House Update, May 2009

It's been busy, busy, busy around the Swanger abode lately! While the weather continues to be nice, we have been focusing on outside projects but there have also been some pretty drastic changes to the house on the inside as well. For instance check out the before and after pictures of the great room in the back of the house:

Here are some "Before" pictures:

And here are some "After" pictures:

This is our new light fixture by the back door

This was what our house looked like in 2007 when you came down the street:

This is what our house looks like now when you drive down the street (some of the plants have exploded over the past 2-3 years):

Babies....again!

I was outside taking some pictures of our lanscaping in the front yard, and this is what I found.....

I actually think we have already met...the other day on the sidewalk, but as long as he/she stays out of the back yard, everything will be okay!

Delayed Easter Pictures

I had to share some of these pictures of my niece, Josie! She is 4 years old (as of Mother's Day) and ready to take on the world. She has started to become quite the "fashionista" and likes to dress up!

For her birthday she got lots of fun clothes (some from her fun Aunt Blythe and Aunt Melissa) and she got mad when someone tried to put them away for her to open the next gift.

She is a lot of fun and can talk your ear of these days!

Josie was caught enjoying one of Grandma's yummy homemade rolls! She even managed to help her Mom and Aunt Blythe make them earlier in the day and made some "Jojo rolls"!

Here she is showing of her wonderful spunk and smile!

Seeds of Hope Community Garden Blessing of the Seeds

Last Saturday about 20 people gathered at the Seeds of Hope Community Garden for a Blessing of the Seeds. It was a nice way for the gardeners to meet each other and have a time of prayer and fellowship. Most of the plots have been planted and lots of things are starting to sprout and grow.

There are several beginners and several experienced gardeners in the mix. It has also been neat as one of the other local churches has a youth Sunday School class that would like to work on the Hot Meals plot. Everything grown in the plot will go towards serving people in the community. Having the help of these students will be great and my hope is that they learn a lot as well and it sparks their interest in gardening.

Scott and I have a plot as well and we put in a wide variety of fruits and veggies and most everything seems to be doing well! Here are some pictures!

Paul and his dog Kinsey working in their plot with help from Little Jay

Roxie & Chris's plot starting to bloom and grow!

Gotta love the Smokies!

Not much new to report here at the homestead. Scott is still working on our great room getting it ready for primer. He hit a few hiccups with the first coat of primer so it has of course taken longer than originally planned.

I was supposed to be a garden group today but it was cancelled due to the weather so I decided instead to update my blog and add a picture that makes me happy any time I see it! I love this picture from our trip last year to the Smokies. Isn't it beautiful??

Hail, Hail to Old Purdue!

Yesterday I spent April Fools Day driving to Purdue to attend a meeting for the Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association. I didn't realize that most of the schools have their own alumni association in addition to the Purdue Alumni Association.

Anyway, the drive there and back was uneventful and the meeting was great. The Veterinary Alumni Association want to ensure that Technicians graduating from Purdue feel like part of the Veterinary Alumni--not just for Veterinarians. They asked myself and several other Technician Alumni to sit on the board and help promote the association to Technicians.

The meeting was held in the Dauch Alumni building and I had never seen the building so that was neat too. It always amazes me how much the campus changes each time I visit!

Here is the inside of the Spurgeon Hall of Spirit. The Boilermaker Special is a complete replica of the engine that goes around campus on game day...right down to the rivets...those engineers!!

By the way, have you joined your Purdue Alumni Association lately??? See, on the job already!

Babies are cute in any species!

When I came into work today I found out one of the surgeries today was a Labrador that needed a cesarean section. She was expecting 9-10 puppies and the breeder didn't want her to deliver without assistance. Surgery went really well and she delivered 10 healthy puppies (with some help from the BRAC crew). Mom and all of her babies went home as soon as mom could get up and move around. No rest for the weary huh? And we think it's rough to breast feed one baby and take care of it....imagine 9-10 mouths wanting food all the time! One of the boys weighed in at 1 pound, that is HUGE for a puppy.

Here are some pictures from today!

Seeds of Hope Community Garden

For the past two years I have helped with the landscaping at my church here in Columbus. It has been a lot of fun and a great way to get to know some of the members of the church. It even inspired me to take the Master Gardening Program through the Purdue extension.

The leader of the landscape group asked me to take on another project for this summer. He wanted to build a community garden on a vacant lot that the Church owns. So for the past month or so we have been working together to get the ground and the information ready to begin the Seeds of Hope Community Garden.

To date, we have prepared the area for the 15 available garden plots and will till, add compost, and mulch as the plots are reserved. I have also worked on getting the Registration and Garden Information in written format.

The goal is to provide a place for people to have a garden when they might not be able otherwise and build community at the same time with our neighbors. There will also be at least 1 plot dedicated to growing produce for our Hot Meals Program at First United Methodist Church.

I will try to post pictures over the summer to document our progress!

Seattle Eggs

I just had to share a picture from this morning of our breakfast. These are what I call "Seattle Eggs" as they were first made for me by my Aunt Jane and Uncle Scott who live in Seattle. I don't make them too often, especially when the weather is crummy as I don't want to stand outside at our grill (still remodeling and without a kitchen).

Well, this morning while it was a little chilly it wasn't too bad to stand outside and cook the eggs on the side burner. I love making them because they are super easy and they taste great! In the Bennington house they are called "Blythie Eggs" as I showed Laura and Jeremy how to make them!

They are super easy:

Scrambled Eggs (I used Egg Beaters with milk and they tasted the same)
Chopped Green onions (I used 3 today) added once the eggs have set up a little
Lite Cream Cheese (again, the "lite" and the amount are up to you, but I probably used 2-3 tbsp)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Toast

I wanted to add some Canadian bacon, but alas, we were out!

Try them and let me know what you think!

The joys of auto repair

I must start this post by first thanking the Benningtons for letting me "hang" at their house along with providing lunch and a fun trip to the park today while my car was serviced in Greenwood, so thanks Jeremy, Laura, Tessa, Charley, Hayden, and Rosie for a great time while I waited! :)

Okay, now I have to share my recent experience at a dealership to be unamed, but if you know what kind of car I drive right now, you will be able to easily figure it out! So anyway, last Friday on my way home I stopped by said dealership to schedule an appointment for some "routine" maintenance that was now due. I also wanted to have the oil changed, tires rotated, and the sunroof checked as it has been giving me some trouble. So the estimate I received was high, but I figured it would be a pricey visit.

Today I arrived at the dealership and reviewed again the previous estimate and signed my life away. I must add that they did in fact get me a rental car and they are paying for the cost of the car while mine is being serviced, to this I give Kudos as the cost of the rental is a drop in the bucket compared to what I will be paying them later this week.

Well, a few hours later I got a phone call from the service assistant and after she rattled off another long list of recommended services (some were optional, some weren't--replace oil pan, fix a bracket on the engine,etc) my new estimate was more than double the original...in the $2000 range, oi vey!!! At this point I have her email a copy of the estimate to both Scott and I and then I call him on my cell phone to see what he thinks. There were several words not to be repeated in front of small children and he even called our service assistant to "discuss" the estimate.

Bottom line, my car is still in the shop, I still have a rental car and as much as we both hate to pay for the new oil pan (Scott figured out he can replace it for a fourth of the cost quoted today) I think we are going to have to have them do the work as Scott is probably going to be traveling starting tomorrow and I need wheels for work.

To be continued later this week...

Master Gardener Status

It is official--I have completed all of my volunteer hours and am now officially considered a Master Gardener. I have heard there will be some kind of ceremony at some point where I will get my name tag. I am going to try to continue accruing hours to work on my Advanced Master Gardener status...in the midst of everything else!

Saturdays

Since I have worked at my job I have never routinely had Saturday's as a day off. I have been so used to getting up early and heading into work while most of the population gets to sleep in and enjoy a cup of coffee and the newspaper for as long as they wanted.

Well, for the past couple of months I have had most Saturday's off and while they still manage to be busy with errands, family events, and various activities, I decided to take today off! Scott and I both slept in and enjoyed our coffee, newspaper, and Norm (PBS home improvement guy). It was great! I managed to take a nap this afternoon as well while Scott worked on texturing the ceiling in the great room. I will post pictures later when it isn't so messy and wet back there.

Chloe, Molly, and Bear even got in on the relaxation!

Scott and I were joking that Chloe looks like she has been sleeping all night in a park with only the latest news to keep her warm! She even managed to get onto her back with all four feet in the air covered up with her newspaper. It was pretty cute!