eventful day

Nope, no baby yet, but what qualifies as eventful in my mind has changed proportionately with the lack of things I'm doing because of this blood pressure thing. I have been getting a lot of reading done, and Adam's been getting tons of housework and chore-y stuff done. Here's what took place today:

Sitting in the hammock chair, sleeping on the hammock, enjoying the beautiful weather and reading outside. (Also had two loads of laundry on our new clothesline - it was a perfect clothes drying day!)

Adam cleaned out the shed! Garbage pick up is this week (not just regular collection, but big-item spring pick up), and we had some things to get rid of. So Adam emptied the shed (phew, it needed it!) and I sorted and organized the many plant pots and supplies. Mostly I sat in a camp chair and supervised, as I was instructed. It's like a whole new shed, and you can actually get in and out safely and efficiently, locating what you need when you need it! Fabulous.

The Purolator delivery person brought diaper covers I ordered from Valley Cloth Diapers! They're Bummis Super Whisper Wraps, and they're apparently great with prefolds. I'm eager to try them out on baby G's cute bottom! One of them has a very cute frog pattern on it.

I made hasselback potatoes for supper (from a Nigella Lawson book I borrowed from the library). Mmmmmmmmmmmm. I also made a bean salad of sorts, a mix of canned beans, grated mozzarella cheese, chopped jarred jalapenos, and frozen corn, with a little oregano and basil. Also mmmmmmmm-worthy. And then my blood pressure was up, so I resumed doing more nothing!

ode to a cherry tree

This is our japanese cherry tree as of a few minutes ago. I would have bought this property without a house, because of this tree.
I think it's one of the largest of its kind in the area, and I don't think that's just because it's ours. It's HUGE compared to most which you see around here.


I hope baby G is born and gets to see it before the blooms are gone.

les fleurs

Some more adorable tiny daffodils have just opened. I like how they droop.
And I planted some lobelia in a planter on the back step the other day - they're so pretty!

rhubarb custard wonderfulness #290

This is post 290 - wow, that's so many! Although our rhubarb is still pretty wimpy, some friends of ours have the biggest, baddest rhubarb anywhere. It's up to my waist, and the leaves are as big around as the hole that's made when I make a circle with my arms. (I guess the hole looks a little smaller since baby G is filling it in a bit, but the leaves are GIANT.) We were there the other night for birthday fireworks (much more successful than the most recent New Year's ones), and I was kindly offered some rhubarb to bring home. Which I did, and made this rhubarb custard pie recipe given to me by mother-in-law (I'm not sure where she got it from). It is divine, to put it mildly. The crust pictured is not the crust in the recipe; this one is Adam friendly and has only butter, flour, salt, and water in it. You could put the filling in any crust, really. Even a store one, although that would NOT be so yummy. Following is the original recipe:

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Crust:
1 3/4 c flour
3 tbsp sugar
pinch salt
(combine)
1/2 c butter
1/2 c shortening
(cut in)
1/3 c ice water, approximately (just enough to hold dough together)

Press into ball and flatten into disc. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll and lay in a 9x13 pan or a deep dish pie dish (it will not fit with the filling in a regular small pie plate and you'll end up with a big mess).

Filling:
3 eggs
1 c sugar
3 tbsp flour
(whisk together)
Stir in 4 c chopped rhubarb. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 325 and bake for 35-45 minutes or until middle is well set.