Spring?

The weather is so nice outside with blue skies and temps in the 60s. In spite of still fighting this crud, I got my nose out for a few minutes and enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. First, some kid pics for Grandma:

Here's D all ready to go to the library. This is one of the kids' favorite treats. These are the books going back and this week's selections were all how to draw books.

Here is A posing with her kitty and her crocheted hat from Thailand.

And this is Miss J with her kitty. This is the best and most decorated kitty in all the years of kittyness! lol She has scraps from my sewing and bits from doll and dress up clothes and a knit dishcloth just for good measure. J is like a racoon or a crow, looking for the shiny and pretty bits for her collection! She should be a collage artist!

This crazy rose bud is on a one inch stem way at the base of a big rose.

And this pink and white one was a nice treat today, glorious in the sunshine.

Red is so difficult to photograph but this is my Ingrid Bergman rose which is a true, deep, dark red, not as orangey or as magenta as this looks.

I enjoyed the light coming through the leaves on some of my other roses and geraniums.

And their shadows and bird seeds made art on the concrete canvas too!

The birds didn't like me being out there because it interrupted their eating schedule, but this little house finch waited patiently until I left.

Storm

This isn't the greatest picture, through the window and no light. Most of the birds take off when they see me standing by the window! In one day the little goldfinches ate a tube and a half of niger seed. They had a little help from some sparrow friends, but the sparrows and red chested house finches prefer the feeder with mixed seeds. They aren't stupid. These little birds were filling up during the first of three storms that are to hit us this week. God tells them the weather before the weather man even knows!

Today we are having 25-40 mph sustained winds, continually, and have throughout the night. The gusts are up to 75mph and having lived through many storms like that, I do not think that is exagerrated! These winds, which are labeled as the strongest seen in over a decade, are supposed to be around until about 4PM this afternoon. The next storm is going to dump rain and possible thunder and lightning but not wind. And in the Sierra there is supposed to be blizzard conditions. Anyone out driving today is crazy!

So far our roof is in tact, which is a minor miracle on a 35 yo mobile home wiht many coats of arctic white covering it. I have enjoyed the storm, knowing we are all safe inside and having grown up nearer the water. There is something a bit comforting and soothing to it for me. It's not so relaxing for Hubby, who grew up in the desert in Arizona and who has the responsibility to fix and retrieve things that blow away! Poor guy got very little sleep.

And guess what? There are still little birdies at the feeders, which are swaying back and forth 6-12" at a time. They hold on for dear life and keep eating! Persistent little things.

Feeding the birds is new to us and we have been doing it almost a year. It brings us all a lot of happiness to look out the window and see the little birds there.

Gardening, Ears, Rashes, Kitties and Birds

Well it has been quite the week already and it's only Tuesday! The end of last week D had a rash as a reaction to Sulfa, just like his Mom! :o( The itchies are gone now but he is suffering from allergies in general and has almost lost his voice. Sac is just not healthy for any of us! After ten days of ear pain and spending the last two nights in tears and waking up with bad ear pain, I finally decided to start the Amoxicillin for an ear infection. Forty years old and I have my first ear infection. Last night I slept through most of the night and woke up with only minimal discomfort. The extreme swelling both inside my throat and on my glands has decreased significantly and I feel like I am finally on the road to recovery!

The last couple days have been exhausting though. Yesterday the kids and I went to Walmart to get some medicine and we spent about $15 on annuals which they had out on sale. Everyone got to pick a color of petunias to buy and had fun. Then I went to Whole Foods Market with the kids and did some shopping there. I don't do all my shopping there but every 6-8 weeks I go there for a few things. They have THE BEST peanut butter, their storebrand and it is cheaper than other natural peanut butters. It tastes like fresh peanuts. Also got some Kefir to put some probiotics into my system since I am taking antibiotics.

Today I'm pretty wiped. But we did spend the morning out cleaning out our flower pots and pulling the tulip and daffodil bulbs for next year and deadheading a couple hundred roses! Then we had fun planting. Once the planting containers were cleaned out, we each took turns picking which color petunia to put in next! Some of the planters needed to be fully replanted, others needed just a few spots filled in here or there to brighten the place up. The pansies will not last too much longer because we are supposed to be in the upper 80s again later this week. Yuck! Once summer hits here, it hits full force. I guess it's good we were out there and enjoyed spring today while it lasted! :o)

Hopefully next week I will have some pics to post. I have about 6 more rows to go on the Peacock Feathers Shawl but the rows are over 500 stitches so it is taking longer and longer to get done, even on the plain rows. I was hoping to finish and get it blocked before Mother's Day.

Gerber Daisy
One of the new kittens born under the neighbors trailer, shyly peeks out!
Kids playing with the toolsets Gr and Gr got them, tuning up their "motorcycles"!
Some of our planting efforts
D, J, A, my helpers watching me and helping me pick out petunias...the girls always look in the camera as if they think there is some little person in there doing something and they want to figure out what! LOL
A Western Goldfinch cropped out of one of my bigger photos, not enough light to get a good close up.
Rosebud
Queen Elizabeth Roses
Petunias
Cosmos