Garden Update.....

We've got several lovely dark purple and white columbines growing by the backyard patio, some pretty irises around the front porch, and hostas both in front and back.

Can't wait for the wildflowers to bloom! They have sprouted and are getting bigger every day, but no buds yet.....

Why I Like Mommy's New Workout Machine

Mommy has decided to skip the gym for now. She's got a new, slick machine she uses while I nap.

At least, she says she uses it then. I don't hear a thing, which is wonderful. I hate it when I have a really cool dream about ducks and machine noise wakes me up! I love to hear about the birds and animals she sees while she's mowing, too. Today, I even got to see the cardinal in the back yard she was talking about when I woke up from my nap. How cool is that?

Ok, this picture isn't of the actual cardinal I saw. But it truly was that red, and seeing it against the green grass was amazing!

We'll see if the workout machine keeps her "conditioned" for snow shoveling in December, right?

Still Waiting for the Warm Weather....It's Coming, Right?

Well, Mommy and Daddy are both cranky and wishing they could wear shorts more often. Not gonna happen any time soon, we think. So I go from wearing my cute little rompers to being bundled up in sweat pants and jackets.

In the meantime, I'm working on things like saying more words. Today I learned "fish", or anyway, something close to it. Mommy kept trying to get me to read The Rainbow Fish along with her, but I just wanted to look at the pretty pictures. I love the sparkly scales on every page!

I also decided that maybe vegetarianism isn't for me. Yep, for a while the only animal product I would eat was milk, and occasionally some cheese. If it was multigrain, I was there, baby! But I couldn't resist the curried ginger lime chicken Mommy was eating and demanded some for my own dinner tonight. (Don't worry, I got plenty of weird food jags lined up to keep her guessing....)

Afternoon in a Basement

We didn't spend the whole afternoon there....mainly because Mommy got scared and Quackers didn't like the cobwebs.

Of course, I wasn't scared even a little bit. I'm tough!!

Why were we there? Tornado warning. One had been spotted to the south of us and the alarm woke me from my nap. Mommy came flying up the stairs, scooped me up out of my crib and tore off down the stairs to the basement.

Our flooded, dark, dank, creepy basement. There's lots of dead bugs and old junk there. The ceiling is low. It's perfect for Halloween.

I think from now on Mommy is going to have us wait out these things in the stairwell. It's not nearly as scary.

We sure aren't going to wait them out in the garage! The ceiling collapsed right over where Daddy usually parks his car sometime this morning. Mommy said that there was a lot of blown-in insulation on the garage floor that looked like a pile of wet sand.

I don't understand why she wouldn't let me play in it. Sounds like fun to me!

I bet she wants to hog it all for herself. Or our landlord.

Anyways, there was something pretty cool that Mommy discovered in our backyard. Violets! We've got medium purple and white ones along the back fence. Mommy tickled my nose with a purple one and made me laugh. She said something about making candied violets to decorate a cake for Daddy.

I don't know if Daddy actually wants candied flowers, but when Mommy gets an idea in her head, she doesn't give it up that easily.

Mommy did learn a fun fact about violets, though. Did you know that they are used in India to cure tonsillitis?

Relax....she promised to take me to the doctor if I have another flare up and not make me eat candied violets......

Peeking Out The Window

Mommy didn't think I saw what she was doing this morning. Heh!

She put on her funny pants and cleaned up the front yard a little bit. Not sure exactly what she did, but the two boxes of lilies of the valley are gone, the wildflower seed box is half empty, and the rake is dirty.

Mommy thinks that there might be some lilies of the valley on the side of the house, but she's not sure. She said that my grandmother told her that they were incredibly sweet smelling flowers, and she always wanted to grow some. They don't do too well in Arizona or Florida, though, so she thought she'd see if she can get them to sprout here in Iowa. She put the ones she got into two planters on the side of the house.

(Why was I up? Well...when she kept turning on the faucet to fill up the watering can, the noise got me up. It hurts my tender ears right now.)

She still thinks I'm asleep, so don't tell her otherwise, ok?

Spring is FINALLY Here!!

Yesterday, it reached 60 degrees! There was even blue sky, too! Lots of wind, like always, it seems, only now it's not arctic. (Daddy should love that....he's got some neat kites, and maybe he'll get to fly them in the park, whenever we figure out where that is....)

We've got some daffodils poking up in the front yard and they will be blooming soon. Mommy has her sweet peas ready to go, along with some lily of the valley and gladiola bulbs. She says this year I can help her with her herb garden in the back, and maybe gather up some wildflowers if she figures out where to plant them. This ought to be fun.

Soon I'll get to wear shorts and put my winter coat away for good!