Just some Hump Day babbling…

The sun has been out all day today…that’s a first for a little while now.  It’s a good thing.  I definitely need the sun; it definitely affects my mood.  I spent a good portion of the afternoon here, working on my lace shawl.  I still love it - not just this shawl but lace in general.  If it wasn’t for the constant up and down to chase a cat who’d snuck down the stairs and out into the yard (and all 3 of them tried it at least once), it would have been a very peaceful, lazy yet productive afternoon.  But I’m certainly not complaining - it was still great time spent outdoors in the sun and warmth! 

 Speaking of sun and warmth, Lazareth (that’s what I named my Fern Leaf Peony) has been thriving with all of the rain and sparatic sun.  Can you see the actual BLOOMS he’s sprouting now?!  You’ll most likely need to click on the picture to enlarge it a little to actually see them. 

I don’t know if any of you see this, but I really do believe that spring growth is slow to come this year; maybe it’s just a mid-west thing.  Even the annuals selection in the nurseries are pretty sparse right now - you can get geraniums, pansies, impatiens, begonias; the pretty basic standard stuff.  But the snapdragons, salvia, even the zinnias aren’t out yet (at least not in my neck of the woods), and ‘we’ were just warned that it’s still too cold at night to plant the tomatoes and to wait until at least after the 15th.  The most poignant indicator, though, is that there still haven’t been any great deals advertised yet.  Sure there are sales, but nothing terribly spectacular.  Probably because the choices are still so limited.  Being born without the patience gene, it’s tough for me not to just get out there are start filling all my pots and hanging baskets (which I typically make myself vs. buy pre-arranged).  So I compromised and just went ahead and bought one so I can look at something right now.  Yep - made sure it was a damn big one!  Unfortunately, the ’shepherd hook’ I bought just about bent in half when I hung this hummer on there, so I had to move it to the back - on the big sturdy hook - which messes everything up because it’s a sun-loving arrangement and everything in the back is either predominantly for shade or a shade/sun mix.  So I’ll need to think about this one some more. 

“Of course they’re mocking us…they know the screen’s there!”

The finches are around in droves now - it’s great!  Not only are they all so beautiful and colorful, but they provide hours of entertainment for the “girls”…which then provides entertainment for the humans!  There have been a few times where we thought the cats were going to go right through the screen in order to play with them.  The two in the picture are the extremely lazy ones - you pretty much have to bring everything directly to them in order to engage them in play!  And they’re the two that need the exercise - just look at Zoey’s butt!  Of course I really can’t talk…but that’s why I don’t put my butt in pictures and then on the internet.

This was at 6:30 this morning, apparently “resting” before heading to school.  Madison’s not a lap cat at all, and only rarely with either of the kids…so we like to capture these adorable moments when we can!

Graduation announcements are being printed and hopefully we’ll get them addressed and in the mail by Monday.  I had thought about doing labels, but I think the graduate here should address them by hand; make it a little more personal.  Tomorrow we’re off to have him take a college entry/placement assessment, and then try to put together a resume - there is a summer job opening at his father’s place of work:  16 hours a week doing image scanning, copying, collating, etc., $11-13/hour (almost twice what he’s making now and about 4 times as many hours in a week), and he can pretty much define how those 16 hours play out (2 8-hour days, 4 4-hour days, etc.).  Hell, *I* thought about doing it!  I can knit while I’m watching the copier spit out.

8:37pm and still much to do tonight.  Have a great week everyone!