Friday Turned Into a Great Day - Good Clinic Visits and Titanic, Nothing Could be Better

I'm running a little late today - no really good reason, just am. I had a lovely run on the treadmill, then a nice, hot shower, made myself a cuppa tea and settled down at the computer. Nothing out of place, nothing exceptional, except I feel as if I'm running about an hour behind. *sigh*

If you didn't get a chance to see this last night, you can 
stream it on hulu. I highly recommend it. What a fabulous 
show and the way they were able to show the smallest 
details of the wreck - astonishing. 

I did stay up late yesterday to watch the 90 minute show (on National Geographic channel) on the Titanic in 3D. The images of the wreck were absolutely astonishing - clear, beautiful, and very helpful to those still trying to gather an exact timeline of the disaster and ascertain what "legends" were actually true and what were not. One thing proven true is that Boiler Room #2 was indeed operational at the time that section finally succumbed to the ocean. The lights were indeed, still on. This was proven by the impact zone of the explosion when the hot furnaces met the cold sea water. It imploded, not exploded. Physics aside, there wasn't a single part of the 90 minute show I wasn't glued to. 

I really enjoyed my meeting with Sara Lay yesterday. 
I'm doing almost everything right. There are a 
couple of exercises we're adding to my regime, but 
basically I'm doing really well. We chanced upon 
a couple of sidetracks that led to discussions of 
blenders (she needs a new one, I recommended the 
brand I've been using for the past few years), and 
meditation apps. She had one that she recommended 
with hesitations, I clued her in to Insight Timer. I 
think she'll like that app a lot. 

I had a great meeting with Sara Lay (DO) at the Physician's Building near the hospital yesterday morning. Basically, I'm doing almost everything right to recover from the surgery and resume my life. There are a couple of additional exercises to add to my regime, but that's no problem at all. I'm meditating, I'm eating properly, I'm exercising regularly, basically, I'm an "ideal" patient (her words, not mine). We got sidetracked onto various topics. I ended up recommending the meditation app I use every morning (Insight Timer) and since she's also looking for a replacement blender, I recommended my Wolf blender - a work hog, a VERY powerful motor, and a dream machine for me. We got along really well, and I was sad to hear that she's leaving the clinic to pursue a job elsewhere in a different state. 

Dr Zac at Radiology is a winner, and his entire 
staff is great. I just want to thank them for 
being the tremendous help to all of us who are 
there for treatment, and flowers seem appropriate. 

While I was at the hospital complex, and since I had "borrowed" their parking lot for Minnion while I had my appointment, I took a quick drop into Radiology. I asked the receptionists about flowers and whether the scent would be disturbing to the patients, etc. They assured me that worst comes to worst, they have a break room where they could put them. So, on my way home, I ordered two dozen red roses with individual water wells for each from my favorite florist. This florist has been around forever, and their specialty was always a dozen roses for a very reasonable price. The two dozen plus water containers were under $65. Perfectly reasonable for what I'm getting. I'll pick them up on Wednesday morning and I might see about adding an additional half-dozen to the order for the receptionists in the Breast Center down the street. 

There isn't a good photo of my local Flowerama, so I might 
have to take some when I pick my flowers up next Wednesday. 

On that note, I've actually got to get moving. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back on Monday morning. And, if you get a chance to look at the new photos of Titanic, they are well worth the look. Slava Ukraini. 

Happy Valentine's Day to All of my Online Friends!

Time away from doctors seems to be limited in my life right now. Next Wednesday was only scheduled for a post-op check and breakdown from my surgeon in the early pm. But yesterday I got a call from the Radiology Department and I'm now scheduled with them shortly after 9:00 am. I'm not sure if I'm actually getting my first radiation treatment at that time, or if it's just laying out what they're going to be doing and what it will accomplish. Either way, my morning is with Radiology which has a building all of its' own, and then I'm back at the Piper Breast Center in the afternoon. I'm a popular gal - LOL. 

The radiation center is located in the Ritchie 
Medical Center which actually has its' own 
no-charge parking lot. Yippee! It's right across 
the street from the main hospital. I'll probably drive 
over today to get a look at the location and how to 
get there efficiently. 

I know Claire wants to come along, but I'm asking her to attend the post-op appointment, not the radiation one. I don't want to overtax our friendship, and I value her presence and attentiveness, but I think I can handle the first radiation appointment without her and having her there all day would be an extreme waste of her time. 

My daffodils are blooming 
beautifully (this is NOT my 
plant, but I have four lovely 
blooms on my plant near my 
kitchen window). Of course, 
now that they've bloomed, they'll 
start dying back to bloom 
again at a later time. Still, it's been 
a lovely gift. 

I'm sure DH thought (in some warped way) that the surgery would be the end of all of this. He's got no idea how long this is all going to drag on. He's already talking about not being able to plant a garden this Spring because he'll be too busy doing other things. I fail to see how a garden could negatively impact other things on his agenda. It takes a day to get everything planted, but then it's just maintenance. The plants do their thing. My lovely daffodils from my swimming friend are fully in bloom, brightening up my kitchen. We'll plant them when they die back, of course. DH is thinking that might be the only plant he will have this coming summer. Maybe he's right ... hard to tell at this point. 

I've got a couple of chicken patties in the refrigerator, that 
might make for a very nice lunch. 

So, today I'm going to enjoy a day off without doctor appointments. I'll figure out what I'll cook next week, but I think I'll be OK. I can always cobble a soup together for the crockpot and just let it cook overnight. Flexibility over these next few weeks will be key. Have an excellent Valentine's Day and I'll be back to wrap up the week tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who has commented, I'll be getting to comments later today and (hopefully) catching up. *hugs* Slava Ukraini. 

Garden and Fence Photos - and Baby Birds!

Yesterday was a busy day off, but between everything, I found the time to do some photos to share with all of you. It's Saturday today, and I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend (although without a fence, our privacy is nonexistent). We're supposed to be getting some showers too, which my plants will appreciate. DH picked up some new bean seeds - our pole beans just haven't sprouted at all, and they should have by this time. So ... he picked up a new pack of seeds. However ... when he got home and actually read the package, he realized they were bush beans, not pole beans. Nontheless, that's what we'll plant in that section of the garden. We're running out of time for an autumn harvest if we don't get something into the ground. 

You can easily see their little beaks facing the house 
clapboard. They're absolutely adorable, and Momma is 
doing a great job keeping them safe. 

So ... photos. Let's start with something really cute. The photo above is two baby robins on the nest that mama bird built on top of our front door exterior light. I love that the eggs were kept safe enough to hatch these little guys. Mom's busy trolling through our front yard grass, bringing up luscious worms and bugs for the two to eat. They're ever hungry, but VERY well trained. If there's anything moving in their vicinity, they freeze - utterly motionless and soundless. These two might very well live long enough to become fledglings. 

Here are the new fence posts in the upper yard, That's 
Laura's house at the back, and if you can see the dark 
fence at the far right, that's the fence of Chris and Colleen. 
You're only seeing a small portion of the 15 posts in 
this photo. 

Here's a look from the far West end down towards 
the East. You can get a feel for the slope it goes 
down as it heads that direction through our garden 
area. The lighter bit at the upper left is the curving 
stone of the semi-circled garden at the far left 
in the first photo. 

Now - on to the fence. Here are two photos of fence poles. As you can tell, any privacy we had is now completely erased until the new panels are installed. We're sending off the payment to the fence company today, so hopefully will be penciled into their schedule soon so that we can have our yard back ASAP. There are a total of 15 posts installed, that will hold 12 panels and a gate. Laura and Fakhri's house has lost their privacy from us at the same time. It's a good thing I enjoy having them as neighbors. 

Here's my beautiful purple columbine. I'm totally in love 
with this flower - I talk to it every day. Columbines in 
general bring back very happy memories of my youth. 

Here are my pink Columbines. For some reason, 
they droop down, I have no idea why. They're 
still beautiful, but they're just being stubborn! LOL

A little bit away from the pink Columbines, are my red 
ones. these are happy and perky and lovely. The Columbine 
(the purple/blue one) is the state flower of Colorado, 
so I guess I had a lot of interaction with it as I was growing 
up in the Mile High City. 

Finally, here are a few photos of some of the many flowers DH has planted for me. So pretty! He made sure to get some purple Columbine flowers for me because I miss the ones I saw growing wild at the heights of the Colorado Rocky Mountains of my youth. I didn't think the purple variety grew at lower altitudes, but DH said they did, and he proved it by planting this one. It's wonderful. The other two - the pink and the red - are also lovely, but that purple one has my heart. 

Our bleeding heart is going a bit crazy this year. Maybe it's making up for other plants that are disappointing DH for one reason or another. We haven't had a hot year yet, but it's still May - the true heat is yet to come. My tomato and pepper plants are doing VERY well, and the raspberries (DH thinned the patch - VERY needed) seem to be filling in nicely. It should be an excellent harvest later this year. Once the fence is back up, we can truly enjoy our back yard once again. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל. 

It Was a Day of Plants and Planting - Look at Our New Blooms!

DH and I skipped our usual Sunday morning routine and were on the road to be at Gerten's by their opening time of 8:00 am. It was time to buy plants for the garden, and our day was totally mapped out for us. (1) Buy plants. (2) Plant plants. (3) Collapse with a drink (4) Call it an early night. And that's pretty much exactly what we did. We were going to split a Chipotle Burrito Bowl for dinner, but decided to just eat whatever we already had in the fridge or freezer. No energy to spare. 

Here's some of what we chose for our cart. Lots of 
wonderful flowers to make the garden bright and 
happy. While we were planting, I already saw bees 
taking an interest. Whoot! 

We were afraid there wouldn't be any Dahlia plants 
available - they weren't on the website. But we were 
pleasantly surprised. They had a LOT of Dahlias, and we got 
several for the garden, including this lovely one. 

We bought a LOT of plants. DH had his list, and knew what he wanted. I don't really have any say in what goes into the yard, it's DH's playground and interest, not mine. His is to plant, mine is to enjoy - LOL. So, he had his list and we dove into that as soon as the gates were open and we had our two-level cart. By the time we finished, an hour or 90 minutes later, the cart was totally filled on both levels. He had a mental budget of no more than $250, and we ended up slightly below that, so SCORE! LOL. 

He also got my Lantanas (four different kinds) and some 
Begonias in a bright and happy orange shade. So pretty! 

And here they are - our varied purchases all tucked 
into Minion's back hatch. We spent all afternoon getting 
these into the ground, and still have a few odds 
and ends that DH will get planted over the next few 
days when he's figured out exactly where he wants them. 

All in all, it was a very successful trip. And because of the EXCELLENT map that Chickie  drew for me, I didn't miss my turnoff on the return trip, and all occurred without any excess drama. Getting all of these beautiful flowers more than made up for skipping breakfast and getting totally exhausted in the hot weather we had yesterday while getting all of these beauties into their new, permanent homes. I hope you had a productive weekend, as well as one filled with beauty. I'm already looking forward to a summer of color and vibrancy. The garden is planted ... now it's time to enjoy it! Slava Ukraini and 

חיים למען ישראל. 

Today's Post Turned Into Veggies and Flowers - LOL

Huzzah, it's Friday. I have an appointment (so far) with my dentist, so I'll put off grocery shopping until after that appointment so that I don't have to worry about things staying frozen in the car. I could (and usually do) use my portable chillers that I always have in the back of Minnion, but it's not necessary today. I can easily shift schedules. I don't have anything I need to make except Ogre Juice for next week, and the veggies would wilt (slightly), even in the container. So I'll wait and deal with groceries afterward. 

I love fruit and vegetables, and try to have quite 
a bit of them every day. I have my Alkagizers, which 
are mainly vegetables, and I eat fruit with my breakfast 
and sometimes also with my lunch. I always have 
a salad with my dinner - have for decades. I love 
my veggies a lot. 

I was paying more attention to my peppers as I was making them on Wednesday. My check-out clerk, Polly, was telling me about male peppers having three lobes and female peppers having four. We saw that one of the peppers I was purchasing had five, so we figured that one was trans or bi-sexual. LOL It gave us a laugh, but then I looked it up when I went home because the whole thing seemed incorrect to me. Sure enough, the urban myth is exactly that - a total myth, and very inaccurate. The fruit of the pepper is neither male nor female, BUT the flowers of the pepper plant are both male and female, and it is that flower that leads to the fruit. Interested in more specific information and photos? Follow this link 

So the number of lobes is a myth, but there sure were a lot 
of photos claiming that the 3-lobe vs 4-lobs versions were 
male vs female, and that was one better for cooking. Such 
a bunch of BS! But an urban myth that has taken hold. 

My peppers from Wednesday's harvest dried up beautifully. Since today is an Ogre Juice making day, I'll pull out my new grinder and grind up the peppers while I'm busy in the kitchen. I don't need to cook anything - I have eight stuffed peppers already made and waiting to be eaten. I will get some bacon at the store and bake up the bacon, since I enjoy bacon on my salad every now and again, and I'm almost out of the last batch. All in all, it will be a more relaxed kitchen day, and that's just as well since it will be a shortened one due to the dental appointment. 

I usually bake my bacon - it's much easier and cleaner, 
and a no-muss, no-fuss way of getting the pound of 
bacon ready to use for my salads, etc. It's so simple, 
that I do wonder why I never did it in the past. Silly me! 
I won't pan fry bacon any more. 

It's getting colder quickly. DH spent most of yesterday planting bulbs in various places in the yard. Tulip and daffodils, mostly, with maybe an iris or two. He's been populating the new garden space he made last week, as well as some new areas in the lower yard that he dug up for early Spring flowers. I love seeing those early pops of color after a winter spent in shades of grey and white. 

I know he planted a dozen or so bi-colored tulip bulbs 
yesterday. I think the ones he planted were in pastel 
colors, but they'll be quite lovely in the early Spring when 
they start to grow and bloom. Hopefully they won't be 
eaten by our moles. 

So, I'm off to start my day. I hope your Friday is fantastic and I have every intention of being back here tomorrow. I'll let you know how my grinder works, if I get a chance to use it (and if I remember to comment on it). Slava Ukraini. 

One Glorious Spring Day Bookended by Ick - the Story of My Life - LOL

It's Saturday, and I'm so very happy to see this week wind down. Today is going to be a glorious day, weather-wise. Yesterday was cold and rainy, tomorrow will be cold and rainy, but today will be sunny and the first day when we might crack 70 degrees in months. People all over the Cities will be working in their yards today, getting their yards raked and their planting beds ready for new plants. The standard, in my part of the world, is holding off planting many plants until Mother's Day (May 8th this year). That's usually pretty much a guarantee of no more freezing overnight temperatures until September. 

DH likes to take one trip to buy flowering plants, close to 
Mother's Day. He always has a plan for the garden. Last 
year he was happy with some of the plants, but disappointed 
in others. I thought the whole thing was quite lovely - lots 
of green with sparks of color. 

Of course, on this glorious day of sunshine and nice temperatures, I have to work. Tomorrow we'll have falling temps all day, stretching back close to freezing overnight heading to Monday. Ick! I don't think we'll get the rain they were predicting, but it's still going to be much colder on Sunday than today. 

Lantana flowers are my absolute favorite. Although they 
are a perennial in warmer zones, they are only an annual 
in ours. There's only one nursery that carries Lantana, and 
it's quite a distance away from us. We go there once a year, to 
get my flowers as well as varieties of other things we can't 
find locally.  

Since I'll be at work, though, I won't have to handle a rake to get the last of the leaves of Fall gathered up and put into the compost. I'm grateful for small favors, because that's never a favorite task of mine. We may end up doing some more tomorrow in the colder temps, but I'll only have a single day of it where DH has a weekend's worth of work ahead. But he's the gardener, not I. So if he wants to plant flowers and my tomato plants (no more than three this year), he'll have to drag himself away from his computer games and do some yard work. 

It's time to clean up the leaves our neighbor's tree deposits 
in our yard and rake the thatch from the grass. It's actually 
quite a lot of work that DH has ahead of him if he feels 
energetic today. Our yard waste bucket can start getting 
filled again. We're back on a weekly pick-up schedule 
until late Fall. 

What about you? Although most of my on-line friends are in the Northern Hemisphere and entering Spring, I also have some friends in the Southern climes who are bracing for winter ahead. What's on your agenda to get ready for your upcoming seasonal shift? Do you have a yard you have to work in? Or are you in an apartment or a compound where you just need/want to do a bit of seasonal cleaning. Do comment below, inquiring minds want to know - LOL. 

I've been trying to get some Spring cleaning done in 
the house over this past week. I have a lot more that 
needs to be done, but step-by-step I'll manage it. 

Have an excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday morning. For all my fellow LJ Idol friends, get those stories written and posted, the deadline is tomorrow. Cheers, peace and Slava Ukraini. 

Good Beltane - A Robin, A Scale and a Bush

Good Beltane to all. As we move toward Midsummer (it hardly seems as though Spring has arrived yet, and here I am looking towards June), my rose bush is a day or two from full bloom, a robin has been silly enough to build a nest on top of my exterior main door lamp - she'll be disturbed at least twice a day while I retrieve the newspaper for DH and when he goes out in late afternoon to collect the mail. I hate disturbing her, but I'm not going to open the garage door for silly things like the newspaper and the mail. 

The light sits to the right of the main entry door 
of the house. As you can tell, there's a robin's nest 
sitting on top. Although it gets protected from rain 
there, the winds in a storm can blow it right off 
(it's happened in the past), and the squirrels are 
able to get to the nest with some squirrel 
acrobatics movements that defy gravity. 
All in all, not a great place for the nest. 

I bought myself a new bathroom scale as an early birthday gift. It arrived at the shop on Thursday, so I got it set up Friday amidst many other errands and projects. My old scale has been with me since high school. It always weighs me about five pounds lower than reality, but a scale really is just a guide, not an absolute. It's measuring the amount of gravitational pull your body and the earth exert on each other. Plus, using the same scale all the time allows me to have a good feel for plus or minus in weight over time. 

The WYZE scale works with an app on your 
phone via Bluetooth. It checks for a lot of different 
items - weight, body fat %, muscle mass/lb, 
body water % and many more. I think I'll 
like this new "toy". 

But I felt it was time to upgrade to a "fancy-dancy all-seeing scale". I wasn't willing to spend a lot of money on this - I've had scales similar to this in the past and have been disappointed. (In fact, I tossed one of those disappointments into the garbage within the past month.) But I did some research and the WYZE scale fit my budget and the requirements of what I wanted from a la-di-dah scale. 

Almost two weeks ago, this is what my "rose" bush 
looked like. It had a LOT of buds, so had promise 
of a spectacular bloom later on. 

It automatically calibrated my weight up four pounds from my normal scale - not really a surprise, but disappointing because those numbers, although they really don't mean much - mean a lot psychologically. Still, it also gave me a lot more information - body fat, muscle mass, body water percentage, lean body mass, bone mass, protein, visceral fat, and BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). I'm pretty happy with most of what I'm reading on these indicators, although I'll need a lot more than two days of information to establish any guideline. 

A few days after the photo above, the buds were larger and 
much more prominent. 

Still, for $40 from Amazon, I felt it was well worth the try and I'm happy with the scale. Now I have to find a good place to keep it. Although it fits where I put it, I'm not thrilled with the placement. It's OK for the summer, but directly under the heater for the winter and that's probably not ideal for the electronics. I'll keep it where I have it for the time being, though. Maybe it will give DH an opportunity to get used to having it there ... or not - LOL. 

Late last week it was showing signs of 
a magnificent bloom this year. I've had some 
disappointing years in the past, but this year 
won't be one of those. 

So on this day of celebration, I'm sharing photos of my flowering bush with all of you. I've adored this bush from the very beginning when I moved here, and it never fails to lift my heart. I'm not really sure exactly what it is - I call it a rose bush because I think it's a type of primrose, but I really can't say for sure. What I do know is this year's blooms will be spectacular. Just look at all of the buds ready to burst into bloom within a few days. 

Although it would have been lovely to have it in full 
bloom for Beltane, it's actually a bit early for that. It 
usually flowers fully in mid-June. But we had a mild 
winter season, so I think it's running about a week 
ahead of schedule. I'll keep taking pictures and share 
one when it's fully in bloom. 

On that note, I'm out of here. Have a truly wonderful weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Please stay safe, be kind and wear your masks, for your sake as well as that of others. Enjoy your weekend! 

Color in Flowers for Valentine's Day - Runway Tomorrow

Runway fashions aren't available yet, so I'll be posting about last night's Project Runway in tomorrow's blog. That means I need to pull a blog out of the ether, so here we go. How about color. Everyone lives in a world of color, although the perception of color and the depth of colors each of us perceive are different for everyone. Of course you know about color blindness - that "shade to grey" that is experienced in the red and green tones for many people, predominantly men. But were you aware that each of us sees color quite differently? 

In fabric, these flowers would be using an ombre technique. moving from
the intense depth of color near the center to the much lighter colors at
the edges. Mother Nature can dye with a sure and practiced hand. 

Of course there are categories of color - blue, red, yellow as the primary colors, orange, green and purple as the secondary colors. But the variants, the shading between the colors and how the material displaying the color can make the difference in perception also affects how everyone's color perception is slightly different. Since it's Valentine's Day (have a great one, BTW), let's take the time and look at some colorful flowers. 

I remember walking in the high mountains and seeing clumps of blue
Columbine flowers, just like these. So beautiful. 

In Colorado, where I grew up among the mountain peaks, there was a preponderance of blue flowers in the upper reaches of the slopes. The Columbine, in blue, is the state flower and it's a beauty. DH has planted Columbines for me here, but without the elevation, they are yellow and pink. It's those high mountain meadows that allow for the blue Columbine. 

The Indian Paintbrush is a splash of brilliant red against
the background. It's an opportunistic flower with a wide range
of comfortable areas in which to grow. It's found from Texas
to the Rocky Mountains and is hardy in both harsh weather and
hot sun. 

For red flowers, we had our Indian Paintbrush flowers. These opportunistic flowers loved disturbed earth and grew in multitudes alongside the high roadways. I would walk a couple of blocks to the river and cross over the bridge. On the other side, as the road continued onward towards Independence Pass, would be the road cuts and I would often find Indian Paintbrushes there. 

Black Eyed Susan flowers are often considered a weed flower, although
you can grow them from seed. They are altitude friendly, so we found
them easily in Denver, but they were less common in Aspen. That
extra 3000 feet of altitude made things a bit harder for these sturdy
blooms. 

For yellow, there were Black Eyed Susan flowers, usually considered a weed, but what a pretty one! I don't know anyone who planted these on purpose, but when they came up and bloomed, they were usually very welcome. 

Roses come in many colors, and they also accept dyes quite easily, so
there are some real technicolor blooms out there. I tend a bit more to
the conservative, so this is a nice assortment for me. 

Of course, I have to mention roses too, because my mother planted roses along the front of our home in Denver and because it is Valentine's Day, the day when roses are often part of the gifts given to a loved one. The variety of roses is astounding, they are colorful and actually pretty hardy, but small things can bring them down - too much water or some species of insects. Roses are prized, however, and new varieties are being developed all the time. When I was in Portland I visited their rose garden. It was exquisite and quite amazing. I highly recommend it (along with the zoo and the Japanese Garden in the same large complex) if you're ever in Oregon. It's a great way to spend a long day. 

The International Test Rose Gardens in Portland, Oregon, have been in
existence and operational for more than 100 years. It's a perfect climate
for roses, and there are multitudes of varieties being tested here. Visitors
can wander throughout the garden and look a the variety of blooms. 

So, Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. I'll be back tomorrow with fashions from the Runway. Enjoy your day and be kind to others. 

Fashion, Flowers and Food

Happy Monday to all. I'm finally able to return to schedule beginning today, so I'm an early bird once again. Before I forget, since you all know I'm a fashionista (in heart, although my own personal wardrobe tends to jeans and tops), in early May there was the Met Gala. The Gala at the Metropolitan Museum is an annual event that always focuses around a theme. Although I'm not sure about this year's theme "Camping" (the clothes, not the fire-pit and bugs), I finally have a link to share with all of you who are interested in running through the fashions. Eighty-one pics with the celebrity identified at the header and the designer (if acknowledged) at the bottom. 

Lady Gaga in Brandon Maxwell, one of four outfits he
designed for her at this year's Met Gala. 

There were several by Brandon Maxwell, who dressed Lady Gaga for the event. She was a co-host of the event this year and had four different outfits, all designed by Mr Maxwell, who we all know as a judge on "Project Runway" this season. There was also a very modern art dress worn by Janelle Monae by our own new PR mentor, Christian Siriano. So, here's a link for you to see the various fashions - some good, a few great, and definitely some "meh" among them. A fun run-through, though. I tested the link, and it worked for me, so I'm hoping it will work for you too. 

Gertens Garden Center is one of the few large garden centers still
located in our general area. I wish the weather had been warmer,
we would have really enjoyed our time there. As it was, it was freezing
and we didn't spend as much time there as we wanted. We basically
hit the right-side and center, but missed the left side completely. 

Our Sunday was spent freezing and getting wet at the Garden Center. It's been miserably cold for mid-May, and with temps in the lower 40's, we still were determined to get to Gertens Garden Center - a huge enterprise about 30 minutes south of out home. The garden centers closer to our home have all closed over the past ten years, leaving us in a "buy your plants at Home Depot or Menards Hardware stores" whirlpool of pain. It's not that their plants are horrid, but they are't top quality either. 

I adore Lantana plants, but we have never grown them
before. We picked up three of them and will
try them this year. We got a lot of other plants too - 
mostly annuals, but a few perennials. We don't like
wasting the money on the annuals, but that colorful
splash in the garden is always so delightful. 

So we bundled up - I wore a turtleneck, a long-sleeved t-shirt, a fleece hoodie and my leather jacket, made sure to also wear my winter gloves, and I wore one of my wigs because they act just like a hat. DH was equally bundled up and carried an umbrella. After adventures in getting lost, we finally arrived at our destination, and we loved it. It was freezing cold, but we alternated between inside and outside to keep warm. 

I really liked the "Coral Bells" ground cover option at Gertens, but
DH decided against it. I might get some another year, though. The
different colors available really intrigued me. 

Although DH headed straight for the hostas - a plant he loves but one that he always has trouble with - we didn't actually buy any. We were turning to ice, so moved along and got caught up by annuals. We ended up with a nice selection of flowers for the castle levels surrounding our patio table and chairs. It should be a lovely area once things warm up and the flowers really settle into the soil. 

I'm not much of a buffet-style restaurant in general, but I'd heard good
things about "Golden Corral". I have to admit their selection was
pretty awesome, but I'm not a huge fan. I think we might wander over
here once or twice a year, but it won't be a regular eatery for us. 

Today I'm finally back at the gym - thank goodness. After being unable to decide what to eat for diner last night, we went to the closest "Golden Corral" buffet. It was our first time there and it was actually pretty good. Not something we'll do often, though. I'll have to work hard on the machines to work off the weight gain. Have a fabulous and fantastic Monday and enjoy your day. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Spring Has Arrived - A Photo Blog

I was driving to work yesterday and realized - Spring has finally arrived up here in the frozen north. The trees are looking bushy, showing off their first leaves and buds of the season, and some flowering bushes are suddenly filled with color that hadn't been there as early as the day before. It's as if the curtain was raised on the new season and now our clock is ticking toward mid-summer instead of the shortest day of the year. Yippee! I need photos of flowering plants to celebrate.

I have one of these and just love it. The buds are out on it now, and
it will bloom shortly. It's running about two-three weeks ahead
of normal schedule because we had such a mild winter. 

I saw several smaller versions of this bush yesterday as I was
driving to work. It's such a thrill to see flowers and blooms once more. 

Soon the lilacs will be in bloom. I adore the scent of lilacs and
the variety of colors that bloom. We have them lining some
of the freeways here in the Twin Cities and it's always a joy
to see the bright color along the roadway, especially when
stuck in traffic. 

Our snowball bush can get out of control easily but when it is
trimmed, will have a full bloom of white snowballs to remind
us of the winter just passed. 

We have a crab apple tree in our backyard that blooms with this
color, and many of the local businesses also feature flowering
crab apple trees in their green space because they are easy
care and very hardy. They are spectacular in the spring. 

The apple trees will bloom shortly also. Minnesota is a state that
grows a lot of different types of apples and the trees are
spectacular and varied. I don't have an apple tree, but my
sister-in-law had one for many years - so pretty. 

So there you have it - spring has finally come and I didn't even have to shovel often. In fact, I don't think we pulled the slow blower out of the garage more than two times all winter! It was nice, mild, and short - my idea of a perfect winter. Here's hoping your spring (or autumn) are filled with color and joy. Happy Tuesday!