Pat's Patunia Patch

Catching Up

2012-02-06T12:30:00.000-06:00

Who's in charge of this blog anyway? How'd it get to be February? Why can't I get all the things done that I want to in my days? So many questions. I don't like getting so far behind. Catching up is a chore. But here we go. My pictures from January 19th. Oye.

Lilies. I love, love, love having fresh flowers in my house.

I bought two bundles and combined them into one bouquet. The one above was a really fragrant star gazer type lily. The one below opened up beautifully, but wasn't as fragrant. Still pretty though.

We took a quick trip to the farm to visit with my mom. Her feeders are always full of birds. This is a little chickadee on a cloudy day.

My mom has a huge variety of birds, but she rarely sees a cardinal there. We get a lot of them in our backyard in the suburbs. Such a wonderful splash of color to brighten the gray days. I took this picture of the male cardinal while it was snowing.

The female was perched in the tree the next day, patiently waiting her turn at the feeder.

My lily bouquet, slowly opening up.

Grocery store tulips, because they remind me that spring will be coming...no matter what the ground hog says.

I liked the way the light was shining through the tulips on a rare sunny day. Our winter weather has been warmer than normal, but the sun likes to hide behind the clouds.

The lilies, more than a week later. Worth every penny.

Another trip to the farm. A sweet little nut hatch. When we were there the week before a nut hatch had gotten one of it's little feet caught in a slot in my mom's bird feeder. He tried and tried but couldn't pull himself free. I put on my gloves and went out to see what I could do. After much flapping and chirping from the little bird, I finally was able to gently remove his foot from the feeder...and zoom...off he flew. I was so relieved that I could help it fly free. I'm pretending that this is that little bird, that it wasn't injured and is filling the woods with it's song. A little pretending isn't a bad thing is it?

Billy playing hoops. His team is in first place, and they are still having fun. That's what matters the most.

Penny, after her morning roll in the snow. Our poor old pup is at the veterinarian's office as I type, having a few things checked out. We are hoping that it is something simple, but should have some answers by the end of the day.

On another note, I signed up for a class to help boost creativity. One of the assignments was to take 6 pictures so show a typical day. Three days of my week include volleyball, here's my shoes and volleyball. Try to hold down your excitement.

I bought myself a bouquet of roses. Roses to celebrate losing a few pounds. I'd rather celebrate with cake, but that's part of the reasons that the pounds got there in the first place, so roses it is.

One of the assignments for my class was to shoot a picture into the light. I'll post some of the things that I've been doing with the pictures on another day.

We went to the rodeo in St. Paul last week. On our way there I read on the ticket that cameras weren't allowed. Rats. I had been saving my photo of the day for the rodeo! But when we parked to go to dinner, I looked across the road and saw the St. Paul Cathedral light up against the dark blue sky...and decided that it would do for my photo of the day. When we got into the rodeo I saw a few people with cameras. I re-read the ticket back and saw that what it actually said was that camera's may be prohibited. Oh well.

Saturday must be washing day for the cat. She interrupted her nap on Billy's bed for a good washing. Probably because I woke her up and rubbed her head. She had to get that human scent off of her!

My yellow roses aren't opening up very nicely. They are starting to look like withering buds about now. Grocery store flowers, you win some, you lose some. I still like to brighten my home with them.

Well, time for me to get back to work....or at least make my list so I know where to start. Have a happy day. Thanks for stopping by!

February 6th, 2011: No Blog Post & Photo of the Day

February 6th, 2010: A Birthday Boy & Photo of the Day

February 6th, 2009: Springy & Photo of the Day

Hoops

2012-01-19T12:04:00.001-06:00

After taking a few years off from playing, Billy has decided to play hoops this year. He's playing in-house basketball in a league through the High School. This league is made up of boys from just the junior class. There are 10 teams with 9 or so players each. That's a lot of junior boys! It seems like a fun league, they call it "Swag" ball. It looks like Billy is getting his swag on here.

I played basketball in 7th grade...maybe 8th grade too. I don't remember, I try to block that from my mind. I can say that I didn't enjoy it. Girls playing basketball can be nasty. Long, claw like finger nails...shudder. I was one of the taller ones and had to play center. All that means is that I would put my hands up to get a rebound and promptly get elbowed in the chest. Sharp elbows. Shudder again. We won't even get into all the running. Back and forth. Billy doesn't seem to mind though. There he goes...

...here he comes back again. Back and forth, back and forth.

Taking basketball pictures is a challenge for me. Bad lighting, lots of moving, I focus and then the kid jumps right out of my shot...

...or the ball gets in the way. Oops.

And then there's all that pushing and shoving and trying to get the ball away from each other. Hey boy, don't you be grabbing my Billy!

Running, jumping...

blocking, rebounding, dribbling...

passing...

jumping again.

Off of the couch, playing the game.

The coaches (dads) are encouraging....not sure what the exchange between the coach and Billy was here, but it looks interesting. There are mesh curtains between the courts, you can see the other games scoreboard, but the one for our game is behind the bleachers.

It makes it hard to know what the score is. And being such a huge basketball fan that I'm not...I'm never quite sure what's going on. What's the score? Wasn't that a foul? Can they do that? Poor Eric. I do know that this boy is about to shoot a free throw because someone was grabbing him or something.

And I know that my boy is getting ready to rebound a different free throw, in case if the shooter misses.

And I know that he's gotten to be pretty good at rebounding...it helps to be 6'4"...but there are quite a few tall kids in the league. How did these little boys get so tall?

For all the things that I don't know about the game, I do know this...seeing the smiles and fun shared during and after the games is the very best part.

Well that and the getting off the couch when it's -10 degrees outside is good too. Winter has officially arrived here. I hope it's warm where you are! Thanks for stopping by!

January 19, 2011: No Blog Post & Photo of the Day

January 19, 2010: Mr. Cardinal & Photo of the Day

January 19, 2009: Little Shavers & Photo of the Day

You Got to Move

2012-01-18T18:55:00.001-06:00

For the last few years I've selected a "word of the year" to guide or inspire me through out the year. Common words are believe, nest, organize, create, change, inspire, etc. Last year my word was "accomplish". It worked for a while, I made up a booklet to make to do lists each day. It worked pretty well for a few months, and then old habits and just living my life got in the way. The list keeping was good, I think I will start that up again!

Anyway, on to this year. This year my word is "move". Not as in moving to a new home, but just plain move. Move on ideas, move on plans, move forward, move as in exercise. Folk singer Greg Brown did a song years ago that I'm calling my theme song. I couldn't find his version of it on Youtube, but while I was looking for it I found out that the song was actually written by Mississippi Fred McDowell in the early 60's. Here is his version of it.

You got to move

You got to move, child

You got to move

But when the Lord

Gets ready

You got to move

Greg Brown's version is a little faster, a little softer and the words slightly different, but you get the idea. How many times have there been things you'd like to do, but you just aren't ready? This year I'm focusing on moving to make sure that I am ready when those wonderful things come my way.

You may be high

You may be low

You may be rich, child

You may be po'

But when the Lord gets ready

You've got to move

So far I've been inspired. I'm moving more as in exercising. I've been watching what I eat. Did you know that diet and exercise actually works? Who knew? I decided that I would buy myself flowers each time I lose 5 lbs. Oh look...flowers....for me! I've got a ways to go...but my vases are ready. You got to move.

There are other areas where I'm working to move ahead too...but I'll save those to share on a different day. For now, here's one of the flowers in my bouquet. They haven't opened up yet, they are just starting to get ready to move. Sort of like me!

Here's the same photo with some text and texture added. A move in the right direction I'd say.

Have you picked a word to focus on for the year? It's not too late...and it can really change your focus.

January 18, 2011: Piling Up & Photo of the Day

January 18, 2010: Doing Some Good & Photo of the Day

January 18, 2009: A Sunset & Photo of the Day

January Photos

2012-01-17T16:16:00.002-06:00

Catching up with photos. I'm having second thoughts about doing a photo a day for 2012. After a few years of doing it, it's gotten harder and harder to try and figure out something remotely interesting to take a photo of. Maybe that alone is reason to keep going...it will be more of a challenge than ever. So, please forgive me for boring shots as we get through a nearly snow free January. Hopefully February will bring something more interesting.

Here are a few shots from earlier this month. The moon rising over the river near Wabasha when we were taking Brian back to college. There was a full moon when we picked him up in December...and a full moon another time when we brought him there. Sort of strange. I loved the colors as the sun was setting and the moon was rising.

Our old dog Penny. She always gets a little depressed for the first few days that Brian is gone. She perks up again when she gets used to the new routine...and patiently waits until he comes home again.

The weather has been mild, then cold, then mild again. We are supposed to be having our first below zero temperatures of the winter this week...breaking a record for the latest below zero temp in the year. Mild and very little snow. I buy tulips to remind me that Spring is coming...eventually. Because even though it has been mild, it's still winter.

Springy tulips on day 2.

There is one squirrel that has perfected the eating birdseed routine. He or she opens up the top of the feeder and crawls right in. Cute, but they sure eat a lot of the sunflower seeds in a hurry!

One of the things that I get tired of during our Minnesota winters is the lack of color around us. A white cement planter on tan grass with a little bit of snow. Yawn. Where have all the flowers gone?

Even my vase is empty right now. Time for some more flowers I'd say.

Billy has been playing basketball for the first time in 4 years or so. His games are fun to watch, but taking pictures in the gym are a whole new challenge. Challenges are good though...it keeps me learning.

During the weekend Billy wanted a quick lunch, he wasn't super hungry but needed something...so we cut a frozen pizza in half and baked that for him. I'm only mentioning it because it reminded me of when he was in afternoon kindergarten and I would fix him half a little frozen pizza for lunch. He's not so little anymore. All that reminiscing reminded me of some of the Willow Tree sculptures that I have. This one is called Quietly. It takes me right back to those days when the boys were little and both loved to snuggle up to me. So sweet.

And while I have that photo up, I'll share a different version of it. I signed up for an online class that is meant to inspire my creativity though the year. As a precursor to the class I've been taking a mini Photoshop class to learn a little bit more about working with layers and adding texture to photographs. I practiced some of the techniques on my photo...I like it. I think that the class will be a good Photoshop refresher as well as some motivation to explore new things. I'll share some of the results as I go.

And last but not least, my old photograph stand by...Molly. Sleeping in Billy's room. Not amused to be awoken. I love the sunlight and the crazy colors in his room. With my 50 mm lens and a shallow depth of field it's harder to tell that the bed isn't made and that there are clothes on the floor. And now that I am thinking of that...

...my expression is matching the cat's. Not amused. Why can't he pick up his clothes? The more things change, the more things stay the same. Thanks for stopping by.

January 17, 2011: No Blog Post & Photo of the Day

January 17, 2010: Sunday Funday & Photo of the Day

January 17, 2009: No Blog Post & Photo of the Day

A New Look for the New Year...and a Birthday

2012-01-08T12:08:00.000-06:00

I've been planning on changing the look of my blog for a while now, but it has always been too low on the list of things to do for me to get it done. I bumped it up on the list for the New Year. Lighter and brighter, I think I like it.

We took a little trip to the farm yesterday to celebrate my mom's birthday a little bit early. She's turning 80 on Monday. Something to celebrate I'd say! One of the first things I do when we get there is visit the horses. This is a picture of Tish's wise eye. She's one of the horses that is living on the farm for now.

All of the horses had gotten into the cockle burs in the late fall. I had brushed mine out earlier, but poor Tish had a mane and tail full of them. I should have taken a before picture, but didn't think of it. Eric came out when I was almost finished to see where in the world I had disappeared to.

Little old Tish seemed to be happy for the attention and the beautifying treatment.

Most of her mane laid flat after I got the burs out, but her forelock was a little wild, it was sticking out all over the place. I think she was proud of her new punk look.

Maybe she's just smiling because it felt so good to get that mess out of her mane...and lots of attention to boot.

In the evening we went out to dinner with my mom to celebrate her day. My brother, my mom and me at the Pizzaria.

Eric's dad, Billy and Brian.

Eric, his mom and his dad.

After supper we went to Eric's folks house to watch the end of the Lions vs Saints football game and have some ice cream. I think my mom's favorite part of the day was to be surrounded her boys. I know that's the favorite part of most of my days!

Those days of being with both my boys are going to be fewer and further between again, we bring Brian back to college today. I'm going to miss the fun and laughter that has been filling my house! I'm grateful for the time we had over his winter break. I hope your days are filled with people you love. Thanks for stopping by!

Under the Weather

2012-01-07T13:07:00.002-06:00

I've been fighting a cold or something for the last few days. Nothing much, just weird things that come and go, sneezing and sniffling one minute, then it goes away. I did pop outside for a minute or two to take a picture of my dried up cone flowers. I even got an angle that show our tiny bit of snow in the background.

Anyway, back to me. :-) What ever it is that I am battling is mostly making tired. I could take a nap at anytime during the day tired. Not dog tired, but cat tired. And Molly is tired a lot.

I can usually find her in Billy's room sleeping on the unmade bed. And then I wake her up...sort of...

...cat...wake up!

Then I get the look. The leave me the heck alone look. OK...I get the message. I'm tired too.

Time for me to take a nap....and leave the cat alone. Doesn't she look relieved?

Yawn. Till next time!

The Missing Pictures

2012-01-04T12:04:00.001-06:00

I had tried to add pictures to my last post and they disappeared. I meant to add them the next day and then I disappeared. Funny how that happens. So here they are, photos from the end of the year and from the beginning of the year.

Greens and decorations on my front step. We are having a strange, warm and almost snow free winter here.

We celebrated a belated Christmas with my niece and her family. This is Eric with our great niece...sweet little Avery. So much fun that there is a little one in the family again....and a cutie to boot!

One of my rocking horse ornaments. The tree is on it's way out, so the ornament photos will come to an end with this post...promise.

We celebrated New Year's Eve with our friend Bob. Steak fondue and baked potatoes. Then a few games followed by Rockford File reruns. A good way to end the year.

A bonus picture from New Year's Eve...it snowed! Heavy, wet snow coming down fast and furious. It messed up some plans, but sure was pretty! With highs in the 40's this week it won't last very long. I'm starting to believe that global warming is for real.

I decided to practice some more with my 50mm lens. I like how it lets in so much more light. Molly on the other hand doesn't really appreciate the light, or me taking her picture when she is trying to nap. The life of a cat is pretty rough around here.

The last ornament picture until December. This horse reminds me of my horse Skylar. Partly because it's a paint, but mostly because it's giving that "what do you want? do you have food?" look.

This is my New Year's bouquet. It's fading fast.

When I put out my Christmas decorations, I put my regular things in the decoration boxes. So when the decorations are put away the regular things come back out. This vase is one of my regular things...and since I had it in hand it seemed like a good idea to take a picture of it.

Good bye Christmas hello regular things. It feels good to be getting back into a routine again. Thanks for stopping by!

A Brand New Year

2012-01-01T21:05:00.000-06:00

I like the idea of it being a brand new year. A time for fresh starts, clean calendars, thoughts of resolutions and doing things better. I know that it's just another day, but it feels special to me. I'm still working on nailing down my resolutions. I'll share some eventually. I thought that I had uploaded my photos from the last few days to share, but they aren't showing up. Eric is waiting for me to watch an old "Rockford Files" and eat some pie...so I'm not going to sweat the pictures not being there for tonight. Changes are coming to this old neglected blog. But not tonight. I hope that everyone is enjoying the thought of fresh starts. Happy New Years! Thanks for stopping by.
Pat

Hectic Holidays

2011-12-27T17:17:00.001-06:00

With the hustle and bustle of the Holidays I've gotten behind in my blog posts. Big surprise. Here is our Christmas season in photos.

On December 9th we drove to Winona to pick up Brian. He had a big paper due, so we went later in the day. We hit Lake City and Lake Pepin just in time to see the moon rising over the lake. A couple of quick pictures and we were on our way again. Having Brian home for the holidays has been a treat!

When I run out of ideas of what to take my picture of the day of, I look for Christmas decorations. This is one of many horse ornaments on our tree.

After 4 years of not playing, Billy has decided to play basketball again this winter. It's in-house ball, they call it "Swag Ball". Their team is pretty good so far. It helps to have at least 3 boys in the 6'4" range. Billy is #34 on the left. His shooting is rusty, but he's the rebound king....or so I'm told. I'm just glad that he's got something to keep him busy in the winter.

Back to decorations. A white bouquet with Christmas light bokeh in the background.

Another rocking horse on my tree. The days are short in Minnesota this time of year.

Eric's birthday was December 13th, his parents came down and we celebrated his day on the 14th...then headed off to a basketball game. Billy's playing gives us something to do in the winter too.

I had seen a cool experiment on Facebook to try with zoom lens. Tripod, sloooooww shutter speed and zooming out while the shutter is open can give you results like this. I posted it on facebook and one of my friends said that it looked like the angel was blasting off!

Back to the decorations. A rocking horse from 1984...one of the early ones in the collection.

This is one of my little reindeer candles....in the middle of a gloomy day. It's a welcome event when the days slowly start getting longer.

A "swag ball" picture of Billy shooting a free throw....taken with my camera phone. Some days I just don't feel like being that mom with the camera. Basketball pictures are tough though, even harder with a cell phone. Maybe I should just not worry about being the camera mom.

Part of my snow village. There are a lot of horses in the village. Imagine that. I've been tempted to take a sharpie and fill in some of those beady little eyes on the figurines, but I'm not brave enough. Why do they make them with such small eyes? Some of them are creepy looking to me.

I thought I'd share a picture of a typical evening before Christmas around here. Brian on his laptop, Eric wrapping gifts in front of the TV...usually with the cat sitting on the table keeping an eye on things. Eric isn't crabby about the wrapping, he's just concentrating. I do most of the shopping and neatly boxing things up, he does a lot of the wrapping while I'm doing other stuff. It works for us.

I took some time and baked a few kinds of cookies this year. These are my favorites, peanut butter blossoms....yum!

I have made gift jars for my aunts and uncles for a lot of years. This year I made Holiday M & M Oatmeal bars. I mixed up a batch for us too...yum again!

We went to my mom's house on December 23rd. This is her little tree in her kitchen. Little white lights with red decorations...it is very cute.

There was snow at my mom's, a nice change from here. I took this picture of frost on a weed in the horse pasture on Christmas Eve morning. We spent a wonderfully relaxing day with my mom, my brother and his son. A house filled with love, just as it should be.

Christmas Day we were at Eric's parents house. After church we opened gifts and then ate the Christmas feast. Billy mashed the potatoes, here is a picture of his cousin Becca holding the pot while Billy scoops the potatoes into the serving bowl. They were cute working together.

We had a family picture taken in the music room. The boys clean up pretty good...all of them. It was a wonderful day to celebrate the reason of the season.

We came home Christmas night to open gifts here. I miss the days when the boys were little and in awe of the day, but I'm loving these days where both boys are home and laughing and just enjoying time together. Life is good.

Here are some lights on our backyard fence. It was 52 degrees the day after Christmas. Unheard of around here. A 75 year old temperature record was broken. Crazy.

And last but not least, another decoration. A new shepherd, or maybe he's a goat herder, for my Willow Tree Nativity set from Eric. I like it!

Christmas is behind us, the new year is quickly coming...I hope that you've had a wonderful Holiday and are making some fun plans for the New Year. 2012...it's going to be a good one! Thanks for stopping by.

It's Beginning To...

2011-12-08T15:57:00.001-06:00

...look a little bit like Christmas around here. The garlands are up. I hang ornaments on my garlands, I like the sparkle. This one is on the stairs.

These ornaments are on the garland in my kitchen. I really like how these sparkle.

Our tree is up, it has lights and a shiny strand of beads...but only a few ornaments. My intentions have been good, but I keep getting little design jobs to do, and work comes first. I have a collection of Hallmark rocking horses, all stored in their original little boxes. That means that they all have to come out of their little boxes and tissue to be hung on the tree. So, instead of tackling it all at once, I try to hang up 10 ornaments whenever I go near the dining room where the tree is.

Ten at a time, until I have a bigger chunk of time...slowly but surely it's beginning to look a little like Christmas around here. Thanks for stopping by!

He Makes Me Smile...and other stuff.

2011-12-05T16:48:00.001-06:00

A short and sweet post. This is Billy, sometimes the kid just plain makes me smile. Brian does too...but this one is going to be about Billy. Billy was at Youth Group at church last week. There was a little boy there that has a sister in Billy's group. The little boy, Will, is a huge E.P. High School Football fan. He was thrilled to see Billy and ask him all about the big championship game. Billy had a concussion near the end of the season and wasn't playing, but he was on the field with his jersey on and that was enough for 8 year old Will. Will wondered if maybe Billy could get some of the autographs from the players on the team. Billy said sure, he could try.

Will made up two sheets, one that said EP Rocks on the top and Will # 1 fan on the bottom. The other was a special sheet just for the star running backs autograph. It said "Will your Bigest fan EP! Your awesome Larson, Will". Billy got on facebook and asked a few of his team mates if they'd be willing to sign the papers at school...they were. He tracked them down at school and got most of the starters signatures...and that oh so special autograph from Andrew Larson. Billy got some good natured harassing...a couple kids teased him that since they were for Will that they were really for Billy himself. He didn't mind. At church on Sunday morning the papers were hidden in Eric's jacket sleeve until after the service. He finally found Will and surprised him with the Autographs. Will's eyes got really big, he squealed and then leaped into Billy's arms. It was SO cute to see his reaction...and good for Billy to see just how much a little thing can mean to a kid. And yes, he does make me proud, and he makes me smile.

He makes his dad smile too. My photo of the day for Friday is of Eric, I don't take enough pictures of people...going to have to try and change that!

My photo of the day for Saturday isn't of a person, it's of Raspberries! I'm doing a job that needs a photo of raspberries, this is one of the shots that I took. I'm not sure if I'll be using this one or not, but I like it. It's sort of fun to take pictures that will actually be used for something...and more fun when I can eat the props afterwards...yum!

We took a quick trip to visit our folks on Sunday. By the time we had lunch and watched the Vikings lose yet again, it was almost dark. I took this picture from under my mom's front porch. I know it's not a good thing, but she gets the best icicles!

I spent a little time putting lights on our Christmas tree today. It's a bad feeling when you are almost done and look down to find a little bulb that had fallen out of one of the strings. I counted my blessings when I found the empty socket almost right away. I have to admit, I don't like putting the lights on. I thought I was done, but then I plugged them in and it doesn't look nearly enough lights. Sigh. I better get back to work.

At least the Angel is lit. My wish for you is that all of your lights work on the very first try. Thanks for stopping in!

Intermittent Blogger

2011-12-01T18:18:00.000-06:00

I'm still here, just not blogging very often. So, another picture heavy post to catch up with the last, oh, three weeks or so. Things have been a little busy around here.

Three weeks ago it was still late fall around here. My little scare crow was still parked on my front step.

We had a fairly warm, and very dry fall here in Minnesota. We are very short on rain. Now that it's December 1st the moisture that does come will most likely be snow. That thought doesn't seem so bad now...a white Christmas would be nice.

The squirrels have been busy keeping my bird feeders empty. I don't know if it means that it's going to get cold or if it just means that squirrels like to eat...and eat.

Billy's football team kept winning and winning until they got into the State Tournament. Unfortunately Billy got a concussion in practice and hasn't been cleared to play. I'm glad that they are being cautious with it. This picture is before the Anoka game...the cheerleaders make the signs and the players burst through it when they enter the field. It's fun to see what they will come up with each week. The Anoka Tornado's didn't touch down that night!

I had some frozen apples in the freezer that needed to be used, it seemed like a good time to make a trial pie before Thanksgiving. That was my excuse. It was yummy.

Eric and Billy took some time to do a little last minute yard stuff...like bringing in the bird bath so it doesn't freeze and break. It's good to have a teenager in the house, I don't have to lift stuff that way.

I took a little trip with 3 girl friends in the middle of the month. Our girls weekend trip became a during the week cruise. We boarded the ship in Miami on Monday the 14th and sailed out that evening heading for the Bahamas.

The weather was perfect. Our first port was Nassau. We took a cab and then a ferry to a beautiful little island called the Blue Lagoon. Sun, sea and sand...a perfect day.

Day two we stopped in Free Port. Our snorkeling tour was cancelled because of the wind, so we had to wing it. A fun day followed by an unusual sunset. The best part was spending time with friends.

Our third stop was at the Stirrup Cay...a private Island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines. Basically a beach and a barbecue...and time to soak up the sun and relax. Perfect.

We arrived back in Miami Friday morning, flew to Orlando, flew into Minneapolis around 4:30, a quick trip home and then on to the Metrodome for the football game State Semi finals. I got to take pictures on the field, it was lots of fun. I like this one of two of Billy's classmates...Tyler and Tony. Eden Prairie won and got to play in the Championship game the following week. Very exciting to see the home team do so well!

A busy week meant for a tired Saturday. The snow was a little hard to get used to after the white sand of the Bahamas. I pretended that they were sand dunes, not snow drifts.

I had spent a lot of time editing football pictures, so I didn't really feel like taking my photo of the day, but did take a quick snapshot of my Angel of Hearts. I liked the way the light was hitting her in the late afternoon.

I had rented a 100 mm to 400 mm lens for the football game and decided to test it looking out of my window. Very lazy photographer. I like it...I think.

Hungry squirrel with the big lens...up close and personal. Hey...drop those seeds you glutton!

Trying to get the house ready for Thanksgiving, I did take a second to snap a little chickadee with the long lens. Over exposed, but I like how isolated it is.

My great niece Avery was one of our Thanksgiving guests. If there were cute laws she'd be breaking them! Oh, and happy 50th birthday to me...oye.

Football championship game, on Brian's birthday. He comes home from college for the weekend and we leave to watch football on his birthday. Parents of the year. But he didn't want to go to the game...the Championship Game! I was supposed to get a pass to be on the field to take photos, it didn't happen. I used the long lens to take this one of the pre-game prayer from the stands. The boys managed to win it all...13-3 against rival Wayzata. It was an exciting game.

My friend Eileen brought me some flowers before Thanksgiving in honor of my birthday...aren't they pretty! It made it almost worth it to get older. Almost.

This was my Thanksgiving center piece a few days after the party. I love the colors of fall and of Thanksgiving. Christmas will have to wait a few days!

Sunday night we went to the High School football banquet. I guess there was a lot to celebrate...the banquet was almost 5 hours. I'm thankful for padded seats. Billy got his varsity letter, that was cool.

Little center pieces I had on my little table. They finally opened up. I thought they were cute.

Bad lighting makes for a cardinal silhouette....I still like him. The snow melted.

My good friend Kris took me out for my birthday so Eric took my picture...it's always wonderful to have girl time!

And last but not least a picture of the end of my Thanksgiving bouquets. They are fading fast, but that's ok, I've started hauling the Christmas decorations upstairs. It's time.

Thanks for stopping back, it's always nice to see you here!

Happy November!

2011-11-08T11:28:00.000-06:00

Happy November! How did it get to be November already? My lack of blogging is due to not wanting to take the time to relearn how to use the blogger software that keeps changing. Changes and new features are great, but it all takes time to figure it out again. Sigh. They are trying to teach old dogs new tricks...speaking of old dogs...here is Penny.

One of Penny's favorite things is to roll around in the grass outside. That means leaves and grass get brought inside....which means extra sweeping and vacuuming. Which means less time to blog. It's the dogs fault! Everyone needs a dog to blame for things.

We hung the bird feeders again. We usually keep them filled all summer, but sort of slipped up on that this year. The chickadee's were the first to find the seeds.

My old cell phone decided that I needed to get a new one when it stopped turning on. I hate spending money replacing things that I already own, but sometimes there isn't much choice. The good news is that the new phone has a nice camera built in. I tested it with a picture looking out Billy's bedroom window. Our colorful tree has since lost it's leaves.

Eric and I went to a Halloween party. He dressed like a 1980's football stud, complete with a mullet.

I went as his cheerleader girlfriend. Go team! I told Billy that we were going to wear our costumes to his football game, he wasn't amused. Teenagers.

Speaking of football, Billy's team is in the playoffs. The first round they had a bye, second round they won...which means that they got to play in a third round game...you'll have to read on to see how that went. This picture is of the 2nd string offense getting ready to go into the game. Billy is # 89.

We took a quick Sunday drive to the farm, we didn't expect it to be raining! It's still so dry there it was nice to see the rain. Raindrops on oak leaves. I love the colors.

Halloween on a Monday night didn't seem to slow down the trick or treaters very much, we had 115 kids stop by for candy. I should have carved a scarier pumpkin...maybe we wouldn't have had so many kids stopping by!

I took a quick picture of one of my few Halloween decorations before putting it away...cute little witch!

Having a daisy blooming in my garden on November 2nd seemed worthy of a picture. Hello daisy!

I volunteered to take photos at the football game last week, I don't really have a good lens for night time sports photos, so I rented one again. This one came in the mail....a 100mm to 400mm Canon. It wasn't quite fast enough, but it was better than what I have and I wanted to try it out. I took a shot of a tree in our backyard through the window when the lens arrived...just to get a feel for the lens. I like it!

I took a lot of photos at the game...and was pretty happy with how they turned out. One of my favorites ended up being this one...the defense in between plays. Intense defense. They battled and ended up winning the game 6 to 3. A touchdown with a missed extra point vs. a field goal. Round 4 here we come!

I had to rent the lens for 4 days, I tested it out on a little bird outside my office window. Hello chickadee!

I took it to the farm too. Hello Czar. The horses were hanging out near the barn, staying clear of the crazy deer hunters and all the shooting going on.

I used the lens to take this picture of some pretty little crab apples at the farm too.

Brian was home from college for the weekend, it's always so good to see him!

And last but not least, a female cardinal on a gray afternoon. I'm so happy that the birds have returned...I think that they're happy that the food is back!

Wishing you a Happy November....thanks for stopping by!

The Last 19 Days

2011-10-25T13:04:00.002-05:00

This post is pretty much just the last 19 days in pictures. Things have been a little busy this fall. October 6th there was a varsity football game against Minnetonka. It wasn't one of my evenings as a volunteer for taking pictures on the field, so this one was after the game from the stands. There are a lot of boys playing football!

I've been on the field taking pictures at all of the Junior Varsity games. This is October 7th against Minnetonka, at Minnetonka. It's been all kinds of fun taking the pictures, except for the editing and posting them part...that's mostly time consuming...but the rest has been fun! Billy is # 89.

October 8th brought the last weekend of fall baseball, a single elimination tournament. They won their first game, and got to go home after the second game. This is Billy on 3rd base, waiting to see if he needed to tag up before he scored. He did. We had quite a string of beautiful, 80 degree fall days. Unheard of in Minnesota. But we enjoyed them while we could!

Brian had come home via the train from college on October 7th, he stayed until the 9th when Eric and I drove him the 2.5 hours back to school. The full moon was reflecting off of Lake Pepin, I talked them into stopping long enough to take a picture. I do have photos of Brian from the weekend, he and Billy spent a lot of time trying to fix the Playstation. Those photos are for another day.

The warm days and non-freezing nights have kept my cosmos blooming late into the season. I keep taking pictures of them when I can't think of anything else. I keep thinking that this will be my last chance before they freeze, and they still haven't!

These flowers are from a bouquet in my dining room. I can never remember their name, but their blossoms stay nice for a long, long time.

The warm fall days have also meant weeks and weeks without rain...6 weeks actually, until October 12th...there was glorious rain. Thunder and lightening and rain. And now it's been fairly dry again. It sure was nice while it lasted!

The mums have been sort of pretty this fall, they would look better if I had watered them a little more often!

I couldn't go too long without a picture of Molly. This was on one of those slow work days when I couldn't help but walk by and wake up the cat...and then took her picture. She wasn't amused.

Billy had a fun football game on October 15th. The JV team played Edina. Early in the game the quarterback came out throwing...to Billy! 83 yards for a touchdown. The pass was about 25 yards, and the rest was Billy running as fast as his long legs could take him into the end zone. First touchdown since the 5th grade, and that one was called back for a penalty. His smile after the game says it all.

We took a quick trip to the farm that Sunday. This is Breezy standing on a hill checking me out. It was another warm day. I love the colors in this shot!

A cosmos in my garden. Again.

Mums on my kitchen table on October 18th. My dad would have been 80 years old on that day. It's been over 3 years since he passed away...and I still miss him...but feel his presence in all that we do.

On Wednesday the 19th the Varsity had their last regular season game...the two undefeated teams in the conference went head to head. Our team lost 0-9. A few bad calls and 3 lousy field goals did the boys in. But playoffs start for them on Saturday...go Eagles. Of course one of my volunteer days to take pictures for the varsity happened to be for the biggest game of the season so far...and it was at the opponents school...with an expected crowd of 10,000 fans. I decided to rent a better lens for the day, it was a good decision. It was almost for nothing though when the gate keeper gave me all kinds of trouble about getting onto the field. I'll just say he was enjoying his feeling of power. I was relieved when his superior came to my rescue. This is our top running back taking the hand off. It was a tough loss.

The JV team didn't do much better the next morning. A 0-7 loss. And now JV is done for the season. It's a little sad that they are done playing, but having a lighter schedule around here will be nice!

And with that I'll end with more flowers. Cosmos.

A not very scary scare crow by my front door.

Cosmos again, with matching mums in the background.

And a crazy Gerbera Daisy that is thinking this fall weather has been just fine...until later this week when the weather changes.

Thanks for stopping by while I caught up with my daily photos. There is a roast in my crock pot making the house smell wonderful, I wish I could share that with you too! Until next time.

Football, Flowers and Sunny Days

2011-10-05T18:27:00.001-05:00

It's High School football season, and it's been keeping us sort of busy. Billy has been playing on both the Varsity and the Junior Varsity teams. The kids that don't get as much playing time on Varsity play JV. Here is a picture of the Varsity after winning their homecoming game. Billy is in there somewhere.

Most weeks the Varsity plays on Friday night and the JV plays on Saturday morning. Since he is playing on both teams, we go to both games. It's fun....but it's a lot of football. I volunteered to take pictures at the JV games and some of the Varsity games. Yikes. That means being on the sidelines and trying not to get too close to the action...and then it means editing lots of pictures to upload to the teams picture site. Easy enough, just time consuming! The picture below is of Billy playing tight end...number 89.

There is one weekend left of fall baseball. I usually post an action shot for baseball, but I liked how the sun was shining on Billy before he went up to bat.

The weather has been unseasonably warm here for the last few weeks. Warm and way too dry. The mums seem to like it though.

One thing that the Fall season in Minnesota brings is an urgency to get out and do those summer things before it's too late! Like golfing. Eric and I got out on the course with my niece and her husband last week. That day was coolish and cloudy, but it was still wonderful to get out.

Here's Eric on the Tee Box of a hole with a creek running through it. Most holes had the meandering creek as a hazard. I didn't get a photo of our group. I had the camera, but hated to take the time for a picture. Now I regret it. Oh well, next time.

Eric bought me this pretty bouquet last week. Sunflowers are one of my favorites in the fall. My dad had planted a whole field of them when I was in high school, they remind me of him!

We had a crazy windy day last week, it doesn't show in this photo, but everything was blowing around. Not a good day to take a photo of a flower, so I decided to show you a corner of our backyard. We also played our last co-rec softball game of the season last week. I'm glad that it's done, time to rest, not be as busy and all that...except that Volleyball has started so we're still busy. But it's fun.

On Friday I took photos at the Varsity game. It's challenging in the dark under the lights. The team is really good, they are 5-0 with only 3 regular games left. Billy plays on the point after special team and a little bit at tight end when they've gotten a good lead. The score that night was 63 - 20, so he was in a lot for point after attempts!

He's been doing the punting and kicking for JV for the last few weeks. Either that or he's just waving to say "Hi Mom". No, he's kicking....and playing tight end.

Here's one of his punts. I was afraid that the hike was going to go over his head. It's lucky that he's tall!

After the football game we hopped in the van with Billy, one of his team mates and their hiking buddy to drive north of Duluth so they could meet up with their back packing class. The rest of the class had taken two school buses there early that morning, but we offered to drive the boys up so they could play football. It was a pretty 3.5 hour drive. We picked up my mom on the way so she could enjoy the sights too. The sunset on Lake Superior was pretty nice!

We drove back to my mom's house that evening. Sunday morning was church followed by a visit from my niece and her husband....who brought sweet little Avery with them. She's only 1 1/2, but has a lot of personality and independence! I was glad that I had my camera along.

I stopped at a local lake for a quick picture on my way to volleyball on Monday. Isn't it peaceful?

It was 82 degrees yesterday, my friend Jen and I spent the afternoon golfing. The trees are beautiful, the weather spectacular, and golfing was fun. I stopped at a little shop and took a picture of this decorative grass. So pretty in the sunlight.

It was another warm day today, record breaking. It was warmer here in Minnesota than it was in Houston. We'll take it! All these warm days are making Molly tired. Me too. I think it's about time for a nap.

I hope that the days are sunny and warm, the trees are turning, the flowers still blooming and that your teams are all winning in your neck of the woods. Thanks for stopping by.

Tid Bits

2011-09-23T12:39:00.007-05:00

Fall is in the air here. Appropriate since this is officially the first day of fall. We seem to be finding a rhythm with the new season, and the new school year. Eric and I are still playing softball, one more week to go. I took this picture after our game with my cell phone when that little light went off in my head that I hadn't taken a picture yet that day. That little light is dim some days.

Eric and I took a trip south to Winona to visit Brian. It was parents weekend, he needed a few things home, and we wanted to buy him a bike to replace the one that was stolen. It was wonderful to see him, but hard to leave....I miss him! He seems to be making the adjustment to college life pretty well, that helps.

We missed Billy's varsity game on Friday night. The team had a big lead so the 2nd string got to play during the 2nd half. He made a catch that happened to be filmed by a local TV station. They included it in their prep sports extra and mentioned his name. We thought that it was pretty cool. Billy's number 89. You can see the clip here.

We did make it to the JV football game on Saturday morning though, and Billy had another catch....here's a picture of just before the ball got there. I don't know how he can concentrate with 3 guys about to grab him, but he does....and it's fun to watch!

Sunday was cold and drizzling, not a great day for baseball but sort of cool conditions for taking pictures. This one is of Billy playing 3rd base. He hasn't played 3rd much during the summer and fall, but he made a couple of nice throws to first the two innings that he was there.

Molly likes to go outside, even on the cool days. Here she is lounging on the patio. She won't look at the camera, it's sort of funny.

Penny had a chew bone outside, she wouldn't look at the camera either....she was very intent on chewing up that bone. Penny...PENNY....nope....not even a glance.

The mums are starting to bloom in the garden, another sign of fall.

We were treated to a pretty sunrise yesterday morning. I hope that the neighbors didn't notice me outside in my night gown....but it was too pretty to pass up.
We have another busy weekend ahead. It's homecoming here, so football tonight, football in the morning, homecoming dance for Billy tomorrow night, and baseball on Sunday. They rhythm of fall. It's making me tired....but I can rest when the snow flies. Right?

Thanks for stopping by.

A Photo a Day

2011-09-15T14:20:00.000-05:00

A photo a day, the main reason that I started this blog. I've been slipping up on posting very often, but I'm still taking at least a photo a day. Shall we catch up?

Some flowers at the farm. My mom calls them "naked ladies". They might be, but I don't know for sure. I do know that they come from bulbs and just when you think that they haven't survived from the year before they will shoot up all of a sudden and bloom. Some of the bulbs were from a bed that my grandpa had planted, some were from a friend of my mom. I'm not sure which these are, but I like them.

Cosmos...pretty and pink and dancing in the wind. My go to flower to photograph lately when I've realized that I haven't taken a photo on any given day. See the spider?

Billy played softball with his dad a few weeks ago....so I brought the camera to their game. I got a couple of cute pictures of Billy, but liked this one of Eric the best. I think they were both pretty happy to be able to play together.

My petunias are getting pretty leggy....but the bursts of red on the patio are still pretty.

I took a quick trip to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum one day. The long hot summer has been tough on things there too...but some of the roses sure were pretty. This one was my favorite.

When we moved into this house 6 years ago we inherited the base of a birdbath...with out the bowl part. So this spring, when I was getting ready for Brian's graduation party and looking for things for the yard that were red I came across this red glass ball....and decided to re purpose the birdbath stand. Something in the yard that doesn't wilt and I don't have to weed or water it...yeehaw.

One of my leggy petunias against the colorless evening sky. Heat and a forgetful water er haven't been kind to the petunias.

Billy's football season is going full bore. They started with a scrimmage before school started, rotating play between 4 other schools. His team is so big they rotated teams within their offense and defense too. Everyone saw some action, so that was good. Billy is # 89.

We spent an afternoon helping a friend cut and remove some sod from her yard to make room for some perennial beds. It was a cool, drizzly day....but it made it easier to work. I liked the color of some petunias she had growing in a pot.

We had moved our bird feeders away from the house last spring....this little sunflower sprouted from the rocks underneath the feeders. Better than thistles I guess.

This was taken at the end of August when the cone flowers were fading...but still pretty.

Eric and I took a quick trip north to Bayfield, Wi. to see a concert at the Big Top Chautauqua at the end of August. We stopped to stretch our legs and look at the boats that were docked in Washburn. It's so peaceful there.

We scored 2nd row center seats to see Greg Brown perform a concert at the Big Top. Lots of new songs with a getting older theme. Yep, can relate to that!

We golfed in Hayward Wisconsin on our way home the next day. It was unseasonably hot and humid....but we had lots of fun anyway.

We hurried home from golfing so we could watch Billy's first varsity football game. He even got in for a few plays! I volunteered to take pictures for the games from the field, this one doesn't have Billy in it, but I like the sunshine and the action.

The next morning the Junior Varsity played. The kids that don't see much playing time on varsity get their chance in the JV games. I requested to change my volunteer assignment from Varsity to JV....and the gal in charge was fine with that. There are a lot of people that have volunteered so I'm not leaving them short or anything....and I'd rather take pictures at JV...less pressure!

On the Friday night of Labor Day weekend Brian took the train home from college for the first time. He greeted us with a smile and a big box of laundry. Gotta love college kids!

We spent some time at the cabin and on the farm for the long weekend. There were lots of little sunflowers blooming in my mom's yard. So pretty. They look like fall though!

The mums along the wall at the church in our small home town said fall too!

A quick snapshot of my boys after church. Eric and I had some wedding pictures taken by that tree years and years ago. The tree has a bigger girth now too.

Cosmos in the fading light, must have been a busy Monday.

Billy on his first day of his Junior year. It really hit home that morning that we only have one boy at home right now. Sad.

My favorite inkjet printer bit the dust, so Eric and I went shopping for a new one. I loved the sky and tried to capture it with my cell phone. It sort of worked. And I found a new printer on sale...so it was a good day after all.

Cosmos in the fading sun....do you see a trend here?

Let's change it up with a bouquet of roses from the grocery store. Yummy colors.

Another varsity football game, taken from the stands just before the National Anthem. Another unseasonably warm evening. Billy is one of the tallest boys on the team. The sunlight makes his hair look really red. He got in for 7 plays in this game!

The JV game for Saturday was cancelled, so we had a rare day off....we decided to go golfing with a friend....and then enjoyed a sunset at her house after our round. I love the view from her backyard....so serene. I will always be a country girl at heart.

In addition to High School football, Billy is playing baseball this fall too. Um yes, we are sort of busy right now. It might explain my lack of blogging. And house cleaning. And anything else I need an excuse for. He got a couple of hits off of some fast pitchers...it was fun to see.

Sunday baseball double header, Monday after school JV football game. They won, but the coaches weren't happy with how some of the kids were playing. I guess Mondays are rough for football and most everything else. It was 90 degrees again that day...maybe that was the problem.

Monday night the winds picked up, Tuesday the temps were barely 70 degrees, and after editing football pictures all day all I had time for was a fading light Cosmos.

Tuesday temps were cool, Wednesday and today have been darned cold...not even 60 degrees either day. 90's to upper 50's in a matter of days. Goodbye summer, hello November. I took this picture of the cosmos thinking that it might be the last one I could get...there were freeze warnings for the Twin Cities last night.

The forecasters were wrong...surprise...but fall is coming sooner than later. It's in the air. I can feel it....and I can't feel my toes! Brrr.

Happy fall.....thanks for stopping by!

Growing Things

2011-08-20T14:37:00.003-05:00

This will be a flowery post. Not flowery with words, mostly just with flowers. I love taking pictures of flowers.

I should develop a love of weeding flower gardens. It hasn't happened yet. There's something about maintenance that I have trouble with.

New projects no problem. Maintaining completed projects...not so much. Why is that? Next subject.

One of our friends grows pumpkins. Really big pumpkins. This one was around 750 pounds when I took this picture last week. I think they estimated that they grow 20 pounds or so every day when the conditions are right....so it's probably 850 pounds now. Crazy. They have two big pumpkins in their patch. Giant vines....even the leaves are enormous. They've won big pumpkin contests with them....maybe this one will be a winner too.

Summer feels like it's winding down. Billy is having two or three football practices a day. The full moon came up big and orange like a pumpkin....

...the sun is setting earlier....

....the petunias are getting straggly....

....and we took our boy Brian to college last week. Sniff. Freshman orientation week. Moving into the dorm, meeting the room mates, figuring the ins and outs of the school and the town, adjusting to campus food, signing up for clubs....all that fun college living stuff. I'm grateful for texting and phone calls home.

Brian was worried about Penny missing him...and she does. She's been carrying her stuffed animal around with her where ever she goes. It's pretty cute. She'll be a happy dog when he comes home for Labor Day weekend. So will I. :-)

The cosmos are blooming like it's fall. The pink hints of flowers in the background of this picture are mums. You know that summer is fading when the mums start blooming.

Eric and I took advantage of a nice evening last night and went golfing. It looked like it might rain but it held off. We were paired up with a couple that we didn't know...Brian and Penny. I told Brian that his name would be easy to remember since we had a son named Brian.

I wanted to say that Penny's name would be easy to remember too....but I stopped myself from telling her that she shared a name with our dog. Woof. Crazy.

Have a happy Saturday.

Butterflies, Flowers and My Boy

2011-08-10T11:55:00.000-05:00

Molly, in the open window, dreaming of birds and butterflies and other things to chase. Careful Molly, it's a jungle out there!
The butterflies have been busy this summer. I don't think I've ever seen so many. They flit, they flutter, they glide from flower to flower. Butterflies and flowers, they go together so prettily.
We went to the farm this weekend. There were some chores to be done. There were some flowers to be admired. A purple bell flower by the rusty fence after the rain.
There are a lot of butterflies at the farm too. Butterflies on cone flowers at my house, butterflies on thistles at the farm. So pretty.
The cosmos are blooming here right now. They dance in the breeze. Sturdy and delicate all rolled into one. One of my favorite flowers.
My boy, Brian. Playing guitar. Getting ready to head off to college. We work for 18 years to prepare them, to help them be ready to spread their wings. And he is ready.
I just wish that I was a little bit ready to let him go. I think I'll go water the flowers and think about that later. I hope your day is full of flowers, butterflies and handsome boys. Thanks for stopping by.

Just Some Photos

2011-08-04T11:12:00.012-05:00

I think I'll be getting away from the notes of gratitude in my posts, it added just enough extra work for me to not get around to posting as often as I liked. I might start again someday, but for now it's just going to be my daily photos.

A sunset, after a full day of rain, at my friend Kris' house. We were there for a BBQ to celebrate her birthday and because BBQ's are fun. It was.

The hot and humid days have brought the day lilies out in full force. Unfortunately it's been so hot and humid that I don't really want to go outside to enjoy them. I've been grateful for air conditioning! But when I step outside with the camera, everything fogs up and by the time the steam is gone I'm sweating like crazy. What an odd summer.

Eric and I toughed out the heat and humidity to go and watch the Twins play. Even though it was super hot, I still say that baseball is meant to be played outdoors. What a beautiful stadium....even with just a cell phone photo. And we won. Woot!

Everyone should have a couple of cherubs in their back yard, don't you think?

The bee balm is fading fast, but I sure loved the pink blossoms surrounding my bird bath.

A late in the day picture of some day lilies. I liked the dappled light.

Purple cone flowers every where...love it!

Billy played in his last summer baseball tournament on July 22nd and 23rd. He was supposed to be in a van on his way to Lame Deer, Montana for a mission trip on the 22nd...but they were staying an extra day in Rapid City, SD so I suggested that he play on Friday and Saturday and that we meet up with the mission trip kids on Sunday morning before they left for their final leg of the trip. I'm glad that he had a chance to play, he played well and even hit his 2nd home run of the season!

We didn't know how the tournament would turn out, but thought that they would probably be finished playing on Saturday morning. Well, they won Friday, lost Saturday afternoon, and then played again at 7:00 pm Saturday night. Yikes.

That meant that we left for Rapid City at 11:00 p.m. Saturday night...and had to travel the almost 600 miles in 11 hours. We drove all night, slept for an hour at a rest stop, ate breakfast at Wall Drug and arrived at the meeting spot on time at 10:00 a.m. It was a long night. Hearing the kids squeal at Billy's arrival made it worth it though.

Eric needed to be back at work on Monday morning, so after a quick loop through the badlands, we headed back home. 1200 miles in 24 hours and 15 minutes. Brutal. Talk about going the extra mile for your kids.

Sleeping at home in our own bed sure felt nice though!

Cone flowers and day lilies, easy perennials are the best. Thistles must be an easy perennial, because I'm good at growing those too. Errrr.

There are a lot of butterflies this summer, they must like the hot humid days.

Cone flowers in the evening light, because it was too hot during the day to wander out there.

Purple cone flower with white cone flowers, and a little bee.

When Billy got home from his mission trip we loaded up the van and headed to Wisconsin Dells. Some family time before Brian heads off to college.

We did the typical Wisconsin Dells stuff....water parks, roller coasters, go carts, ducks, Tommy
Bartlet water skiing show and mini golf. I didn't want to bring the camera to the water park, but I did bring it when we went mini golfing.....and took a picture of the flowers. Well, I took some of mini golfing too, but this one was my favorite of the day. So that's what I'm posting.

The cliffs in the Dells are beautiful. I took this from our ride in the amphibious Duck boat.

We got to the Dells late Saturday evening, spent Sunday and part of Monday at Mt. Olympus amusement park (water park and roller coasters and go carts) since it was a part of the motel where we stayed. On Tuesday we took a tour up the lost canyon in a horse pulled wagon. A beautiful spot but with the changing light it was hard to photograph!

After the lost canyon ride we stopped at the Goodie Goodie Gum drops store for some candy and then headed for home. It's good to be home. It's not good to have so much laundry to do though. I think I'll go and spend some time outside with my cone flowers instead. Look, an orangy one in amongst the purple. Somehow it all works.

Speaking of work, I had better get back to it. I hope you are enjoying a warm and busy summer! Thanks for stopping by.

Another Week

2011-07-14T19:13:00.009-05:00

I haven't been very good about blogging lately. It's not because I've been too busy, it's not because of all my normal excuses. I'll be totally honest here, it's been because I've been too darned crabby. I keep saying to myself, if you can't say anything nice just shut yer yap. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but I really didn't want to end up venting here, so I've been putting off blogging. You're welcome.

Billy had his last few baseball games last week. Thursdays game was at Round Lake Stadium. It's where the High School Varsity team plays, and the Senior legion team, and sometimes when he's been lucky his team has played there too.

Maybe it's not lucky, they usually lose if they play there. It's kind strange actually. Billy and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings after the game, Eric joined us later. I love spending one on one time with my boys, it's one of my favorite things to do.

Friday night was what ended up being Billy's final game of the season. We found out today that the tournament that he was supposed to play in this week end was cancelled. He'll miss the last, hastily scheduled tournament the following weekend because he's going on a mission trip. Summers get sort of busy around here. I was happy to get a picture of his last at bat. He was thrown out at first.

At that point I was just happy that he was ok and could bat again. He had struck out at his last at bat. He turned to walk to the dug out when the catcher decided to fire the ball over to their 3rd basemen to throw the ball around the horn. Unfortunately he didn't notice Billy walking to the bench and he hit him in the head with the ball from just a few feet away. Luckily he still had his helmet on. It still knocked him to the dirt. This isn't a sight a mom ever wants to see.

He had his bell rung pretty good. First I was worried that he was ok, when I saw that he was ok then I was mad that the catcher would do something that stupid. Irritated. Irked. Peeved. See, cranky. I know it wasn't on purpose....but it sure brought out the mama bear in me. Maybe the fences around the field are to keep the mom's out. Good idea.

Saturday was busy. We went to the farm, I helped my brother with some hay and then the farrier stopped by to trim the horses hooves. My horses get pedicures but I've never had one, how does that work? The good news was that he couldn't really tell which horse it was that had foundered last summer. I guess old Czar healed up pretty good.

I knew that we couldn't stay over at the farm since the boys weren't able to go with us, so we decided to go to a rodeo on our way home. Well, sort of on the way. We somehow had preferred seating...which was a grassy hill...but it was nice and close and the rodeo wasn't too bad.

Best of all it was a nice night for Eric and I to just sit and relax on a warm summer evening. The clown and announcer were from Canada, they put on a fun show. I'll post more pictures in a day or so.

The hot humid days have brought out my flowers like crazy. A few weeds too. These are day lilies in my perennial garden.

Billy is going on a mission trip to Lame Deer, Montana. We had a meeting after church to talk about the trip. It was good to meet the new pastor there. It will be good to be able to attend church more regularly again now that baseball is done. Maybe it will help with my crankiness.

Red and white petunias on my little red table next to my red chair. It says summer to me!

I bought myself some grocery store roses the other day, wild and crazy colors that don't seem like they should go together...but I love them. There is something about flowers in that you can put unlikely colors together and they work somehow.

We've had a few wonderful days of respite from the heat and humidity. Low 70's, a nice breeze. Perfect for our ladies round of golf.

My gerbera daisies are on a second blooming. I'm really liking the red and white combination this summer.

I ordered some new cowboy boots on-line, they arrived in the mail. Just like my last pair, I had to send them to the leather repair place to see if they can stretch the instep enough for me to get them on. High arch, wide feet...not the best combination for cowboy boots, but I love them and I had to try. I'll post pictures next week when I get them back, if they can stretch them enough. Just looking at them makes me smile, so I hope it works.

We had an almost all day rain today. Cool and cloudy all day. Just what the lawn and the crops around here needed. More heat and humidity are coming. Makes me cranky to think about it...oh wait, I already was cranky. Seriously, average temps would be nice for a change. I do like the raindrops on my day lily.

Sometimes it's good to blog even when you're cranky. I was so cranky I was thinking that there was no way I could find anything to be grateful for this last week. But then I remembered why I've been keeping track of the things I'm grateful for. I do it because when you look for the good things in your life, you lose focus of the bad things...they just sort of fade away.

So for the rest of the week I'm making a point to really focus on the good, because whether you are looking for good things or bad...if you only look towards one, you are sure to find it.

I hope you are having a happy day where you are. Thanks for stopping by.

Summer Time

2011-07-07T13:00:00.012-05:00

Warm days, busy evenings, storms moving through, green grass, flowers blooming, mosquitoes biting....it really is summer time.

Sunset at the baseball game. This was really the first night that the mosquitoes were fierce. Swat, ouch, itch....it's just a part of living in Minnesota.

There was the possibility of storms predicted for Friday night. It was a hot and humid 96 degrees. The baseball game started at 6:00...at 6:30 the pitcher was nearly blown off the mound with the strong winds that passed through. The pressure dropped so fast that Billy got a nose bleed. After the initial winds things calmed down and they continued the game. At about 7:30 the wall of clouds was looming. Thunder, lightening, and a 25 degree temperature drop...game over after 5 innings and a 3 to 3 tie.

We made it home safe and sound, packed our bags and headed up North for the weekend after the storm had passed. We arrived at the cabin at about midnight to find that the power was out. 4 little candle stubs...it was dark....but the cooler air made it pretty nice for sleeping. Ahhh...long weekend ahead.

Saturday, still no power. The best plan seemed to be to go out for brunch, so we did. Nothing like a breakfast buffet to fill you up....read over eat...let the weekend begin.

The power was on when we returned, hurray for running water, a shower and most of all brushed teeth! Eric and I had brought our golf clubs, so we went golfing with Eric's dad on Saturday afternoon. It was a good day.

Wild daisies at my mom's house.

Sunday was started by going to the little white church on the hill, followed by the Pizzaria...traditions that we all enjoy. We mowed my mom's yard for most of the afternoon, leaving the wild daisies to bloom. Then a trip to the farm to talk with my brother and enjoy the view...which included this eagle. Everyone should have a back yard that is big enough for eagles to live don't you think?

We ended the day with fireworks in the field at the cabin. KaBoom! Some of them were pretty amazing. We just had fire crackers when I was a kid!

July 4th, Independence Day but also my Grandma's birthday. She was born in 1908. It's hard to envision all of the changes that she had seen in her life time. Amazing. Growing up we always had a picnic on the 4th of July for grandma's birthday. Nice memories.

I took this picture with my cell phone. I spent a little bit of time at the farm raking hay for my brother. I missed a lot of the corners, so I don't know how much I helped, but it was so nice just to hang out there with him. And to top it off, it was a beautiful sunny day.

I took this picture when we got back home. I liked how the flowers were red, white and blue for the 4th of July.

A quick snap shot of a daisy and red yarrow on my way out the door to golf.

It had been another warm day, getting steamier as the day went on. I didn't realize that storms were predicted before I left for golf. It was looking a little dark when I got to the golf course. My golfing partners decided that driving carts would be a good idea...and they sure were. On our 2nd hole the thunder started to rumble, the lightening looked close, the rain was coming down, and then the siren went off at the clubhouse. We were pretty far from the clubhouse, but having a covered cart made the trip to safety pretty quick. 20 minutes later the storm had passed.

The sun came out and brought a rainbow with it. It was double for a while, faintly triple at one point. And with the sun and rain came the steam...it was a sticky one. And not a very good round for me. But sometimes you just have to think about being with friends and being outside and the whole golf thing just doesn't matter. I will say that golf is a lot more fun when you're playing better.

Long weekend, summer days, working from home, it all makes me forget what day it is most of the time. There is a lot going on here. Billy had a game last night and it sure felt nice to get out of the house. Only two more games and maybe a tournament...and then summer baseball is done. It feels like we just got started.

I talked with a dear friend yesterday, she's going through a tough time right now. I was so glad that she called, so glad that we could talk and even laugh in spite of the situation that she is in. Life can sure toss you some curve balls now and again.

But having a good friend, and being a good friend, can go a long, long way to help you through the tough times with a smile. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Summer.

At The Baseball Game

2011-06-30T19:00:00.006-05:00

I love watching baseball games. I can't remember a time when I didn't. I got to know Eric in High School when I was the baseball team manager and he was a player on the team. He was shy, but he'd always wander over to my spot on the bench to see what the score was. At the time I didn't realize that he was a stats guy, that he always knew what the score was, but he just wanted to talk to me. Silly kids. Anyway, a love of baseball goes way back....for both of us. We watch a lot of games during the summer. Here is a typical one.

Billy has been playing outfield quite a bit on this team. He catches sometimes, but mostly plays out in the field. This team has 12 players and they keep the playing time equal...so they play a full game and then play a half game. Last night was a half game for him...in left field. He didn't get any action out there.

This was Billy's first at bat. His hitting has really been coming around the last few weeks. He looks pretty confident here....

....and then a pitch comes in high and inside...right at his head! He turned and got out of the way enough to protect his head...whew....then he laid there a little while. Then he got up and gave the pitcher the nastiest stink eye I've seen in a long time. He wasn't a happy camper...

...but he was a base runner. He took a lead.....

...they tried and failed to pick him off.

He took a bigger lead....

...and when the time was just right he took off...

...safe at second. We do a lot of baseball laundry around here.

He made it to third...and there he stayed until the end of the inning.

In between innings I asked him if he was ok. He snarled at me that he was fine. Alrighty then. Before too long it was his turn to bat again. He's looking pretty serious. And still a little cranky. He fouled one off. Then....

...the pitch came in and with a mighty swing and the crack of the bat he was off....

...running to first...I peeked to see where the ball had gone, it was headed to the fence at center field....

....running to 2nd.....

...oh...he's not slowing down...

...headed towards 3rd...

....the ball is coming....the boy is diving head first....

...and sliding foooorrrreeeeevvvveeeerrrrr......

...into 3rd. The ball got there, but the 3rd baseman caught it but was behind the base.

Billy got there in a small cloud of dust....

....the ump got there in time to make the call....

....SAFE! He was in with a 3 run triple.

Hey pitcher....that will learn ya for tossing a ball at my boys head! And then Billy ended up stranded at 3rd base. And then it was his turn to sit. Sigh. They won the game 6 to 2. It was an exciting game. And I'm glad that Billy wasn't hurt. They play the same team again tonight, at home. Hopefully the fun will continue.

Having a boy that loves the game has been pretty wonderful for us. I watch and take pictures....and keep the uniform washed. Eric helps to coach and keeps the book and the stats. The down side is that our other son Brian isn't interested and isn't a part of it at all. We would never push him into playing a sport if he doesn't want to. He played when he was little but didn't enjoy it....and that's perfectly fine. The hard thing has been to keep an equal balance of time with them when one boy is so active in sports and the other boy is mostly interested in things that are more solitary. I do know that it's not right to spend more time with one child than the other, but it also doesn't seem right to not be a part of something that the other one is so passionate about. It's hard sometimes, and not fair. But I think that the key is that they both know that time spent watching a game doesn't equal love....and that supporting what they love, and loving them both more than anything else in the world are the things that balance it all.

Slowly But Surely

2011-06-30T10:57:00.005-05:00

Slowly but surely it's warming up and starting to feel like summer. Sunday morning started out cloudy and cool. By Sunday evening it was feeling warmer...and it's been a little bit warmer every day since.

Billy's team played well on Saturday. His grandparents came down for the final game of the evening. Billy had a great game. He made a nice throw from right field to get a runner out at second....and he hit a home run! His last over the fence home run in baseball was when he was in 5th grade, so it was pretty exciting. Even better since his grandparents were there to see it.

Sunday's games didn't go nearly as well, the team lost big and then lost in the 3rd place game. But Billy kept his head up and played his best....and in the end that's what matters.

Monday was sunny and almost an average temperature. Average felt pretty darned good. The daisies are blooming. A little sunshine can go a long way to improve all sorts of things, especially my mood!

I missed Billy's game so I could play in our co-rec softball game. We won against a team that usually beats us pretty easily. It felt pretty nice. Maybe it was the sunshine that brought our win. What ever it was, I'll take it!

Tuesday was warmer yet. Upper 70's, a few clouds floating by. A perfect day. The roses are blooming like crazy.....and we finally got to golf with no concerns about the weather.

Walking around a golf course, pulling a cart, hitting a ball every now and again, chatting with friends...a perfect eveing. As perfect as it was, I have to admit that I had a pretty big lump in my throat for a couple of holes. The course where we play is out in the country surrrounded by farm land...there was a farmer cutting hay in a field that bordered a couple of the holes that we were playing. A farmer driving an IH tractor, pulling a Heston mower...such a familiar sight, familiar sounds and even smells....made me think about my dad....and miss him so much. He's always close to my heart.

Wednesday was almost hot. The humidity is coming, you could feel it. But it was sunny, and there was a nice breeze, and it was finally a perfect night for baseball.

Perfect except that Billy got hit by a pitch...if he hadn't put his arm up it would have hit him in the head. He was ok, but it made him cranky. Cranky enough that he hit a triple his next at bat. That will teach them to hit my boy. I'll post a baseball re-cap a little later today.

The forecast is calling for hotter and more humid today. Heat warnings in effect. Temperatures in the mid 90's with humidity making it feel like 105. What about a happy medium? What about average? Average is good. But I guess that since the cold days and the warm days all get added together to find that average we just have to roll with it. Roll with it and turn on the air conditioner. And find something cold to drink with ice. And stop complaining.

I hope that the days are perfect wherever you happen to be. Thanks for stopping by!

Liquid Sunshine

2011-06-25T16:48:00.003-05:00

Sunshine they said. Warm temps they said. Here we have some cool liquid sunshine. 64 and rainy. Really? What about the upper 70's and sunshine that we were promised for the weekend? How can the forecasts be so wrong all of the time?

Maybe they are just telling us what we want to hear so there isn't a mass exodus south. Or so we don't throw things at the TV. Whatever the reason, they sure got it wrong again. But that's ok, the game goes on. Eric's helping with coaching Billy's team this year. During baseball season, this is about all I see of him....his hand attached to the score book. Sometimes I text him to check on the score if I lose track. He doesn't seem to mind. Sometimes I text him to say that I think he's cute. :-)

Another thing that I see a lot of is the darned fence. I like the fence when balls are flying at me, but it's kind of a pain to take pictures through it all the time. It's not so bad when you can get up close to it, but today I was holding my umbrella....to keep that liquid sunshine off of me...and it was harder to get close. But my boy made a couple of good stretches at first. That's fun to see whether it's through a fence or through the rain drops or whatever.

My favorite thing to see is this boy, playing ball, having fun doing something that he truly loves. I think he's cute too.

They are in a tournament this weekend. They had an easy win last night, today they were down 7 to 1 early in the game, but chipped away, didn't give up and then with 2 boys on, one of Billy's team mates hit a 3 run homer to tie it up. It was the boys first home run ever. Exciting! A couple of more runs, and they ended up winning 9 to 8. Now they just need to win tonight and they'll be playing tomorrow. I hope that they do...

...because tomorrow it's supposed to be 80 and sunny....and I've got to believe that one of these days the forecast will be right! Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your weekend!

Summer Days Ahead

2011-06-24T20:51:00.008-05:00

Something very strange happened last night. It had been a cold, damp and cloudy day....again. And then it was time to go to the baseball game....and something strange happened. You know what it was?? The SUN CAME OUT! Sunshine! Beautiful sunshine!

Sunshine with a forecast of warmer days ahead. Could it be? We've been waiting for summer to arrive for a long, long time.

The sun was out for a while today. It got all the way up to 75 degrees. Only 5 more degrees and it would have been an average June temperature! A forecast of 79 tomorrow...then 82...but they are throwing that darned chance of showers in there again.

But the extended forecast is calling for 80+ for next week. There's hope. That's good, because there are baseball games to be played, and softball games, and golf and the lawn needs mowing. And hammocks to swing in. It's summer in Minnesota, there's a lot to fit in.

I'm so glad that it's finally here! I hope that the weather is fine where you are. Thanks for stopping by!

Catching Up Yet Again

2011-06-22T18:42:00.012-05:00

I went and got behind again. Somehow between working, softball, golf, baseball, my oldest graduating from High School and a darned graduation party I got behind. I've still been taking pictures though. This one was taken at night, after a softball game when I realized that I hadn't taken a photo all day.

I consider it as getting some practice using my flash. It had been 100 degrees and humid that day, might be a part of the reason I hadn't ventured out to take a picture.

The next day was crazy hot...and windy! The car thermometer read 104 degrees on my way to golf. Luckily there was a gale force wind to keep us alive. Someone compared the hot, windy day with a hair dryer blowing on us all day. Pretty much summed it up.

We had rented a cart that day and drove around the course. Since we were driving I took the camera with. The sunset was a welcome site that evening.

I normally take a picture of the boys next to the front door on their first and last days of school. Brian was running late and didn't have time. This was all that I got...his back as he headed for the bus. Last day of his senior year of High School. How in the world did that happen?

Billy had one extra day of school to finish up finals and stuff. He also had a baseball game that day. He likes to get dirty diving back to first.

He didn't get dirty enough that day, they lost their game. Oh well, it builds character.

First he has his last day of High School, then he goes and graduates. It's a lot for a mom to think about. Brian's graduation ceremony was held at Mariucci Arena at the University of Minnesota. Just over 800 kids graduated in a little over 2 hours.

Brian was happy, Billy was proud of his older brother, grandparents came down for the event and we all survived it. It was a good day.

We had a beautiful, warm Saturday that I spent inside cleaning the darned house. All the windows have been washed. I went through two bottles of window cleaner. I got to enjoy the beautiful day through my clean windows. Since then it has rained and rained and rained. Now all of my clean windows have spots.

Cleaning is not for the weak of heart.

I had a lot left to do, with the graduation party less than a week away, but I needed a break so I went to Billy's baseball game. It was the last game of the tournament that they were in that weekend. They played in the friendship game.

Our boys took it to 'em and won by a lot. Not sure what's so friendly about that. It sounds better than the losers bracket I guess.

I planted a lot of red and white flowers for the graduation party. The school colors are red, white and black. I'm more of a pink flower girl, but I'm liking the red more than I thought I would.

Another Tuesday, another golf night, but it was raining, raining, raining. I spend a lot of time dumping water out of my flower pots. Where is summer?

I used the break from golf to work on a slide show for Brian's party. And more cleaning. Things get undone faster than I can do them. I didn't train my boys very well I guess.

The sun came out long enough to get some outdoor painting done. Why do party's bring out the big urge to get those things you've been putting off for a long time done?

The list was longer than the days to do them....especially when the weather wouldn't co-operate.

The end of the week was slow for graphic design work, which was nice timing for me! Brian and I went to a little bit of Billy's baseball game, just to get out of the house.

Friday the 17th, one day until the party. Our mom's came down to help me get things ready. Help that I needed. I wasn't feeling nervous, just sort of over whelmed with how much stuff needed to be done.

There is nothing better than having help come in when you are feeling over whelmed. I was grateful.

Party day. The tent was arriving at 9:00 a.m. My friend Kris was coming at 12:00 o'clock to help with the last minute stuff. The forecast was iffy, 30 percent chance of rain. I kept telling myself that meant 70 percent chance that it wouldn't rain. It rained all day. Rained and rained and rained. I didn't get a picture of the tent or the decorations. I did get a picture of Brian with his cake...and this close up where the cake doesn't show.

Eric's folks brought a runner that saved my carpeting from getting soaked. People didn't use the tent very much, the ground was mushy from the 1" of rain that we had the night before. About 1/3 of the people I was expecting didn't show up...but in spite all of that, it was a really fun day. Fun to see old friends. Fun to see Brian interacting with people. Fun even though it rained. Worth the work. Now if my house will stay clean for a few days I will be really happy.

We had sent our dog to the farm for the day of the party. I'm glad that we did since it rained and rained and a wet dog would have added a little too much excitement for me. So on Sunday, Fathers Day and our 29th anniversary, Eric and I drove to the farm to get the dog. We stopped by and wished his dad a Happy Fathers day. Then we stopped at the cemetery and wished my dad one too. A quick visit with my brother and then my mom and we headed back home in time stop at a friends graduation party and then on to Billy's baseball game. Yikes.

It was a busy day...but it felt so nice to have the party behind us! The boys were playing for the tournament championship. They lost, but 2nd place isn't half bad.

Monday felt like the first day of the rest of the summer. Or something. I was tired, I slept late, I read for a while, I picked up some of the things that we had left outside from the party...because guess what, it was supposed to rain again. I wanted the graduation party to feel like an old fashioned picnic. Daisies and lilies in Ball jars on tables with 1950's style table clothes...and no photos from that day. Here are the flowers lined up on the railing to my back door.

Eric and Brian headed south to Winona to get Brian signed up for classes and to pick up his lap-top. That left us short a male softball player, so Billy filled in. His first time playing softball and the kid hits a grand slam home run. I'm not sure whose smile was bigger, his or mine.

The rain held out until after the softball game, and it really hasn't stopped for very long since. Eric and Brian made it home ok from Winona after driving through some heavy rain. Golf was cancelled again, but then the sun came out for an hour or so.

It's the 22nd of June and we've rarely seen a day warm up higher than in the 70's. Cold, wet, damp, rainy....

...baseball was cancelled for tonight because of the rain. But the Twins will be playing in California...so I can snuggle up in my sweatshirt under a blanket and watch some baseball anyway.

And maybe make some hot chocolate. And dream about how it's summer, somewhere.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope that the sun is shining where you are!

Fixing

2011-06-06T10:01:00.004-05:00

There's a lot of fixing that needs to be done around here. Nothing like a graduation party to up the motivation a little bit. Did I say a little bit? Sheesh. We have a 3 season porch. A 3 season porch that has never had a screen door.

Not having a screen door...or actually a storm door, caused a few problems. When we bought the house the lower half of the door frame was a little soft. Saying that it was rotting sounds too bad so we'll go with soft. The snow would pile up on the steps and soak the door frame and rot the wood. Not nice. So, in graduation party repair mode we finally fixed it. We meaning I reminded Eric several times that it needed fixing, we went and picked out a door, he did the repair work and then installed the door. See....we.

Actually he did have some help with parts of it....it helps to have a tall teenager when it comes to putting in a door. He was standing on the middle step in this picture. Hey Billy...thanks for helping! All that food we've been feeding you has paid off! Anything that's out of reach we just call Billy. Better than a step stool any day.

We worked on projects through the day. In the evening we burned some wood that had been trimmed from here and there last year. A beautiful night for a fire. A sliver of a moon. Busy days are good.

Sunday was a beautiful day too. I kept seeing all the fun outdoor things my friends were reporting doing on Facebook. I was varnishing chairs as well as cooking 30 lbs of pork to shred and then freeze to make life a little easier on party day. I will be talking about the party a lot around here, it's sort of taken over our lives. In between softball, golf and watching baseball games. Oh...and that graduation ceremony thing that's coming up at the end of the week.

Somehow, now matter how busy things are, the flowers keep blooming, the grass keeps growing and the days go flying by.

I'm trying to remember to stop and smell the flowers....and then I bend down and see the weeds. Ugh. Better go and take care of that next.

Til next time.

Finally Summer

2011-06-03T15:45:00.004-05:00

It's June, it shouldn't come as a surprise...but oh boy has summer arrived! Almost 90 and humid as I'm typing this, trying not to sweat on the computer. Not complaining, just sweating. In Minnesota everyone always says "it's not the heat, it's the humidity!" There's a reason everyone says it, it's true. Melting.

Tuesday was golf league. Some good shots, some bad shots, but a couple that were good enough to make me want to try again. Half way through my round I realized that I hadn't taken a photo that day. My phone was in the car charging, that wasn't an option. So, when I got home and saw Brian at his computer wearing his new cowboy hat I knew what I'd take my photo of. My crazy toothpick wielding cowboy.

On Wednesday night Eric's folks came down to watch Billy's game and then catch a plane to see their other kids in Oregon. It was a beautiful night for a game. This picture looks like a hit in progress, but in reality Billy had a tough time at the plate that night. That's ok, they still won 18-12.

Eric's folks brought my mom with them. She stayed at our house a couple of nights to help me get things ready for Brian's graduation Open House. There is a lot to get ready. It was nice to have the moral support. After cleaning a while I talked her into shopping with me. Shopping is so much more fun when you're not alone! We got things like new bathroom throw rugs, entry rugs, and some baseball display holders for Billy's room to tackle the stack of balls he's been saving.

After all that shopping I took a few minutes to see the end of Eric's softball game. He still loves the game. Here he is heading for home. They won.

I've been putting off my spring cleaning for a few years it seems. There is a lot of organizing to do, dust to be dusted, windows to be washed. None of my favorite things. My mom was helping me with Billy's room today. Brian's room is next. I think that they are both getting ready for frat house living. Yikes. The best part of having help is the moral support.

I think that I've posted it before, but this Greg Brown song always reminds me of my mom.

You Are A Flower

Your smile makes me smile
I can always see your face
You help me make it through every day
You're with me every place
You left so much here with us
Your love is all around
Your children's children will smile that same smile
and say "oh look what I have found"

You are a flower
shining for a while
You are a flower
What a life, what a woman, what a smile

And I will laugh and I will sing
and I will go on through
To let this love just come on out
that's what I learned from you
Your heart went out to everything
a field of stones, a field of flowers
and when we form that magic ring
we feel your hand in ours

You are a flower
shining for a while
You are a flower
What a life, what a woman, what a smile

Thanks mom, for helping, and for the moral support. It will all get done, having a good start is a big part of the battle!

Hope that the humidity isn't melting you where ever you are.

Thanks for stopping by.

Brian's Senior Pictures

2011-06-02T08:00:00.001-05:00

Senior pictures...they sure have changed over the years. When I was a senior, back in the dark ages, you went to a studio and had a few pictures taken. A few poses, maybe an outfit change...but mostly a traditional photo taken in the studio.

When the many Senior portrait postcards started coming in the mail I started to worry. Too many choices. Beautiful portraits taken indoors, taken outdoors, taken with all kinds of different outfits. Mostly casual poses. Then the hints about how much they all cost started coming in too. Yikes. I did what I do best and put it off for a while.

Then the notice came in the mail about the yearbook. Senior pictures need to be in by October something or other. Hmm. I mentioned to Brian that we needed to start looking for a photographer....he said that all of his friends were having their friends take their pictures...and that he wanted me to take his. ME? Yikes. But no, he needed professional pictures taken. That's what you do when you're a senior.

I can't take his only senior pictures! There were rules in the yearbook about the size of his head, about props, about hands, about all kinds of stuff. He needed real pictures, not pictures taken by his mom. Didn't he? My camera wasn't working well enough, my lens wasn't right, my...well...you get the idea.

So we compromised. He agreed to take some formal pictures in a studio that he could use for the yearbook, but I would take his other pictures, his fun ones outside. Sigh. Ok. But then we realized that the camera really wasn't working right, and then I sort of spilled Diet Coke in the bag that it was in, and then it was winter before we got another camera and his pictures didn't get taken.

The next plan was to take some portraits in Hawaii. But we ended up too busy, or it was rainy, or something. It also didn't seem like the right place. Someplace that meant something to him would be better.

So we decided that the Interstate Park in Taylors Falls would be the perfect spot. Then we had to wait for Spring to come and the leaves to green up. And then we had to find a weekend when we could both do it. And then, when we decided on Memorial weekend, we had to try to pick a time between the rain storms.

Taking a few pictures should be easier than that. But, Sunday after church we headed to the park....and we got 'er done.

They aren't professional, but they are natural. And I like them! We had some laughs....

....we got to enjoy some beautiful scenery together...

....and I'm pretty happy with how some of them turned out.

It helps to have a handsome boy. And it helps that he was very patient with me when I couldn't get the settings on the camera just right.

We took a lot of pictures. There were a lot of people in the park that looked at us a little funny. I did over hear one of them say to their son...we should take your senior pictures here next year. Good idea mom. It's sort of funny though, we were all done with the pictures, on our way out of the park, when I spotted a place that I thought looked interesting. We climbed up a ways, Brian posed for a couple more shots, and low and behold the last picture of the day ended up being my favorite.

I thought, jeepers, why couldn't we have just started with this spot. Then I realized, it was the journey that we took to get there that made it so special. Just like most things in life. The end.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oh Happy Day!

2011-06-01T08:00:00.003-05:00

I do believe that with this post I will be pretty much caught up. Oh Happy Day. Last week I thought that I was done with buying plants for the yard, then I went and bought some more. And there are a few that I haven't planted yet, but I will. And then maybe I'll be done. Maybe.

Billy and I went to his end of the year baseball banquet last week. They brought in a catered Chinese buffet. The food was good, the program was long! 3 hours long. But so nice to hear the coach say such nice things about Billy. One of the things that he mentioned was his perseverance in making the team after having been cut last year. He also said that a team couldn't have enough players with Billy's attitude and work ethic. So good to hear him recognized for his hard work. I'm a proud momma.

We've had quite a few rainy days, last week too. This is a picture of wet, white petunia's on the gray / white sky.

We had errands to run, so we brought the boys with us and ate at a restaurant that they hadn't been to before. Authentic Mexican food. It's a quaint little place that I've always enjoyed, it was nice to see that they liked it too.

We usually spend the whole Memorial weekend at the cabin, but we've got too many projects to finish up before the graduation party, so we spent Saturday working on projects. One of them was assembling this table and chair set.

Bright red for the red and white graduation party. I like it! Eric and Molly did too.

We drove to the cabin late Saturday night. Sunday after church we went to the park to take Brian's senior pictures. We had formal ones taken, but he wanted me to take his casual shots. It was very cloudy, threatening to rain, but we got some in...and I like how they turned out. I'll post my favorites tomorrow. But I especially like this one, the last one that we took for the day.

When did my little boy grow up? He'll be off to college in a few short months. I'm not sure that I'm ready for that.

Memorial Day. I woke up to a thunderstorm in the early morning hours. The cabin is tucked in the woods, it was dark....almost dark as night when we got up. I could have stayed in bed for a few more hours, but we wanted to get to the cemetery for the service. The wind picked up, we went anyway. There was a really big crowd, sort of a surprise with the weather. They finished the service and then the tornado warning siren went off. Yikes. We went into town and watched the weather forecast...while it rained and rained.

It's been that sort of spring. We were glad that they got the service done in between storms. It's always numbing to hear the list of all the servicemen that have died....the older I get the more names I recognize. Family, parents of friends and schoolmates. It's important to honor them, I'm glad that I could be there.

And I'm glad to be here again. Thanks for stopping by.

Almost there

2011-05-31T08:00:00.007-05:00

I am getting closer to being caught up with my daily photos. Maybe by tomorrow I will be. Thanks for staying with me.
Here's Billy catching at his last home game. He's really improved a lot as a catcher this season, it's fun to see.
In between baseball games I've been trying to get some things done around the house. The weather was finally nice enough for me to get outside and stain some chairs. Stain sure smells bad!

The forget-me-nots are blooming in my garden. That makes me smile.

This is Billy's team mate Luke. Luke pitching in the rain. Billy was supposed to pitch in the last half of the game. They only got one inning in before it poured and the game was canceled. No pitching for Billy. It was a muddy mess, I'm sort of glad that he didn't have to do it.

The graduation invitations that I had printed arrived...and I like them!

The apple tree is blooming at my moms. Finally blue skies. We went up to the country to celebrate Eric's dad's birthday. The clouds started moving in by supper time. We were able to take a different route home and skirted the storm. A tornado touched down in Minneapolis and did a lot of damage. Amazing what the difference of a few miles can make.

A rainy Sunday. It's making it tough to get the outdoor projects done.

Billy's last baseball game for the sophomore team. Their 2nd loss of the season. 17 wins, 2 losses. Can't feel bad about that!

I'm starting to get really worried about getting ready for Brian's graduation party. I try to focus, I try to just breath and think about him and his last days of High School....and I am trying not to panic. My list is long!

The list is long, but the lilacs are blooming. Have to stop and smell them while I can!

Golf league night with my girl friends. A brutal round of golf, but a nice dinner of frozen pizza with my golfing pals.

Funny how those last minute, really casual no muss no fuss get togethers are always the very best.

I'm slowly getting my annuals planted. Red and white this year in honor of the graduate in our school colors.

Baby steps, getting a little bit done at a time. It's a marathon, not a sprint. But I think I had better pick up the pace!

Wishing you all sunny days that are longer than your to do lists! Thanks for stopping by.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T20:00:00.000-05:00

Memorial Day. A day to remember the service men and women and all that they have sacrificed for us. My dad was in the Army for a short time, then because of a bad back, he discharged for medical reasons. His letters home to my mom spoke volumes about how scary wartime is. But the men and women hold up their heads and serve.

We need to remember. And we need to be grateful. And we need to say thank you. Even though just saying thanks will never be enough.

Mid-May

2011-05-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

Another darkish day. I was busy trying to catch up with scanning some photos to use in a slide show for Brian's gradation party. I was so busy looking at pictures that I had forgotten to take a picture until early evening. Wilting flowers on my kitchen table. Droopy and past their prime.

Sort of sums up the shape of things around here right now!

Brian packed up his camping gear and hopped on a school bus for a trip up to Brainerd and the Brainerd International Raceway. His high mileage car wasn't quite ready, but he and his team mates headed out to see how it would do. The school sent 4 cars that the kids had built to the 2 day competition.

While Brian packed, Eric and I re-layed the brick on our patio. 26'x11.5' of patio to brick. I was hurting for a few days after!

Here's Brian's car. It was the only 2-seater in the competition. It hadn't gotten painted yet, they had trouble passing inspection and didn't get out onto the track until late in the day. Finally on the track and they were off! Unfortunately so was one of the wheels. They didn't get very far before they lost a wheel. Back to the shop. There were some communication problems in the team, Brian probably learned more from that than anything else.

It was a beautiful warm day, Eric and I drove the 2 1/2 hours to get there with our friend Bob. We got to see a partial run for the car and then we drove 2 1/2 hours home. I was thankful for the time away from home.

Billy playing ball in Delano. Sliding into 2nd...he was out. Of course he claims that he slide under the tag but the umpire couldn't see it under all of the dust.

The boy is drawn to dust and dirt. Maybe it's drawn to him....like Charlie Brown's friend Pig Pen. All I know is there is always laundry to do.

But what would we be if we weren't busy? Bored? Ha!

Second Week in May

2011-05-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

Tulips in the rain. Have I mentioned that it's been a cold and rainy spring? Yep, I thought so.

Mother's day...coffee and a muffin in bed. Nice!

Billy pitched at his baseball game, and we had to leave to go play softball. I don't like not being there when he's playing, especially when he's pitching. He managed just fine without us. Imagine that.

The crab apple tree in my front yard started to bloom. A few weeks late.

The buds opened up overnight. Really. I love flowering trees in the spring!

Brian and I went and picked up his tuxedo for prom. He's having major second thoughts about going. Having spent $75.00 for the prom ticket, $150.00 for a tuxedo, and chipping in $35.00 for the limo means that he will be going, second thoughts or not! And he WILL have fun dang it!

I think I'll go to a baseball game and not worry about the whole prom anxiety thing for a while. My little boy is a little bit tall...have I mentioned that? Yep, thought so.

Brian came to the last part of Billy's game, in spite of the rain. Our folks were there too. Since we were all at the school, Brian took us into the shop room to show us the high mileage car he's been working on. It was so nice for everyone to see what he's been up to. I know that from this blog it looks like everything is about baseball, it's not. It's just what I happen to have the most pictures of. Brian has been busy in his senior year, getting ready to graduate.

I don't think I'll let him go. Oh...I guess I don't have a choice in that. Rats.

Prom day. Senior skip day. Friday the 13th. All the worries were for naught....as usual. Brian got dressed and headed out for pictures first and then the prom. He said he had fun and was glad that he went. Being without a date can be awkward, I think that he handled it well.

I do know one thing...he sure looked handsome in his fancy white tuxedo!

They grow up, whether their parents are ready or not.

Finally May

2011-05-28T08:00:00.002-05:00

It's almost June and my Blog is just hitting May. Yep, I am still trying to catch up. This picture was taken on May 1st, can you believe how stark it is?

While we were longing for warmer days, the whole family ended up with the stomach flu. First one, then the other, then all of us. It was spread out, so it wasn't food poisoning from my cooking! It hit us all a little differently, and we were all thankful that it didn't last for very long.
But it sure made me want to disinfect the whole house!

Billy recovered in time to play baseball...of course.

We recovered enough to play softball, and were treated to the most beautiful sunset over the softball field. I probably should have paid more attention to the game than the sunset...but it sure was pretty....and the camera was locked away in the car. Rats.

I took a quick trip to the farm to check on my horse, he had a nasty gash on his leg. A vet tech came and flushed it out, he got some antibiotics...and then it was wait and see. Since it's a month later I'll just say that he has healed up just fine. There is nothing like a sick child or sick animal to make a person feel truly helpless.

On a lighter note, my mom's daffodil's were blooming. Isn't this one cheery and yellow?

Another light note...it was finally warm, almost 70, and it was the first night of golf league. I hadn't played in a long time, I hadn't practiced, and I started out with a pretty good round. It makes me want to golf again.

Baseball. Again. Carrying his gear, including the catcher gear after the game with our friend Bob. They are having a good season.

My mom called me to let me know that the horses went thundering past her house...I guess Skylar's leg is feeling better. Tail up in the air running is a good sign!

The birds have been chirping like crazy for the last few days. This yellow warbler was busy, busy, busy hopping around in my maple tree. I hadn't seen one before, isn't he cute?

My work has been busier than normal, which is great, but I'm trying to get things ready for Brian's graduation party and am feeling very overwhelmed. Some days I just have to focus on checking things off my list.

If I wasn't watching baseball all of the time I might actually be able to get something done. The season is short though, and this time of our lives goes so quickly...I wouldn't want to miss it and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Look...spring is almost here! Colorful tulips in the neighbors front yard!

Taking time to enjoy the tulips, in spite of a "to do" list that is starting to scare me. :-)

Easter and more baseball

2011-05-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

We spent Easter with my mom, Eric's parents, my brother, his daughter, his daughters family, and my brother's daughters husbands mom and sister. Did you follow that? Everyone except Eric's mom and dad are related to this little sweetheart. She is a very loved little girl....and that's what family is about.

We jumped right back into the week after Easter with a baseball game...I am so glad that I love to watch baseball. Seriously.

Our co-ed softball league started the last week of April too....so on Mondays we watch baseball and then go play softball. I'll admit, I'm at an age now that I would rather just be watching.

We do have supper at home together as often as possible. Lasagna is a favorite. It's still light outside the windows...there must not have been a baseball game on this day.

A picture of Molly? The baseball game was rained out. She keeps us protected from birds and things.

Billy got to pitch a few times during the season. Fun to watch but nerve wracking too....for me, not for him.

We got home after the game to find out that Brian was planning on going to prom, not with a date but with a group of kids. Out of his comfort zone, but doing it anyway. It was good to hear.

Billy has been catching quite a bit this season. I think it's funny that he's so much taller than most of the umpires. They have to look around him until he's in his squat, then they can see over him. Crazy.

Eric's folks came to the game and brought my mom to watch. Then we picked up Brian and went to Baker's Square for supper. It's so nice that they support the kids and their activities the way that they do.

This picture was taken on the last day of April, and the trees are barely budding. Spring can arrive any time now!

Billy's baseball team hosted a pancake breakfast. Pancakes on a Saturday morning...that someone else made. I could get used to that!

Cold + Snow = Baseball?

2011-05-26T22:48:00.000-05:00

I will catch up, I will catch up....maybe. Everything is looking pretty green outside now, but it looked pretty bleak about a month ago. It still isn't exactly warm with temps 10 degrees below normal. Err. This is one of the early Robins. I don't think it was very happy to have returned to this weather!

Our spring was filled with baseball games. 19 games in about 6 weeks. Should have been 20 games but one was rained out.

This is Penny after her vacation at the farm. I think that she's happy to be home. This stuffed animal is one of her favorites. We call it her "baby" and she always knows just where she left it. Running to find her "baby" makes her so happy, is that weird?

I posted some of our Hawaii pictures on facebook...they are here if you want to see them.

The morning of April 20th looked liked this....

....the afternoon looked like this.....

The snow melted in time for the baseball game. That doesn't mean it was warm though. I spent the day working and editing pictures....and wondering if the snow would melt. My life is almost too exciting some days.

Another day, another baseball game. Billy was keeping the book for part of this game and had to go over and ask the other teams coach a question...he looks so grown up. When did that happen?

Tulips on my table. A night at home with no place else that we had to be. Life is good.

Billy had a baseball double header that was rained or snowed out and then rescheduled for the following Saturday, which was on Easter weekend. Brian had already made plans with a friend that lives near the farm and we didn't want him to miss out....so we let him drive there on his own.

Granted, he is 18, and the farm is only about 75 miles away...but it meant driving across the city and then finding his way. He did just fine, I worried until I got the text from him that he had made it. And yes, I need to let go. Sigh.

Mom's worry, it's part of our job.

Back to Reality

2011-05-22T22:42:00.001-05:00

Back from Hawaii and back to reality. While we were on vacation I got an email that Billy had a baseball scrimmage the day that we got back. Nothing like flying all night, getting home in the late morning, grabbing a quick shower and heading to school. The scrimmage went pretty well, in spite of some jet lag.

Our cat Molly had been well taken care of by a friend...but boy was she friendly for a few days after we got home!

The weather had seemed to turn a corner while we were gone, it was a beautiful 70 degrees....for a day.

...but the trees were starting to bud and if sure felt nice to be home.

I spent the first day back getting caught up with a few things, the next day I headed to the farm to pick up our dog. Penny was sure happy to see me! I was happy to see this scilla, it seemed like a sure sign of the arrival of spring.

The hepaticas were blooming in the woods too.

And then the weather turn back to yuck again. And it's been 20 degrees colder than normal ever since. Or at least it seems like it. Billy had another baseball game....

....and our men's volleyball team had it's last game of the season. We beat our rival team, and it sure felt good. They are an unpleasant team to play, their mouths get nastier as they get further behind in the game. It was a pleasure to beat them...thank you very much.

The robins have returned, but I think that they are regretting it with the cold, wet days.

Eric went out of town on a golf trip with his dad, so Brian and I had a date to go to a concert. We drove to St. Joseph to see Greg Brown. What a fun night to spend with my son. I think that he enjoyed it a little bit too. :-)

We were greeted by Molly when we returned. I think that she was afraid that we had left her again! Silly cat.

It's good to be back. See you tomorrow.

Spring Break 2011 - Hawaii

2011-05-21T22:34:00.000-05:00

Quite a few years ago, when the boys were growing, growing, growing up way too fast, we decided that when Brian was a senior and Billy was a sophomore we would take a dream vacation to Hawaii. A last hurrah before Brian went off to college. We packed our bags and loaded up the van for the trip to the airport on April 1st. We had originally booked a direct flight from Minneapolis to Honolulu...and back again. About 4 months earlier, Delta airlines decided to change things for us and routed us through Salt Lake City on the way to Hawaii. The trip home would bring us from Hawaii to Atlanta and then Minneapolis. Great.

As we approached the Salt Lake City airport the pilot indicated that there was a problem with "some readings". Then he came back on and said that we would have to circle the airport a few times while they tried to get the front slats on the wings down...and that when we landed we'd be going in fast...but don't worry, they practice that, it shouldn't be a problem and we'd be escorted by emergency vehicles in case of fire. Swell. We landed without a hitch...the brakes were smoking though! Yikes. The trip from Salt Lake to Honolulu was much more relaxing.

Seeing the beautiful water and the green foliage in Hawaii was a welcome site....especially since there was still snow on the ground when left.

We had a lot of fun in Hawaii...enjoyed the views, enjoyed some adventures. The first half of the trip we spent in Kauai. This picture was taken at the Waimea canyon....home of one of the wettest spots on earth. No surprise that it was raining when we were there!

Brian had taken a motorized hang glider flight earlier on the first day there. The whole thing made me nervous, but he loved it. I think it was the highlight for him.

The boys suggested that we go horseback riding...which surprised me....I think that they were really wanting to do something they knew I'd like. I was happy just to spend time with them and breath in the warm air...but I wasn't going to say no. We rode on the north end of the island. I took this picture of the taro fields after our ride.

I do have pictures of all the things that we did, I posted my favorites on facebook, but for my "catching up" blog posts I'm just doing my favorite picture of the day. Sorry if the pictures don't match the post.

Our third day there we went ocean fishing. It was Billy's idea. We were hoping to catch a fish or two...it turns out we had an awesome day of fishing. We caught 17 big fish. Yellow Fin Tuna, Kawkawa, and Wahoo. We were catching so many the guide asked if we wanted to stay a while longer on him. He sells the catch to the local restaurants, so he was having a good day too!

We found a spot to catch the sunset on this day. Most days we weren't in the right place at the right time, so I was pretty excited to get to see this one!

Our last day on Kauai we took a helicopter ride to see the island from the sky. So beautiful. This picture is of the Napali coastline. There isn't a road on that edge of the island, so the only way to see it is from the water or the air.

When we were landing we flew over a tractor with a big round hay baler. I couldn't help but think about my dad and how he would have gotten a kick out of that. Something that was such a part of his life is used in Hawaii too.

After our helicopter ride we headed over to Oahu. We stayed in a little cottage that we found through VRO....vacation rental by owner. The cottage was cute, right on the ocean, but the neighborhood was a little sketchy looking. The boys weren't thrilled. The large Hawaiian man chopping coconuts in half with a machete next door had them a little nervous. It all worked out fine...and we got to enjoy this view every morning.

I spent a lot of time taking pictures. The taking pictures part is fun, the going through them after we got home wasn't quite as fun. It took a few days. Yikes. But I'm happy to have them.

One of the first things that we did on Oahu was head to Snorkel Bob's for gear and then went to Hanauma Bay to snorkel. The first day it was pretty overcast so we didn't see as many fish as we had hoped to. We returned a few days later and saw a lot more. There's a whole new world under the sea.

Our second day on Oahu we spent at Pearl Harbor. There is so much to see there now. We visited the memorial, we toured the museums, we toured the submarine, we had a guided tour of the battleship Missouri and bopped over to the air museum too. We needed a few more hours to see everything.

Brian especially is interested in the history of WWII, so spending a day at Pearl Harbor really meant a lot to him.

The weather while we were on Oahu was rainier than normal. There were even thunderstorms. We snorkeled again between the rain storms and then headed to the north side of the island to see if we could see the sunset. It wasn't as good as we had hoped.

But it was good to have a somewhat laid back day after having a lot of busy days in a row.

Our final night on Oahu we spent in a motel a block from Waikiki beach. That was where we saw our best sunset.

We saw lots of things at Waikiki, but the sunset was the high light for me!

Our final adventure while in Hawaii was a submarine ride to see a sunken ship and some fish. Everything was blue under the water, it was an interesting ride. Then it was time to hop on the plane and say Aloha to Hawaii.

The trip was everything that we had hoped for. Warm weather, adventures with the boys, and most of all just spending time together. The flight home through Atlanta was painfully long, complete with a crying baby....but it sure was nice to be home.

Hello? Anybody out there?

2011-05-20T21:58:00.004-05:00

I used to be better about blogging regularly. Then I started slipping. Then the longest, snowiest winter ever hit, then we went on vacation and then the longest, coldest wettest nastiest spring happened. And, well, I sort of got behind. But I'm going to try to catch up. I've only got almost two months of catching up to do. Not to worry, it won't all be in one post....and it will just be my photos of the day and what I'm feeling grateful for. But yikes, that will be enough! Here we go.

Tulips on my table.

Last year Billy tried out for the freshman baseball team....and even though there were only 24 freshman selected out of a class of over 800, he was heart broken not to have made it. He didn't hang his head for too long, he played in-house, he played fall ball, he had some training, he didn't give up. It paid off, he tried out again and made the sophomore team. I am more proud that he kept at it and tried again than I am about him making the team....but that's pretty sweet too.

The weather around Minnesota has been awful, March seemed more like January. Red tulips were a bright spot on my table.

My women's volleyball team entered the women's state volleyball tournament. We won a few games, we lost a few games, but we won enough to play on Sunday...which is always a good thing.

Here's my team...I'm the old one in the middle holding the trophy...yep...trophy. We won our first match, we won our second match, we won the class C championship.

I was stiff and sore but it was worth every ache and pain. Winning...woot!

Billy's friend had a birthday, so Billy made some cupcakes. He's the baker in the family.

One of the reasons I got so far behind in blogging is that we went on a 10 day vacation for spring break. I had a lot of jobs to finish up before we left. I felt bad about leaving the gal I do a lot of my work for with out any graphic design support. She was very understanding, encouraging me to go and have a great time. I still felt bad, but it sure helped to hear that from her.

With the winter that never ends we've spent a lot of money on bird seed. It's worth it...hello Mr. Cardinal.

Going out with friends helps the days go by faster...our volleyball team went out to celebrate after our game.

More birds. I think that some of them wonder why in the world they returned to Minnesota when they did.

I had a meeting with one of my other clients regarding an upcoming job. It was nice to get it done before our trip....and it's nice that they are easy and fun to work with.

I took a little trip up to the country so I could drop off our dog at my mom's place. Penny loves to spend time on the farm, it sure makes it easier to leave knowing that she's well taken care of and happy. While I was there I spent some time catching up with my mom....and happened to get a quick picture of this pileated wood pecker through her kitchen window.

I don't think she realizes how lucky she is to have so many fabulous birds. I do know how lucky we are to have a place for Penny to stay. Thanks Mom!

Next up, our spring break 2011. For now, it just feels good to be back.

Winter Returns

2011-03-24T09:43:00.003-05:00

It's winter around here....again. The tall snow banks were nearly melted, there were large patches of grass in the front yard....and now it's white again. And a cold stretch is predicted into next week. Temperatures 20 degrees below average. Ugh. The winter that never ends. Woohoo.

Tuesday started out dark and rainy. I had a trip to make to the eye doctor, then the grocery store....otherwise I would have stayed home! Red tulips from the grocery store called my name. They were straight when I put them in the vase....by the time I grabbed the camera they had headed south. Can't blame them.

It was raining pretty hard and was really windy by Tuesday evening. I came out of the gym after our volleyball match to be slapped in the face by sleet. The rain was freezing and the roads were slick. I'm thankful that I have 4-wheel drive...but even with that I was sliding around all the way home.

By morning the ground was covered in white once again. It was blowing and snowy all morning. I was too unmotivated to find something to take a picture of, so I took one of my office window with the white stuff outside. I'm ready for spring, not more snow.

To top off the cold snowy day there was another letter from the IRS, they want more information from us. What? I really had thought we were done. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Why dig so deep for a "random" audit? I need to remind myself to be grateful that we don't have anything to hide. I can't imagine how scary this would be if we had things to cover up. I just really don't like to have someone digging into our personal business like this. It makes me cranky.

But that was yesterday. Today is a new day. The tulips have decided to stand tall and so will I. A few red tulips, a hot cup of coffee and a Cinnamon raisin bagel to start the day. Life is good!

The IRS and this unending winter aren't going to ruin my day. I've got stuff to do!

Enjoy your day.

Over Flowing

2011-03-22T14:38:00.003-05:00

Gratitude is so important....and focusing on all that there is to be grateful for can change everything in your life. When you focus on the good, the not so good things take a back seat. Simple, but true. Works with photographs too. See, I focused on the flowers and now you can't even see the finger prints on the refrigerator behind them. Heck, you can hardly see the refrigerator!

I had a pair of purple finches at my feeder last week. They haven't been there all winter, they must just be passing through. I'm glad that they stopped though. Sorry my camera wasn't ready for their visit!

I needed to take a little trip to the country on Friday. The horses were past due for their farrier appointment. Two are mine, two are boarders, all are looking for food when ever anyone approaches the gate. The ugly, muddy part of spring has hit the farm. Green will be a welcome change.

I noticed the big, beautiful moon while I was there, it wasn't quite full. I didn't know at the time that it was a special moon, the next night it was going to look bigger than it has in 18 years because of it's path around the earth. Glad that I snapped the picture when I did, the night it was the biggest was cloudy and the moon couldn't be seen.

It was nice to spend the day and the night at the farm. Good to see mom and good to get 16 hooves trimmed. I'll pay for a pedicure for my horse....but I've never had one for me....and I'm just fine with that!

We celebrated Billy's birthday a couple of days early this year. Eric's folks, my mom, the boys and our friend Bob went out for dinner to celebrate. Then we came to our house for cake and ice cream.

This was Billy's reaction to the trick candles that kept re-lighting. He hadn't noticed that they were different. It's fun to be able to still pull one over on the kid!

My slow to bloom Amaryllis has made up for lost time. 4 big blossoms. It fell over the other day, so now it's propped up and not looking quite as regal as it did at first.

We had thunder and lightening on Saturday night....the snow is slowly melting. A robin landed just outside my window too....signs of spring all around.

Billy had a big day for his birthday. We let him go into school late so he could take his Driver's test. He passed! Two points off for not signaling when he parallel parked. Other than that the instructor told him he was perfect at parking. I told him I don't want to hear about any girls telling him that he's perfect at parking. Darned kid is growing up. After school was baseball try-outs....which last all week. He's going to be one tired boy.

Two teen aged drivers in the house now. Glad that hair color is cheap...the gray is getting more populated. Billy's been getting a lot of the attention around here lately, what with the chicken suit at the hockey tournament, then the birthday and the drivers license....but lots of changes are on the way for Brian with graduation and starting college and all that....and I'm not sure that I'm ready. But the good news is that he is ready, and excited about it.

One of my birds is testing his wings, the other one is getting ready to leave the nest. If I hang on too tight they won't be able to fly...it's tough to be a momma bird sometimes....but it sure is worth every minute.

Thanks for stopping by.