Play Ball

I was so excited to see a sunny sky this morning knowing that Iowa Cubs were playing this afternoon. It was our first chance to see the team play this year and I was very excited. It was only about fifty degrees but it was so fun to be back at the ball park, eating a hot dog and enjoying my first ball game of the season!

Parable of the Sower

These bulbs are pushing hard to make their way through the very dry soil. It has been a dry winter and spring so I really shouldn't complain that it rained and rained all day long. I couldn't ride my bike but I did think of these plants and remembered the parable of the sower. It made me think of what "soil" I am when the Sower offers "seeds." These flowers will flourish after the fresh April rain. What is my "April rain" and will make me flourish? Life and nature are full of so many lessons when I open my eyes. I do appreciate the reminder!

Birthday Weekend

It was a wonderful weekend! I just love birthdays, even after 52 of them. Ashley, Travis and Mowgli came for the entire weekend and helped me to celebrate. I just love hiking in the woods and my birthday brought perfect weather for a hike. Dale and Travis did some geocaching while Ashley and I walked the trails. We spent more than ninety minutes in the woods and because it got up above eighty degrees. We lost the sweaters very quickly after we started. Fortunately we burned off lots of calories to compensate for some of the celebration foods. We cooked at home; enjoying good meals and fun in the kitchen. We made waffles, pasta carbonara, grilled sausage sandwiches with potato salad and some spinach chicken salads. We also got to have a patio lunch on my birthday. I just love going to restaurants with nice patios on a perfect weather day! It's a very good thing that we got exercise every day and a good thing that they came on Thursday so that we could have a long weekend to celebrate! It was a great birthday, all weekend long!

Pansy Time

It's pansy time! I was so excited when I found flats of pansies displayed at several stores today. It's too early to plant most things but I got some pansies and a few tulips that were forced. I got to spend time in the sunshine digging in the dirt which is very fun for me. I planted the flowers in a pot then spent some time cleaning up remnants of last year's garden and checking the progress on my chives and iris. After a sunny walk around Gray's Lake and digging in the dirt it really feels like Spring!

I Love April

It's April! I just love this time of year for so many reasons. I expect to get lots more time outside now that April has arrived. There are some showers in the forecast but lots of sunshine and temperatures in the sixties and seventies. It's my plan to exercise lots more too. The flowers in the photo are blooming at the botanical center but crocus are already in bloom and other bulbs are pushing up higher each day. There are so many things to look forward to this month. Welcome, April!