this week

 This week was heavy winds which blew the top out of a tall pine tree along our driveway. It missed Estelle by a few inches. That was Monday morning, and Tuesday morning brought a dusting of snow. Yesterday was rainy, cold, and windy, and today is just the same, but the it is raining harder than it did yesterday. All month, I have been looking forward to my trip to Los Angeles this weekend, knowing it would be sunny and warm there. As it turns out, the expected high is only 61, and rain is forecasted for every day of the weekend.

 This week was lots of time spent by the fire, reading good books and playing games. The cat slept in his cozy chair all day, waking only to go outside for a few minutes. My husband made a Kentucky Derby pie last night, and we ate huge slices and drank lots of coffee and played pinochle. The busy farm season is almost upon us, and so we are all enjoying the last few weeks of slower paced winter evenings.

This week was discovering an activity which will keep Stuart occupied for hours. It is lots of little plastic circles, with plastic peg boards to put them on. You can make patterns on them, or (Stuart's favorite) use your little tractors, wagons, and construction toys to scoop them up, dump them back out, bulldoze them in to piles, and  load them in to the big dump truck. My friend Regina gave these to me years ago, and my older children would play with them every once in a while. Stuart is crazy about them!

This week was also discovering that I can successfully bake bread in my counter top roasting oven. Stuart loves to help me make bread, and came running in to the kitchen as soon as he saw me getting the flour canister down. The bread made in the roaster is not quite as good as using an oven (the bottom does not brown) but I am so happy to have hot, fresh bread again!

This week was also late night bowling with my sisters and my little girls, cribbage at our favorite coffee shop, afternoons visiting my mother, a planning meeting for the fundraising tea I am organizing, and packing for my trip. Books read, school work done, walks taken, bread baked, puzzles started, meeting friends for swimming, and new recipes tried. My flight leaves early tomorrow morning, and even though the trip is for a sad reason (my last Uncle on my father's side passed away), I am looking forward to a weekend exploring LA with my sisters. We have plans for Rodeo Drive and Disney fireworks in the late evening. I am bringing my camera and my husband tells me to play tourist and photograph everything interesting. I don't want to appear gauche on Rodeo Drive, but I know I will see lots of interesting things, and I certainly won't be buying!