Any Day at a Flea Market is Better Than.............

What I won't do to get a day off from school. Left at 5:15 a.m. to travel to Whiteman Air Force Base for NASA E-mission training. It was cool, now if I can just figure out how to incorporate it into the middle school........ Driving in the early dark around here is like a giant dodgeball game, except instead of balls I'm dodging deer, possums, skunks, etc. It takes a long time to get anywhere at 10 miles an hour :-) So we get to the base almost an hour early and decide to look in the "giant" town of Knob Knoster for a place to have coffee. Or, THE place to have coffee, as it turns out. It was us and the table of locals/farmers, who freaked when the camera flashed to take these pics (hehe): This was outside the cafe. Mud fountain?

Security was tight at the base. Drivers license and social required. Guess I'm "in the system" now - don't know if that's a good thing :-)

The workshop was good, but it was time to eat again. Our first choice was closed (who closes on a Tuesday for crying out loud). After laughing about this place advertising gyros, pannini, and gelatos we ended up eating here. It was good, but seriously, isn't this advertising a little ironic? And of course, if there are flea markets and quilt shops we brake for them! A few minutes digging through a box of buttons is never wasted:

Shining Beacon

More Signs of Spring

Saw my first turtle (tortise?) crossing the road this morning on the way to work. Saw another one on the way home.... there's a joke in there somewhere :-) My neighbor's iris are blooming; ours are always weeks behind, because we're in the valley on a north slope I guess. Even though the jonquils have come and gone, not to mention the crocus and other early risers I've been thinking it's taking a hella long time for the oak trees on the property to bud and leaf out. This weekend's rain must have spurred them on - the great oak on our back porch showed these off today: (my fat hand is there to give an idea of size - grin) So are the stinking ants in my cabinets a sign of spring also? I completely emptied my spice cabinet this afternoon when I got home and sprayed it down. I've tried cinnamon and mint but they keep showing up so I went for the heavy duty stuff today. And crickets! Where are all these critters coming from and why aren't they staying OUTSIDE where they belong!!!

Sunday's Aren't Always A Day of Rest :-(

Last weekend while I was at the Academic Bowl with these guys: the hubs came home and worked on the waterfall. So I got to watch and listen to falling water as I tried to reclaim the yard from ignoring it all winter. Even the dogs were helpful, and by helpful I mean I didn't have to yell at them for trying to bite the lawnmower. Speaking of lawnmower, I broke mine. It ate a baseball about 2/3 of the way through the backyard and will NOT restart! See that triangle shape that's darker than the rest? This is what I l have left to mow. Now what! So I dug (literally, it was under a bunch of junk in the wood shed) the weedeater out of the shed and tried to start it. Pump 10X, pull 3, move to half choke, repeat repeat repeat. I HATE weedeaters. I hate rewinding them, I hate starting them (or trying), I really kind of hate using them. I have tried electric ones, metal blade ones, battery ones, they just don't like me. Maybe this summer I"ll just hire my yard done and I"ll stick to planting pretty flowers :-) This is some of my goodies from the Master Gardener plant sale in Springfield. More work for me, more pretty for the yard.

So it's back to weeding the front flower beds I guess. I've let the vinca have one of them but I keep trying to get something other than wild onions and dandy-lions to grow in the other two. The begonias are looking good, if I can just keep Big from jumping through them like an English saddle horse!