Is it Spring Yet?

It seems as though spring is slowly creeping up on us. I say slowly because it will be warm and sunny one day and then chilly (for us) the next. Ones hopes get up that summer is just around the corner. My daughter was telling me on Sunday that daylight savings time begins in just two more weeks. There IS hope. Yeah!

I have three of the tortoises out for the summer. The females are usually the first to emerge, but we do have one male that has also surfaced. As well, I have noticed a family of finches and of a small wren building nests right outside of the sewing room. I love to watch their busyness of nest construction. The male will bring a looooong twig and try to fit it in the hole and the female will bring these nice short ones. I can almost hear her say "Can you keep it neat, please?"

I had a chance to take a walk around the yard this weekend and was amazed at all that is out and blooming. I must say that all of this cannot be attributed to my good care as I have not had a moment to get out in the garden.

Christmas Cactus

Gardenia

Calla Lily

Yellow Alstromeria

White Alstromeria

Dutch Iris

Sweet Pea

Fuchsia

Red Hibiscus (tortoise food)

Yellow Hibiscus

Yesterday was a day to have my mind tested. I went in for my regular mammogram and bone density test. NOT! I arrived promptly for my 9:30 a.m. tests only to be told that my appointment was not Monday, but Tuesday. Oh.....by the way, it was at 11:00 too. Now, I can completely understand having the wrong day, but to also have the wrong time is a mystery to me. I have a feeling that something is fishy. I think what happened is that THEY put the wrong appointment in the computer. So today I will return and if they tell me that my appointment was yesterday I will be mildly upset. I have been taking my mom to 3-4 doctor appointments each week for the last three weeks and I haven't gotten any of them wrong.

The better news is that I have my new computer up. I won't say "up and running" yet, but "up" and in place. There are still a lot of things that I need to do before I will be back to normal. I should be doing that instead of blogging. I certainly got a lot more accomplished when the computer was sick. Hmmm.








Saturday night was the school auction for our our grandchildren's school. Everyone was terribly worried about what the end numbers would be with the financial problems that we hear about. The uniform that I had made for the American G*irl doll was involved in a bidding war. When the price finally got to $600 my DIL asked me if I would be willing to make another one and sell them both for the $600. Both bidders were happy with that solution. Sunday I spent making another uniform so it would be available to be picked up at school on Monday morning. I cannot imagine paying that kind of money for doll clothes, but I know it goes to a good cause. Perhaps people were looking to make a donation to the school and figured that would be a good way to do it. If not, I should go into business. This is a picture of the uniform that I made last year - the same as this year.










This week is my mother's 86th birthday. She has been such a trooper and never ceases to amaze me in what she does and accomplishes. My sister and I will take her to lunch on Thursday, her birthday, between doctor appointments. Then on Saturday night my three siblings and their spouses will take her out for a nice birthday dinner. This is the card that I have made and mailed to her.









There certainly seems to be a lot of illnesses going around. I read about it on different blogs and I see it in our family. Both my husband and I have had nasty colds for weeks now and our youngest grandson has RSV. He was a pretty sick little guy over the weekend, but is doing better now.








So....now I am off for another appointment. I hope that I have it right this time. Wish me luck!

No Pictures Today

I believe that the flu season must have also spread to computers. I have read of so many bloggers with computer problems this week. Perhaps we need a "flu index" for computers like they present for outbreaks of the flu.



Anyhow......my desktop computer died. It really, really died - won't even turn on anymore. I can't say that I am surprised because it has been temperamental for the last few weeks. However, that is where I do most all of my work. I feel somewhat at peace because I had subscribed to that Carbon*ite program and it will hopefully restore all my files, etc. At any rate, I have nothing but words to share today because I am using the computer that I need for my sewing machine.



I read that everyone seemed to enjoy Valentine's Day. We are not big on going out for dinner or celebrating in any special way, but we did enjoy the day. My dear husband got up and washed all the windows in the house!!!! He has NEVER done that before so it was a complete surprise for me. Of course it poured down rain right after he finished. Poor soul! I really did LOVE the sweet thought and action.



One of the granddaughters came over and sewed some doll clothing during the day while her brothers were off to a basketball tournament. Then in the evening our daughter and her baby came over to enjoy dinner with us while her husband worked. We had a delicious dinner of Osso Bucco, mushroom risotto, salad and cream puffs for dessert. It was a stormy, cold, and rainy evening so we all enjoyed a nice fire and a little television after dinner.



The past week was filled with follow up appointments for my mom with the different doctors she saw while in the hospital. We also spent the better part of the day in the emergency room yesterday as they ruled out a blood clot in her leg. They decided that it was merely an inflammatory reaction to the recent sepsis in her hip. Thank heavens!



I have managed to get some sewing done this week as well. I have finished all of my hand sewn nosegay blocks and will assemble them soon. I also made a small quilt and a school uniform for an auction at the children's school this weekend. I wish I could share the pictures of them with you, but that will have to wait until my new computer arrives.



Now it is back to the cleaning and laundry.......

Contrasts

Our week has shown us great contrasts in our beautiful country. I am certain that our forefathers could never have imagined that one would be able to experience such different climates within a weeks span.

This was the view from our balcony just a week ago last Thursday as we enjoyed a wonderful business meeting in the Florida Keys.

Midlife Mom and I were able to reconnect and share some wonderful time visiting with each other during our few short days together there. It is always so much fun to chat in person. She has several wonderful posts about the resort and has some great pictures as well so pop over and see how lucky we were to visit.

We were home for three days and then off again for our annual family trip to the Sierras. This is the view from our balcony this past weekend. It's a bit of a difference I believe. Both were equally beautiful.

We arrived right before the first flakes fell from a new storm that hit while we were there. Over the next few days we enjoyed several feet of fresh snow and it was gorgeous. There was no wind and the giant flakes fell with such quiet. We were all able to enjoy many hours of sledding and snow play. Several of the gang went skiing and they, too, enjoyed their days.

It is always such fun to see all the kids and grandkids enjoying each other's company. There were always games to play, cooking to be done, meals to be enjoyed and many laughs to be shared.

"Grandma....it's too snowy to look at the camera."

Just chillin'

Grandma and Grandpa enjoying the fun.

The girls hanging out.

Youngest son, wife and grandson.

Glad I didn't run into him in the dark!

A Californian snowman!!

Daughter, SIL and grandson.

Three sons and their wives.

Boggle game in progress.

Adult Boggle too!

Lunch in shifts.

DILs hanging out too.

The boys at Scrabble.

Double fisted eater.

Arriving home after such a delightful weekend brought us back to reality in a hurry. Water was coming out from under the garage door due to a broken water heater. Of course it's a Sunday! Tomorrow we are having it replaced with a tankless water heater. I am in no mood to have that happen again. Meanwhile the laundry and dishes await some hot water.

Our warm temperatures have switched to cool and wet days forecast for the foreseeable future. It is nice to get some moisture as it is what we have been needing for some time now. I doubt that it will make up for what we need, but it is certainly making a good effort at it. Today the skies simply opened up on us.

Life should be back to normal for a while now and I am looking forward to it. My mother continues to improve daily and is happy to be regaining her strength. I will perhaps be able to get into my sewing room later this week and do something other than mend on the fly.

Life is good.

As an addition to my post please check out this blog that Tracey has posted for quilted 12" blocks to help the Australian fire victims. We can all help these people in such great need.