Wild Cherry Red

My 16-year old washer and dryer were on their last legs. The washer took two tries to spin out the water, the dryer squeaked and half-dried everything, so we've been looking for new ones. We checked Consumer R*ports, user reviews, asked everyone we knew, shopped at every appliance store in town and online and a week ago we saw this pair on sale. I wasn't going to pay the extra money for the color - but don't you like it? I wasn't going to get steam, even though it sounded great, again - the money. But, this was a great sale and we got the upgrades for the same price as the others, so wa la.......beautiful new washer & dryer. I haven't figured out all the bells and whistles yet, but I think it might cook dinner!

Spring Break

This has been a very busy week. Family came in Easter Sunday and son and DIL stayed till Tuesday, then we kept the girls until yesterday. I had to work Tues & Wed, but took off the rest of the week to spend some time with them. We had such a good time. B is growing up so fast I want to enjoy her while she still enjoys being with us! N is such a character! Since we live 200 miles apart I don't want her growing up without knowing us and we really bonded this week. Of course keeping up with a 2 year old just about killed me - but I loved it! It rained the first part of the week and N begged everyday to go "outside", so Thurs and Friday we stayed out as much as possible. You can see from the pictures she loved it.

Blowing bubbles!

B loves my cats. Just in the last few years have they let her touch them, and everytime she sees one she runs and picks him up. N loves them too, but terrorizes them still, so today they are recovering from their nervous breakdown! I actually think they like the girls more than they let on. After B goes to sleep sometimes I will find one of them lying on her bed and yesterday morning N was sitting in my lap and one of them actually jumped up on the arm of the couch and bumped heads with her. The ultimate compliment! She was so thrilled!

Grandaddy pulling her up and down, and up and down, and up and down the driveway! She would have let him go on for hours.

N loves airplanes and here she is showing me how an airplane goes (in the neighbors' yard - she has to go visit).

Taking her babies for a ride.

I bought this Japanese Maple for $7.00 at the grocery store one year thinking what a bargain I got. It has turned out to be more of a bush than a tree, but I still think it is so pretty in the Spring.

Whew - time for a break!

Somehow this week I actually finished my sweater and blocked it, but no picture yet. I will try to get to that soon.

Referral Time - Babies

I haven't posted a babies post lately, so I thought you might like to see some adorable faces and read about some ecstatic parents. If you don't know, each month China goes through several days of LID's (log in dates) and gives those families the referral for the child they are adopting. In the past they processed 1-2 months worth of LID's a month, and the wait was 6 months to a year. Then it slowed to about 15 days worth of LID's a month, which meant a 24 month wait. Now it is so slow that a good month is 6 days worth. The lucky families receiving their referrals this month have been waiting three years to adopt a child. It looks like they only processed 2 days this month, but one of those days was huge. Everyone keeps hoping there will be a speed-up soon, but no one knows.

Anyway, usually sometime around the first of the month the lucky ones whose referral date is up gets their first look at their beautiful baby's face. Here are this month's babies - click on the blog names and enjoy!

http://chinaadopttalk.com/2009/04/03/babies-22/

A Beautiful Weekend

Our winter hasn't been terrible here - nothing like other parts of the country, but even so, it is sure nice to have a sunny, warm weekend and see these signs of spring.

Walking around the yard I noticed the lilacs are beginning to bloom.

We have a bank between our house and a next door neighbor that has been a pain since we have lived here. Too steep to mow or to weed, we've finally gotten some ground covers established for minimum maintenance. At one end the phlox is blooming.

Over most of the rest of the bank we have periwinkle (vinca minor), which is a reminder of my dad. My dad had a famous green thumb. He could grow most anything (especially tomatoes - which were the best I've ever had). He had this periwinkle in some areas of his yard and suggested it for this bank. On one visit home, he dug up pieces of it for me, wrapped it in wet paper towels and sent it home with me (Kentucky to Virginia - 600 miles). It traveled just fine and we planted it and it did great. Later, I received a package in the mail - more periwinkle! I still miss my dad everyday, but have this great reminder, especially when it blooms in the spring.

As I walked through the yard, my cats follow me like puppies. Here is magic checking out the bleeding heart plant.

A close up of the bleeding heart. This is a transplant from my daughter's yard. Love it.

Onyx had to take a break on our walk. He found a shady spot.



Of course I have probably jinxed the weather by bragging on it. I think it is supposed to turn colder this week and maybe even snow some places. Probably dogwoods will bloom. My dad always called this "dogwood winter".

Yesterday I planted some hosta and lily of the valley bulbs. Nothing to show yet, just hope they come up.

I also did a little shopping for Easter baskets for the girls who will be here next weekend, and even knitted a little. Can you see a little progress on the sweater?

I'm loving knitting this. Very fun to see how the colors develop and I love the Noro Silk Garden. I could get a lot more done if I would stay away from Word Challenge on Facebook!