Birthday Weekend! (Part Two)

In the interest of load times, I went back and split the weekend post into two--hope it loads better for folks that way! I'm not sure blogspot isn't having a little glitch this morning as this is the first time I've ever had an issue like this. Odd. :-/ If a picture doesn't load (you'll see a thin border around a blank spot), click on the spot where it should be and it will open the picture; just hit the "back" button to get back to the page.

Aren't these pretty against that green, green background? Like a watercolor painting.And this, this is just plain weird!Lots of different colors . . . I'm enamored of the wildflowers (if you couldn't tell).This looks so much lupine, but it's a bush, not a single flower. Turns out there are several types of bush lupine, so I'm guessing this is one of them.This picture just cracked me up . . . it makes me think of a bunch of serious little curved-neck beings with their Sunday hats on, heading off to do important things. ;-)Noelle & AndyWe also saw some lizards, which was so much fun! It's getting warm enough now that they're out and about, soaking up sun and I think maybe looking for partners. This tree had at least four or five skittering around, pumping themselves up and down like little claymation figures and darting in and out of sight.If you enlarge this one, you can see the blue belly on the larger lizard.This fella did the best posing for me, but the focus is still not sharp; it's hard to get the camera to focus on the one little spot you're going for!After enjoying the lizards we turned to head further along the trail and saw this log, which we all thought looked like a lizard itself.Noelle & Erik walking ahead with ThomasAndy & I saw this weird bug; it looks like a big fuzzy red ant. Turns out it's a Velvet Ant. They aren't that common, and for the most part live solitary lives. I felt lucky to have seen two different ones during our hike!
The moon had risen as we were leaving the preserve.
We saw a vulture soaring as we left.
The boys dropped the dogs and us at the house and went to pick up a wonderful Thai dinner.
We got some mango and sticky rice to share for dessert; in this picture it looks like Noelle set the whole kit-n-kaboodle on fire.
But as you can see, it survived the blaze and we enjoyed it immensely!
For whatever reason, I didn't take any pictures on Sunday. :-/ After church, Andy & Noelle took us out for lunch to celebrate our anniversary (2 years tomorrow!) We chose the Desi Cafe, an Indian restaurant not too far from our house that we've been meaning to try ever since some friends told us about it. Wow. It's a beautiful little restaurant, and the servers took time to explain every item on the buffet to us after learning it was our first visit. Most importantly it was delicious! We'll definitely go back.

We came back to the house and played a rousing game of lawn golf (the boys won the tie-breaker game), before they had to head for home.

Oh! AND we finally set up the hammock. Happy Day!

What a fun weekend. :-)
When are YOU coming for a visit??

Birthday Weekend! (Part One)

Warning: You're in for a long post. ;-)

So I had an extended celebration this year; my birthday started on Thursday when Erik couldn't wait any longer to give me my present: What a fun gift!!! I'd talked about wanting her "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" after enjoying the movie "Julie & Julia" earlier this year--who knew he'd remember?! :-D I'm so looking forward to reading and trying some new things.

On Friday afternoon we finally hung the curtains in the dining room. We'd been out gathering materials for several house projects the day before, and were planning to find stuff to make a curtain rod for the extra-large windows in the dining room; we hadn't been able to find any cheap rods (non-special order) for it and were going to try our hands at being creative. My wise husband decided to take a quick look at the curtain area before we loaded up pvc pipes and paint, etc. and FOUND A ROD LONG ENOUGH! You cannot believe how exciting that was, and it cost us less than $3. So, here they are in all their glory (gorgeous irises compliments of the lovely Leaman family): On Friday night Noelle & Andy came. They got in late and we were all exhausted; Erik was at work having a rough night and came home tired too, so we had a nice late morning and then ate a giant brunch at home.Noelle & Andy brought a fun birthday surprises! The loan of the Nero Wolfe TV series (WOOT!), and a little china teacup! You may or may not know that my grandma had a china cabinet with a set of Royal Doulton Flower of the Month plates and teacups; they were in that cabinet in the kitchen for as long as I can remember. Recently each granddaughter and the two great-granddaughters were given their birthday month (amazingly we were all born in different months!!). I brought mine home with me when I came back from Wisconsin in January. And Noelle found a miniature teacup and saucer for March and brought it for my birthday! How cute is that? :-D
After our leisurely morning (and a short nap for Erik), we headed out to Wind Wolves, the same place I've been raving about for the past two weeks. We had a beautiful afternoon, sunny and breezy, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Check out this wicked looking tree with pods that we saw. Noelle thought it was probably a type of acacia.
The wildflowers are already diminishing--those seas of color are much smaller and muted--but there was still plenty to see. And besides what we were seeing before, the poppies are blooming now! Gorgeous.We also saw little bunches of this white flower with violet edging--so tiny and delicate! These weird seed pods were connected to one of the bunches that we saw. Kind of fascinating. There is still lupine, though of a different color than before. I'm not certain if it's a different variety that blooms a little later, or if it changes hues during it's cycle.I'm a sucker for fiddlenecks, so you'll have to suffer through a couple more pictures of them . . . I love the way these were lit from behind.

In Someone Else's Words . . .

There's a path that leads to Nowhere
in a meadow that I know.
Where an inland river rises
and the stream is still and slow;
There it wanders under willows
and beneath the silver green
of the birches' silent shadows
where the early violets lean.Other pathways lead to Somewhere,
but the one I love so well
has no end and no beginning -
just the beauty of the dell.
Just the windflowers and the lilies
yellow striped as adder's tongue,
seem to satisfy my pathway
as it winds their sweets among.There I go to meet the Springtime;
when the meadow is aglow,
marigolds amid the marshes,
and the stream is still and slow;
there I find my fair oasis,
and with carefree feet I tread
for the pathway leads to Nowhere,
and the blue is overhead.All the ways that lead to Somewhere
echo with the hurrying feet
of the Struggling and the Striving,
but the way I find so sweet
bids me dream and bids me linger -
Joy and Beauty are its goal;
on the path that leads to Nowhere
I have sometimes found my soul.~Corinne Roosevelt Robinson

Wooden Bowls

Isn't he great? :-D

Belated St. Patrick's Greetings!

Well since my last post we've been back at Wind Wolves, this time with the dogs. I took approximately one bazillion pictures and have not sorted them yet, but hope to do so by the end of the week before our visitors come! Noelle & Andy will be coming down for the weekend--yay!!

In the meantime, we celebrated Saint Patrick's Day with corned beef and cabbage, although we opted for our new favorite mashed concoction over boiled potatoes. It was the first time I've made corned beef; I think next time I'll rinse some of the saltiness away before cooking. It was tasty, but definitely a once-a-year kind of meal for us.This however, I'd make again out of season! Similar to Aunt Dottie's Rum Cake recipe, this is an Irish Cream Bundt Cake, and it was goooood. We took this with us when we went to hear Banshee in the Kitchen at a concert held at our church. Fun!On Saturday I went to breakfast with a bunch of ladies from church, which was a great way to kick off the weekend! In the afternoon we took the dogs and went back to Wind Wolves with Brent, Julie and the kids, and in the evening I was backstage for the last performance of Annie! A busy but fun day.

In other news, I wore sandals all day today (when I wasn't barefoot in the house). :-D We had a busy work-around-the-house-and-yard day, and then ran errands to collect things we need to finish a bunch of projects. Looking forward to a productive week! Maybe tomorrow I'll post a picture of the beautiful salad bowls my husband bought today . . .