A Busy Spring

It's been a busy spring, full of family time, baseball, rain and flowers!  Since I've been so remiss in blogging and there are almost a months work of photos in this one, I'll keep the captions short.

Grocery store bouquet on my kitchen table.  Fresh flowers make everything so much better!

Billy at bat for the Eden Prairie JV baseball team.

I spent a few hours at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  The tulips were especially beautiful.  My favorites were the double tulips that look like peonies.

Billy about to bat...looks like something serious was going down.

Tulips in the rain.  We've had the 2nd rainiest May on record in Minnesota.  Some records aren't very exciting to break.

A few flowers in an antique ball jar.

Billy rounding third and heading for home.

Storm clouds at the golf course....taken from my cell phone.  The rain missed us and it was a beautiful evening.

This is the same hole looking towards the green.  430 yard hole, 290 yard drive on this day!  One of those sweet shots that keeps me coming back.  It's all those other ones in between that make me wonder why I try.  I hate this game, I hate this game, I hate this game..."nice shot!"...I love this game!

Brian is home from college...it's so nice to have him home...and it's wonderful to have live music in the house again!

Back to baseball.  So many games, so little time.

Billy taking one for the team...right in the rump. Ouch.

Brian and I went to the farm for the day to help my mom with a few things.  The airsoft rifle went to the farm too.  Brian has really gotten into airsoft...he named this gun Loretta.

The sunset was beautiful on our way home.  We stopped along the side of the rode to take a few pictures over this little lake. Amazing.

One of the reasons I haven't been blogging is that I've been putting together a memory book for the baseball team.  Two pages for each of the boys, pages for the coaches, manager, announcer, roster, team record.  50 pages.  It took some time!  I took a few pictures to use as backgrounds for pages...I ended up not using this one, but it was the one that I picked for my photo of the day.

We've been trying to get to the farm when we can to help my mom with some spring chores.  We always bring bones for the dogs there.  The first thing Murphy does is checks the back of our van for bones.  Happy dog.

Baseball...post game workout.

Another pretty night on the golf course.  Seems like I've been too busy on Tuesdays to remember to take a photo...so golf course cell phone photos it is.  Tuesday night women's league.

A little blossom in my back yard.

Billy at bat.  I seem to have picked a lot of this view for my photos of the day...it just happens that way sometimes.

I went out and bought my annuals.  I do 4 window boxes, two hanging baskets in the front, 7 hanging baskets in the back and a bunch of various pots around the house.  Some go in the ground.  It was a challenge to get them planted with our crazy schedule and the rainy days....but I'm done for now!  Until I buy some more to fill in the garden in the back yard.  Are we ever really done with any project?

Another trip to the farm...this one for Mother's Day.  This is a hanging plant that my niece gave to my mom.  So pretty...and I liked the light coming through.

Back home and thinking about how many plants that I need to get in the dirt.

Billy's last at bat at his last JV baseball game...and his first strike out of the season.  It's ok...summer baseball  starts this week!  Sigh.

Cell phone photo on the golf course.  We were the last group out, it was getting sort of dark but we finished in time without losing a ball! Whew.

The roses in my back yard are blooming like crazy this year...I think that they liked our mild winter and early spring...and maybe they like the rain.

Penny on the other hand hasn't been crazy about the rain.  She didn't like the idea of going out to "do her business" in the rain.  Sorry dog, I'm not going to hold an umbrella for you for that!  My hanging baskets were sitting on the patio behind her waiting to be hung.

Here's one of my few delphiniums that the darned rabbits haven't mowed down.  Why don't rabbits eat my weeds instead?  Errr.

My first daisy has finally opened...in the rain.

My mom and I stopped at a beautiful Iris garden this weekend.  I took a lot of pictures of Irises....but am posting one of the two that I took of the poppies there.  I never claimed that my blog would make sense.

My buddy Skylar.  I think he was actually happy to see me come along with the bottle of fly spray...lots of rain has meant lots of nasty biting flies....and wood ticks.  I guess we have to take the bad along with the good...and the good is so beautiful right now!

 I hope that everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!

May 29, 2011:  Second Week In May & Photo of the Day

May 29, 2010:  20 Questions & Photo of the Day

May 29, 2009:  Crazy Horse x 2 & Photo of the Day

Tis the Season...

...for baseball!  And for the hope of warmer days.  Having a record breaking warm March has made our average temperatures in April seem darned cold.  Thank goodness for May and summer being on it's way.  But let's finish up April and the daily photos.

The end of April was pretty much the same as the middle of April...baseball, flowers, baseball, flowers, baseball, something else, baseball...you get the idea.  Here's Billy getting on base on a sunny day...it's all about the fist bump from the coach.

The cool weather has not been very encouraging for my tulips...but they are trying.

Baseball on the home field.  Run Billy!

Look what a couple of sunny days did for my tulips!  Hello sunshine.

 I stopped by the Minnesota Horse Expo for a few hours last weekend.  I could have and probably should have spent the whole day.  It was crowded and I needed to head to the farm to spend some time with my mom...so it was mostly the parade of breeds, a corn dog and then out the gate to sit in traffic.  In a dream world I would have a couple of these in my back yard...the beautiful Friesian, take my breath away.

Saturday morning was spent at the car dealer...fun and stressful all in one.  With 4 drivers here this coming summer we needed to add a vehicle.  A zeal red Mazda CX-5.  Fun to drive and good mileage to boot.

Sunday had us back up to the farm to help with a few things....and to check on this guy.  Skylar isn't too sure about the camera...or maybe it's me.  I'm not quite sure.

Monday meant another baseball game.  At least the sun came out.  After a sort of shaky start the team has had 4 wins in a row.  Their record is now 6 wins, 4 losses....and the season is just about at the half-way point.  Go Eagles!

It's looking like May is going to be a lot like April.  Let's hope that the warm weather of March returns.  We're also looking forward to Brian returning home after his first year of college.  Where does the time go?  Sigh.  Thanks for stopping by!

May 1st, 2011: No Blog Post & Photo of the Day
May 1st, 2010: No Blog Post & Photo of the Day
May 1st, 2009:  Jumping Around & Photo of the Day

Spring and All

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 23, 2010:  Out Front and a Curve Ball & Photo of the Day

April 23, 2009:  A Phone and a Flower & Photo of the Day

April Sunshine

Maybe my title should be March and April sunshine....since I haven't posted since last month.  I need an assistant.  Or some organization.  Or something.  But I do have my photos from the last couple of weeks...so here ya go.

Delphiniums in my front yard.  With the warm March everything is about a month early.  Unfortunately April has brought us more normal temperatures.  It froze last night.  I'm happy that my delphiniums survived.

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

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

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

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

 Such a yummy color.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 10, 2009: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly & Photo of the Day