Chirped by Cass and Tina

A new list of highlights from our month – things we’re happy about and/or would recommend!

• Two Book Clubs, two books! A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley, is the memoir that the movie Lion was based on –  the amazing story of a 5 year old boy who gets irretrievably lost in Calcutta, ends up being adopted by a family in Australia, and eventually finds his way back home to rural India as an adult using Google Earth!

The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown, is another true story, about how an unlikely  group of gritty college freshmen, the sons of loggers, farmers, etc. during the Great Depression, are transformed into an elite American crew team in a quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

• In honor of the setting for A Long Way Home, our mutual book club enjoyed a feast of Indian flavors at a local restaurant called Curry Leaf! Sharing the appetizers and entrees, family-style, was definitely the way to go!

• Speaking of food, we have another great recipe to share, and it’s easy, too! Don’t underestimate the possibilities of those hot samples the employees are handing out in your local grocery store… (-; That’s where we got this one! Just fry up some smoked turkey kielbasa slices and stew them with this all-spices-included boxed rice from Zatarain’s!

• Welcome Spring! What’s up with the weekly snowstorms though? Always pretty to look at, but we’re getting a little tired of all the shoveling!

• But… as long as the white stuff keeps showing up, Snow Angels are fun! A friend tried to get a Snow Angel Challenge going on Facebook, so here was Tina’s contribution to the cause, which benefited Shriner’s Children’s Hospital… (-:

• Life-sized model of one of the posts we’re decorating for the local Yarn Bloom! Tina drew out a scale model on graph paper, but then decided she wanted a physical post to “dress up”. Luckily there was a big cardboard box in the garage to recycle… That white circle on the cardboard post is helping with the sizing for a bear!

• Having the chicks home for Spring Break! Got some help decorating the frosted cookies as a fun family activity… Their cousins also chipped in.
• Dirt Cake for Easter dinner with the family! Layers of pudding and crushed Oreos make a delightful setting for Mr. McGregor’s Garden and some of those frosted Easter cookies!

• Spring Cleaning… it’s a work in progress, but we’ve started blogging about reclaiming Tina’s craft room! Check out our post about the first day of purging here: The Feather Hoarder  (The Blog Dog likes to photo bomb…)

• Clean Pups! Even the dogs are getting tired of winter… And when they come in with Abominable Snow Monster snowballs clinging to their fur, it’s time to throw them in the tub…