Sunday Morning Pancakes

Last Saturday morning we ate breakfast at Snooze in Denver.  Here's a trio of their pancake bliss--sweet potato, lemon-blueberry, and our favorite, pineapple upside down.  They were so good that we made our own version of lemon-blueberry here at home this morning.  

Mark is saying that he can't go to see Santana at Red Rocks for Labor Day--something about "just can't swing it"--but I say heck, yea, we could go back.  And we could go back to Snooze too.  Maybe Isaac would get up early enough to have pancakes with us :)

A Sunday Morning Stroll

Had a chance to visit a few shops on Pearl Street which is close to where Isaac lives.  We had great cinnamon rolls at Duffeyroll's, then wandered down the street.

 Very very cute flower shop, Ruffly Rose, where her flowers were displayed in buckets right there for you to see and touch and smell!  The owner was out on a delivery while we were there, but we got to chat with her mom.  She said they keep the shop very cool to help the flowers last without a cooler. 

And this was a gift shop called Five.  My very favorite Open sign ever!

 A bike shop where you can tell they must love retro bicycles.

It was a fun trip.  And head on over to The Farm blog to see pictures from our visit to the Denver Botanic Gardens too.

Denver

 We had a great trip to Denver, visiting with Isaac.  He took us to Nederland, where we had really really good bar-be-que.

 Ashley went with us to the ballgame.  It was cold and rainy, so we left at the 7th inning when the Rockies were ahead by several runs.  Later we learned they lost in the last inning.

 The mountains were awesome.  Not  in the I-really-like-this kind of awesome, but breathtakingly awesome.  So good to see Isaac again and spend some time with him in his new hometown.   We hope we get to go back again one day.

More Lily of the Valley

The lily of the valley was especially pretty this year.  Or maybe I just thought so because of Kate's royal wedding bouquet.  I meant to try my hand at hand-wiring a stem or two, but I may not get around to it before it's gone for the year.   Whenever I see lov, I always think of the old hymn "He's the Lily of the Valley" and it's been going through my mind non-stop lately.  Here's a piano version of it if you'd like to hear it too.

Happy Mother's Day

V gave me this japanese maple for mother's day several years ago.  It's gorgeous. The whole garden looks beautiful.   It's so pretty, I don't even care about the weeds.  It's been a nice mother's day.  Mark grilled for us.  I planted a few flowers.  I thought a lot about all those corsages  that went out from Petals & Co and hope that Michelle & Des are recovering from their all-nighter.  I missed having corsages for us--I was so busy making bracelets for the prommers that I forgot all about ours.   Next year. . . when prom is not the same weekend as mother's day!  That will be a mother's day present for all florists everywhere :)

Personal Training--Why Didn't I Do This Years Ago??

My mom asked to see a picture of Chad, my personal trainer.  You can find out more about Chad and  Body Symmetry here.  Every Wednesday night, I go over to see Chad and tell him how much (or how little) I've exercised and what I've been eating.  Then he tells me not to give up, to keep working at it, and reminds me that I'm a lot stronger now than I was a year ago.  He says eat breakfast, drink protein shakes, and dinner should be protein and vegetables.     He makes me do funny  exercises like the monster walk and wall slides. 

And you know, it's working.  My summer pants?  Most of them fit.  The rest are too big.  The scale is down 15 pounds.  Although I try not to think about that part too much, cause I just get nervous about it and start eating bread and butter again. 

This is the first spring in the garden that I am not starting from scratch physically.  Usually this time of year, I'm down in my back from those first days in the garden.  Not this year.    Thanks to Chad :)

Time In The Garden

Ever since I read this post over on May Dreams Garden, I have been thinking about finding--no, making--time  for the garden.  I love it out there, so why is it that  I get busy, think it's too cold or too wet, or that I just don't have time to go out today?  Being out in the garden should be like taking a shower--I make the time to do it, and it makes me feel better--so why not the garden too? 

Maybe it's because I think that when I go out into the garden, I should Work.  Weed.  Transplant.  Prune.  Pick up Sticks.  All those sorts of things.  But really, even just a turn around the garden with G Dog and Lilla is  five good minutes spent.  Sometimes the best minutes of the day. 

And because I get to spend a lot of time at work, this little iris pot--this little piece of the garden--went to work with me.  Now if I could just get myself to make time to exercise everyday too :)

Rebecca

 

This is my niece Rebecca just before her senior prom.  

Isn't she beautiful??  

I had a great time making her flower bracelet for her!

Lily of the Valley 2011

I loved loved LoVeD Kate's bouquet.  So beautiful.  It had to have smelled as good as it looked too.   While lily of the valley is entirely too aggressive in my garden, I've always kept some going because when the blooms come, I pick them every one.  They're just coming into bloom now, so I'm looking even more forward to them this year!

A Primitive Plot Visits The Farm

I am so proud of my mom Peggy, the artist.  I love her art and she inspires me to make my own.  So when I had the chance to take some of her pieces to The Farm,  I couldn't wait to see what would happen.    Gail is keen on displaying items in her shop according to theme and color, and she knew exactly where she wanted to place them.  And in no time, they had flown out the door!

Tuesday Purple

 

MoRe rain today. . . I am thankful for rain.  It was just a few weeks ago that we were wringing our hands because the garden was so dry.  But  I do wish we could ask for a raincheck from Mother Nature :)   Still, it's beautiful--so lush and green with the birds singing and building their nests.

This is my latest attempt to make a collage with photoshop.  Usually they won't upload to blogger, and I have no idea what I did differently.   Have a good Tuesday, watch out for the puddles!

Happy Happy Easter

 

Happy Easter!  This sweet little bunny vase came from my  sister, PJ.

And this little basket went down to London last week to Betsy & Kyle.  The bunnies didn't  last long :)

Best PaPaw in the Whole World

April in London Continued

April in London

I saw this in USA Today and can't stop thinking about it.  The caption reads: 

Masataka Unoura, 81, plants a tree where his house used to be in Rikuzentakata.

Epimedium

I've been telling my friend Gail about epimedium lately.  Love this combo with the daffodils.   After the daffs fade, the epimedium leafs out and it's such  a trooper all through the hot months and even into fall.  Keeps its green heart-shaped leaves, stands upright and follows  my no flopping rule! Good spreading plant, but it's not a thug either. 

I had a beautiful weekend.  Between The Farm and Petals & Co, I took hundreds of pictures, so I have lots to show you :)

April Peonies

No, these aren't from my garden, they're from the grocery store where I try to stop every Wednesday night after exercising at Body Symmetry with Chad. (I'll have to tell you about Chad sometime--he's helped me lose 15 pounds!)

I'm a sucker for peonies.  At the grocery store, in the back yard, at The Farm, wherever. . . Last fall I dug and divided some peonies that were being shaded out and replanted them in sunny areas.  So glad I took the time and made the effort.   

And these are some that were left on the bench last fall and  forgotten, when I ran out of steam and couldn't dig one more hole.   Maybe, thanks to Chad's help, I'll be able to dig more holes this year :)

April Vase

Do your blooms ever flop over and face the ground?  I don't know why--maybe the wind, the dogs, the cold. . . It can't be iron-poor-tired-blood.  Mark covers the garden with compost every spring.  But maybe I'll get some bulb food too.  Anyway, when it happens, I just chop 'em off and put 'em in a vase.  So that's how these  blooms became the first garden vase of the year :)

Every Shed Needs A Wreath