texas wildflowers

we recently went to a ranch that belongs to my friend's family
the texas wildflowers were in bloom so i took the opportunity to snap a few photos
they weren't nearly as spectacular as they've been before but i still enjoyed photographing them
and i learned that bluebonnets have the most amazing smell!
they're sacred in texas you know...
these are my favorite shots - i hope you enjoy them

abandoned?

we have the cutest birdhouse hanging out back that sean got as a present

it's been hanging up for some time - like over a year
we've never seen birds in it
but i like to look in it anyway now and then and noticed something that looked like grass in it
sean was so excited
he decided we should clean it out so someone else could build a house in it
to our surprise this is what we found

so we put the house back together and have been watching for the mama bird
we're yet to see one
so we're thinking these were laid last year and abandoned
we're both so sad
there were 5 eggs in there
we have no idea what kind they are (if anyone knows please leave a comment)
we're going to keep on the lookout and check back in the fall
if they're still there in the fall we'll assume they were abandoned and clean out the little house
and hope we'll have someone make a house in it next spring
and not abandon them
we're also going to move it to a shady spot when we clean it out
i'll be sure and let you know

lost

over the weekend we took a little walk in our hood
we had some visitors that seemed to be a little lost

this momma had 9 little cuties following right along
i love the one yellow chick bringing up the rear
i just hope they found their way back to the lake!

friday the 13th bunco

last friday it was my turn to host bunco for the year
since it was friday the 13th i decided to make that my theme for the night
apparently people don't have a lot of friday the 13th parties because the internet was not much help
so i had to use my own creativity - with a little help from sean and others

it all started by having to walk under a ladder to get inside
then guests were greeted with what i'm calling "frozen umbrella man"
which they had to open their own umbrella inside the house to garnish it
for dinner we had chicken wings - which are known to fly away with your luck
snacks included white candies, since white is an unlucky color and apparently the color of death in some cultures
for dessert i made a caramel chocolate fondue
with a broken mirror rice krispy treat, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows and angle food cake to dip

all my luck didn't fly away with the wings as i actually won one of the prizes!
maybe because i didn't have to walk under the ladder - HA!

oh and thanks to susan for snapping the only picture of the night (the one above)

and in case you want to make a frozen umbrella man here's how you do it:

equal parts:
bailey's
vodka (i used vanilla vodka)
kahlua
drambuie
grand marnier

add as little or as much of vanilla ice cream, milk and ice to make it as weak or strong/as thick or as thin as you want
serve in whatever glass you want and garnish with a cocktail umbrella
enjoy - i know we all did!!!

spring

i love spring
like A LOT!

all the new life popping up everywhere
everything blooming

everything turning all green
it's my favorite time to get out and take pictures

and our yard has been bursting at the seams with beautiful colors

my tea garden, on the other hand, has not been bursting at the seams
i don't seem to be very good at growing things from seeds
but i bought a book to try to learn because i want to propagate my veggie garden
we'll see!

the best part about spring???
i get to have two of them!
things are warming up in texas so it's about time to head north!

white boy can jump

we headed to kansas to see my family for easter
i took my camera
but took nearly no pictures
except as we were getting in the car to leave my nephews were outside playing some bball
sean - yes my sean - picked up the ball and joined them
thoughts of our favorite floridian flashed through my head
and i quickly grabbed the camera

for all of our friends that thought sean had no athletic ability
and at nearly 40!
HA!

the results are in

whenever i'm out and about with duke
i constantly hear "oh how cute, what kind of puppy is it?"
we've joked about making him a shirt that says
"i know i'm cute. i'm an 8 year old yorkiepoo."

well, it's a good thing we didn't make that shirt
cuz it wasn't completely true after all
not the cute part - he's definitely cute
and not the 8 years old part - i can vouch for that
but apparently he's not exactly a yorkiepoo

how do i know you may ask?
i had his doggie dna done, of course
yes, i'm a freak like that - but all the cool kids are doing it!
you just pick up a test at your local large chain doggie store, take the sample and mail it in
a couple weeks later you get an email with the results
it's all very thorough!

after reading through the report this is what i've figured out
he got the personality (protectiveness) and coloring from the lhasa
he got the ears and rat chasing (or chipmunk chasing) from the terrier
he got the muzzle and bird hunting from the poodle

in case you wondered what the "mixed breed" is - the report tells you that too!

we're safe

it's that time of year
when the seasons change and the flowers are in full bloom
and our garden is in full bloom and it's so amazingly beautiful!
but this time of year also brings torrential weather to this part of the country
and if you live anywhere in this country you most likely heard all about our weather today

sean having grown up in new england gets excited about this weather
he wants to see a tornado so bad, i keep telling him he really doesn't
having grown up in kansas this kind of weather is commonplace
although i've never seen a tornado first hand, i've seen the devastation it can cause
and it's not pretty

new england doesn't have anything that causes the kind of damage a tornado can, does it?
yea they have big snow storms and it's miserably cold but what can it really do, offer a little flooding?

did anyone see the footage of the semi's being tossed around as if they were frisbees?
you need to find it - and that will truly show you the power of a tornado

reports back from all my friends in the area are good
and we're good here - including duke
although he's a little tired this evening from trying to keep us safe from all the thunder

it's so comforting to know we have so many friends and family that care for us
my phone was buzzing out of control today with texts of well wishes and checking in on us
we thank each and every one of you for your concern and caring about our well being!