Well, Spring started out strange.  It started with a Winter Storm that gave us 8 or more inches of snow and temps in the 30's and wind chill in the teens.  I was going to upload a picture but our internet has been so slow the past couple of weeks.  It was 70 degrees the day before the storm and 70 degrees a couple of days after. 
About the internet, I am so disgusted with our satellite service.  They say that if a customer uses more bandwith than their plan allows , they will slow you down.  The son and I were trying to figure out what in the world we had done to exceed our limits.  It does no good to call cause they will always say it is something we done.  I believe this is only a way to rip us off and not provide our service.  We pay for  the highest plan available and it is supposed to be very hard to exceed your limits.  Anyways, I am ticked off.  I am thinking about going with mobile broadband with my cellular company. 
Last week one of my nephews and his wife had their first baby, a little girl.  This is my youngest sister's grandbaby.  It is now official.  My two sisters and brother are grand-parents, and Ritzy and I are still waiting.........
I have been making some deer jerky in between baking all that bread.  It turned out pretty good, so I hear.  (Would post a picture of that if the internet was normal.)  I just loaded both dehydrators and am waiting on more to be done. 
I have been hungry for tamales.  I have made them once before.  They require a little work but they are certainly worth it.  I bought the ingredients to make them last night, so in the next few days we will have homemade tamales for dinner. YUMMMMMY!!!!
We have potatoes and onions planted in the garden.  I just hope it stays dry enough to plant the rest.  This week looks wet tho. 
After all that snow melting, the yard is a big waterhole.  We live at the bottom of a little hill, and get all the runoff. 
It is hard to believe that next Wednesday, I will be 51.  Don't have anything planned, yet.  May tell Ritzy that I am not going to cook on my birthday and if he wants to eat, it will be out.....hahaha!!!!
That's about all I have for now..................Ritzywife out..........................
                     

Ritzywife's kitchen has been pretty busy this past week.  My sourdough starter finally got to the point where I could start baking with it.  I  cooked sourdough bread and pancakes.  The pancakes  were wonderful.  We have already finished 2 loaves of bread.  Also in the picture is a loaf of Norwegian Rye Bread.  I have always been "afraid" to try bagels and english muffins, but as you can see I have "conquered" that fear as of today.  The family loved them.........which is a big deal to Ritzywife.
Made plain bagels and blueberry bagels.  I have always loved baking bread.  Ritzy asked tonite when I was going to stop, and I told him to shhhh, haha!!!!  He better take it while he can get it.......
Before baking all of this I was researching anything and everything on the internet to learn all I could.  My poor brain was about to go on "overload".  I finally just picked a recipe for each one of these baked goods and said, Here we go.........surprisingly everything turned out great the first time.  Hope I can keep up the sucess........
The daughter has also been asking for dehydrated apples, so, as you can see I did that also.  I dehydrated some bananas while I had the dehydrator going.  I will be making some deer jerky this week.  Who knows what I will come up with next.......
This is the eve before Daylight Savings starts.  I always hate losing that hour.  It seems like it takes forever to adjust to the time change.  I do like that extra daylight in the evening tho.  
Ritzywife is out.......................hopefully to get rested up for tomorrow after losing that hour of sleep.

Today started out well enough I guess. While we were eating lunch at Granny's the phone rang and it was my mom's youngest sister (my aunt) calling to say that another aunt, my mom's brother's wife, was not doing well at all.
Last October she found out she had cancer.  They immediately started treating her.  Only 5 months later and she is gone.....
I told Mom I would go to the hospital with her.  We got there and there were a few people gathered around.  After only 2 1/2 hours of watching her labor to breath .....the breathing stopped....it just stopped...
During this time I observed how different people handle.......death..........Some refuse to accept it, some can't believe it will ever happen to their loved ones, and others know it is just a part of life.
As for myself, it's hard to explain.  I usually don't show much emotion at the time, but later grieve in my own way.  I have always been this way and always thought there was something wrong with me.  I don't believe that anymore, though.  What I beleive is that each person knows how they can best deal with the situation and they act accordingly.
It was hard watching my cousin (her daughter) and uncle (her husband) watch their mother and wife slip away.  Although she is not here physically, she will always be here in our hearts.  She is in a place now where there is no more pain or sadness.  she is home.........
I will always remember how the room lit up when she walked in.  She was always happy and showed it.  She always kidded my uncle and gave him a hard time in fun.  You could not help but smile and be happy with her around.  She could always find something to laugh about.  Somehow, I think the way  a person survives this life without losing their mind is finding something to laugh about, even if it is yourself.  God gave us laughter for a reason.........and he gave us tears for a reason.......to grieve.
We will all miss her and grieve for her, but the best thing we can all do for our families and loved ones is make sure we are ready to go when the time comes.
After watching others tell her good-bye, Ritzywife walked over and gave her a kiss on the hand, told her I loved her, and thanked God for the pleasure of being her neice.
With that, Ritzywife is out.......................