Eagle Cam

Ok, I'm ripping this link off from my dad. But I have to share...

I was looking at it from his blog & it just looks so good today.

The sun is shining.

Momma is rearranging the nest (moving twigs around),

baby is popping his head up...

You have to check it out!

Eagle Cam (Click on their "Live Video")

Flowers

Even though I wasn't keeping up with my posts, I was diligently taking pictures!
Here's a few...

My Daze

Ok, in my blogging absence I must have been in quite the daze. I thought I was checking in on the other blogs I take a peek at... maybe I dreamt it. Tonight I go to look & they all have a new post or two (or 4!). I really must have been out of sorts.

Hopefully this weekend I will tire myself out in the garden & get some decent sleep. Last night it too much longer than usual to fall asleep. Then I kept tossing & turning. Was wide awake from about 2:30 to 4:30. Then began waking up again several times til my alarm went off. It was not a happy awakening.

I'm definitely feeling tired now. But that may be the assistance of the B-52 I made for myself. Whatever it takes at this point!

Thoughts...

Ok, I'm being a blog slacker... It's been nearly 10 days since my last post... My blog isn't temporarily out of order, just my brain.

Tonight I finally finished raking up the last of my fall leaves. (The last I intend to touch anyway.) Now I'm ready for some actual spring mulch! My back hurts just thinking about it!

Random Garden Wisdom:

Don't always look up for greatness. You'll miss all the good stuff that's just waiting to be discovered hiding amidst the garden's toes.

Case in point: The flowering almond that I thought the big mean pine tree killed off... A few days ago I found it thumbing it's nose at the giant pines. There it is, a sad looking remnant of my flowering almond, with it's few delicate blooms nestled near the ground saying I may be small, but I'm tough.

The garden also reminds me to come back each and every day, for something new and wonderful awaits me! (Too bad the furry critters also got that message. My catmint is just waiting for it's day of glory!)

Beauty doesn't just need to be found in the whole... but can be seen in the sum of it's parts.

Autism Awareness

Ok, I realize we are already half way through the month, but...

April is National Autism Awareness Month

Between now and May 15th, Autism Speaks will be partnering with ProFlowers.com and its sister brands, SecretSpoon.com and CherryMoonFarms.com to raise funds for Autism Research. Proflowers and its sister brands will donate $10.00 to Autism Speaks for each order made through the following links:

http://www.proflowers.com/AutismSpeaks

http://www.secretspoon.com/AustismSpeaks

http://www.cherrymoonfarms.com/AutismSpeaks

(or you can call 1 800 776 3569 and mention "Autism")

ProFlowers has also created the ProFlowers Challenge... for each 5,000 customers who participate in this program until May 15th, ProFlowers will donate an additional $10,000.

While I waited to long to post this for the Easter holiday, Mother's Day is just around the corner!

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Help Increase Autism Awareness

with

Build-A-Bear Workshop

When you purchase Nikki's Bear III during the month of April, a portion of the porceeds will be distributed through the Build-A-Bear Workshop Foundation to Autism Speaks.

Changes

I changed some of the links on the sidebar...
I also changed a feature for the comments. They should now "popout" to a new page -- if it doesn't work well, let me know & I'll change it back.

Itinerary

Friday:
I tried to make the most of my time during my days off. (Which is why I did this trip solo -- I could leave sooner.) My hair took longer than I expected, so I didn't get on the road until after 3pm Friday. I went directly to my relatives'... dropped off my things at my grandmother's & ate dinner down at my dad's. I gave him an early Father's Day gift -- James Bond DVD collection -- we watched "Dr. No" (the 1st one out of 20).

Saturday:

__ Mommom & I went to VF (Vanity Fair Outlets) & boy did I strike gold! Usually shopping is a big ol' pain, but I hit the mother load on this trip! (You can see from the image on the right the pile of tags I removed this morning...) I found jeans, 2 capris (jean & khaki), jean shorts, army green shorts & 2 shirts. And the best part -- everything there is half price the lowest ticketed price! I didn't spend an arm & a leg. (Not even an arm.)

__ The weather was warming up so I had to try out my new capris. They worked rather well -- even when the temperature soared to 80 degrees!

__ We were off to visit Gramma & take her out to lunch. It was a little awkward trying to get her into my Passport, but we made it! (Typically it's a bit tricky since she uses a walker, but add a broken foot to the mix...) We had a great meal -- the place even gave out carnations to all the women! "Classy", as one patron put it! Gramma even spoke to someone she knew since grade school. Apparently this diner is the place to be! (And it's only across the street.)

__ We sat in Gramma's room & chatted for a few hours before we left. It was a very enjoyable time together. Now that I'm thinking about it, I should have gotten a picture of them together. Oh well, next trip.

__ Mommom & I stopped to check out the lovely flowers at a garden center on the way home.

__ And then stopped to indulge in some "Rita's" italian ice. Wonderful stuff -- if you haven't had any, get some!

__ Had some dinner with my dad & Marcy.

__ Then visited with my aunt & her gang a few doors over. We watched some boring stuff on tv & then put on the latest "King Kong" movie. Pretty good, but sad at times if you're at all a crier. (Just giving ya a heads up.) By this time it was way past my bedtime... so I made my way to the sofa at Mommom's...

Sunday:

__ Helped my dad start his own blog.

__ Took Gramma some of the goodies Mommom whipped up. (Lettuce with bacon dressing, potato salad, and I believe some potato filling, but I could be wrong on the last one.) Visited one last time for about an hour before she had to get ready for dinner. [FYI -- not only do the foods change when I travel east, so does the spoke language: dinner is lunch, supper is dinner. If I don't call them the names they know, everybody is confused!]

__ Returned to my dad's... worked on the blog some more; got ready for dinner.

__ Everybody arrived (there were 12 of us, not counting the baby) & we sat down to eat. I enjoyed some creamed corn, carrots, (I passed on the sweet potatoes) potato filling, rolls, ham, lettuce with ranch dressing (pass on the bacon dressing), pineapple cake & chocolate pudding (passed on the shoo fly pie & tapioca pudding since I was bringing some home for myself later). Yum!

__ After dinner we went outside to try to get a good picture of the baby, my cousins & myself for Mommom. They didn't turn out that great (but by the time it was discovered it was too late to do it again). I did get some nice shots as we were hanging out afterward though. (They're on the other post -- 'Visiting Sunday')

__ My last event before my goodbyes & departure was going to the museum with my dad & Marcy. We didn't have enough time to walk around outside (good trails, plant life & water with ducks & geese to see), so we went directly to the Art Gallery -- there was a Keith Haring display! I studied his work in high school & was thrilled to see it again in person.

__ Last but not least, the goodbyes... then I was off on the road again!

Monday:
Now it's my last day of vacation... it's like a typically weekend squeezed into one day -- a day full of loads of laundry... lounging while I do this... hopefully getting to the store... and just trying to enjoy the time. :) Hope you're enjoying your time too!

K. Haring

Visiting Sunday

Again, I'm backtracking...

Here are some pics from after dinner Sunday.

Taking pictures with Nanny & Mommom.

I'm practicing moving things with my mind.

(OK, actually rocking in the chair...)

Sssstreeeetch!

I'm queen of mom mountain!

Who, me?

Look into my eyes... I could do anything now & you'd be powerless to stop me.

Home James Home

I arrived home at 7 on the dot. It was a long drive -- nearly 200 miles -- oh my aching back! Not nearly as enjoyably scenic-wise as the trip east, but that's probably because I just wanted to get home. I have to admit, the mountains did look lovely at the distance. You had the green ground closest to you, which blended into pines & trees tipped with red buds at a distance. Then there were the mountains even further behind that, which looked quite blue. (Darker the farther back, usually two shades to be seen.) Ok, so it was scenic. But that was only during the last hour after I got off the turnpike. The rest was all about my aching back! :) (The photo doesn't do the image in my head justice, but it's close.)

Happy Hoppy Days

Hello one & all!
I meant to do this post on Friday, but well, it didn't happen. I travelled East on Friday to visit with my family for the long weekend. It is a long weekend for me because I took off Friday & Monday -- woohoo! But before I departed I got some pampering time in... I got my hair colored & cut, then I was on my way. It was a nice drive. Especially seeing "spring" occur as I traveled east. Bare trees went to ones with buds, then flowers... The ones entirely covered in white flowers were nice, but the ones adored with a purple-pink blossom were fabulous! :) I don't know what the were, but I'd like one!
Anyway, I hope this finds everyone happy & healthy for the holiday. I'm sure you're off with family & friends as well... Have a good one!

Pine bed

I realize every post is starting like this...

Last night... (Sorry, that's the way it goes!)

...I cleaned up the "under the pines" bed. It was by far the easiest to get ready for spring. Even with plants growing everywhere keeping me from simply raking leaves up.

As a random factoid... this was one of the original beds I created after we bought the place. It has pretty much stayed true to it's original form with lots of daffodils, tulips & grape hyacinths.

Of course other things have been added along the way... that's just the way of the garden!

Nest

Here are my furry friends I met... well, whenever I first mentioned it on the blog. They definately look different from when I first uncovered them with the rake -- more like moles then. It's cute how they alternate their directions -- every other faced the opposite direction (from the 4 I could see). Today they are no longer in the nest. I hope they find their dinner in someone else's yard. Let's let karma be their guide -- I save them, they can save my plants.

Corner Bed

Yesterday I finished cleaning up the "corner bed" and I must say, it looks lovely. But that's just my opinion. (I'm sure I'm a little biased though!)
I love to see the various plants sprouting, growing & blooming. It's all good...

Back Issues

This is my blog version of a back issue. I realized that I hadn't been very prompt on posting my yard events. So pretend you didn't pay your subscription & are ordering an old issue of my Backyard Blooms.

Sunday I spent a lot of time ridding the back wall of leaves and debris. The narrow nature of the bed is deceiving. It's really not that small. (Figure in that it's the length of the house.) I raked out two tarp-fuls of leaves. At least this time the leaves were dry & lighter than the ones around the arbor -- shows which gets more sunshine!
I also started to clean up the "corner bed" -- while doing so, I discovered a visitor in the tree. Actually I discovered some rude visitors, and then noticed this one. The crows were going after it. (That's when it's wings were opened.) In other pictures, you can see the hawk is eating something. It looks like chicken. (Really, I think someone in the neighborhood provides it with raw chicken.)

Forsythia

Such vibrant colors when the blooms are in the sunshine.

I like this picture... only the left side is in focus.

I find it appealing for some reason.

A better view

Here's some more views of the "front hill."
I didn't think the last image was worthy.
At least if you haven't seen it before... it didn't do it justice.

Some of the beds

In the spirit of... well, the beds, I thought I'd show you some of the ones that are finished being cleaned up. Just so you can see how I've got my hands full. :) Maybe you can help me figure out if they are "equal." Keep in mind, you're not seeing them at their best. It's only early spring, things are just starting to grow.

I've already shown you the "back side" and the "arbor" beds in the previous post. Here's the "front side":
Here's the "front hill."

The "front of the house": And some posies to show off!