiday in jolly old England. So, we’re having a relaxing very productive day outside. The car is washed, vacuumed and de-funked. The lawn is mowed, grass clippings raked. Patio furniture scrubbed and de-bird pooped. Broke out the paddling pool for Noodle. She hated it, threw many fits and then we realized it was way past nap time. Colin even scrubbed a mysterious stain on the driveway. (It’s still there, to his dismay.) Boy it’s hot here today. And not just “hot for England” hot. It’s pretty darn toasty. So, we’re going to grill every thing in the house that can be grilled and then I’m gonna bake an apple pie. We don’t really need a pie. We could just eat the cake I made yesterday. But pie, it is. Miss Mia has personally requested it.

Happy (observed) May Day, y’all.