transplants

A few weeks ago, we spotted almost twenty milkweed plants growing in our side yard that faces the public eye.  While we wanted to save them, we also know that our yard needs to look presentable.  I asked my oldest son to transplant as many as he could to a garden plot in the back yard, and he was able to rescue three of them from the imminent jaws of the lawn mower.  He and I are pretty excited that they’ve taken to their new spot, and, despite looking like crooked old men, they appear to be thriving.  I planted some milkweed seeds (a gift from a friend, who knows me well) in the same little garden plot this spring, but they haven’t sprouted yet.  Maybe some of the seeds were moved to the side yard by the industrious squirrels who inhabit our yard?  I’d like to think that the seedlings we transplanted were from my friend’s seeds!  My dad gave me some bee balm seeds from his garden, and those were put in near the milkweed.  So far there hasn’t been any action from them, either, or maybe there has been?  I’m still learning which of the plants I see are weeds, and which are intentional!  Usually I just have to let plants grow until I can tell, and even then I have doubts!

Our transfer this past fall was pretty abrupt.  We’re still processing our new surroundings eight months later!  We think of ourselves as transplants from Maryland, but in the process of putting down deep roots: growing and thriving, and learning, too.  It takes about a year for me to figure out the flow and what we need in a new house, and how to make it work for us.  Wintertime means hibernation, but the warmer weather puts me in the mood for another huge purge of clothes and toys, which will hopefully help streamline our tidying efforts.  Right now I’m struggling with our hand-me-downs.  I don’t know if we’ll need them again!  Z has said, more than once, “As soon as you get rid of our baby clothes, you’ll have another baby!” Ha. There’s a lot of hope in her voice.

One big change has been moving Little M out of the crib in our bedroom and into her own room.  I broke down the crib and tucked it into storage.  My husband and I have had babies sleeping in our room (and in our bed!) for the last fourteen years, so—WOW—we don’t quite know what to do with the space!  I have grand plans of framing some of my needlework and hanging it over a desk in the corner where the crib used to be.  It will be fantastic to have a private nook for early morning reading and planning.  I have a mountain of pre-reading for Z’s freshman year of high school, and I visualize the books in a neat stack, all right where I need them.

Since all three of our family's June birthdays fall within the Apostles' Fast this year, I baked a cake this weekend for a delicious dairy-and-egg celebration.  I used the Double Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe from my Loveless Cafe dessert book.  It, like every recipe I've tried from the book, did not disappoint.  The cake would have been perfect by itself, but I paired it with Alicia Paulson's cheater frosting instead of the one recommended.  (I'm itching to try Alicia's Cloudburst Frosting, but was short on time.) Rich, decadent, over-the-top--in short, the cake was a delightful end to a feasting period, and has us ready to begin the fast tomorrow morning!