Monday, April 23, 2012

Spring and All

It's been a busy few weeks around here.  Sometimes I don't know what we've been so busy doing, but I do know that I haven't had much time to upload pictures and blog about them....so I must be busy, right?  I try to stop and smell the flowers though, even if they are in the trees.


 Our flowering crab apple or flowering whatever tree...because I don't really know what it is...has been pretty this year in spite of the weather.  Warm, almost hot in March, now back to "normal" April temperatures...that seem really cold since it had been so warm...some snow, some hail, some cold rain, but the blossoms were still beautiful.  And the smell nice too!


The next picture explains some of the "busy" ness that we've been experiencing around here.  Baseball season has begun for Billy.  There are usually 3 or 4 games a week.  I love watching and taking pictures at the games.


 But that means a lot of time getting to the games, being at the games, and then looking over the pictures after the games.  Oh, and laundry too.  The kid gets dirty.  But I love it.


On the off days I try to catch up, and smell the flowers again.


Heading to the field on a Saturday afternoon for a double header.  I am going to miss these days when he's done playing.


 "Sometimes it rains."  Do you know which movie that quote came from?  I'll post the rest of it in a little bit.  We had a very rainy Sunday here last week, almost 2" of rain and some hail.  It was a good day to be inside.



No games on Monday because things were too wet, there was time to smell the lilacs.


The Monday game was played on Tuesday though...on an all turf field.  It was a little strange.  It wasn't because of the rain, that school plays on the turf all the time.


They were back on their home field in the dirt on Wednesday.  I loved the action in this photo, and the American flag in the background.  Oh, I kinda like the catcher too.


On Thursday the boys played in the cold rain.  42 degrees, windy and a steady rain.  Brrr.  Getting the win helped though.
Here's the full quote from before. "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."  From the movie Bull Durham.  One of my favorites.  I think I might have to watch it again the next time it rains.


On Friday we switched out of baseball mode and into music mode.  I took a quick shot of my tulips on the kitchen table...


...then we went to see Greg Brown and Bo Ramsey at the Cedar Cultural Center in Mpls.  I snapped a photo with my phone.  Poor picture, but an amazing show.  18 songs, the boys were rocking.



On Saturday we headed down to Winona to see Brian and to go to another Greg Brown concert there.  There was a music festival at Winona State University where Brian goes to school...seeing Brian and Greg Brown at the same time seemed like a great idea.  It was!  


We enjoyed the show with Brian...what a difference a camera makes....we enjoyed going out to dinner afterwards.



 And we enjoyed going out for breakfast with Brian on Sunday morning.  This is a rock formation in Winona that you can see from pretty much everywhere.  The photo was taken from the Perkins parking lot.


What I didn't enjoy was saying good-bye to Brian when it was time to leave.  Knowing that he'll be home in less than two weeks did help though.  I like it best when my family is all under one roof!  The whole "empty nest" thing isn't something I look forward to!


I hope that your spring days are full of hope, fun and green grass!  Thanks for stopping by.

April 23, 2011:  No Blog Post & Photo of the Day

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

April Sunshine

Maybe my title should be March and April sunshine....since I haven't posted since last month.  I need an assistant.  Or some organization.  Or something.  But I do have my photos from the last couple of weeks...so here ya go.
Delphiniums in my front yard.  With the warm March everything is about a month early.  Unfortunately April has brought us more normal temperatures.  It froze last night.  I'm happy that my delphiniums survived.


 Eric got a new grill.  When you've been married a long time like we have, things need to be replaced...like the grill.  He got it assembled with no extra parts.  That's a good thing!  So far we've had chicken, steak and chicken kabobs, and rib eyes.  I'm liking the grill!


The squirrels around here eat well too.  Look at this cheeky little bugger giving me the stink eye.  That's usually when I let the dog out and they both get a little exercise.


Molly likes to spend time outside looking for varmints.  Squirrels are a little bigger than her normal prey.


I bought myself some orange tulips last week...they were so beautiful!  And they lasted for a long time.  I love tulips, especially in the spring.

 Such a yummy color.


With the weather cooling off, I was happy to have something so vibrant inside.


I'm happiest when I have tulips on my kitchen table.


The little azalea bush in the front yard has been blooming.  Hopefully they won't freeze tonight.


Eric and I spent an evening at my mom's.  This is one of the paintings that she has in her hallway, a copy of a Renoir....so pretty.


From my mom's we headed out for a mini spring break vacation.  We made the reservations in Wisconsin Dells when the weather was in the 70's, thinking it would stay warm and be a nice time to get in a few rounds of golf.  Our first day the temps got almost to 50 degrees...with a windchill of 45.  Ugh.  We golfed in Bloomer Wisconsin. The sun was out though, that helped.


The next day was a little warmer, getting up to almost 60 degrees.  We golfed at the Christmas Mountain Village in Wisconsin Dells.  The course was in nice shape, especially considering how early in the year it is.


Our last day there was colder yet, 36 degrees when we teed off.  We golfed at the Wild Rock Golf course.  Fancy, expensive course but we got an off-season rate so it wasn't too bad.  My biggest complaint about the course was that there were no bathrooms from after the 4th hole until about the 15th.  Not good for a coffee drinker.  We did see a pair of Sand hill cranes though, that was fun!


We came home to find our crab apple tree in full bloom.  So pretty.  It survived the freezing temps last night too.

Then it was a trip to the farm for Easter.  We watched the big orange moon come up on Saturday night.


Easter was a full day with breakfast at Eric's parents house, then church, then a feast at my mom's.  I took a little walk in the woods after we ate to find the hepaticas in bloom.  One of my favorite wildflowers.  How does something so delicate survive the winter and bloom every spring.  One of many miracles to ponder this time of year.


I hope that your Easter was full of family and friends and the promise that the day brings.  Thanks for stopping by.



April 10, 2011: No Blog Post & Photo of the Day
April 10, 2010: No Blog Post & Photo of the Day