DO YOU EVER?

Do you ever have a thought cross your mind, kind of like, "Humm, I'll bet four extra large eggs are too many for this pie, even though the recipe says four eggs. I better only put in three, because after all, they are extra large?" And then the thought disappears, because you seem to be drafty, and then when the pie flows all over the place you remember.

Me too. And I'm taking this pie to Achievement Days tomorrow to show the girls one of the joys of Rhubarb Buttermilk Pie.

And not only that, the timer just went off, the pie has been in the oven an HOUR and the toothpick came out juicy.

I love it when I get to show the girls how not to do stuff. I'm nothing if I'm not a bad example. Everyone should have a bad example in their lives. It makes life bearable somehow, knowing you are superior to someone else.

I need to find someone who's worse at all things homemaking-ish than I am. Then life will be sweet. Like pie.

FRIDAY THE 4TH OF JUNE

I had a birthday present for one of the grandkids and so they came to get it. Instead of wrapping it I sent everyone on a treasure hunt. After that, they stayed and played. Here are some of the photos I took.

These old guns have gotten lots of use through the years. One of the darts has been on our neighbors roof for a year.

This mother of seven was just lucky to find two shoes for the two year old.

Playing Mother May I? I think this was "you may take five giant leaps."

This is the mother of seven of these kids.

I tried to get her catching some air and cut her poor little head off. Sorry Willow.

I love to photograph this kid. Look at those perfect freckles.

If you are ever w/out clothes, rhubarb leaves can substitute.

Hats!

The baby of the family is learning how to load the gun.

One driver and one rear-engine, the engine helped keep things moving fast with great leg action. A time or two the engine fell off. You just cannot trust these modern vehicles.

Getting ready for a catch.

The man I love. This is the great rhubarb bed.Sleeping sisters.Waking up. Every single get-together has rhubarb eating. First you peel it and salt it.

And then you eat it. Yum! This Bailey boy can out eat everyone when it comes to rhubarb.Eating rhubarb is hard work and requires lots of resting.

It was a great day with 10 of the grandkids here. How I love them.

GOING GREEN

Some of our grandchildren

take "going green" seriously.

Some take to totally seriously.
And some find it a total snore.

CHECK OUT THE RHUBARB FRUIT LEATHER

If you want to make fruit leather but a quart or two of berries are just too expensive, consider this: rhubarb leather. The rhubarb is free, the sugar isn't expensive and neither is Kool Aid®.

Click here to get the recipe.

BEFORE AND AFTER--RHUBARB BLISS

Yesterday the grandkids picked rhubarb. Some of them made hats and then... ...the rhubarb was peeled and salted and they had their first bite.

They loved it. They loved it so much they had more.

" Oh, my. This is so good we can hardly stand it."

So they had some more.

Yes, those girls ate a whole piece, bit by bit.

A younger grandchild had some.

"Humm. Not bad."

" Yup, actually it's pretty darn good."

This youngster knows how delicious rhubarb really is.

Yes indeed. Rhubarb, the fruit of the Gods.

PS Remind me to teach you how to make rhubarb fruit leather. It's fantastic. Really, it is.

SNOW ON THE LAWNSWINGS

This is the scene in a friend's back yard. The stream is full of icy water, the ground is covered with snow. Isn't spring here? Maybe not.

Last week we sat on the lawn swings in the sun. Yesterday we sat in the lawn swings. Okay, we wore coats but we sat there. Not today.

But you can't fool the Mother Nature. She knows the date. Spring was officially five days ago. And in another few days I will go forth and harvest the first bounties of spring. I will peel and salt the first tender morsels. I will share with any grandchild that comes. Mmm. Rhubarb! Springs first gift.

A DAY IN THE SUN

It's warm here today. Hooray! We spent the day on the lawn swings. Friends stopped by. We visited. More friends stopped by. We visited more. It was a great afternoon.



Tuesday found the LAST OF THE SHOW! She made a Snow Man.

Kind of.

Here she is with a Turkey Lip. Do you have Turkey Lips in your family? My mom always said, "Your lip is so big a turkey could roost on it." Her theory was that then I would laugh and the pouting would be over. I'm not sure it worked. I was a serious pouter. Tuesday demonstrates a Turkey Lip.

Then she gets over it.

Her mother couldn't convince her to put her shoes on the right feet.

And finally, all is right with the world. The lawn swings are out, the sun was shining and the rhubarb is up. In a week--if we have good weather--we'll be peeling, salting and eating our first pieces. Mmmm. Come on over, I'll peel and salt a piece for you. Or two. Or ten.