Did I Spike My Tea?

 Last weekend we had the pleasure of entertaining family. I always find anticipating company will push me into a frenzy of cleaning. While that may be off-putting to some, it is just an incentive to do all the things I have been putting off. Doesn't matter if it is family, I still like to have everything in order and I really appreciate my efforts after the visit has ended.

Of course I don't have the room necessary to actually bed down extra guests, there are plenty of other options available. Air B&B's hotels and such. This part of the family belongs to the HeWho side of the family. His cousin and his family that we have not seen in many years. A party of 7, they chose to stay in an air b&b not far from our tiny abode.

I like to cook for crowds, but the stove situation did not allow that to happen. I have a very large old library table on the porch that can easily seat 10, but it is still too cool in the late afternoons for that to be comfortable. So, as a result, we visited eateries for the most part.

We had recently happened upon one place quite by accident two weeks ago and found the food and service to be excellent, so of course we took the party there one night. Friday night all you can eat fish and shrimp with all the fixins .... except for one strange thing here in the south. No cheese grits! 

I was surprised that it was not on the menu. Everything else was definitely southern cooking. Upon being seated and giving your drink orders, the server asks if you would like some biscuits. Fresh warm biscuits come out to the table, one per person, totally complimentary with a side of warm homemade applebutter. It was like dessert before your entree. The pricing is reasonable and the portions large. Free refills on beverages (something that other restaurants in this area are not doing anymore). It is off the beaten path on the way to Murphy and has become our new favorite place to dine.

That being said, I am tired of eating out. The youngest in the group was a 7 year old boy with gorgeous eyes and an unquenchable curiosity. He was apt to talk non-stop and on Saturday I made the mistake of telling him I would show him how to get down the ravine. My thoughts were to show him and give him a walking stick and go down just a short way with him. That little stinker made me go a lot farther down that I wanted to! I literally ended up sort of crawling back up and am still feeling the consequences of that!

My muscles are not yet accustomed to hiking a ravine .... if they ever were. I hurt all over the next day. Icy hot is my new best friend, but I slept quite well after keeping up with him! This is why old people do not have young children!

After the 4 day visit, the weather warmed nicely and I have been spending several hours every day in the She Shed. Progress is slow, but I have emptied and sorted several large bins. The thread display is up and all the ribbons and paints are sorted and hanging. There were several plastic containers of assorted things that had to be seperated and put in order. I packed quickly for the move and a lot of stuff was pretty much shoved into the bins where there was room. Buttons and snaps were mixed with screws and nails and sewing machine parts.

 That was time consuming to sort. Not as bad as the tiny electonic crystals I needed a magnifying glass to sort by type and frequency when we had the pager recrystaling business, but still tedious. Just about the time I think I have conquered all the bins with spare parts, I find another one.

Walking up the driveway I am noticing signs of spring. I have some miniature lilies blooming and I see the daffodils and tulips fighting their way out of the mulch. I am ready for spring. Just itching to start the next layer of mulch and get some seeds started. 

I planted some lettuce yesterday and put that container in my makeshift green house. My rosemary is still growing in my kitchen window and I started some basil seeds in my little greenhouse. I find the laziness of winter falling away.

I dispatched HeWho procrastinates to the tag office to register the boat and will now begin nagging about getting the boat into the shop to test everything out, replace the carpet and weld the hole in the pontoon. HeWho swears the "fix" he did on the pontoon is water tight, though how he could know that is a mystery to me! I will happily pay a professional to check it out to not find myself in the middle of the lake listing to one side. I can swim, but not that well. I suppose I would make it to shore through sheer will power, but I really don't want to!

My sleepy time tea is digesting as I am writing. Being well aquainted to insomnia, I am pulling out all the tricks tonight .... I may have spiked my tea!