blintzes on Mapleleaf

Scott, Christine, Olivia, and Christopher came for dinner tonight. We are worlds apart on culinary tastes but found common ground on breakfast (for dinner). I learned how to make a blintz. It's kind of like a crepe. Not bad...I'll do them again.

After dinner we all ended up in my den/orchid room. Scott was watching Xavier basketball in their gallant effort swan dive in the "elite eight." Christine liked it in there because it is warm...So it was very close, cozy, and fun. We watched basketball, chatted, and played with my new finger puppets from IKEA.

It took me a half hour to realize Christopher lost his beard.

IKEA

You can't miss it when you head up i-75...big as life. They opened about 10 days ago and since I was off work today, I decided to venture into the fray. It was busy! I was standing in the check-out line after 3 hours of browsing and a little girl behind me said "why is everything here Swedish?" I just smiled.

I didn't try the cafeteria or check out the childrens play room. I just shopped. I came a way with a catalogue and ideas and some future purchases to consider. I see some much needed closets and library shelves for this old house in my future. I only picked up a couple little things today. It should be high on anyone's list if you are looking to remodel or get new furnishings or improve your surroundings. Oh...and to mom and dad, they have 49 cent tiny stuffed toys for well-behaved children.

Margaret

Wildlife in our back yard.

This is a juvenile hawk on our back porch last summer.

Here you can see the color is coming back to the Goldfinches. Did this Cardinal use too much lipstick?

This little guy is either a Downy Woodpecker or
a Hairy Woodpecker. They're virtually identical except for size.

This is a Northern Flicker, never seen here before or since. We had to look it up to figure out what it was. We first thought it to be a woodpecker.

Its a boy - name contest

Not really a contest but Sandi is holding out for just the right name.

As you know, Olivia and I have been taking riding lessons since last June. For a long time, I was riding Sassy a 19 year old pregnant mare. Every week she got bigger and it was harder to tighten her girth (or find one big enough for her). I rode her up until she went on maternity leave a couple months ago, I had to get used to riding a skinny horse again.

It seemed like a long wait to meet him...but I can't imagine how mama felt being pregnant that long. Anyway...he's a beauty !!!
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He is very dark brown...almost black. He has a faint star on his forehead but is otherwise unmarked. Sandi is about my height so you can see how tall he is. He is all legs. He is less than a week old in this snap. Mama is compelety unconcerned about sharing her colt with visitors. He was born toothless but you can already see his teeth emerging at the gum line. His coat is so soft.

He still is un=named. Sandi loves hearing suggestions and she has gotten a bunch. Mama is named Sassy for a reason. All her foals have had punky attitudes. The front runners for names right now are "spindles" and "felix". He will have a more formal name for the show ring. Let me or Olivia know if you have a brainstorm.

pix 2 share

This is a picture from the Father Daughter Dance

This is the wall paper on our pc.

Just stuff to make you smile. : )

Lenten Rose - Hellebore

One of the coolest plants in my yard...Lenten Rose. It blooms in the time margin between winter and spring. It is evergreen...the leaves you see in the photos are from last year. It spreads by seed but is not invasive. One of its best attributes is the deer won't touch it. The leaves are thick, leathery and have a spiny edge. And it is one my favorite harbingers of spring.

After taking these photos, I cut off the old leaves, just leaving the flower stems. This gives a better flower display and in a few weeks, all new leaves will emerge.

Lenten Rose will thrive in shade to almost full sun. I'm told they don't like to be transplanted, but so far I haven't had any problem with it. The leaves fill in and can make a nice (tall) groundcover. An individual mature plant is 14-18" tall and 18-30" wide.

They come in a limited pallette of colors...whites, greens, pinks, and maroons. But sometimes they are spotted (my spotty ones haven't bloomed yet). They tend to hang their heads down so they aren't flashy.

These will be open soon.

A critter broke this one off. I will stick it in a vial and wear it to work tomorrow. It is a little more white than the photo shows, but it does have green tones. The specks are just dirt.

Hellebore flowers can be brought indoors as cut flowers. But because they hang their heads down, the best way to display them is to float the blossoms in a bowl of water like water lilies.

Dean, you have these by your front doorstep (at least you did before the new garage). Christine, you might have them too.

Under the snow

Just last week, we had about a foot of snow. Weren't the snaps of Grace, Sara, and Griffin great!!! No snowmen or kids at my house...just snow.



Spring officially rolls in Thursday this week but it has been creeping into my yard for the last several weeks. The birds are singing territory and courtship songs. The groundhog crawled out (believe it or not I saw him Feb 3, the day after groundhog day).

But the true sign of spring is when the flowers open. And omigosh there are still fall leaves on top of everything. Time to get busy.

Witchazel is a shrub. This one is fragrant but it has only been in the ground 1.5 years so it doesn't put out a lot of flowers yet. I have to get up close to it to enjoy the smell. I have another one that blooms sort of orange.


Snow drops...galanthus. Johnika has them in Sweden too.
This clump was here when I moved in. Amazing little clump in the middle of the yard way out in the back. I love these guys. They defy winter and they last and last. The squirrels have eaten most of the bulbs I tried to plant. I haven't given up. Just need to defend them better.

Mileposts again.

Brrrr.... Chilly day for a ride in the country. The high temperature for the day was upper thirties.

Milepost 357 between Springfield, OH and Urbana, OH.

This Milepost is just south of Loveland Ohio.

Technology is a wonderful thing, in the hands of somebody who knows what they're doing. Obviously not my hands. This was supposed to be with the following post "Mileposts R Us."

Mileposts R Us

We love to ride bike paths converted from abandoned railroads. Sometimes we see remnants of the former residents. We've developed a fondness for mileposts.

Surviving White Death 2008

So with the 'white death of 2008' we found ourselves all at home and playing in the snow.










...even Griffin!

If you watch TV at all, you will see that everything in the world is closed. Well just so you know, we at Britton Ave are all well and alive and open for business. If you venture out in the blizzard, feel free to stop by for some cocoa or maybe some chili.

Blue Ribbon Affair

The local orchid show this past weekend was fun. I helped out Friday and Saturday and I brought two plants in for our club display. Since we are the host club, we had a lot of plants and we set up two displays. I received a blue ribbon for the white "moth" orchid (phalaenopsis) which had 2 spikes, 19 flowers, and 4 buds to go. It only competed against other white moth orchids.


I received a second place for my orange-red "Blazing Treat." I had 2 spikes...I saw a relative of the cultivar that had maybe 20 spikes...


My friend Toni was awarded a blue ribbon and trophy for best of class for this beauty (at the top with the ribbon). the flowers were at least 5 inches across.