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!

Little Girls and Pretty Flowers

We have some new excitement at our house. Sydney has come to live with us along with her mommy and daddy (we let her bring them along). There's a great reason for all this excitement; Gretchen and Leon are building a new home. They were equally blessed in that their former home sold quickly and that means they are nesting in with us through the summer. As grandparents, we're ecstatic!

Last weekend was the weekend of the big move and everything sailed smoothly. So now, while we are still shuffling a few things around here and there, we are no longer empty nesters for the next few months. What fun it's already been to wake up to see see Syd having breakfast in the mornings and to get to read to her whenever we want to. She's been busy playing outside and seems to think nothing much about all the big changes. I guess when you're little, as long as you have the people who love you all around, the rest of the world is perfect too. There's a lesson in that...right?

What follows are some of the iris and columbines that are blooming all over my garden Enjoy!

Syd, Spring, & Socks

It's the "little things" in March and April that make you convinced you just might be able to hang on until Spring fully arrives. Some of these include early blooms of daffodils, spending time with a toddler who finds eating a zwieback cracker while spinning in circles in her Papa's big desk chair the most entertaining thing on the planet, and new socks. So here are some shots of those things....

The daffodils bloomed under our maple tree in glorious abandon this March. I love their delicate tenacity; these even survived a late March snow of about 2" that fell on them and melted quickly away.


Syd and Ed had a delightful time recently while whooping it up in the office on his desk chair. She has figured out how to climb up into the chair all on her own and takes great delight in yelling "Wheeeeee!" at the top of her voice while we spin her about. I've tried the same trick for myself, and find the true "wheee" is just not there at 53.... sigh... but I sure get a charge out of watching Syd spin joyfully!



Finally, I did it! I completed the "biggest socks" of my knitting career to date... I made Ed a pair of lovely SIZE 13(!!!!) washable Merino wool socks and he LOVES them. He's going to wear them to school tomorrow and tell everyone his talented wife made them for him.

It was a good weekend, all the way round!

Everywhere you look... Beautiful!

I am hopelessly wrapped up in spring fever! Everything is bursting into bloom and it's a wonderful time of the year. Just wanted to share some of the pretty things around my home and yard. This is such a beautiful season. I am counting the days till Spring/Easter Break when I can actually just sit back and ENJOY it! The smell under this apple tree is heavenly!

Spring on the Brain

It's March... so Spring can't be too far away, can it? Must admit to having the early stages of Spring fever.... so I decided to post a crocus. I know it's a bit early, but all my bulbs are up at least 2 inches in the garden. If it snows now, it won't be good for them!
Got my copy of "Pride and Prejudice" this week.... I love that movie. Watched it twice already. I was hoping that it might garner an Oscar for Keira K. but no such luck. However, it will always rank as one of my top picks to watch!

Think Spring!