Whole Lotta Nut'n Go'n On

So, let's see............................



We watched "We Own the Night" which has a great cast, wasn't a bad flick. But had its slow moments and a few things that made the NY cops seem more like keystone cops. As in - they had the place surrounded but apparently not so much so that the bad guys couldn't jump out 3 different windows/doors and get away. HELLO! Not even Reno 911 cops are THAT stupid.



I have been on a reading craze. I finished The Nature of Monsters. And while not a bad book I wouldn't tell anyone to run out and get it. I also read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. And WOW!!! This is the authors first book. It's going to be a series. And I am very glad for all of it. I actually picked this book up on impulse when I ordered a few other books at Amazon. This was a recommendation that popped up as I was ordering. It sounded good so I thought I'd give it a try. And I am very thankful I did. If you like George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, or any of those HUGE epic fantasy stories you will certainly love this one. Talk about a book you fall into. This author really does deserve some kudos. A co-worker read it after I was finished and we both agreed that this series is going to be a more mature Harry Potter. It's not a copy, please don't get me wrong. It just has the same feel as Harry but written at the adult level.

In addition to those I have started The Age Of Unreason series by Gregory Keyes. I am currently on Book 3 of 4. And I LOVE this series as well. I was going to only read book one and then move on to something else and then eventually read 2, 3, 4. But this has been such a fun read that I am going to run through the series without stopping. Something I almost never ever do.



Aside from reading a ridiculous amount we have been planting stuff in the yard. Putting out our yard furniture and in general enjoying whatever spring we get. The weather hasn't been too terrible but it hasn't been too great either. Thankfully we were far far away from the tornado's that hit over the holiday weekend.



I will leave you with a few shots:

Socs, Sophie, and Lily enjoying a cuddle

A visitor to the neighborhood
Visitor takes flight
To try and join his friends -

but he sort of landed on the wrong side of the fence

Good thing our neighbors dog wasn't out in her yard

WWC

Penultimate

Entrance (to shoe heaven)

Murphy

Murphy made this set of laws and right now I'm a little resentful of the dude.


If life is going smooth you will hit a bump..................


See, that is why I called my last post The Calm Before the ??? - rang true. Life was peaceful, serene, happy. And then WHAM! All kinds of little tiny things piled up until I was buried.

Now being the positive person I am I do try to follow the "if life gives you lemons" sort of philosophy but when life seems to bury you under lemons it gets a tad hard to free up a hand to squeeze some lemonade out.

If you remove the flannel sheets from the bed it will get cold again!

and if you really want to screw yourself:

The day you change from the winter wardrobe to the summer one the temperature will drop a good 20+ degrees.

Let's just say we had frost alerts...................................grumble grumble

There are a few other piles of lemons right now in my life but I won't go into detail. It will bore you even more. Including the best boss ever has announced she is leaving.

I am however thankful that all my piles of lemons are things I can handle and get through. Nothing earth shattering has occurred. But I had enough stresses that I crawled into my shell and have not been seen since. .

And I apologize for that.

I am like an ostrich, i put my head in the sand at the first sign of trouble.

But enough already. I'm sitting up again. Face towards the sun.

I have way to much to be thankful for to let the little things in life get me down.

I will leave you with some pictures of all that is beautiful in my life:

Lily found the drippings under the grill - and got a little dripped on

Tulips in my yard

My apple tree
ground cover
A few views of my front yard

The Calm before the ????

I am at one of those peaceful times in my life. Everything, right now, at this moment feels utterly and completely perfect.

We have health, happiness, love, and good things on our horizon.

Maybe it is just the promise of spring. Whatever it is, I don't want this moment to ever end.

My yard is really starting to grow. Below is the boulevard. Not a lot of flowers yet but they will come.

Only tulips and daffodils at this point but more to come...........
Beauty in Hosta
Beauty in my hubster and our babies. I could have stayed frozen for all time watching this.

WWC

Earth

Earthworm

Beauty from the earth
Seven fingers (the red lines are fingers covering the lens)
Seven fingers

Weekend Recap

Read a little

Weeded a little

Took Caleb and Lily for a longish walk

Lily snorts the whole way - she has the breathing problems like a Pug does

Caleb was pretty good. He only got scared and dropped to the ground twice which for him isn't too bad

Watched the birds at the bird feeder

Went to the MIL's for Mother's day

Debated getting some flowers

Didn't progress beyond debate

OH, and got the most amazing package from Gary the Potter! My "corkers"!!!! They are so cute!
So, these pictures wouldn't load a few days ago: Here is proof that all of Mike's patience was worth it. I have birds on the feeder. The seed is actually about half way down now.


And this little rock duck I got at the Minneapolis Farmers market last year. I just love it. And I loved the shadow it was making the other morning.

Zippitty Doo Dah!

It's been a quiet week in Newt's world. Work is still wonderful. Still LOVE my job. Yippee!

And the weather has been incredible.

First, I will tell the story of this picture:

I was with Mike at the Cathedral of St. Paul and we took tons of pictures of the place. There were maybe 3 other people in there as well. But of course, in Newt fashion I turn a corner and see the set up of candles. I don't know what the correct term is for them. Anywhoodle, of course what comes out of my mouth, not too loud, but not in my head was "Holy Shit, FIRE! What an awesome picture for WWC" I then did what I can only describe as a duck and hide just in case any lightening bolts headed my way.

On that same Mike's Visit note - he was with me when I purchased a bird feeder for the front yard. For the next few days the poor boy spent more time than he wanted to watching out the window for the first customers. Well, a week later the birds have finally figured out the feeder exists. And I have a photograph to prove it. However it wouldn't load in this post so I'll have to try it again tomorrow.

However this morning I did go out and take a few shots of the Spring that is Sprunging in my yard:

You saw this flower a few days ago but it was so pretty I had to take more pictures.

And this is up into the Maple tree. It's a spring show tree so we get these pretty groupings of flowers. The tree is crap for fall but we don't care. It's a beautiful tree. And look at that sky will you! It's BLUE. Clear, beautiful springtime blue!
And lastly, here is the little guy that was on the bird feeder but then flew off to sit in our beautiful maple tree. I liked the backlighting on this shot.

This and That

Dreamt This:

A football player that I liked and respected was going to quit and had disapeared. I can only assume he was with the Colts as Dungy was in the dream as well. Anywhoodle, I was out with my boss at an outdoor shopping center getting coffee when I spotted him in the crowd. I then proceeded to beg and plead with him to come back to football. He told me to leave him alone and started to walk away. So I did what anyone would have done, I tackled him. So there I am hitting the pavement with a very large linebacker using me as cushioning from the ground. And I still managed to squeek out all the reasons he should be back in football. Something about me being a vikings fan but that I was also a fan of his. Blah blah blah. And that when Tony came into the picture and joined me in trying to convince him to play.

So apparently we succeeded because then I was on the team bus traveling around. And I was leaning on his knee as we were looking out at some local landmark.

And despite the sound of it there was nothing sexual about it. I mean, he was all muscle, big, lean, and beautiful but it stopped there. Don't ask me. I woke up a little disapointed that my dream was so innocent. Oh well.

When I went up to bed the hubster was watching a football game on ESPN classic. So that must be where this all came from. And my friend that just visited lives in Indy.

***

Thinking That:

On the drive into work I heard this song:

I went to a Hooters concert in 86 or 87 at Hershey Park. It was a really fun concert. Night time, lot's of open space. Thousands of people dancing and having a great time. Much like in the video. Just lots of people with big hair having a total blast. This has always been a big feel good song for me. Love the Hooters.

***

Doing This:

Yesterday was another perfect weather day. As soon as I got home from work the dogs and I played in the yard. Then I curled up in a chair and read. The windchimes were quietly singing away, the breeze was softly blowing. The dogs stretched out on the porch and slept in the sun.

Took this: (Courtesy of the Muttprincess)

You Are 24% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

The Muttprincess has promised to help corrupt me more. Phew, I'm relieved. I don't like being so little evil.

However, I do have a bone to pick with the survey:

SO, let me get this straight. I am evil because: I don't believe in God and or I hate kids.

Seriously?

SERIOUSLY?????

Excuse me, but the historic records prove that the most violent attrocities were committed in the name of God. HELLO people. I think there is some potential evil in the whole belief in God thing there. Regardless of where you stand we can't deny that great evils were committed in the name of religion.

And have you ever tried to relax in your backyard, read a book, listen to windchimes, even nap in the warm sun and had the moment completely destroyed by the screaming hyena of a child next door.

Or those nice dinners at a restraunt completely ruined by either A. the child jumping up and down on the booth seat behind you, or B. the screaming banchee throwing a fit and spitting out peas?

Please, we all hate kids once in a while.

WWC

FIRE

Three
Three white stripes, three red paws, three yellow paws and one Lily tongue

groups of three windows

Three prong snake

Three little puppies all in a row

Gratuitous bonus shots

First flower of spring in my yard

Super cute Caleb