I finally did it yesterday.

I took a glorious nap on the couch ... on the screened porch.

I think I may have even caught a few rays of sunshine that stayed with me! :) Summer is here. At least spring. But I think I'll go for the summer.

Went to a birthday party last night. Fun visiting. And swatting mosquitos. Everyone was enjoying the fact that the mosquitos aren't quite thick enough yet to be a problem.

I'm figurin' that if the mosquitos are here ... and the snow has melted ... and the temp is warm enough to catch a nap outside ...

Let's just celebrate summer!!

Cute observations that make you chuckle.

Jari was out fueling our every burning fire the other night. The moose use to just love this pile and then we burned most of it. The rest of the tree stumps and the stuff under it is slowly disappearing. Spring has also meant some serious yard cleaning attempts. Finding piles of wood that are too rotten to add to the wood pile and burning them. Jari didn't notice the moose behind him as he built the fire. Duke sure did! He took off lickety split after the moose. A little protective of dad's back side. :) When Jari was done doing his thing ... the moose had time to do his. Try and pick through and find something good to munch on.

Then ... along came Oreo. Stalking the moose. Would have been a hoot to catch on a video clip. She had the full crouch going on. The "I'm going to get you" look in her stance.

At some point she must have decided that it was rather pointless and just settled in for a good viewing spot. Far enough away to be safe ... close enough to feel as if she had an eye on the situation.

Goofy cat.

Before Sunday evening

if you haven't hopped over to the Think Fast blog, go take a look. Great chance for a wonderful giveaway.

You might get lost along the way. Just a warning. All of the sites are wonderful with oodles of fun things to get your creative juices flowing.

... and this week ....

What a week.


Tuesday night I finally slept better after my dear hubby got a virtual clean bill of health. Well .. maybe that is stretching it. Labs, doctors visits and several CT scans later .. I can quit worrying. I do that so very well ... the worrying part. :)


Thursday evening I got news that my brother, Charlie, had a dirt biking accident. The inital news was rather frightening. 24 hours later he had made a miraculous recovery. He'll be hurting for a while with broken ribs and bruises. After a direct head hit airborne at 40 mph ... it's a miracle he's here. Was good to hear his voice last evening. Thanks to Becky for the updates along the way and to Dave for calling this morning with some more of the actual details. All is well that ends well .. maybe he'll get to go home tomorrow.



Last evening we did a little of this. Blayde won a game, as did I. We don't play this game nearly enough anymore. We have enough missing pieces that I think I'm going to run a "Wanted" ad on Craigs List. Never know. Someone may have one sitting in the closet unused. It would get used over here!



The greenhouse is coming along. We're adding a planter box along one wall and the end opposite the door. Need the edging on that and then they'll be ready to fill with dirt. I had Tia move the handy digital thermometer out there this afternoon. Haven't dared put plants out there yet. No heat source .. only the wonderful sun. The screened porch says it is 48ish outside. The greenhouse said 60ish. Hmmmm. Want to see how low it get tonite. Maybe I'll move it all out there. In the meantime ... my kitchen table is littered with seedlings. I "borrowed" Brock's wood creations for snowboarding and am using them in the mudroom where we have a small window.



Hit Walmart this morning. More flower seeds. Potting soil. Jiffy pots. I moved plants into larger containers and used a bit of dirt! Nothing like gardening gloves and a gardening tool to feel a Saturday is complete. My goal is to continually plant all summer long. I'd love to be able to eat them all summer ... not wait until fall. Maybe this way we can enjoy fresh stuff all summer and then have some to put away from winter. Broccoli, zucchini, cucumbers, beans and peas are all looking good! Wait 'til you see what we're doing with potatoes! I'll share when it happens.


Off to a Fundraiser Service Auction this evening. Promises to be a fun evening.

If somedays I have questions

about why I live here. When somedays I wonder what on earth we're doing here. I remind myself that God had a reason.

And then there is this. We were patio dwellers in Arizona. We spent incredible amounts of time on the back patio. Visiting, doing homework, on the phone, anything we could.

Yesterday I came home from work to find my darling youngest daughter doing this.

We took many naps on our screened porch last summer. We read out there. Visited out there. Enjoyed the mosquito free weather out there. And, friends, the mosquitos are already here. (I admitted it. whew!)

This young lady is our baby. She'll always hear that. She's use to it. :) Somedays I think that Jari & I are getting old and losing our eyesight. If she's napping on the couch in the living room ... and facing the wall ... we have to check to see which daughter it is. She has sprouted. She's taken over Alyx's pants ... and the length works for her. The hair color. All of it. This morning I feel a whole lot better. I know she's tired. She can't keep her eyes open and is actually sleeping with her head on the computer "table" next to me. She looked at this picture and thought it was her sister. I had to go elsewhere to view it screen size for her. :) I feel younger already!

With this temp here yesterday ... I should have taken a nap out there as well!

I giggled to see these when I got home. The zinnias were up on Monday already. Was hoping for a few more things yesterday ... but didn't expect this much!

Instead of taking a nap ... I cut apart used milk jugs for planting. :)

My dear hubby's Monday project

was to get this finished. The roof is made of the plastic "greenhouse" sheeting. Eventually we'd like the sides done the same way. In the interest of actually getting it done, and keeping affordability in mind, we used reinforced plastic. Isn't she a beauty? Jari likes the look of the natural wood. I keep envisioning splashes of red out there.

Before too long, the walls should be glowing green from the inside. Am hoping to pick up some brackets in the next week or two and get some shelves up in there. When the earth warms up a little bit for us ... we'll get the roto tiller for a day.

Yesterday I sat at work and drooled ...

imagine sitting in this room and enjoying it thoroughly and completely. Sue, my coworker, brings me magazines ... and causes me to lose countless hours as I ponder them. I absolutely adore this room. Jari texted me during the day with an interesting question. One that led me to believe he was making us a greenhouse at home. Hmmm. Was quite anxious to get home and see what was up.

This was certainly up. The tulips have sprung. This poor thing, and its nearby buddies, need to move. The end up being dwarfed by the ....

next door rhubarb. All the plants but one have shoots showing. I think I need to hustle up some strawberry rhubarb pies and use up what is still in the freezer from last summer!

These things are sitting next to the tulips. I think it's time to go. Saturday morning they were actually put to use as several of the kids headed up to Hatchers to sled and board.

THIS, though, is the real treat I came home to on Friday. We are using reclaimed lumber for the most part. I think it will measure 8x16 if I remember right. My hubby, and his assistants, were busy. Ain't he just a sweet one??

Remember that I was going to the chiropractor and then for a massage today? I had about 90 minutes between them so came home to swap some laundry quick like. When I got back from the massage .... it looked like this!

I started planting. Only 2 of these things this year. Will see if I start more or just sow them in the greenhouse. So Blayde was wondering what was in them ....

he's a bit eager for a taste. Wasn't here to see them grow last year. He'll probably be munching them out of the pots in several months.

A little more help in the afternoon ....

and at the days end ... it looked like this.

Next comes the sheeting of roof and sides.

And then my favorite ...

planting.

A week in a flash

The weeks seem to flash by faster all the time. Why is that?

The pussy willows are out. I'm accumstomed to seeing them on little branches in ditches and the like. I've been watching the spot I saw them last spring ... they aren't sprouted yet. The other day Jari pointed out a tree in our yard. Pussy willow tree?? Sure thing. I hacked off a few limbs and tucked them in a container. They just aren't the same. I'll have to keep an eye on that ditch up the road.

We have an elderly couple living kitty korner across the road. They have a lawn that is mowed into croquet lines in the summertime. And they have a basketball hoop ... with all the fixins. They are very welcoming about kiddos playing in the yard. Tia hopped over yesterday to see if she could shoot some hoops ... and ended up kicking the soccer ball around instead. Oh, to be carefree and this young again. To grab the moment and the pleasure in it. Tia grabbed the soccer ball. Anna grabbed the camera. I grabbed the camera cord and get to blog them. :)

This week Anna has been babysitting Nolan over here in the late afternoon/evening while Amber works. Nolan and Jari have a special relationship. They are buddies. Big time. Jari is having a good taste of a few years back. Nostalgia is good thing, hey? Yesterday they went 4-wheeling and Nolan would still be riding the thing in circles through the night ... if allowed. He wasn't ready to quit.

Another day it was feeding time! Am guessing that Nolan wasn't crazy about the salad. Something makes me think that if it was jelly beans ... he wouldn't have been sharing them. :) He found the extra stash of those in my room.

Check this out. Last nights coffee company. We have 2 laptops. 5 adults. And they are glued to the internet screen. Susan Boyle was the attraction. If you haven't watched her performance on You Tube ... check it out. It will give you chills. Her voice is absolutely phenomenal.

Even Michael enjoyed our visit. Isn't he just the most precious little man? He has the cutest smile ever.

So it is now Friday morning. I. Love. Fridays. I. Really. Do.

My goal for this weekend is to do nothing.

Nothing.

Maybe not nothing.

I don't want to go anywhere.

I want to stay home.

I want to putter.

I wouldn't mind baking some pulla.

Catching up on laundry.

Planting seeds. Yup. I'm planting this weekend. Green beans, peas and zucchini for starters.

Anything that keeps me from leaving the yard.

I already messed that up. It is a good mess up though. I'll have to leave the yard. At least once on Saturday.

But only because I'm going for a massage.

I think that's a good enough reason to leave. (grin)

Easter. Isn't that when everyone dons lightweight pastel dresses, participates in an Easter egg hunt and celebrates the arrival of spring?

We had a wonderful Easter. Complete with enough food to make US the Easter eggs to be hunted! The weekend was spent enjoying the company of these guys. I hope they come back again sometime real soon. :)

With all those nice springy thoughts in my head this fine Monday morning ... I looked outside. The world is white. Sprinkled and dusted, not dumped on. But still white.

Happy spring!

Happy Easter!

Good morning and Happy Easter. My entire household is fast asleep. :) Once again, the Easter grass didn't get planted. The egss didn't get colored. I think we have some clothes to wear today. We are having Easter brunch today ... and most of that is in the refrigerator and ready. So I'm half on the ball.

Yesterday Jari & I joined 4 other couples and hit the snowmachine trails again. I was feeling a little guilty for leaving kids who would really like to go as well. We had fun despite the guilt.

Trails of ice and snow as we followed the creek.

Tho' the day was a bit cloudy, windy, and snow flurried for a bit ... the sun did peak out!

The group except for Jari & I ...

who found a whole new appreciation for Eskimo kisses!

Magnificent and beautiful!

Now that the bills are paid

and I forgot to give Anna some lunch money ... but the bus is already gone ... I have a few minutes to add a few pictures on here.

Doesn't this just drive you crazy?! They were probably $1 gloves from Fred Meyer, but I love these little things! You'd think I was heading out shooting, or something, and needed a free trigger finger!

This is enough to drive a person crazy. I walk downhill all day long in my clogs. Yesterday I blew yet another hole in a sock. Ugh. I wear black socks nearly all the time. Eventually I'll just have to start mixing styles of socks! I'll share when I do. :)

Yesterday evening after the young 'uns left to play in snow and ash (apparently there was a good deal of that up there too), Jari and I (with Tia) went to have coffee at Wally & Lisa's. Anna stayed home. I had a good hint of what was up when she called to ask if we had any of these anywhere.

Then I found these!

Followed by this.

Chocolate chip AND peanut butter cookies. :) She is the girl who actually bakes them. I have 2 kiddos who make cookie dough and then hoard the bowl. The ENTIRE bowl. Now I have 10 minutes to go load the dishwasher ... and head out of here for the day ... with cookies in my lunch. Life is good!

Good Friday

I have survived yet another week.

My brain is still intact. Just barely still counts, right?

It is 5:49 a.m. and I am actually awake! This is a wonderful thing.

Easter weekend. Today is Good Friday. The kids have school and I have work. Some things never seem to change, it doesn't matter what day of the year it is. Tomorrow I don't have time to do too much in the way of Easter preparations unless it is going to be very late in the evening when the stores are probably all emptied of the good stuff. Tonight that must get done. Alyx said she'd prefer a gas card rather than a bunch of candy. :) Hmmmm.

We have 3 of Blayde's friends visiting here this weekend. They came in late Wednesday night and leave Sunday night. So much fun to see them. Last night they went out and had the Hatcher Pass snowboarding experience. Can't wait to hear how that went. Alyx did the driving up and down the mountain. Everyone came home with all limbs accounted for!

Off to shag another kiddo into the shower and then to pay some bills. Have a great Friday!

The weather forecast is calling for rain

and I think that spring is finally here. The snow is melting and the temperatures outside are getting downright wonderful. Car said 44 degrees on my way home from work today. I ran in, got dinner in the oven and then headed out with a camera.

Our screened porch can get nice and toasty ... 51 degrees ... almost ready for nap time out there!

Gone are the days of Arizona clean cars. The lines at the car wash have been so long that I've not had the patience to wait. I just keep driving ... maybe that rain will come and I'll run out with a bucket and some soap!

Buds are bursting on the branches.

Streams are running in the yard.

They are nearly forming canyons!

The snow and ice are slowly melting. Soon it will be all green. We will see what May 7th looks like!

And right now ... my mouth is beginning to water. I can smell Carrot Bars in the oven. Am trying a new recipe I've never tried before. I'll let you know if it's any good!