No Dogs Allowed on the Furniture, the Beds, Etc.

"Toby, go get Daniel up"!

You just have to smile!

Like sand through an hourglass...

...go the days of our lives.

Our friend Shirley Nowak had a birthday this week. She is either 82 or 83, near as I can figure.

She and I were talking a couple of weeks ago and she said something to me that really struck a chord.

"I am going to spend my money now". ?? "Another woman on my street died yesterday".

I got to thinking about that statement and realized that I am tired of putting off till the proverbial tomorrow, and I am going to take the time, and make the effort to make something out of each and every day. Like New Year's Resolutions, I know these good intentions will pass like so many flowers after they have stayed in the vase too long.

Hmmm, what can I do that would make somebody's day special.

I know, let's have a surprise party for Shirley. I called her and invited her to lunch for her Birthday. I also emailed as many friends as I had email addresses for, both old and new and invited them to lunch. I knew there were so many that would not be able to come so I asked them to send a birthday card to Shirley, but send it to my address. About a dozen cards arrived by today and also flowers, a beautiful patio pot of Salmon colored geraniums from her dear friend in Florida, assorted lovely things to show she was remembered, and lots of folks showed up for lunch. Some even showed up after lunch to join her for dessert.

I had a ball! We enjoyed lovely rolls, chicken salad, ham salad, benectine spread, egg salad, fresh fruit, scones with lemon curd and strawberry jam, assorted relishes, cheeses with crackers and grapes, two birthday cakes, pastries, and cookies.

What a great day it was. My daughter Sarah said to me "do you suppose she will cry"? "I don't know" said I.

Well, she did! She got choked up, hugged me and said thank you. I called to Sarah in the other room to come into the kitchen and see what Shirley was doing. She came running in and saw Shirley cry. She shouted "Yea, we love you Shirley"!

Most of the guests stayed until after three o'clock, and many stayed till four o'clock. Shirley was the last to leave. She hugged me again and said "this really meant a lot to me".

I guess that about covers it!

A runaway day!

Did you ever have one of those "I want to runaway" days?

Well I did have one today. I got in my car and drove to Newell, West Virginia, spent two hours at the Mountaineer Casino.

Did not answer my phone, did not talk to anyone. Did not win any money to speak of. But the noise was wonderful. No one made eye contact, no one spoke to me except the waitress that brought me a cup of coffee. No one missed me. And no one ignored, argued or offended me!

Damn it was nice!

EEEEK a mouse!

but on a closer look it had no tail. What was this little furry thing quivering up against the wall in Country Club's stall? It moved. It hopped. Oh my gosh, it's a baby rabbit.

What to do next? I grabbed Club's feed bucket and carefully placed it in front of the little rabbit and carefully pushed the bedding up against it to encourage it to jump into the bucket. And it did.

I slowly picked up the bucket, and carried it out of the barn and over to the "mini forest" that separates our property's barn from Linda's property

next door. An assortment of overgrown pines of all sorts

and ground cover. I slowly placed the bucket on the ground

on it's side and jostled the baby out.

It's heart was racing and so was mine. I hope it found it's way home, or I hope Mommy found it.

Yes, I think his Mommy found him!

"Thank you Frieda" for predicting the future!

A group of 40-year-old girlfriends discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally, it was agreed upon that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant, because the waiters there were good looking and had buff bodies.

10 years later at 50-years-of-age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally, it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant, because the food there was very good and the wine selection was good also.

10 years later at 60-years-of-age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally, it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant, because it wasn’t noisy andthe restaurant had a beautiful view of the ocean.

10 years later at 70-years-of-age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally, it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant, because the restaurant was wheel chair accessible and they even had an elevator.

10 years later, at 80-years-of-age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally, it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant, because they had never been there before.

Don't you just love a Redhead!

I took this photo from the kitchen (lens pressed up against the window) yesterday.

I was standing at the sink, doing up some dishes and looked up and saw this sight through the window.

I had just placed fresh suet into the holder for those feathered friends who prefer fat to lean.

I thought he or she was so, so pretty!

Sneaking quietly away to grab the camera and returned to the window, he was still there, eating away.

What a beautiful sight!

I just love spring!

A tisket a tasket now where's the Easter Basket

"I knew it" "I knew it" "The Easter Bunny did

not break his promise" said Daniel. He was so excited to finally look out into the back yard and see the evidence that the Easter Bunny had stopped by Nana and Papa's house on Easter Sunday.

Not only were there 75 eggs to find (with the help of Toby) but then opening all of those eggs to find candy and surprises inside was awesome as well!

The Bunny even hid his great big Easter Basket which contained his first real watch.

In the words of the Great Louis Armstrong "It's a Wonderful World"!

And they came "two by two"

Going down to get the mail yesterday, I stopped, paused and then went back to the house to get the camera.

Out lake overflow has been blocked or clogged ever since the rains we had last week. Tim has been unsuccessful in getting the overflow unclogged so our banks are overflowing.

I had to laugh at the sight! Our new residents (Mr. and Mrs. Canadian Goose, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard Duck, and now we have added Mr. and Mrs. Box Turtle!)

All taking advantage of the sun and warmth to catch at moment of calm and quiet.

I really took time to ponder. Tim had just unloaded a bunch of wood from the Semi-Trailer (used as dunnage to keep a load in place and keep it from shifting).

Is he planning to build an Ark?

What's the most fun you can have right before Easter?

You got that right!