We've had a Rough Time Lately

Flowers from my sister-in-law's garden. She loved gardening.

I've been neglecting my blog lately. I've been neglecting my kitchen too much as well. We seem to be going through a rough patch here lately. We've had too many injuries and illnesses and *way* too many funerals. We've lost too many loved ones recently. A treasured uncle, followed only a few short months later by his wife, a favorite aunt. And perhaps even more tragically, many were far too young to lose: the 19-year-old son of dh's cousin, his other cousin's 27-year-old son killed in an automobile accident, my cousin's 19-year-old foster son who was also killed in an accident, and most recently dh's 47-year-old sister passed away unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago from a brain aneurysm.

It's been a trying time and unfortunately, experimenting with food has been low on my priority list. Hopefully now that spring has arrived, with bright sunshine and cheery bird songs, things will start to look up. One joy in our lives is that my niece has come to live with us for awhile. The kids are ecstatic to spend some time with one of their favorite cousins and it's been a blessing for dh to have her here as she reminds him so much of her mother when she was that age. Another blessing is that with another teen-aged mouth to feed, I've got to get back into the kitchen. I have tried a few new recipes lately and will be blogging about them soon.

I want to thank everyone for the support we've received throughout this trying time. 2009 may not have started out in the way we'd hope, but I have faith that the rest of the year will be better.

Postscript: As I was typing this entry, I received an email telling me that one of my high school friends passed away yesterday.

::sigh::

Sometimes it seems like when it rains, it pours. :-(