Beautiful Day!

I am so grateful for this beautiful day! It was nice enough to have the windows open for a little while before we got chilly. The girlies came home from school, had a snack, did school work, ate lunch, and then we headed down to Meme's house. I had actually planned to leave them all three there for the afternoon so I could finish up a few things around the house. Nice try. It didn't happen. I stayed down there for over an hour and spent most of my time digging up dandelions out of the flower beds. I had wanted to do that at home, but my flower beds are still far too muddy to even think about sitting in them. I really look forward to the day when it is warm enough (but not windy) and dry enough for me to get out there and dig. I'm anxious to get some things planted. But since we live in Kansas I can't really plan on a dry, warm, wind-free day. I can dream, though. When I tried to come back home alone I found I had two little followers. The twins wanted to come home with me to play while I worked. They don't cause any problems, though, so I brought them along. I got the laundry done and got supper ready while they played both inside and out.

We're supposed to have another weekend of wet weather, so I hope to get a chance to spend some time in the kitchen. I'm in the mood to play in there. When I was little I loved it when Mom cleaned out the fridge/cabinets/whatever so I (along with my cousin Jamie) could "cook" for the chickens. We had so much fun creating meals out of discarded jelly, bread, rice, etc. (whatever wasn't good enough for us to eat, basically). I remember it as being one of my favorite things to do. When we were at the farm over Spring Break the girls got to do the same thing. I'm pretty sure they got just as much joy out of it as I used to get. I think the kitchen now is like my chicken pen from years past. It's a fun place to play around and see what great things I can create! Anyway... I'd like to do some experimenting this weekend on some baking. I'm trying to decide if I want to spend my time perfecting my pie-making skills (I really dislike making crust and would like to become comfortable enough with it to enjoy it.), or try a new artisan-type bread recipe (I love the pretty breads and would love to be able to make them.), or maybe just try something fun. Who knows?! I'm sure the rest of the family would thoroughly enjoy a chocolate pie, so that's probably what I'm leaning toward. There's just nothing better than that homemade chocolate pudding (with Papa's eggs, no less!) with a homemade crust and a mile-high layer of meringue. Hungry yet? The recipe I use makes two pies...you'd better come visit!