March 31

I had a really nice day today. I had the day off and was able to do some errands and some shopping with Andy before he leaves. It was nice spending the time with him. I also had a haircut this afternoon. My beautician has a shop that is connected to a toy store. After my cut I checked out all the cute toys and these little horses caught my eye. Aren't they cute?

March 30

We went to the hospital tonight to visit Bob's nephew. He is 18 years old and had a spontaneous lung collapse. He is improving and will hopefully be able to come home by the end of the week. When we left the hospital we were greeted by this beautiful sunset! I was wishing my view wasn't impeded by wires, but we still enjoyed it!

March 29

Just a few days ago the temperature was in the 50's and I saw that our crocuses were ready to bloom! Can you see what is happening to them today?
Yes - today it is windy, very cold and it is snowing!

We were reminded in church that God is in control of the storehouses of snow. When we left church this morning it was snowing. This pine tree in our back yard looks a little blurry because of the blowing snow. I'm hoping it will just blow around and not stick to the ground!

March 28

It's quite cold but sunny here today. Bob and I both have the weekend off, although I ended up going in to do some paperwork this afternoon. Bob did a lot of work, including working on a night stand for Heather and helping her prime her room. He also cut down our fountain grass in the back yard. These plumes stay throughout the winter but need to be cut down so the new growth can come through.

I got this picture before he cut them. I thought they looked like they were almost glowing in the sun! Soon there will be new growth coming up.

March 27

We went to see our local high school production of "Oklahoma". Our nephew was doing percussion and playing banjo. We were impressed by the talent of these kids. Some of these kids have great voices and the acting and dancing they did was so good! The sets were really well done and of course we really appreciated the music - especially the banjo!

March 26

Look what I found went I went on my walk today! These crocuses were blooming in my neighbors yard. What wonderful proof that Spring is indeed here!

March 25

We stopped at Bob's brothers house to check out his latest project. He and his 2 sons have been going to flea markets and antique stores looking for old license plates. They collected plates from the 48 mainland states and made this map. Each state on the map is cut in the correct shape from it's license plate and put in place. California and Texas took 2 plates each. The finished project is about 5 feet wide and looks really neat hanging on their garage wall.

Nice job, Rog, Chris and Max!

March 24

Every year my Dad saves and freezes the bone from the Christmas ham. He then passes it on to me and I make pea soup and have them over for supper. This has been a tradition for about 15 years now. Things do change in that time. My Mom has passed on, Dad has remarried and there are no longer 3 kids around the table but we still look forward to this night.

This year we waited a little longer in the year to make the soup so Andy could be home and spend the evening with us. Tonight was the night - the soup was delicious and so were the homemade rolls! We had a fun and tasty night.

L to R: Bob, Dad, my step mom Ann and Andy

March 23

It's been a busy day so I'm using a picture I took yesterday. This was taken along the side of our yard where we have a lot of pine trees. I thought it was a neat view, looking straight up!

March 22

This morning Andy wore his dress uniform to church. We don't get a chance to see him in it too often and always enjoy seeing him all dressed up. I took this picture of the front lapel to show his badges and ribbons. Both the gold button and the wings show that he is in the aviation field. He has 6 ribbons to show different things he has been involved in: Korean defense, National defense, global war on terror, overseas service, army service and the army achievement medal. The badge below the ribbons is a sharpshooter, marksmanship medal. I've had no family members in the military before this and find all the different medals interesting.

March 21

My whole family went out for supper tonight, celebrating Andy being home and throwing in a few birthdays at the same time. I have 2 sisters and one brother. When we are all together there are 19 of us.

I'm blessed with a wonderful family. We all live within 20 minutes of each other. We get along great and are always willing to help each other out. And - we always have a lot of laughs and a great time together! Tonight was no exception. We ate well and laughed a lot!

March 20

When I'm out walking I love to study the trees. I take note of the shape they have and the way the bark looks especially when there are no leaves on the tree. Our neighbors have a big beech tree that is really beautiful and as I was looking at it, I noticed there were initials carved in the upper trunk. I was trying to figure out whose initials they were, when I realized they were my daughters. She is now 26 and was friends with the girl across the street. I asked her about it and she said they climbed this tree and carved it when they were in Junior High. She was quick to tell me that they got permission to do this! They don't see each other too often now as their lives have changed and gotten busier but they are still friends.

March 19

My hubby took this picture while doing some work in the back yard. It was cold but sunny and the bits of red still hanging from the branches add such a nice bit of color. I really like the angle he used and wanted to share it.

March 18

Since none of us had to work and Heather didn't have classes at college today we decided to have a fun afternoon. We went to see a movie - Pink Panther 2. It was ok but not something I would highly recomend. We then went out for supper at Red Robin where we had some huge hamburgs and good fries. This was our first time there and we enjoyed the decorations. This is a sampling of all the neat pictures they have filling the walls and hanging from the ceiling. It was a nice afternoon.

March 17

Heather and Andy decided they needed to celebrate St Patricks Day today. Did they dress in green like I did? No, they went to McDonalds and indulged in a Shamrock Shake!

Happy St Patricks Day to all of you!

March 16

Today has been the most beautiful day of the season. Temps have gotten to the low 60's and the sun has been shining all day.

My husband and I have most of this week off to spend time with Andy and we had nothing scheduled for today. I was able to get things done and just relax which was nice.

I took a walk this evening when the sun was low in the sky. It hit this old fence, almost making it glow.

March 15

Homecoming!

This is our family welcoming our son, Andy back this afternoon. He is in the army and has been in South Korea for almost a year. He will be with us for almost 3 weeks before he leaves to be stationed in Colorado. We were a happy bunch at the airport today, in spite of the fact that something happened to a belt on our van when we pulled into the parking lot. My husband and son-in law are back at the airport trying to fix it at this moment. We were blessed to have lots of family there to welcome Andy back, so we were able to get a ride back home.
Left to right: Me, daughter Heather, Bob, Andy, daughter Laura and son-in-law Aaron

March 14

It's a beautiful day here, the sun is shining with temps in the low 50's. Bob agreed to go on a walk with me after I came home from work. He spotted this ring necked pheasant along the way. It was moving so I couldn't get too close but I hope you can see a little bit of the coloring on it. It really is a pretty bird!

March 13

It was in the upper 30's today and the snow has melted. When I went for my walk this evening, I was so happy to see this green tint to the field down the road from my house.
The farmers often plant something called winter rye in the fall. When the snow melts, you can see it has begun to grow. This is something they plow under in the Spring. It helps amend the soil. I'm just happy to see green. I also saw my first robin while walking!

March 12

I am so happy - Our Internet is finally working again! I'll be able to check out all of your pictures.

It was a cold but sunny day today. This is a picture of a flower head from our hydrangea tree. These flowers start out pure white and slowly begin to turn an antique rose color. By late fall they are this creamy brown color and quite a few of them stay on the tree throughout winter. It's interesting to see them hanging on the branches, covered in snow.
I think they are beautiful, even when they are brown and dry!

March 11

This is our cat, Cleo in one of her favorite spots. When it's cold outside she loves to sit on a heat register. This register is the one she likes best because she can hide in the curtains.

March 10

This is a picture of my new laptop as I'm setting it up. It's a great laptop, but I only got to use it for a few hours before we lost our internet. I'm quickly doing a few posts before it goes again. It's very hit and miss! The cable people are coming tomorrow to fix it!

March 9

This is my wedding ring. I got it back today after it received some really needed TLC. The little diamond chip in the wedding band had fallen out. Then a few weeks ago, I realized I was missing some prongs on the diamond itself. That pushed me into getting it to the jewelers to be fixed. I really would feel bad if I lost the diamond!
I was without it for about 1 1/2 weeks and am happy to have it back on my hand. It felt naked without it!

March 8

I took this picture at work this morning. This is one of my residents who really loves her Bible. She reads frequently throughout the day. She has some dementia and often can be heard reading it out loud. I know reading the Bible is something she has always done a lot of, so it comes naturally to continue, even with dementia. I love seeing those wrinkled hands holding her Bible.

March 7

It's been a dreary day. We have had rain for most of the day, sometimes pouring, sometimes just a drizzle. When I left work this afternoon it was foggy, nothing bad but the kind that leaves a haze over everything. This little pond is around the corner from my house and I thought the haze hanging our it showed what the day was like quite well.
In spite of the dreary weather, we had a good day at work today. There was lots of laughing and joking going on and our residents enjoy that!

March 6

It's a beautiful day here! The sun is shining and the temperature is 51 degrees. I'm so happy to see this little touch of Spring, even though the wind is still pretty brisk.
I saw evidence of others enjoying this weather today. We have a farm that boards horses down the road from us. We don't see many horses during the winter, but when it gets nicer they come out. Today the ground was soft enough to leave their footprints for me to enjoy.

March 5

After work today I stopped at the store to get supplies for a salad that I am making for work tomorrow. I thought the vegetables made a nice picture displayed like they are!

March 4

I didn't have to work today, and although it's still pretty cold, the sun was shining. I went for a long walk this afternoon on some state property that is near my house. This land is wooded and is next to a large river, which has flooded and frozen again. It was a beautiful and peaceful place to walk. The only thing I heard while I was walking was some birds chirping. What a great way to get some exercise!

March 3

It was so cold here this morning. I don't have a very long drive to work, about 10 minutes, and it seems the van was just getting a little bit warm when I pulled into the parking lot.
I started my early morning med pass and was checking on some residents who were sitting in the dining room when I saw several little birds sitting in a little tree on the patio, seemingly oblivious to the cold that has been plaguing me! The sun was just up and they were chirping away, apparently enjoying the little bit of warmth it was giving!

March 2

It is so cold here! It was 6 degrees when I got up this morning. It has been considerable colder than that this winter, but now that it's been a little warmer it's hard to go back to those kinds of numbers. I picked up this little bunch of tulips to brighten up my dining room and remind that Spring really is coming!

March 1

I'm a little frustrated with myself. We had our Home Group/Bible Study Group over tonight. I had my camera setting out and planned to take a picture of the group for today's photo. We had such a good time that I completely forgot! So, you will have to settle for a picture of the dessert I served. It really looked prettier than this picture show, but I made a mess of this piece getting it out of the pan. If you want the recipe for it, I have it here, on my recipe blog.