Awakening...

The Earth is awakening from her long Winter's sleep...and what a joy to see!

Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.

~Rainer Maria Rilke

April is a promise that May is bound to keep.

                                                                      ~Hal Borland

Spring: An experience in immortality.  

~ Henry David Thoreau

 

If spring came but once a century instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake and not in silence, what wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change. 

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a

flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.

~Terri Guillemets

 

Wishing you a sweet Spring...

 



January Beauty...

I know that many people despise the cold of Winter and that I am one of those odd ducks who revels in these often bleak months...still...how could anyone not see the beauty that this much maligned season can bring? A gentle overnight snow fell and all the world seems dipped in sugar...

"The door was shut, as doors should be,

Before you went to bed last night;

Yet Jack Frost has got in, you see,

And left your window silver white.

He must have waited till you slept;

And not a single word he spoke,

But pencilled o'er the panes and crept

Away again before you woke.

And now you cannot see the hills

Nor fields that stretch beyond the lane;

But there are fairer things than these

His fingers traced on every pane."

- Gabriel Setoun, Jack Frost

Stay warm and be sure to enjoy the beauty this Wintry month offers!

Love and Hugs,

Susie Q

Nature's Gifts

Study nature, love nature,

stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

~Frank Lloyd Wright

Happy weekend to you all. Be good to yourselves...

Love and Hugs,

Susie Q

What A Wonderful World...

...what a wonderful weekend! And now I am officially exhausted! Whew.

I hope all of you are beginning your week with smiles and feeling good...Spring was definitely out in force last weekend. Today? Not so much! It is rainy and cold. But I can just look back and feel warm...so. Just what were we up to? Let's take a peek...

...and as always, most pictures may be clicked on for a larger view.

We took a drive through the St. Anne's Hill and the Oregon District neighborhoods of Dayton. We always love the old houses, the cottages being a huge favorite.

Don't you love the front door here? This pretty place in just across the street from a great seafood spot, Jay's. We love this house, especially the front stoop. Here is a closeup of it...the purple door and the stainless steel accessories! LOVE that. LOVE this red house...

...and this side garden.

This is our favorite place...a sweet cottage that I would

LOVE to see inside. Maybe someday...

Here is the cottage's side courtyard.

I love this house and look at their wonderful front yard and porch.

Still all decked out for Easter.

Then we drove past a few of downtown Dayton's churches...

this one, Holy Trinity, was built in 1860 and has always been one of my favorites.

Friday night found us out with several of my high school friends. We met at a local spot to hear

The Stumps. The Stumps are something of a legend in the Dayton area and have been together since the 1960s. What great music! They play mostly songs from the 60s and 70s and what's not to love about that? The drummer is their newest member and just happens to be a friend from our high school days! We all wanted to be there to support him, the band and have a good time listening to classic rock and roll.

Saturday was busy...at 10 am, a group of us from church met to

clean up the city bike and hike trail. It was a delight to see how well it had been cared for and how little trash was there. Good work Dayton! Then it was time for a treat...Kipper decided that it had been too long since we had taken him to Ritter's, sooooo....

Okay Dudes. Here is where *I* take over the story. What the old lady t'ain't tellin' you is this. They said it was too cold to go to the last Dog Night at Ritter's. Come on dudes. It was ONLY 20 degrees and a little icy. Gee whiz. So I figured they owed me ya know?

Whoo Hoo! Here we are!!

T'ain't it beautiful dudes? It just glows in the sun. *sigh*

There were only a few peeps there but this little dudette really had it bad for the Kipster.

So's I gave her a tumble and smooched her nose...

Dad had to hold my cuppa so's it didn't get away...I have one mean slurp ya know!

Oh wait dudes!! A little help here...hello? STOP laughin'!

Whoa...help a little dude out?

If they would stop laughin' for one second and help me I could get this off my face...my mom better NOT be takin' my picture...

Aw gee dudes...the 'scream is all gone and so's my story is ended.

Don't I look sad? *sniff* Till next time!

After Ritter's we headed over to Woodland Cemetery. It is truly one of Dayton's gems and such a lovely, historic and peaceful place. The geese and ducks were all enjoying a warm Spring day...

This is the gravesite for the Wright family...

You might recognize two of these names...

Then we drove around some of our favorite parks to take in more Spring beauty...

Late afternoon arrived and so did softball practice.

Grace seems ready to catch those grounders...

Grace at bat...

Grace and her BFF, Miss K. You should see Miss K pitch! This girl has quite the arm!

Then it was dinner out for our little athlete. She chose her favorite

Chinese restaurant and her favorite dish. We met our good buddy, T, and had a lovely time. As we headed home, this was the sunset that greeted us.

Talk about a perfect ending to a sweet day!

Sunday was a little rainy but we still enjoyed our day. After church, Mom, Bill, Grace and I headed to a favorite spot for brunch. Afternoon was spent at the movies with Grace and our friend, Z. Z and Grace wanted to see 17 Again.

Is that Zac Efron downright adorable or what? And no. I am NOT robbin' any cradles here. I would still prefer my beloved Brian Dennehy but I am just sayin'...

That evening we met our dear friends T and C at a benefit dinner. The Robyn's Nest is an animal rescue organization that does some awesome things. We had spaghetti, salad, bread and dessert and enjoyed seeing all the fur babies up for adoption.

This was Charlie Brown...such a sweet boy...

And this is Hannah. She was rescued just a few weeks ago and is looking for a new home.

Okay. Truth time. I fell in love with her and oh how I want to bring her home with us. I have yet to convince Bill that we need another pet but oh how I love her. She is such a small girl...won't get any bigger...and a sweetie. Even if it isn't here, I pray she will find a new home soon.

I send each one of you lots of love and many hugs. Enjoy your week and savor each day.

Life is SO good...

Love and Hugs,

Susie Q