Tomato Plants

A few weeks ago I purchased two tomato plants. I love tomatoes right off the vine and decided to buy two plants of cherry tomatoes. They were looking good growing in pots. We had some weeds and David sprayed Round Up on them to get rid of the weeds but some of it must have sprayed on one of the tomato plants because it is dead, just like the weeds around that pot. Oh well... the other plant is thriving and when we got back from Canada look what I found waiting for me... one little green tomato! I can't wait until the plant is full of them and they are red and ripe and ready to pop in my mouth!!! Yummy!

Giggles and Jolts

Our flight home was on Sunday and we had a plane change in Chicago. Everyone had boarded the plane and we were ready for take off and as usual I had become rather sleepy while waiting for takeoff. I was dozing as the plane was taxiing to the runway. I was somewhere in that in-between state of falling asleep yet not quite there when I heard David say, "Well, I guess they are going to drive us to Charlotte in this plane." I got the giggles so bad over that phrase and I couldn't seem to stop. At that point we had been taxiing for 20 minutes and it was to be another 10 minutes before we actually left the ground. We were not sitting on the tarmac, we were actually moving... for 35 minutes! The more I thought about what he had said the funnier it seemed to me... still sleepy so I guess everything just seemed funnier than it normally would have. OK, so finally it was takeoff and the captain came on to say "flight attendants prepare for takeoff" but the speaker was right above our head and it was extra loud. So loud in fact that David seated to my right and the man across the aisle from me on my left both nearly jumped out of their seats. All I can say is thank goodness they were buckeled in or they would have hit the ceiling they jumped so hard. It was as if several hundred volts of electric current shot thru them. LOL. The man across the aisle just looked at me and said, "WOW!!!... now that's enough to make one start drinking already!" For about the next half hour I kept giggling just thinking of the plane "driving" all the way to Charlotte and of how David and the other guy jumped at the sound of the captain's voice. I would be alright for a little while then start laughing all over again at the thoughts of it all. I have no idea why the sound was turned up so loud for that announcement, maybe the captain just wanted to make sure everyone on board was awake. None of the other announcements reached that magnitude. It was a funny time. The bad part was when we did finally get to the Charlotte area we had to maintain a hold pattern for about an hour before landing due to storms in the area so we got home really late.

Springtime in Canada

So here we are in Canada and guess what we woke up to this morning??? A winter storm! Snow and ice and freezing rain on this day in late May. Brrrrr.... it is sooooo cold here. And to think we left nice sunny 80-degree weather for this. I don't know how they do it here, the Canadian's are walking around in sweaters saying this is warm and here we are bundled up in our winter coats and freezing to death. I knew it would be cold here so we brought winter clothing but geez, this is really cold!!! Here are a few pics I took this morning.

Joey scraping the ice and snow off of our rental car

ice on the side of the house

frozen water hose

The Dinosaur Apron

Last night Anita was busy making pretzels in the kitchen when I noticed her apron. She has a dinosaur apron! Being that she and Joey are both paleontologists it was quite appropriate and just adorable.

Diamonds

Today we went diamond hunting. That's right, I said diamonds! I mentioned how much Hannah loved diamonds so Anita took us to a place to get our own. Actually it is a mineral that is locally called "Pembina diamonds" as they are found here in the Pembina Valley of Manitoba. They were located on the side of a gravel road on the way to Anita's dig site. The grounds looks grayish but once you start walking around you start to notice sparkling stones in the ground. They are hard to see at first then they suddenly appear everywhere. We got a small bag full in just a few minutes. I think Hannah will love having a handful of diamonds!

you really can't see them at first but there are tons of them in the gray dirt

here are just a few of the diamonds we found

Canada

We made it to Canada late yesterday afternoon. Our flights were on time and uneventful, thank goodness! This area is pretty desolate. We picked up our rental car at the Winnipeg airport and headed south and drove through very flat, fertile prairie land. This is a big agricultural area. You can see forever. Hopefully today I can get some pictures taken to post in the upcoming days.

Mellow Yellow

Just a little sunshine to brighten this otherwise dreary, rainy day. I made these photos earlier this week and love how they turned out.

I'm A Sucker!

OK, let's face it, I am a sucker when it comes to photographing birds and flowers. Here are a few more of birds that I am especially proud of.

American Gold Finches

Boy do they ever love thistle! I can't seem to keep the feeder full.

Bird Houses

I recently bought some bird house to put up on our awning. We have a little tree that I have several bird feeders in and we thoroughly enjoy watching all the birds. One day I was driving home and saw all these little bird houses for sale in some old man's yard. They were only $3 each so I stopped and bought some. They are very simple looking but should provide a nice home for birds. Hopefully some will move in soon. They will have it made... food and shelter right on our lot.

Spring Flags

A couple of the flags I've had flying this week.

Funny Doggie

David and I were out driving through some neighborhoods this weekend and came upon this adorable little dog tied up in front of the garage. I couldn't help but notice one ear sticking straight up! Absolutely adorable. It just sat there calm as could be looking at us while I snapped this picture.

Flags

I have a collection of little garden flags that I enjoy flying. I change them on a regular basis depending upon the season, holiday or when ever I get tired of one and want another one. I am always on the lookout for holiday's I don't have yet. Anyway, thought I would share this one with you and perhaps in the future when I can't think of anything else to blog about I'll post pictures of some of the others. I presently have a total of 22 garden flags.

Eating Like a Bird

A few more signs of spring... birds eating in the rain. My birdfeeders were busy, busy, busy yesterday so I took the opportunity provided to capture a few photos to share. I just love watching the birds.

three male goldfinches eating thistle

a male and female gold finch

smile for the camera!


little robin red-breast

Raindrops

You know the saying... April showers bring May flowers... we have had 2 full days of a hard soaking rain. When it stopped for a while today I went out and made a few pictures of raindrops on some of the spring flowers.

Birthday Fountain

My mom and step father gave me some money for my birthday and I bought a fountain. I had been wanting one for a while now and found the perfect one last week. For now it is sitting on our porch but I think it will eventually be moved into a new garden area I have planned. I will post another picture once it is in its final place but for now you can see it here. Thanks Mom and Buddy! I love my new fountain!

I love listening to the gurgling sound of the water running down the side of the fountain