The week started SO COLD (we were in the 20's even during the day) and it lasted all day Monday and into Tuesday! I am afraid the apricot tree will have no fruit this year. And, the broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower are not looking promising. Weirdly though, the romaine lettuce seems to have survived. Here is our poor little apricot tree. I had trimmed off two very long branches when we first covered the tree, because it was hard to fit the sheet over them, and I put them in water in a vase in the house. One of the branches decided to sprout its leaves!
Tuesday morning, Steve and I had to drive downtown to the IRS office to "verify our identity". We got an official letter from them a week before asking for us to call to do this but I could never get through. The website was not helpful, either, so we just made an appointment to talk to them in person. We were told that these letters are sent at random, having no connection with current tax returns. If only it had not been so cold when I had to walk the pepper spray I keep in my purse back to the car! I didn't remember that I also keep a pair of children's scissors in my purse so they were almost confiscated when they were discovered in the x-ray!
We celebrated St. Patrick's day that evening at our house with Beckie and the Southerlands. I made the traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage and mashed potatoes. Emily brought a gorgeous fruit salad. Larkin enjoyed the marshmallow clouds. We had leftover banana cream pie (from Pi day) and green colored vanilla cake.
I finished Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull that day and Steve and I started watching Star Trek Discovery. It has five seasons so we have lots of happy viewing lying ahead of us.
Wednesday finally started to warm up. Steve and Fred and I walked for the first time this week. I filled out Sally's March Madness bracket (she prefers dog mascots. If no canine options, then she will chose an animal mascot. I have to report that currently, her choices were not so great). I also put away St. Patrick's Day decor and put up Easter.
Thursday, because of increasingly warm temperatures, I thought it a good time to give Sally a bath. While Steve attended the temple, I saw a nurse practitioner (I hardly ever see an actual doctor anymore - always nurse practitioners) for some issues with my heart. I had an EKG and it showed PVC's (not the pipe 😂) which manifest as palpitations. I will have a 48 hour Holter monitor this coming week and an echocardiogram the following week to check things out. The medical office is located next to a thrift store so I made a little visit there afterwards and found a wall clock to replace the one that fell and broke earlier in the week, a pillow insert for a sewing project, and two brand new Serta bed pillows. Later that day, I went to Lowes to buy some replacement window well covers (the others had holes due to hail) and a house plant I had seen the week previous but they had all been sold!!! So I bought a cute bonsai juniper instead. Steve and I watched the first part of an old nineties mini-series on Joseph of the Bible. We are reading about him in our Come Follow Me readings so it seemed appropriate.
Friday the thermometer continued to climb and we broke a record. It got up to 87 degrees and we turned on the AC for the first time since last fall!!! Steve and I left the house early to pick up Lucy and Quinn to take them to do baptisms at the temple. Emily picked them up an hour later and Steve and I stayed to do an endowment session. In the afternoon, while Steve took Fred to shop at Schnucks, I went to Home Depot and set up an appointment for a third estimate on our front picture window. Let's hope the third time is the charm.......Steve and I broke out the bikes for the first time in months and we rode over to the cemetery so I could take a few more photos for Billion Graves. Then, we watched the rest of Joseph when we got home.
Saturday, afternoon, Steve and I took Noah to the St. Louis Central Library to take a tour. It is a gorgeous building, built in the early 1900's with the help of Andrew Carnegie money, and it is a magnificent structure. With the help of an extremely knowledgeable guide, we had a great tour.
We topped off our outing with frozen custard at Ted Drewes before driving Noah back to Ballwin where I gave Quinn and Larkin piano lessons. Last night, we watched another Star Trek Discovery episode.
Today, Steve and I were officially released from our two-year Church service mission. It was so great to be able to serve. And, even though we are no longer "official", we will continue to serve by giving rides to and from English classes and to Monday morning gatherings.
I will close with a photo of the front flower bed. Happily, daffodils, crocus, and hyacinths can tolerate cold temperatures!
No comments:
Post a Comment