I saw this pair of mourning doves on my clothesline pole this morning. I think they're contemplating the weather. Notice how they're all puffed up to keep warm. Notice also the bare lilac bushes behind them.
A friend of Jess's started a blog last November, called PlumPudding. She's recently been posting a lot of fun ideas of things for young kids to do/make. One of the latest included an experiment on capillary action in celery. See the instructions here.
I thought it was such a neat idea, and so quick and easy to do, that I just couldn't resist trying it myself (since I'm just a kid at heart, anyway) when I was using some celery in a recipe the other day. Here are photos of my results. The blue on the leaves has gotten even darker since I took these pics. So pretty!
Enough of the gloomy weather photos and on to something much nicer to the eyes!
I took many photos of Courtney on this day a couple weeks ago, trying to capture the adorable outfit, but since she moves so fast, they were all a blur. So here's a movie of her in it so you can all see how cute it is.
Any interpretations here???
The more times I watch it, the more I laugh. What a little character! ;-)
These pics were taken early this afternoon. Note the blue sky! But don't the silvery (icy) trees look strange against the green grass... like they really don't belong in the same photo?!
And thank goodness the ice and snow are almost totally GONE!!
9:57 a.m. Tulip update. Notice anything missing?
"Something's just not right here."
The results of the poll "What type of vehicle do you drive most often?" were as follows:
Whoopee. Kind of a boring survey, huh? :-)
Courtney's playing with the kitty toy again. Unfortunately, she discovered that she could detach the mice if she pulled really, really hard on them, so several of them are loose. Grandma has to keep an eagle eye on her to keep her from putting them in her mouth, but Courtney sure does love "trapping" them! (And yes, they do have a tiny bit of a rattle... turn up your volume to hear it.)
Courtney had such a cute little outfit on Tuesday, but it sure was hard getting pics of the pants... they were in motion too much! But she sure looks good in red, doesn't she?
Too bad Grandma bumped a toy which made a noise that distracted her from the race. But I think she and Teddy won it, anyway. ;-)
Look what I bought last week! It's a birdbath. It fastens to the deck railing, and you can tilt it up to empty the water and clean it. I got it from Amazon. I really wanted to get a pedestal one that has the fountain that's solar-powered, but I couldn't figure out a good place to put it where I could easily take photos of it being used (and where heifers running wild in the middle of the night wouldn't destroy it!). So I opted for the deck one (which also was a lot cheaper).
I just hope the birds find it and make use of it. I put it up Saturday, and so far I haven't seen it being used, but yesterday morning I did notice a sparrow sitting next to it, so possibly he'd had a drink before I got there.
As you can see, Willow is anxiously waiting for some nice little birdie to take a bath, too. Just so she doesn't prevent them from coming!
Grandma got this bright idea to give Courtney a little challenge by putting a few toys inside a nylon mesh fruit bag. Hey, it kept her occupied for quite a while, especially when Grandma kept stuffing the toys back in there. ;-)
I'm preempting a couple other videos to put this one up, because it's so cute I just couldn't wait. :-)
The rhubarb hasn't made all that much progress since the last time I took pics 2 weeks ago, but it is growing.
It's needing warmer weather and sunshine, just like I am!! Maybe today's sunshine and forecast 60° will get things (including me) moving a little faster. ;-)
Nope, I didn't forget about the last poll or to put up a new one. I've just been giving priority to other things that I'm trying to catch up on since our trip last weekend.
So now... the results of the poll "Do you eat breakfast?" are as follows:
I'm glad to find a majority of breakfast eaters out there! Here's to your health!
Thanks for taking the time to vote! Anybody out there have suggestions for new poll topics? If so, leave a comment on this post or email me via the link over in the right-hand column.
She's even got it going forward now!
I've noticed lately that she likes to take little pinches of things (e.g. taking little snitches off Grandma's sandwich... and sometimes pinching skin, even her own). In her bed I found little patches of the fuzz from Big Bird on her shirt. Did you notice what she did with the fuzz while she was riding? LOL
NOW I know how my towel ends up on the floor so often! I had to set up a surveillance camera to find out. Uh huh... red-handed!
I like the way she washed her face with the washcloth. At least she tried to put it back. And failing that, she grabbed her book and fled the scene!
It sure was good having my day with that little munchkin again. I was having withdrawals after our trip. :-)
We spent the last few days with Jess and Alex in Chicago. Was it windy? Yes! (But not as WINDY as it's been here today!) It was also chilly... well... cold, really... for this time of year. (But not as cold as it was here while we were gone!) And the precip came down. (But not the huge dump of WHITE stuff that came down here while we were gone!) Although we drove in rain all the way there, we were lucky that it only kind of misted/sprinkled on us while we were out and about with J&A. Not so bad.
We got to stay in the now-famous Condo! Of course, we've been there before... and actually helped paint it 3 years ago. It was lovely, like the photos on Apartment Therapy, but it had a more lived-in look. Yep, it's a real 'home'... not just a showplace. ;-)
As a photographer, I failed. I didn't have my camera along on our first day out, when the sky was only partly cloudy and we were downtown amongst the skyscrapers and city sights. Bummer. The next day it was kind of dark and wet and not conducive to getting good photos. We did stop on Sunday afternoon for the sole purpose of getting this pic of Jess 'n Alex in front of Lake Michigan....
And on that sad (but ever so cute!) little note, I shall say 'bye bye' to all of you viewers for a few days, too, as I'm taking some time off from blogging. Feel free to play reruns of the old movies as many times as you want while I'm gone! ;-)
Okay, so we're building a dog. ;-)
She's beginning to put things together now instead of just taking them apart. And she even made sure that the pieces went on right side up. She definitely deserves the applause. :-)
I wish I knew what she was saying! :-)
... that she's been trying ever since I left around 6:00 p.m. to upload a video for you to see, but something's not working right and you'll just have to wait till later to see it. Too bad, too, 'cause it's really cute. It stars me, of course!
Let the smiling little guide take you on a tour of Grandma G's house.
Note the swipe at the outlet, where the nightlight she loves to pull out has been replaced by a child-proof plug. And I think she's trying to tell me she's not supposed to mess with the wastebasket. ;-)
If you're interested in a little more professional tour and a neater home, head on over to Apartment Therapy's website and see Jess & Alex's condo (<-- click on the link). Apartment Therapy actually sent a photographer over to their place to take the pics, which was pretty cool. Be sure to click on the 'Enter Slideshow' link to see all the pictures.
I took all these pics yesterday afternoon. Here's a maple tree preparing to leaf out. (Note the BLUE sky! 'Course it's cloudy again this morning.)
No, not me. I'm just a wee bit older than that. ;-)
I've had this ivy plant that long, though! My mom cut a slip of it out of my wedding bouquet 38 years ago yesterday. It's been restarted a number of times over the years, and now it's in need of repotting... again. But maybe it'll make it another 38 years?
The results of the poll "Which would you rather do?" are as follows:
Well, that was pretty evenly divided! I vote for the road trip, though I've never taken a 9-hour plane ride, so I can't base it on experience. I just can't imagine being cooped up with that many people for that long a time, not to mention not being able to 'get out' if I felt like it! But maybe those who voted for the plane ride do have the experience and it actually is better. (?)
Thanks for voting!
Such a busy girl....
That little mouse is a kitty toy she was delighted to discover under a chair. At least she didn't put it in her mouth before I managed to make it disappear.
I can't imagine how that towel got onto the floor under that chair. Ha!
Don'tcha love that "hi"? Awwww.......
Grandma H. came through with photos! She still had Courtney trapped in the sink for her bath (MUCH easier photo-taking that way!), so the curls are still wet, but you get the idea of how curly her hair really is! I love it!
Alfred Hitchcock's got nuthin' on me!
Just ignore all the white areas, and believe the fact that it really is SPRING! That many blackbirds wouldn't be here if it weren't. Sure looks like a chilly bath to me, though!
Wish I could've captured the sound for you, but of course if I'd tried, they'd have all been gone.
...when the hair cooperates a little better! (And boy, did I have a tough time getting that shot! That little curly head wasn't still for 2 seconds!)
I think she takes after her daddy in figuring things out.
Trouble is, it was so fun that she kept doing it over and over, so we were running out of water before we were finished washing! And then she pulled the stopper out. Yep, musta got it from Daddy.
Sooooo, Daddy.... how do we fasten it so she can't keep flipping it open? Duct tape???
