"I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black"

That song by the Rolling Stones kept going through my mind yesterday and I wielded my spray paint can over and over our steel outdoor furniture. Rick and I worked together to get the job done. It's a necessary one that needs to be done every other year or so. Our furniture sits outside in the elements all year long and as time goes by, it starts to rust. Spraying it with good old  Rustoleum™  paint keeps it going. We've had the same two sets of tables and chairs since we moved in to our house in Fort Collins back in 1995. They still look great.

The weekend weather was pretty much perfection. Warm with plenty of sun. We got lots of outside chores done (or maybe I should say Rick got plenty of outside chores done) such as the first mowing of the yard and removing some stray tree limbs. I cleaned out the herb planter on the deck since we didn't want the oregano anymore because it takes over, and the thyme was not coming back as well as it should. Now we have a freshly planted sage plant and two thyme plants. Rosemary will stay in her separate pot for the summer as she needs to be brought inside for the winter. As soon as I can I am going to put tomatoes in pots.

We rolled figgy out in the driveway to soak up some sun. It has the beginning of beautiful big leaves already, and one fig! At least it looks like a fig, but it might me a very large leaf bud. We would have left her outside but our roof is being replaced tomorrow (partly thanks to Super Storm Sandy) and we were afraid that something might get dropped on her delicate branches. We thought it best to leave her inside for a few more days.

Lunch yesterday found us at the Warwick Valley Winery for a pizza. As we were sitting outside enjoying the sunshine, our pizza and a bottle of wine, the people at the table next to us pulled out a cell phone and proceeded to have a conversation with a friend on speaker phone. How annoying is that? I couldn't even hear my own thoughts so we got up and found another table in a different area. Enjoy the moment folks; call later!

We are so looking forward to Rick's mom's visit in late May. We're so glad she's coming! We already have tickets to this food tour in New York City. They are always so much fun and so informative. She has also requested a visit to the Freedom Tower which I have not been to yet.

Our trip to the cabin this year will be in September but I might have the chance to accompany Rick on a business trip in June to Cartagena, Colombia. What do you think, should I go?

P.S. Sorry for all the randomness of this post!

I think Spring is finally on the way. As I type the little Carolina wren is singing away outside my window. I just adore those little birds and their sweet varied songs. I can see buds about to pop on the maple trees and the day lilies have broken ground. The daffodils have lots of flower buds coming. Soon it will all burst wide open and I'll be glad for that.

Our three-day weekend went pretty well. On Friday we did some errand running around. Some errands were successful (like our trip to DSW for new shoes) and others weren't as successful as I had hoped (Unique Photo for this new lens which was out of stock). As soon as I made the final decision to actually buy it and spend my reserved "Mom" money they run out due to a super new sale price. Next week!

We took the dogs for a walk, Rick took down the old cabana canopy frame in preparation for the new one and gave Mia a much needed bath.

We branched out for dinner and tried cooking skate for the first time and it was amazingly good. 

On Saturday we took Mia out for a spin. It was nice enough to have the top down once the day warmed up. We drove down to Branch Book Park in Bloomfield (a suburb of Newark) to check on the progress of the cherry trees, and also because I wanted to know the route so I could drive myself when the time comes. Last year this time the cherries were just about done, but this year they haven't even started yet. We saw a couple of trees that had popped, but most had not. I plan to spend a lot of time wandering around the park with my camera (and my new lens!) just taking in all the blossoms and getting some much needed cherry therapy or "cherrapy". Here's what they looked like last year.

When we got home Rick experimented with the new cook book I got him the other day. America's Test Kitchen's D.I.Y. cookbook: Can It, Cure It, Churn It, Brew It: 100+ Foolproof kitchen projects for the adventurous home cook. He made ketchup! It was very tasty and much better than the prepared stuff. Healthier too! It made the house smell so good.

We used it on our homemade onion rings that accompanied our grilled steaks. Here are the rings before frying. Yum!

Easter was spent doing much not of anything. The weather was cloudy and windy and by afternoon the rain had started in. We bathed Alex, who was sorely in need of a bath, and blew him dry dog-show style in the morning. We just stayed around the house and watched TV, read and I knit some (still working on Rick's slippers, almost done) and cooked our free Easter ham. We also had gratin dauphinois and roasted carrots, parsnips and onions as sides. Delicious! Now we'll be eating on ham for the rest of the week: in quiche, split pea soup and so on. We'll also be having Sloppy Joes this week and using Rick's ketchup in them to see how it works when used in a recipe. 

So that's it folks, the weekend that was. I think I covered most of the highlights. I hope however you spent your holiday weekend was equally as enjoyable as ours.

(Top Photo explanation: I was intrigued by capturing the play of light on the fencing around the pool late in the afternoon as we grilled our steaks. The wrought iron chair on the opposite side of the fence was casting a shadow.)

The first day of spring has come and gone with nothing to show for it. Our ground is still covered in white from our 4-5 inch snowfall on Monday. It's melting, but slower than you would expect it to at this time of year. The thermometer is stuck in the 30's. When I look back on the blog entries from years past at this time it's almost surreal. Last year the forsythia was blooming! This year its buds are closed tight with not even a glimmer of yellow showing. I know, I checked it yesterday. I also know I promised no more white photos, but I couldn't help myself the other day with the late afternoon sun on the melting snow.

It's hard to motivate myself to go out with the camera to find anything of interest so I headed to the local garden shop yesterday since I had noticed that they were flying a big OPEN sign the other day. No flowers yet except for a few potted bulbs inside. And these colorful hummingbird feeders.

And this cheeky little guy who is much cuter than the pesky squirrels in my yard that have now chewed an even bigger hole in my best bird feeder. Other than that there was nothing to see or buy at the shop.

The weekend is supposed to be a bit warmer with temperatures in the 40's, but they are saying the wind chills are going to make it feel much colder. And, a little  more snow is expected on Monday. Alex keeps pulling out his snowman toy that was a Christmas present to play with and I think he might be jinxing us. I'm seriously thinking of putting it away until next year.

In other news, the last amaryllis is just about ready to bloom and it looks like it's going to burst forth with three flowers at the same time.

And on closer inspection, the huge amaryllis that still has one last flower blooming has another flower stalk poking out of the base of the bulb. Wow, I'm thrilled it has the oomph to send up yet another bud stalk!

So how's that for a mish-mash of stuff in one blog post!

Our dinner party was a huge success. The food was wonderful, the guests all got along and had a great time and everything went according to plan. 

The day of the party was a little strange because it snowed most of the afternoon. Big, fluffy flakes that mostly evaporated as soon as they hit the ground but did in fact manage to pile up enough to leave the branches and grassy areas coated with white. At least it didn't stick to the roads. I didn't take any photos because, well, frankly I'm tired of taking white photos and showing them here on the blog. And I'm certain you are getting tired of me prattling on and on about our weather as well.

The temperatures haven't varied very much since last month. Yesterday it barely got above freezing! Our nighttime temperatures are still dipping down in to the 20's. As I type this entry this morning at 8:30 it's only 24. I am tired of wearing jackets and gloves and layering my tops two deep. Tired of lugging firewood up the stairs (our stash for this year is running dangerously low).

Today we are expecting more snow--this time leading to one or two inches, then some ice, then rain. I hope this year's spring is really sweet and pleasant to make up for its late start. At least I sure hope so. If it ever does get here that is!

I am tired of pointing my camera at the colors of gray, white and brown. I'd much rather point it towards blue and green.

(photo: Doorway to … Spring?)

Yesterday it rained. Unlike the song rainy days and Mondays always get me down, it was really quite welcome. Besides that, it was Tuesday. At least you don't have to shovel rain and it's a step in the right direction towards spring. 

The dogs tried to persuade me to take them somewhere but for once I didn't give in to them. I just stayed dry inside and started my knitting project of Rick's felted slippers. His old ones have sprouted a hole in the toe. 

At times the rain poured from the sky, drumming on the skylights above me in the sun room. It seemed to come in waves. Whenever it started raining hard all of a sudden, eBay would lift her head up from her spot by the fire and look up as if to say what is that noise??  Once they resigned themselves from not getting to "go for a ride"  the dogs just laid around and didn't even ask to be let outside in the yard.

By late afternoon the rain had stopped and the sun came out for a short while. I loved how the raindrops reflected the sun's rays.

The rain washed most of the snow away except for a few small patches where it had been plowed or shoveled. Things are definitely looking brighter!

Linked in to Rurality Blog Hop

(photos:)

Puddled Reflection

Raindrops on Pine Tree

Raindrops on Branches

Pine Cone Afloat