A walk in the sunshine this last week - we had clouds and rain yesterday, just in time for Kool April Nights.  I love the different birds we have in the back field - the red wing blackbird is one of my favorites.

 

My water lily is blooming!

All the blocks are done for this Block a Month quilt!  Now I just need the fabric for the borders.....so it will be a while before it's done still.

 

One yard project finished!  I started this project last month, digging out the grass and moving the bender board.  I got the gravel added the weekend before last.  I also (finally) got a guy in to replace the sprinkler heads for me, and fix a broken line so I can water the front this weekend.  He's a great guy, and pretty busy, so I'm always happy he can fit my little jobs into his schedule.  I now have water to the entire front yard, so I don't need to remove any more grass and add gravel that I thought I was going to have to do.  I will probably need to plant more grass, but we'll see how it does this year with water getting to it.

The before:

The after:

 

AJ and I went to Turtle Bay's newest exhibit - Glowing Wild - the other night. Due to the time constrictions with someone staying with Alli, we were not there at night, and I'm hoping to go back again - it was really cool at dusk, I think it will be awesome at night!!

 

An update on the garden - I got the non-functioning drip line replaced with soaker lines, so I'm ready for the season! The beans are taking off!

 

My roses are blooming!  

My Scentamental tree rose bush is covered in buds, and I was walking around it trying for a nice photo, and got more than I expected. Be very careful when stopping and smelling the roses!

The Sterling tree rose bush is also covered in roses. It blooms first, then the Scentamental, them the Shamrock.

The green beans are coming up in the garden!  The Blue Lake beans are coming in very nicely, while the Royal Burgundy beans are just beginning to pop up.

 

The butterflies are out in force right now, with all the spring flowers.

 

The garden is coming in!  I'm really surprised, since Cindy and I just planted it last Sunday, and I have baby zucchini and cucumbers coming up this Sunday!  I have one lone bean plant coming up too.  I did get new soaker hoses delivered on Sunday (thank you Amazon!), but ran out of oomph yesterday to get them put in. Considering we had a full weekend of rain, I have a couple of days before I have to start watering.  As a side note, finding the soaker lines on Amazon was a validation for me. I went into Home Depot and was told that they didn't make soaker lines for drip systems.  Turns out, Home Depot actually carries them, just not in the store. So much for the Home Depot employee that told me that!

 

I came down with a spring cold on Friday. I kept thinking it was just allergies - Cindy M and I went out shooting on Thursday night, so I thought it was just pollen over-load from being outside in the wind, but....it was a cold.  I did almost nothing this weekend.  Saturday I made it through grocery shopping, but then sat and watched TV the rest of the day (definitely not my norm). Dinner was leftovers and I didn't even clean up the kitchen from that.  I did feel better on Sunday (a good thing since I left the kitchen and the rest of the house a mess) but still not 100%.  Better day today I hope!  Cindy and I went out past the Coleman Fish Hatchery to shoot - it was a beautiful evening - and then out to dinner.

 

Some of the Spring flowers on the River Trail:

 

Some of my scenery shots from our walk on Sunday - it was a beautiful day - warm but not hot, sunny with some clouds to add interest, and great company!

 

The newest project - a baby quilt. AJ sent my last completed baby quilt to one of his friends last month, so I decided I needed another in my stash - you never know when one will be needed, and when I have to time to make one.  The two don't usually go together. 

 

Some of the wildflowers on the River Trail on Sunday: