Charlotte Hausfield

If you have children in the home that are old enough to color and read, you might want to take advantage of this great site that sends an email every week with free samples of their books’ pages. The site is Dover Publications and they are a fantastic resource for parents and teachers. Dover publishes a variety of coloring books, paper dolls, clip art, and children’s theme-based activity kits. I love getting an email every week with a dozen new free samples to download or print for the children to have on a rainey day. If this is something that interests you, go their website and click on the tab that says “Free Samples” and you can sign up online.

This morning it seems that everything I reached for on the pantry shelf and refrigerator shelf had an expired date. I usually will use something if it is within a month of the expiration date on t he can, except for obvious things like milk and fresh meats. So I took the opportunity to go ahead and clean out the shelves and re-organize the pantry. I threw out a lot of stuff and probably won’t replace much of it. If it’s been on the shelf so long that it’s expired then I must not have much use for it after all.

Is school out for the summer where you live? In this area schools are all let out by Memorial Day. They seem to stagger their last days throughout the end of May. My children were finished up by May 20, and their last day was really only a half day for them to report to their classroom and pick up their report cards. It was also a good time to send a little gift to the teacher and the librarian as a nice thank you for all they did for us over the past year.

It seems everyone in my neighborhood has decided to focus on their yards and landscaping this year. Three of the neighbors on the north side has gone in together and hired a lawn care company to come cut their collective lawns. I’m a little offended that they didn’t ask me if I wanted to go in with them. I also find it really odd that no one from the lawn care company has approached me about hiring them since they are in the neighborhood and right next door at least once every week.

So today I bought two large black vinyl rats and set them out by the mailbox. I think I’ll start decorating my yard in a goth style and mess with their heads.

One of my favorite drinks to order when I’m out for a fun social evening is a white russian. It is a sipping drink, so I take my time and enjoy every sip without getting drunk. It’s easy to make, just pour equal parts vodka, kahlua and very cold fresh cream into a glass over ice. The cream is what makes the drink “white.”

It’s also easy to drink equal parts vodka and kahlua without the cream. If you make it without cream it’s called a black russian.