Sunday, August 29, 2010

Weekend of Mother part 2


So the next evening I went to my sisters to see my Mom and let the cousins play. My Mother and the rest of my family were watching a baseball game on the Telly. SO i was pretty much bored out of my mind. I am not a sports person and never will be. Maybe you could get me to watch Ice Skating if i was in the right mood.

So in my boredom I took pictures. My sister did not wish to be photographed so I got her feet.



Than I got a shot of both my niece and nephew.



Than my sister showed me her gardens.







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Soon it was time to leave much to my daughters chagrin. You know how kids try to make 5 minute goodbyes last 30 minutes. So while waiting for her to pick up her stuff i got a picture of the bunny and the cat.




So Mom went home the next day, and soon after my roommate crashed the minivan so I will not be seeing my sister again anytime soon. I do have plans to see my Mother in a few weeks though as the ex husband is going to go on my vacation with me. That should be interesting.

Sorry if this blog was short and choppy and not my usual stuff. I am tired and just trying to get something on here. So you do not think I have given up altogether.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Weekend of Mother

My Mom came to visit a couple weekends ago and stayed with my sister. We had to take the minivan and go pick her up though. Which made for an interesting weekend and journey. My Mother lives on Cape Cod which this time of year is traffic central. If you have ever been to the Cape during the summer or lived there you fully understand what I am saying. If you have never been I advise you to not go and maybe go in early fall or spring traffic still not so great but you will live through it much better.

The way down was a pretty uncomplicated trip except for a short amount of time on the way to the bridge which connects the rest of Massachusetts to the Cape. I do not drive so to be honest most of the time I did not even notice what was going on. I usually read or fall asleep. I think I slept a lot which annoyed my sister I am sure. Maybe a part of me likes that. I wonder if she will read this blog?

We did not bring lunch figuring my Mother would have something to feed us when we get there. On the phone she said hot dogs but she had changed her mind by the time we got there. I wish I had taken a picture of the sandwiches my Mother made because it was not your normal everyday lunch that is for sure. Turkey sandwiches on Cinnamon Raisin bread. I did not mind them but we left a few for my brother to find later.

Getting off Cape was pure boredom because we were stuck in traffic for hours. My Mother needed to get out and walk every now and than as her legs were bothering her. SO I would go with Mother dear while my sister drove next to us. I also took pictures of strange branches or whatever pleased me as I had nothing else to really
do.




It took us eons to get to the bridge or at least it felt like it. I also started taking pictures of clouds.





When we finally got close to the bridge we stopped at a Starbucks for a bathroom break. Well it was supposed to just be for me. After I came out my Mother decided she was going to. So I bought her a water and a banana while I was waiting for her. She only ate part of the banana as it was bruised. Nothing ever is good enough for your Mother is it?

Pretty Flower.





I know that was random wasn't it?


We did finally get her to Vermont in one piece. We stopped for dinner and My Mother got us Boston Market. I had there Asian chicken salad it is really good too!

We decided I would meet up with them at my sisters house the next day after John(the roommate man thing) got out of work. SO be ready for part 2 of weekend of Mother!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Blueberries forever!

This year I wanted to try and get in as many fun inexpensive activities with my daughter as possible. One of these I decided was blueberry picking. I have a discount with Dwight Miller Orchards because that is where I get my farm share. So a couple of Fridays ago I asked the ex husband to come along and we went to go get those blueberries.

First off we stopped at the farm stand area and took a look at the pigs.


My daughter really enjoyed looking at the little piggies!



We than went in and asked whereabouts to go picking. They gave us some gallon jug containers with rope on them to put our berries in and gave us some directions.

We of course got lost and had to ask someone in one of the greenhouses. They told us to go up the hill behind the main house. We than went back to the main house and drove up what looked like a driveway but turned out to be a road up to the Orchards. Than my ex did not think the car would be able to make it up the hill. So we bickered for a moment than of course we drove right up cause i am always right after all (snicker).

Although the sign for the parking area was behind an Apple tree so we could barely see it. This also made us wonder if we took the right turn because we were surrounded by Apple trees. Another vehicle parkedbeside us though and the lady driving explained to us we had to just walk a little ways up the hill and the berries would be there.

So on we went with our gallon jugs and soon we were picking away while listening to others conversations while they picked as well. My daughter did not do so much picking as dancing around while eating all the big fat blueberries she could get her hands on. She also asked some question about the upside down plastic cups hanging in the bushes. Which apparently are there to catch the flies from the manure. YUM!

So after we filled a couple jugs we made our way back down the hill.





After all that we went back and picked up my farm share and paid for the blueberries. I just love Dwight Miller Orchards and if you want to know more about them check them out here



After all this we did make a lot of stuff over the past 2 weeks with these blueberries including some refrigerator jam and oatmeal blueberry cookies. We had the jam one day on french toast as suggested by my good friend Jenny.



Here is the cookie recipe which turned out wicked good!

Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies


1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oats (old-fashioned or quick-cooking)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup fresh blueberries

1.Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl beat the butter, oil and sugars until creamy; beat in the egg and vanilla.
3.Add the flour, oats, baking soda and salt and stir until combined; add the blueberries and fold them in.
4.Use a cookie scoop and drop onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

This makes about 2 dozen cookies.





I wish we had picked even more! I just love blueberries!