Feeling Spoiled!!

Yes, Spring has finally Sprung in Minnesota… that means I'm busy (the gardens have sprung up quickly), but I'm also feeling quite spoiled!!

Tuesday was the first really warm day of the year - 90s & dry & very pleasant - so Kitty & I decided to hang out on the deck...

No need to work hard that day… just enjoy the warmth… and kitty here was enjoying a belly rub as well… such a sweet kitty!!

On Wednesday I decided it was time for a change… I'd been wearing my hair the same way for quite a while (a couple years) and decided I wanted a change… I'll be growing back my curls after Summer… just wanted something super-simple for the warm weather ahead…

I've been spending lots of time out in my gardens, doing the first run at the flower gardens - cleaning and mulching… this is a long process because my gardens are extensive, and my neighbors always notice / appreciate how much time & effort I take…  I'd been talking to one of my neighbors earlier in the day, helping him look through the plants in his yard (he's new in the neighborhood), and later he brought me lunch (he'd been grilling while we were looking at his plants) figuring I could use a good lunch since I'd been working so hard - such a sweet thing to do… and yummy too!!  Thanks Alex!!

Today I prepped my last lesson for the season for my Young Adult group that I work with at church… its always hard at the end of the season (we break for summer), especially since I know not everyone will come back… but then next year will bring new people… still… I am praying that this group of God's faithful will have a blessed Summer.

Family…

We've had relatives in town, Jeff's Dad & Stepmom (Ken & Susan), and we've been busy doing stuff & getting caught up… quite a bit has happened since my last post…

While Ken & Susan were here Jeff & I had our choir concert… it was actually a choir festival - 5 local choirs joined together with a small orchestra at a large church in the area.

I took pictures from the Soprano section (one side of the front balcony) - this picture is looking across the Alto/Tenor sections to the Bass section (Jeff's over there) on the other side of the front balcony.

The Orchestra was front & center...

Looking out at the audience...

It was a great time, and the crowd seemed to love it!!  We did 5 pieces as a "Mass Choir" - all the choirs together.  Each choir also did 3 pieces each, and quite a wide variety of music was performed.

A couple days later we were able to get together for dinner with Tim & Marta (my son & his wife) - it was good for them to get a chance to spend time with Ken & Susan.  The following pictures were taken at dinner...

Ken talking with his hands...

Susan modeling some of my jewelry...

Tim & Marta… Such a sweet pair!!  Love Those Kids!!!!!

Today was quiet… and gave me the chance to rest & enjoy a quiet Mother's Day. Tim is out of town with Marta's family, though I did get a call from him before he left town… I'll get to see him again soon, Marta doesn't get to see her parents as often (they live further away)….

Jeff & I had planned to go for a picnic & walk in Como Park, but it was too cold for a picnic… Jeff had gotten some nice deli meats/cheese and we'd picked up some bread (I didn't even make the bread this time), so we had some nice sandwiches at home… We decided to go for the walk anyway, and it was cold & windy - the only things that saved the walk (for me) were seeing some adorable little birds (too quick to get a picture) that I still need to identify and seeing a family of turtles sunning on a fallen tree…

How many do you see… there are at least 13 in this photo…

A closer look at some of them…

A really close look at one clump - there are at least 2 juveniles & 7 adults in this clump alone, but the juveniles can't be seen at this angle…

After freezing at the lake we came back home… and I've been drinking coffee & going through some old music - trying to find a song to go with some curriculum Jeff & I are working on… no luck yet… but listening to some great music anyway :)

Later Jeff's going to fire up the grill & cook dinner… yep, I'm taking it easy…

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there… hope your day is Blessed!!

Bipolar Seasons & Lots Going On...

Yikes!!  Can't believe that once again it's taken me this long to getting around to posting on this blog…

Life is busy, but God is Good!!

When last I blogged we'd just had a ton of snow… and I was praising my hero (Jeff my hubby) for clearing our drive so I could attend an Art/Craft Show…

Since then the snow has melted, then we got more snow, then it melted again, and though we've had temps in the 70s & up to 80 in the last few days we're being told that (yes once again) we may get some snow - but it won't last long… our Bipolar Winter/Spring mix is coming to an end…. but enough about the weather…

Jeff had his Spring concert, and as usual it was Wonderful!!

I've finished a few more pieces in the Studio… more info here...

I finally finished piece I've named Grace, she's got quite a history already - God taught me a few truths… read her story here...

I've continued to come up with new recipes… my latest favorite is a wonderful Raisin Bread…

As it's warmed up some critters have come to call… actually, they're all running around like crazies, chasing each other & trying to convince Mother Nature that it's Spring :)

A pair of Doves in a mating ritual on the rail of our upper deck… they were so sweet with each other!!

We've seen several woodpeckers (we get 4 types in our area)… this is a mid-sized variety (we get 2 varieties that are larger).

This is the largest variety, and he's huge… here he's doing some significant damage to an old dead tree trunk...

This picture shows the big guy (by the stump) and one of our little woodpeckers by the base of the tree in the foreground (on the lawn)...

This is the kind of damage that big guy can do… glad he wasn't interested in any wood trim on the house...

We've had lots of other critters being playful, mostly bunnies & squirrels.  We've had a ton of birds at the feeders (Chickadee, Nut Hatch, House Sparrow, Purple Finch, Goldfinch, Cardinal, Blue Jay…) and the birdsong has been amazing. Speaking of tweeting, Jeff and I have joined Twitter… and we haven't a clue… you can find me at: @tims12mom… (yep, I know, I'm easily distracted)

I've begun working in the yard, in a limited capacity (more snow may come).  I've been trying not to walk on the soil & damage the areas where plants need to grow (it's a bit squishy at the moment), and making sure I cover cleaned areas with mulch… but as you can see some things are already poking their heads out (Yes!!)… this is my Iris patch.

On Sunday we went to see one of our favorite local bands, the Sheldon Theater Brass Band from Red Wing Minnesota - so glad to have them come here instead of having to take the drive down to Red Wing… they were amazing (as always)!! We went to Cossetta's for lunch before the concert (which was at the Landmark Center in St Paul), and just had to check out their Pasticceria - which had an amazing array of tempting selection, we had some of their Gelato - Wonderful!!

This week we have Jeff's Dad & Stepmom coming into town, it's been quite a while since we've had the chance to visit with them in person, we're really looking forward to catching up…

Jeff's still busy with his band, prepping for Summer concerts.  We're both still busy with Choir, our big concert is this weekend.  I'm still teaching lessons on the life of King David through the rest of May, then there will be a Summer break.  We're prepping short Bible lessons for youth in Ukraine, for an ESL Music camp that will be happening this summer.  We need to get the deck refinished, and I need to get my car in for it's annual service… does it ever end?

Oreo (kitty) is still going strong, and is as fluffy as ever... she sleeps more & has more hairballs, she's 13 now (that's 91 in cat years, so they say)...

Well… I think that about gets you caught up with my crazy life… until next time!!

A Crazy Day!!

First there was this… the "winter wonderland" of April 19th in the Twin Cities...

Yep, that's what we woke up to, and below is my HERO - he did the driveway & walks, then the plow went by… and he did the end of the driveway again… So I made him Brownies :)  He likes Brownies… gotta love that man of mine!!

Then, after the morning commute from H--- was over I braved the elements and headed to downtown St Paul, the RiverCenter to be precise… for the American Craft Council Show!!

There weren't a lot of people there, which meant browsing was much more comfortable (I don't like crowds), and I was able to talk to several of the artisans & learn about their work… such an amazing body of work it was!!  I will be blogging about that specifically on my Art Blog… but it may take a while to collect my thoughts & all the images I'd like to show… Wow, I mean WOW!!  And it sure did get my own creative juices flowing!!  I have a couple ideas now for something new - no, I won't copy someone else's work - it was something that came out of being exposed to so many wonderful beautiful new works… I love how art inspires art!!

So after the show I got back home, made a couple loaves of bread & those Brownies… and warmed up some good soup I had made last week (I make lots & freeze it for busy days)… so when Jeff came home the soup was ready, a fresh loaf of bread was cut to have with it, and the Brownies were in the oven… a very busy but very wonderful day!!

We've invented a new season… Sprinter!!

Yes, this is a new season in the vocabulary of Minnesotans as we're enduring the Spring that just doesn't want to start… Spring + Winter = Sprinter… don't blame me, I'm not the one that came up with this one - probably a weatherman…

Does this look familiar?  It should… kinda looks like a lot of my recent photos…

We've had rain, sleet, snow, back to sleet, back to rain, back to snow, etc, etc, etc for the last 6 days… Bleck!!  Don't tell me it's pretty, tell me it's going to go away… (even if it is kinda pretty)…

Luckily I work here at home, except that I've only been able to do a few little things because I've been sick… getting better, but not as fast as I'd like :(   And despite working at home there are still errands to run, groceries to buy, … so I have had to drive in this mess… Double-Bleck!!

The birds that have migrated back (some stay) aren't sure what to do…  As you can see my birdbath is frozen over again - it had actually been melted last Monday.

This guy is going to break his beak pecking at this frozen bark trying to get a frozen bug out….

We've had a busy week… our various rehearsals / ministries have kept us occupied, and Jeff's Uncle Bob landed in the hospital with Pneumonia - we visited with him twice, he was sick but in good spirits.

Here's someone who's quite content with the state of things… as long as she has a blanket & (an occasional) lap…. she's definitely an indoor kitty!!  She had more lap from me than usual as I was keeping myself more stationary, trying to let the antibiotics have a chance to get me well… she grew quite accustomed to my frequent nose-blowing…

The good news is that things here are going pretty well - Uncle Bob is getting good care, life is pretty calm, ministry work is moving along, and I'm feeling well enough to get back into the studio (frequent nose-blowing has stopped)…
    …… now if it would just warm up…..

It's the SS Annette

SS = I'm still Sick (but improving) and we've got Snow again (with more on the way)… ho-hum…

And that's how I'm feeling, ho-hum.  I'm sick I'm staying out of my studio & I have projects I'm really wanting to work on… grrr!!

So what have I been doing?… reading, promoting my jewelry on Google+ (or at least trying), making lots of soups & bread (did I mention we have snow again), doing laundry, checking Facebook & Pinterest, blogging… and basically just trying to take it easy & get well.  Kitty has been loving it… she likes it when I sit with a book… she knows then that she has a lap for a while…  I've also been drinking too much coffee - yep, my life's pretty dull right now… but at least I'm awake.

Jeff has been busy as ever, his hockey team made it to the final championship game in their playoffs & they lost by a slim margin - so they came in 2nd in their division - not bad.  I think this year Jeff is starting to feel his age with the hockey, he's talking about making some changes, but he's talked this way before & still gone back to doing the same thing - he really enjoys his hockey & his team-mates (one is his brother Brian).  I didn't get to see any of the playoffs, yep… too sick to sit around a cold arena!!

Jeff's still prepping for a band concert later this month & a choir concert (me too w/choir) early next month, and with work this means a very full schedule!!

Jeff & I need to work on some curriculum, some Bible Lessons, we're going to do this in tandem sharing themes & applications - Jeff for a Jr/Sr High boys group, me for Jr/Sr High girls.  At this point we're still at the prayer/contemplation phase. I'm looking forward to this!!

I'm planning on coffee with a friend tomorrow, to talk a bit about the curriculum I just mentioned… I hope the snow storm blowing through tonight doesn't mess that up - the forecast is 8-12 inches with locally higher accumulations… ho-hum (about the snow)...

Also on my calendar: I'm planning on lunch with my son Tim on Monday, I really look forward to getting together with him - we always have such wonderful visits!!  I'm trying to work things out so that I can get my Mom out for a visit this summer to celebrate Tim's 30th birthday - so I need to talk to him about what he & Marta (daughter-in-law) have planned.

Enough for now… back to shamelessly promoting my jewelry… and the dryer just beeped...

The Ugly, The Bad, and The Good...

I know, I know… I got it backwards… but then I get things wrong quite frequently, and I like ending with good news… so there!!  :P:::::::   (Those not in the know the :P is a smiley-variation, me sticking out my tongue, and the ::::::: is the splatter from me giving you a raspberry… clever huh?  (I digress))…

Ok… so the Ugly:
Came home from the grocery store to flakes flying in the air… yep snow… again… and also to kitty puke on my carpet (1 room in the house is carpeted (white of course (I digress (once again))))…  There's nothing I can do about the flakes… I cleaned up the kitty puke (we have friends coming over tomorrow (getting ready for a music ministry (will I ever stop digressing (I guess the answer is no!))))

Now for the Bad:
I've been having trouble with a piece I'm working on in the studio, her name is "Grace"… named initially after Grace Kelley, but now coming to mean God's Grace instead… and I've not had the chance to fix her because… I'm sick (again (sinus infection (again (these digressions are getting a little wacky (but I'm wacky (and I've not even taken my Dayquil (at least not today (went to the doctor instead))))))))  Perhaps I have a fever???  Could that explain it???…

On to the Good (you knew I'd get to it (didn't you? (I had to, you know (being that the title said so (now what was I going to say… (oh, yeah, the good))))):
Bread (not just any bread (white bread (sandwich loaf (soft crust (fluffy (airy (wonderful (yummy goodness (Jeff's gonna love it!! (recipe here (stop sniffing/licking your screen))))))))))

Hey!!  I thought I told you NOT to sniff/lick your screen!! (sheesh (some people (just when you think you've got things figured out (now where was I going with this line of thought? (whoops! lost it! (time for me to take some Advil & get a nap (Zzzzzzz…..