Spring is in the air...

Spring is in the air, and a (not-so) young man's mind turns to…  Grilling!!

That's right, Jeff bought himself a new grill last weekend, and it got delivered today (ok boys - hold on, the picture is coming)…

Of course, before the brand new pretty grill could be delivered I just HAD to get out and clean up the decks - they were way overdue!!

One view of the deck, the sun was shining nicely (this was yesterday)… and here in the foreground you'll see Jeff's propane tank has been disconnected from his old grill & is waiting for his new grill...

Another view of the deck, this one shows our little upper deck as well… that old green grill in the corner, that's the one that finally gave up the ghost...

Of course, once I got the deck cleaned I decided I needed to clean the windows (today), but it was such a gorgeous morning I just had to stop and take a coffee break on the front porch - this was my view… ahhh… the birds were visiting the feeders & singing, doesn't get much better than this…

Back to the grill… did you think I forgot?!?

Here she is, Jeff's new (expensive) toy… she's just gleaming in the sunshine… :)

Jeff asked me to cover it, his text said: "If you can, please put the cover on so it won't get hit by birds before I cook one on it :-)"… That's my guy!!

Until next time…

What's New(s)?

So… life keeps up its hectic pace…

Spring finally got here to the Upper Midwest, but it's been cool & wet & seriously lacking in Sunshine

:(

I like kitty's attitude toward the weather:

Yep, curled up in a ball with her head tucked into the corner of the couch…

Word is that we're supposed to be getting some nice warm temps starting tomorrow… like 70s & 80s for at least a week or so… YES!!

As for me, at least the weather was cool while I was cleaning up the gardens… about 35 heaping wheelbarrows full of "junk" hauled into my woods to rot away, replaced by 73 bags of fresh mulch - and the cleanup is finally done!!  I've also planted some annuals and a few other new things… if curious go check out my gardening blog for the latest happenings.

Picture above shows a portion of my Iris patch today, only about a month late…

I've also been busy in my studio, especially when its been raining - rain makes gardening a little too cold & messy… Below is a new form I came up with, I'm not sure what I'm going to call it yet, at the moment I'm calling it "Lattice".  Deep rectangular frame, "lattice" is attached to the inside of the frame but way at the back, stone setting is on top of the lattice.  If curious about what's been happening in the studio go check out my art blog.

I'm once again fighting the "battle of the bulge"… so I've been experimenting with an idea my doctor suggested…

This is breakfast… almost exclusively vegetable… starting the day out "light" calorie-wise.

What else has been going on???  Well… Jeff had his first summer band concert at Como Park Pavillion.  The band was awesome (as usual) and while they were practicing / warming up I got to take a leisurely walk around Como Lake… the following are some pictures I shot while on my stroll…

A couple local boys...

…grabbing some fast food...

An interesting tall shrub… would love to know what this is… it was about 10-12' tall and had these pretty little blooms.

This interesting little plant, the leaves remind me of rosemary & the flower looks like a tiny rose… anyone know what this is?

That's all for now… life is busy but good… until next time!

Life's Rough...

My kitty loves to sleep… as she's aged she sleeps even more… I almost caught her in a cute sleeping position (but, oops I woke her up)… she'd had her head tucked into the arm of the couch sleeping on her back…

Such a fluffy lazy beastie… and ready to go right back to napping...

Yep, caught her in a big yawn… what can I say, I'm easily amused!

It's Official!! We're Godparents!!

Today Jeff & I officially became Godparents to Charlie…

We're already unofficial "Aunt" & "Uncle" to him & big sister Larkin…

I love these two little munchkins!!  These are the kids of our dear friends Jen & Tim, and we're so glad they asked us to be Charlie's Godparents.  Other stuff happened this week, but this is the thing that brought me the biggest smiles…

Let's see… what's been happening…???

When last I wrote I had been working on my last Bible lesson for the Young Adult group I work with… later that evening it was Date Night!!  So what did we do?

We tried to go to Chipotle for dinner, but the line was long & we had something else we wanted to get to… so we tried out a local Sub-Sandwich shop, not impressed, oh well - at least we tried it…

So to make up for a so-so dinner I had dessert at the theater as we waited to see….

Star Trek in 3D…. if you're a Treky (I am, I'm an old geek) you should see it… very enjoyable, and the 3D made it fun.  If you go in for the 3D stay for the credits at the end… worth it… Oh, and the ice cream was good too - not the best in the area, but quite good.

The next morning, Friday, we saw this little beauty outside…

He's a Goldfinch, native to this area, very brightly colored at this time of year… we've had a lot of them around.  They have a wonderful song… such sweet little birds!!  A friend told me recently that a flock of Finch are called a "charm" - how fitting!!

Friday night we went with our group from church to volunteer at FMSC (Feed My Starving Children), then afterward fed ourselves at Key's Cafe - a local family owned cafe (there are a few in the area) that serves good American food.

Saturday got frittered away running errands & baking cookies…

These were some cinnamon cookies made using a basic 1-2-3 cookie recipe found in the book Ratio by Michael Ruhlman and then adding my own twist.  I made 4 different varieties on Saturday in preparation for…

Sunday!  We had our last Young Adult class of the year, and of course I brought some of my cookies.  Then the rain came, in buckets, and then in more buckets… and Brooks Pond returned…

That didn't deter our group from church… we met anyway for our Small Group get together, this time at our house… that's who the rest of the cookies were for!!

The rains were hard, but the garden still grows…

These are some of my Daffodils…

Monday - I spent some time in the Studio, it had been weeks - EEK!!  I decided to start small & simple, and made up a batch of earrings…

Today (Tuesday) was my car's annual maintenance… so I spent most of the day hanging out at the car dealer - lots to be done.  While there I worked on some materials for a Ladies Night that will be held by our mission team when we go to Ukraine, so the time was put to good use…

After the car dealer I ran more errands, and picked up my first new plants for the year - some bulbs I hope to plant later this week in some bare spots in the yard.

Tonight it's quiet, Jeff is off at band rehearsal… so I think I'll snuggle with the kitty for a while…  Many blessings friends & family!!

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!!