Spring has Sprung!

 Spring is defined in many ways; by the Julian calendar, by the vernal equinox, by when the first crocuses bloom, by the last frost, and so on. Whichever way you measure it, for most of us it is when the weather becomes sufficiently warm enough to allow one to shed the heavy coat of winter and venture forth without mittens and hats. Here in Michigan, we often get a "false Spring", a day that tricks you into believing it just might be the end of winter and then the next day the temps plummet and a surprise snowfall greets you instead. 

This spring we had a few of those false starts, but as of today it feels like it just might really stick around. The sun is shining brightly, the plants are waking up in the garden. And the big tell... the LILACS are blooming on the large bush at the corner of my house! I absolutely did run out and snag a few blossoms to perfume my dining room! They have such a glorious scent. 

The other reliable indicator of spring is my own personal activity. I finally feel like walking the dog every morning instead of just letting him out into the backyard on his own. We have a dog that loves to walk... he would go for 3 walks a day if we would take him. Truthfully, we probably should take him more than once a day; it would benefit us even more than him. Now that Spring seems willing to stick around, my dog will be a happier hound, and my step counter will log more activity.

The upshot of all this is, we made it! The long Winter is over and it's time to get out an enjoy every beautiful day we have before us. Happy Spring!

I Think I'm Gonna Like it Here, or "Summertime Extended"

In the musical Annie, the cute little orphan lands in Daddy Warbucks' mansion and sings a song celebrating how much her life has changed for the better. I feel a little bit like that kid today. I am back at school of all places as I say this, and I am watching a room full of high school juniors taking a practice ACT test, but I also have time while my eyes are on them to do a little blogging.  

In my last post, I shared a little about our "new adventure" into owning a second home in a place where we one day hope to retire. This weekend, we "bunked out" and scooted up North to escape the heat of Saint Louis. As it turns out, Michigan was experiencing its own "extended summer with temps in the upper 80s pushing toward 90. (still cooler than in the Lou!) Friday was a half day of school for us,  and on Thursday night Ed said, "Let's go North tomorrow!" With nothing holding us back and a light day coming up on Monday (another half day) I said, "Okay!"

So we grabbed the dogs and by 12:30 we were in the Subaru headed northward. We arrived by 8pm to find our grandkids in the driveway waiting for us. Well, they didn't really know it was going to be us, their dad kept them in the dark about what he was up to as they went for an evening bike ride, timed to coincide with our arrival. The result was a delight- their faces lit up as they saw us pull in and they yelled, "What are you doing here?!" (to which we answered - "We live here-it's our house!")

What followed was a weekend that went fast and was TONS of fun. The greyhounds were, at first, not quite sure about what to make of this new place, but as you can see they quickly "got adjusted" and found spots to chill out!

Sunflowers and other Goldens

We've had a gorgeous weekend of unseasonably cool weather here. It's been so wonderful to have the windows open and sleep to songs of the crickets floating in on the breeze! Yesterday we headed off to the vineyard and spent a lovely day bottling wine, visiting with our customers who more and more seem like friends, and walking the dogs. We had Bailey with us as his family is in Colorado, and the dog was in doggie paradise.
We roamed around the fields and he sniffed EVERYTHING his nose could find to sniff. He romped and bounced and just had a marvelous time! It was so joyous that it made you think, he's been waiting in the house for days and days to do something like this... it was just delightful to watch him. After he got his fill of sniffing and such, he laid down in the grass, where I was able to do a photoshoot of him. I got some really awesome shots of our grandpuppy. (Chas told me he wasn't jealous since he's always getting his photo taken.) So what you see here is one happy canine... watching the sunset from the front lawn of his family's vineyard. Contentment!