Photo 365 #296

May 30, 2015May 31, 20152 Comments

Thumper played so hard today. The kids put the boys down for naps early in the afternoon, but Thumper insisted, as usual, that he wasn’t tired.

Then we sat down to watch ABC Family’s Harry Potter marathon, and this happened:

And the Energizer Bunny is down for the count...

He started off snuggled up against Cricket’s godmother, who was visiting with her family, but pretty soon, he was down for the count. Once he was down, he did not want to wake up. Of course, when we told him supper was imminent, he decided that maybe he’d better return to the Land of the Conscious.

I was impressed – he spent several minutes-long periods actually being still. That almost never happens. 🙂

Photo 365 #295

May 29, 2015May 29, 20152 Comments

Mmm, raspberries… 😀

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I can’t wait for these to be ripe so I can eat them all. 🙂

Photo 365 #294: Five things every parent of boys should know

May 28, 2015May 29, 20152 Comments

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time (or even if you’ve just checked out my About page), you’ll know I have four kids. Three of them are boys; two of my children are rapidly approaching their crazy, mixed-up teenage years; and two of them are toddlers. Getting a toddler to do what you want them to when you want them to do it is like trying to squeeze blood from a stone; it ain’t gonna happen, and my morning spent trying to do just that (wrangle toddlers, that is) largely inspired this post.

Do these apply to all boys? Of course not. Do they apply to girls, too? You betcha. But I’m dealing with boys at the moment, so here’s what I know:

Photo 365 #290

May 24, 201526 Comments

So yesterday was busy. Like, crazy busy. I didn’t get done anything I wanted to in terms of writing, but I did get my latest rhubarb harvest out of my fridge, so there’s that. I made two huge pots of rhubarb sauce, which I now have to get out of my fridge and into some freezer bags, and I started putting together a strawberry rhubarb pie, but stopped short of getting the pie assembled and baked. I thought perhaps I’d do that today, since it was meant for tonight, but between a wicked headache and supper plans going awry, it hasn’t happened.

At least, not yet.

I haven’t accomplished anything at all today except…

Photo 365 #289

May 23, 20158 Comments

I’ve been cleaning and chopping and cooking and freezing and washing all day long and I am exhausted.

I’m so tired I can’t even come up with a decent caption for this lovely picture of dandelion seeds preparing for flight, like a dream upon the wind.

Here’s hoping tomorrow is more restful.

Photo 365 #288

May 22, 20154 Comments

Cricket sat down to keep Buddy company this morning on our way to the car. I tried to snap a picture quick, but he got up and moved before I could get my phone out of my purse.

Luckily, Buddy wouldn’t leave him alone, so he sat back down and I was able to capture this shot. I’m not sure which I love more, the look on Buddy’s face or Thumper sticking up between the two. (Thumper goes everywhere with us lately.)

Happy Friday, everybody! 🙂

Photo 365 #287

May 21, 20157 Comments

I find the prettiest little scenes in my yard. Last year it was a couple of tree roots sticking up out of the ground, and this year it’s a stick and a flower:

There is beauty everywhere, even under a half-dead pine tree, if only we take the time to look.

Photo 365 #286

May 20, 201512 Comments

2015-05-19 12.57.59 I still can’t get over how beautiful it was yesterday. It was a little chilly, but not bad. Sweatshirt weather.

I love sweatshirt weather.

But today? Today we’re back in the cold, gray dumps. It’s wet, but not windy (for the first time in a good week and a half). I woke up exhausted, which makes the grayness seem even more dreary, somehow.

So today I’m sharing another of the beauties I captured yesterday. It fairly screams spring. It’s cheery and bright and just the thing to chase away the gray.

How do you chase away the gray?

Photo 365 #285

May 19, 20153 Comments

White coral bells, upon a slender stalk…

Despite the forecast, it’s a lovely day outside. After running some errands this noon, the boys and I came back home and spent some time in the yard playing. They played with each other, and I played with my camera. 🙂

We’ve got some beautiful lily of the valley coming up along the north side of our house and as I stretched out in the grass to capture it, Shadow and Opal stopped by to keep me company. Turns out Shadow just wanted to laze about on my lap in the sun. If I hadn’t had other things to do (and others to keep track of), that would have been a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

Cricket finally tired of the wind and decided he was ready to go back inside. “Do you have just one more picture to take, Mom?” he asked me. I assured him that I only had just one more, but after about ten just-one-mores, there was no more putting off the inevitable and we all headed inside.

Except Buddy. Despite the puppy-dog eyes, he stayed parked outside in the shade. 😉

Do your cats demand your attention while you’re trying to work? How do you handle it?

Photo 365 #284

May 18, 20155 Comments

Prior to this spring, I don’t think I’d ever seen a baby pine cone before. Imagine my surprise, then, to see what looked like bright red berries on the pine trees outside my bedroom window.

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I found this on the ground a few days later. With all the wind we’ve had lately, they’re all over the place now, but this first one intrigued me to no end.

Ain’t nature grand? 🙂