Finally some buds!

It was hard to decide which picture to post, but I've waited (it feels like) so long to see buds on trees, I finally had to go with this one. The odd thing was the lower branches had blooms but the upper ones were still bare. I guess the sap got to these first, I don't know how that works. Anyway, it good to see something on those bare limbs.

Frustration

This is what I spent most of my evening doing...trying to fix a computer problem for my dh. Why in creation do these things happen? We have MSN. We have four accounts, one for each member of our family living at home. On our desktop, all can be signed into but mine. On my laptop I can sign into mine. Does that make any sense? My dh does our banking from my account. So I spent too much time IMing a service rep at MSN who in the end just told me to find someone else, like Microsoft to talk to. Uuurrgh!

Mexican chic

These lovely and elegant decorations were on the wall above me at our hole-in-the-wall but very popular Mexidan restaurant. I actually like them, though I know they are a bit tacky.
But how can you have a restaurant like that without some colorful decor?

Nightlight

This glass was a gift from a friend. There is a factory in her dh's hometown where they make it.

Moon tonight

The moon tonight was pretty neat.

Cut up

We lost several trees in our storms this winter. My dh cut this one into pieces. Not the most exciting picture. : )

Happy Birthday Katie!

Tomorrow our oldest daughter turns 24. I'm amazed that time has gone so quickly. http://mindportals.blogspot.com/ We celebrated with her today and then her dad helped her figure out her taxes. I can't believe I have four children out of college.

Last day babysitting

Today was my last day. It was fun. While I was in the other room she stripped down to her diaper and then started to climb the stairs. As soon as she saw me get my camera, she turned around, sat down, and crossed her arms. Guess she's had her photo taken a few times!

Can you tell I've been babysitting?

I don't have this kind of toy around my house. But I've been spending my time with someone who does!

Sunrise

I got up this morning to go babysit for my dd and the sunrise lit the sky with pinks and blues. Even though I was running a bit late, I took the time to take a couple of pictures. Here's one.

My Downtown at Sunset

My downtown is awfully nice. DH and I went down to walk around tonight. We are blessed.

My Companion Today

I babysat Halle today. I took her outside and she loved it. How do kids move so much on so little food?

Halle

Betsy, one of my dds, is babysitting this little one all week. All week except when she's in class. During those times I'll be with little Halle. She doesn't know me that well, so I've spent time with her the past three days, trying to get her used to me. She's a cutie.

By jove, I think spring has come to the area!

I went outside to take a picture of a dry end of grass that I saw and I took that. Then I looked up and saw we had two daffodils up! When I walked up to photograph them I saw our crocuses and some other little flowers. Then dh and I walked down to the dock and the swans are back! Now, hardly anyone in Maryland likes these swans. They are really destructive to the waterways because they pull the grasses up by the roots. They aren't native to the area and they are ruining things for the crabs and other native water creatures. But, they do still have a smooth grace that is beautiful to watch. Of course the closer they get, the more you see their imperfections, but isn't that true with anything? I waited to try and get this picture with the reflection and my swan friend finally turned the right way. I'm going to post a few of my other pictures on my other web site, I really am going to try and keep this site to one a day.

No, I'm not depressed

I just like cemeteries.

First Watercolor

I don't know what got into me.
I don't know a thing about watercolors, but I love them.
But today I stopped at Michaels and bought:
A beginners set of watercolor paint (six colors)
A beginners set of paintbrushes
A tablet of Strathmore water color paper
A little plastic thing that you can put the paint in
And an extra tube of blue, a different shade, because I like blue.

Someday I hope I paint something to justify the purchase. But I came home and tried to paint picture.

It's not frameable but I'm not disappointed for a first attempt.

One part of me would like to take a class but another part of me always wants to do things on my own. Somehow it seems less significant if someone teaches me. Which I know is silly. But anyway, here's my picture for the day, in more ways than one.

Valentine's past

It was time to throw out my roses, though they still had so much color left in them.

Harbingers of spring

Today I looked out my window and saw both a rabbit and a robin, the traditional harbingers of spring. Poor guys, they are in for a nasty shock tomorrow if we get the two to four inches of snow predicted.

Spilled out

I want to be...

My corner

I was sitting here in my corner taking a quick look at the computer while waiting for my dh and realized I hadn't taken a picture today, so I got up, walked away from my chair and took a picture of where I had just been sitting. This is my corner of the bedroom. I spend a good bit of time sitting here either reading or working (playing?) on the computer.

My downtown

Tonight, after dropping off dd #4 at softball practice, I decided to go downtown and take some pictures. For the very first time I felt delight in 'my downtown'. I've always felt like it was a neat place, but never like it had any connection to me. So it was a sort of neat moment. But really, think about it. Think about going as deep into a downtown area as you possibly could. In most cities the sight wouldn't be pretty, I don't think. It might be active, it might have human interest, it might have grand architecture, but I down there are many places that in the heart of 'downtown' you would find the natural beauty that I have. I had so many pictures I wanted to share...of the boats, of Main Street, of the moon, but I chose this one. Tnis little guy flew away, but I was glad I caught him while he was resting.

Yesterday's and today's pictures

Yesterday I went to Trader Joe's and they had the most amazing little roses, and for only 3.99 a bunch. I've never seen anything like these before. I remember when I went to school in England, I saw roses growing in people's gardens that looked so fake, due to their coloring. I think all I had seen up to that time was red, pink and white. Maybe I saw an exotic 'yellow' once in a while. Anyway, I thought these were really unusual.
Leaving our neighborhood tonight, my dh and one of my dd's sighted this bird. I thought he could be a good companion for Mary's vultures! The light was getting little dim, so he's not really crisp, but still you can see him.