Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Weekend Was Off To a Good Start...

Friday night was our last bowling night. We were in first place by only 1 point so we knew going in we had to start out tough and keep on the pressure. We won the first game by 43 pins which was a good start. The second game was a little tougher as they stepped it up a bit. Unfortunately I didn't bowl my average that game which would have helped but we ended up losing that game by just 2 pins! That made us all the more fired up and we bowled like crazy the last game and took the last game by more than 80 pins, securing first place with no problem! We bowl again in two weeks, our Fun Night, and then we'll get our fabulous trophy and winnings! We have one first place before and our partners have won, with other partners, but this is our first win together. It felt great!

Saturday morning dawned sunny and warm. I ran out to the plant nursery to buy my lettuce which was finally in.

My lettuce I planted from seeds a few weeks ago is also doing nicely.

I also planted the herbs I bought last weekend

but the tomato and pepper plants are sitting in the kitchen windowsill for another few weeks because I doubt we've seen the last frost, not this early.


I also planted some onion seeds and garlic. I've never planted garlic before so it will be interesting to see if it comes up.

Here are a few other things coming up around the yard.

Pansies


Day Lillies and Daffodils


Peonies

So after I got all that planting done the sky started darkening and before we knew it a storm was upon us. The wind blew hard. So hard it knocked over all our patio set chairs that Scott had just placed on the deck. But the worst thing to come out of that storm was that we lost our power. That's never good. We waited and waited and waited. Nothing. I finally fixed us some sandwiches though I hated opening up the fridge and letting any warm air in there. The only good thing I can say about losing power is when we do at least we don't lose water. We have city water and it's heated by gas so we can use the toilets, showers, wash dishes, etc. I managed to read a book by candlelight but finally gave up around 11:00 and went to bed figuring for sure we would have power back during the night sometime. In the morning there was still no power. Around 9:00 a.m. our neighbor came over and offered to share his generator power with us and we took him up on it just for the refrigerator and freezer so our food wouldn't spoil. Finally around 3:00 the power came back on. Basically I got nothing done this weekend that I had planned chore-wise like laundry, cleaning, etc.

Since the ground was so wet I took these guys for a walk but after about 10 minutes it started raining so we quickly found some shelter and when it let up we just headed back home. They were none too happy and just wanted to get outside! Oh well, there's always next weekend.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

A Little of This, a Little of That...

Which is exactly what we did this weekend and all in all I think we got a lot done. First I wanted you to hear my Spring nightly lullaby. I just absolutely love this sound and wish it could go on longer than it does.

I guess it was a little dark when I took this. In my viewfinder there was a light outline of a sunset but I guess it didn't show up on this as it seems pretty dark!

Saturday morning I headed out to the local nursery as it was the first weekend when they had their hanging baskets on sale. Last year I didn't get there in time to get the colors I wanted but this year I did! This is how they looked on the porch.



Then I went to town trimming up my roses while Howard was in the back painting our little fence. It's hard to believe it's almost 6 years old already as Howard and Scott and Tyler built it the spring before Tyler graduated which was 6 years ago. It looks brand new now.


After all that back breaking work I took the pups up to the high school field for some frisbee. It was a warm day and they got tired fast! It's rare that you will ever see Charlie lay down, no matter how tired he is but this day he layed down!



I got some good jump pictures this time. They were jumping all over the place!


And even a little video though it's hard to throw the frisbee and follow them with the camera!

When I got back from the park Howard was waiting to take the Mustang for a little ride.

It was the first time we have been able to put the top down this year. It was so nice just to cruise on the back roads and enjoy the evening. From there we went out to dinner as I was too tired to cook and Howard was too tired to clean up after me!

This morning we met our partners at the bowling alley for a little practice. On Friday we bowl the second place team (we're the first) and since it's been 3 weeks since we've bowled we decided we needed it. Next Friday we will know if we end up in first, second or possibly third place, depending how we do. We can do it!! Take first, that is! That was followed by more work in the yard and another trip up to the high school for more frisbee.

Here are some sights from around the yard. Things are starting to come up all over.


This is some lettuce I grew from seed. It's starting to come along.


How often do you see this? Three tired babies, all in a row.


That's it! Great weekend, a little work and a little fun. Perfect!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter

Today was Easter Day. We started the morning with some yummy Dutch Babies! Yummm!

Later in the day we went over to visit our friends, the McGinnis' for dinner with both sides of their family, lots of people there!

Our lovely hostesses.

We enjoyed a dinner of roast and the Honey Baked ham that we brought plus lots of side dishes. Dinner was wonderful.

Howard enjoying a piece of homemade cheesecake! Delish!

Some people needed a nap after dinner.

This is one of their kitties, Monkey. They have another one but she stayed out of sight all afternoon.



Zoe enjoyed a quiet afternoon with the house to herself, well mostly to herself. Charlie was around somewhere but not interested in posing for pictures.


I'm really trying not to think too much about having only 1 more day of Spring Break. It's been a good week, not much going on. Just lots of R&R. Plus I learned how to join Face Book. Just what I needed, something else to occupy my time.

Monday, April 6, 2009

This is what we were greeted with this morning. It looks like about 6 inches to me and it was wet and heavy.

It stuck to the trees most of the day but the good news was that a little after noon it had melted from the roads and they were just a little wet. It's always pretty when it sticks to everything like this.

This view of the little pond was especially pretty I thought. The pond was just so still and tranquil.






These little Gold Finches really stood out in all that white. They were flitting around everywhere this morning.


Since I couldn't go anywhere this morning I decided to make some bread. It was just nice to be able to stay home and relax and do whatever I wanted to.


Later in the afternoon I ventured out and the roads were all clear. It was nice to shop with no one in the stores, no lines, no aisles blocked.

I am liking Spring Break!!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Spring Break Has Begun...

Yes, it's true. Spring Break started at 3:45 p.m. Friday afternoon!! Everyone was in such a good mood at school on Friday. Some people were escaping to exotic locales like Mexico, Hawaii, cruising the Caribbean, off to Florida but just as many, if not more, were just staying home and taking it easy, like me!

Saturday I took the pups for a nice, long walk ending up at the high school field. While I was walking away waiting for the pups to catch up with me and when I looked around they were bunny hopping off to greet a Golden Retriever who was exiting the woods. I have to admit I was expecting the worse given that Zoe and Charlie both go crazy when they see another dog but it ended well. They just sniffed each other and then finally followed me. I know their fans will be disappointed but I didn't take the camera with me so no pictures this time. :-(

Today I went to the bridal shower of a girl Amber played softball with when they were just 12 years old. I play Bunco will her Mom and we all bowl together. It was a nice time and once again reminds me how all these former "kids" have grown up. I'm trying not to feel "old" but it's hard when it's right there in front of you.

The big news of the weekend is we are under a Winter Storm Advisory! Yes, it's April but Winter isn't finished with us yet. I've been hearing anywhere from 6-10 inches of snow so we are definitely gonna get enough to shovel. Well, since we have our snow blower I guess we'll be blowing instead of shoveling. It's supposed to start around 11:00 p.m. tonight and snow all day tomorrow. Guess I'll be holed up at home reading a good book or something similar. At least I won't be at work.




Ok, couldn't resist. Two pictures of the goofballs from the archives!! Enjoy!