Birthday Week

Its my birthday week. I received a beautiful box of flowers EARLY from my dad because he got mixed up and sent my sisters birthday flowers to me (her birthday is May 5th and mine is May 11th.) I’ll take flowers any time!! I love them. They are a ruffled tulip which I’ve only seen while on my trip to Amsterdam a couple years back. I woke up early this morning and baked a quiche with a homemade crust. It was delicious. Lambert took me to my favorite nursery after breakfast. I didn’t go to shop, I just took pictures. We stayed about an hour and then hit a bike trail where we came across these beautiful berries. (I wasn’t brave enough to pick them, read on below to see why) When we returned home, I was thrilled to see my little home schoolers already doing their studies. They are SO OVER IT!! School ends May 15th for us and it can’t get here fast enough. We stained our back deck over the weekend so Hoot and I moved all the furniture back and tidied up. We even put our swimsuits on for a 1 minute dip in the pool. The kids stayed in a little longer, but it needs to be a lot warmer outside before I can take it. Have yall been watching the moon? I think something special is supposed to happen tomorrow night, but I’ve been watching it from the deck each night this week. I just want to get out of the house!!! Who doesn’t? I’m preparing for a kids art workshop this Friday so tomorrow I am going to the art supply to pick up a few supplies. I’m anxiously waiting on the rest of my wallpaper to come in so I can finish my office re-do and share it. Im also waiting on some soap making supplies to come so I can start a soap project. I’m thinking we might take a day trip to Galveston in the next couple days. I would LOVE to visit my favorite gallery, but I’m almost certain they are still closed. I feel like I have a lot of loose ends to do around the house so I’m a little antsy. We’re waiting on our insurance so we can get started with making the repairs to our house (from the storm last week). I know it’s going to be a huge project so I’m not looking forward to that. I don’t think I’ve shared with you about my little allergic reaction situation. We had raised beds installed in our side yard last year and I really hadn’t done anything with them so I felt pressure to get started. I’ve been researching Wattle Fencing and edges in raised beds. I love the way it looks and I was certain I could DIY it… I talked Lambert into riding bikes over to a park that was full of long vines that would be perfect for my wattle border project. I took my clippers and went to town clipping my vines to adorn my raised beds. Lambert told me he thought it looked like Poison Sumac was intertwined with the vines I was harvesting…. He had a terrible allergic reaction to sumac when we were first married and he wouldn’t even help me harvest. I was slightly annoyed by his lack of enthusiasm and unwillingness to help me! I gathered up all my vines and draped them across my lap (bare legs because I was wearing sport shorts) and proceeded home. I thought something was biting me on the way home. I felt a burning stinging sensation on my thighs. I worked on my beds until dark and came in and took a shower. I didn’t see any bite marks and I felt fine before bed. It wasn’t until I woke up the next morning that I realized I had a severe allergic reaction to the sumac… My thighs were so swollen and itchy I could hardly stand it. I took a lot of benedryl and many oatmeal baths all day. The next day the rash was all over my hands, arms and face and my legs were worse! I was afraid it was spreading, but I learned that the reaction doesn’t happen all at once. It can continue to appear days after the contact with the plant. I was a mess. Thankfully, a dose of prednisone and continued benedryl has helped a lot. I hate when Lambert is right, but he was 100% right on this one. I will NEVER harvest vines again! I’m working on plan B… I can buy grapevine garland at Hobby Lobby or I can use twigs instead of vines but I will still have to harvest… After this experience I may just wait till the fall to take on this DIY project.