Quick Takes

1. The left shift key on my keyboard is not working and it's driving me nuts. In order to make a captial I, I have to change thirty years of habit ~ and my whole brain function to hit the right shift key with my right pinky, while simultaneously hitting the I with my right middle finger. Ack. It doesn't sound like a big thing, but it's just annoying enough to make me throw my hands in the air and quit typing. Particularly since I've had a headache the last few days (the remnants of a minor virus). And a dull headache is a lot like a broken left shift key. Not enough to keep me from getting things done, but enough to make. me. really. testy. Especially if it's paired up with a broken shift key. (Sorry, folks. It's not all about me; it's all about I...)

2. Because I've had this pesky headache, and have been feeling just under the weather, I haven't been getting many check marks on my to-do list this week. I haven't re-washed the winter coats, and I haven't gotten organized enough to get our garden markers started, but we have done a lot of work on the garden, particularly the perennial beds ~ where we dug out our Mary-garden plot. But, that's been all we've accomplished toward honoring Our Lady so far this first week of May. Which makes me sad.

I haven't been on the ball enough to get much more than that done. I haven't even properly posted in honor of Our Lady yet! (It's the left shift key in my brain, I'm tellin ya'...) Our shrine to the Blessed Mother is still full of flowers and decorations from Easter, but we haven't added to it, as I would have liked, and instead of a new crown for May, Our Blessed Mother still has the old one on. =sigh= But, maybe I can still catch up? I do hope to post on some of the lesser-known apparitions of Our Lady as the month progresses, and I'm hoping to work on both our indoor and outdoor shrine, too, as we go along.

3. Which leads me to the subject of something we've almost accomplished this week. We're this close to ordering the statue for our outdoor shrine. The problem is that we can't choose between the two pictured at the left. The one on top is of Our Lady of Grace, and is about two feet tall; the one on bottom is just entitled Praying Mary, and is about three feet tall. The smaller statue is half the price of the taller one, but everyone prefers the taller one.

Don't ya hate that? I'd hate to get the smaller one and always regret that we didn't kick in for the one we really wanted... Over several years, we've saved up our loose coins in a coffee can under the computer. The rule has been that any "found" change, without legitmate claim was Our Lady's money: it goes in the can. In this way, we've saved almost $200 ~ which is more than we need for the smaller statue, and not enough for the larger. And though we all like the larger statue, I'm not sure I can justify adding money to the till for it, with so many other expenses piling up around here. Bother. I think we're going to have to put this in the Blessed Mother's hands and see what she wants us to do.

4. Speaking of expenses...

One thing we did accomplish this week: we got our new goats, thanks to Dan and Kevvy!

Getting them home was a trick, though. Since we (stupidly) sold our horse trailer when we moved a few years ago, we had to tote the goats home in the back of the truck. Regardless of the short tethers tied to the truck bed, though, the goats were determined (as only a goat can be) to jump into traffic, so Kevvy had to hold them by their collars, with his arm out the back window of the truck the whole long way home. The stinkers. Good thing Kevvy is such a good sport ~ and has such strong arms! Anyway, here they are, safe and sound.

Meet "Sweety" (top, with Gabe) and "Tim" (bottom, with William). Sweety is a registered Nubian doe and Tim is an Alpine-mix wether (a how-shall-we-say-- fixed male). We'll breed Sweety this fall to be in milk come early spring of next year. And Tim's basic purpose is to be Sweety's sidekick and entertain the children. He's a "kisser" ~ meaning he'll lick the kids' faces if they get close enough to him. Fun, fun if you're a kid. (But, I personally keep my face far away from Tim.)

5. Since I've been outdoors in the garden and working with the animals a lot the last couple of weeks, I've gotten the start of a good farmer's tan. And a farmer's tan works just fine for me ~ all I need tanned is my face, my arms below my short sleeves, and, please Sister Sun, the tops of my feet and the bottoms of my calves. Why is it that my arms will easily bronze to a Mowgli-the-Jungle-Boy, brown, but the bottoms of my legs which have been sticking out of the bottoms of my capris for the same time that my arms have been sticking out of my sleeves end up blindingly white? All I want is to wear sandles and a skirt without having to deal with panty hose. Or have my legs flashing like white beacons as I walk.

My son, Kevin, and my daughter, Theresa, walk outside the first day of spring, and they are instantly 100% tan ~ and they stay that way the whole summer. Makes me sick. Some kind of genetic pigmentation mutation they must have gotten from their father's side of the family. But, I don't really want or need that. All I want is mildly tanned calves and feet. That's not asking much, is it?

Yes, I know. Silly, isn't it? (Am I the only one who has this problem?)

6. Pesky tanning issues notwithstanding, the change of the seasons holds so many good things to look forward to. For instance, now that the weather is warming up and the mint is sprouting, our thoughts turn to our favorite cold drink:

Blueberry, Pineapple Smoothie

2 cups frozen blueberries (or raspberry and blueberries, mixed), slightly thawed

1 cup chilled pineapple juice

1 - 2 tablespoons honey

5-10 mint leaves

1 8-ounce carton vanilla nonfat yogurt (optional)

app. 4 oz vodka (optional for the adult, end-of-the-week, might-as-well-live-it-up version)

Dump it all in the blender, and blend until smooth. Garnish with mint leaves. Yum!

* I know, it seems like a strange mix of flavors, doesn't it? But it's a healthful antioxidant and is really refreshing ~ with or without the alcohol.

7. It's also that time of year, when little boys do little boy things. They feed weeds to the goats, they chase the chickens, they swing on the swings, they play in the dirt, they climb trees and scale fences... This is the first time I saw William climb a fence, and though he was supremely confident and really very adept, I had to wince as I watched. Do you see him there in photos four and five? We have such busy Guardian Angels around here!

Little Farmboy Fence Climbing 101

It's easy, Mommy.

** For more Quick Takes, run over and visit Jennifer at Conversion Diary.