last week ....

Someone left their cell phone in our waiting room. The back doesn't look any better than the front. Not sure we will find the missing owner.

Anna was so kind and introduced me to an online store. Uh. Oh.

After threatening to do it for the past year, I finally joined the ClickList crowd at Fry's. This is going to be a serious game changer in the coming summer.

Will this be Pappa's last trip here? Each time I think he won't fly to Arizona again, he books another ticket.

The pomegranate tree is in full bloom. It is covered in bird netting and hopefully will survive my tending.

You sit down on the toilet inside Starbucks and yours eyes light on the handle. The lock does not look like it is pushed all the way in. Just because you are over 50 and in a serious rush to the commode, you're sitting there wondering if you really hit the lock or not. And even more curious is what you are going to do if someone decides to join you.

My friend brought me beautiful tulips on Easter.

Have a great week.

princess

1,092 miles is a long way sometimes

taking a break

I have loved the springtime this year.

The temperature has been cool.

The pollen is creating allergies where there never were before 

and yet I am loathe to close the windows while Jari sneezes and drips.

With windows open at both sides of the house, the curtains just fly with the breeze.

It doesn't get much better than sitting outside in the morning with my coffee.

The chickens are squawking, the birds are busy building nests in the trees,

laundry is sometimes still and other times billowing.

Life is so good out there on that porch.

My backyard is a place where the chickens live, 

the compost does its thing and the garden hopefully grows. 

It is also where I am working on crafting wood projects but I can't seem to take a picture to share.

It (and the front yard!) is a place where little boys hunt for treasures with their shovels.

It is where little boys move wood piles around when and where it suits them.

Sometimes, after working so hard, it is just the place for a pulla break.

happy birthday

Long travel days aren't very tolerable anymore, yet his heart still wants to go.

Pappa turned 91 years young on the eve of Palm Sunday and traveled back to Arizona again,

this time with his dear friend Tommi.

This winter in Minnesota has been difficult for many that live there.

It has been especially long for him.

Days are long and lonely when your partner and best friend is recently gone.

The only constants are the "four" walls and the snow that just keeps on coming.

Spring has come to Arizona and the heat isn't far behind.

He plans to enjoy that for a while.

Happy Birthday dear Pappa.

my joy

Little boys who are always on the hunt for something.

Water and trucks.

What else does a little guy need?

Maybe a Papa who climbs into their fort with them?

Sometimes a party is a good thing.

Girls. Games. Chocolate. Coffee.

#smile #icantturnaround

Tia is always good for a trick or joke of some kind.

When the oldest one just might be the youngest one.

I drink my caffeine straight and black.

I prefer to eat my sugar.

How did this world of ours go from just the two of us

to so many hearts to love in what seems like just a few blinks?

Then again, imagine the amount of joy one can experience

in about 56 million blinks.

my senses

I like the convenience of the city.

I will admit to that.

There are many things in the place I live that I enjoy.

Like Hobby Lobby.

And then there is the place my heart and soul yearn for.

The place where the sky goes forever.

The place where you can hear the quiet.

Where diamonds sparkle in the morning.

Where rivers become canyons.

Where life's hard work is so rewarding.

Where God colors the sky.

The place where roads are traveled with care.

Where coffee meets the sunshine.

This world fuels the part of me that craves the life outside the city.

why Williston?

I really don't care how cold it is.

The hugs are warm.

I'm sure somewhere tropical is nice.

But all these people aren't in that other place.

These are some of the reasons we are drawn

to the place where pieces of our hearts live.

Liam riding his cousin's quad.

Paisley can get up the stairs ... she refuses to come down. 

The newest littlest grandcharmer Elliott.

He loves to visit.

Who? Us?

Lyla. Doesn't she look so cute? Doesn't she look just innocent?

This little lady has a side that is something else.

Wyatt and Aiden.

Brothers who might sometimes be the best of buds and other times are real brothers.

Auntie time.

So many pieces of our hearts brave the winters of North Dakota.

And that, my friends, is why Williston.

gardening gal

Hubby knows it.

There is no way to take the country outta this girl.

I started some seeds a minute ago and made a mistake.

My seeds like individual little things where I can pick up the whole kit and kaboodle to transplant.

I babied these things between travels with the hope that they would be garden box ready.

They were.

Jari had made me garden boxes that sat empty for weeks. When we ended our jaunt (which is continuing in Monday's posts), I finally made it to Home Depot. I'm late this year with this whole business and am doubtful I will have one ounce of anything growing for the dinner table at this point. But try I will!

The boxes are filled with some good smelling dirt.

Seeds are planted.

Plants are transplanted and pretty much dead.

Other seeds are planted in some little peet pots with incredible hope.

Hoping to see some green by the time the weekend is over!

I guess if the boxes are unsuccessful this year ... especially with summer right around the corner ... the fruit trees are looking downright awesome!

he called it

an experiment

off to julian

The Landings in Carlsbad for breakfast.

Where there is no time like the present on a cloudy day.

Curving and beautiful roads that pass through orchards and vineyards lead to Julian. A motorcyclists dream trip I think. At least that's what hubby claims on these kinds of roads. Julian isn't really that far out of the way on the drive home and the trip through there sure beats the freeway. The wind was blowing again and the heavier jackets were on.

Sweet little place that looks to be a favorite of many .. for many years. You walk through the kitchen to take a trip to the restroom. Can be confusing and quite surprising.

If you order pie here and you're not very hungry .... plan on splitting it. There's a reason they upcharge for the ice cream ... it's nearly the entire quart. Apple Boysenberry pie with crumb topping. Divine!

The roads are beautiful.

And then there are the road games. If you have a family or grew up in a larger family, you probably played games like the Alphabet Game on road trips. We still do that cuz we're kind of young at heart once in a while. Have you played the number game? Pure torture unless you hit the correct mile marker and don't blink for the next hundred miles. This was a whole new one. We followed this car for a loooonnng time. Past many places where they could have pulled off to let us by. If this says anything about the road ... neither were we able to pass them. So we watched the tail lights and got very good at predicting when they would hit the brakes. Pretty much exactly at which point before the curve. After the curve they would speed up a bit .... and then those brake lights again. Serious. People. It was nearly hilarious because we could do nothing about it and I'm sure they hadn't any brakes left when they reached their destination.

 We reached ours amid rain that was busy watering my weed fields.

Home to wash several loads of laundry, empty the truck of its bags, empty the small suitcase and exchange it for the larger one ....

swap out warm weather clothes for cold weather clothes. Sleep in our own bed for the night and leave again ....