Welcome Spring!

Winter is fun because we get to go skiing and I like to snuggle under warm blankets and beside a good fire. But, being from the south, I'm glad when the frosts are done and the warm air rolls in. Each year, our front yard tree is one of the first to welcome spring in with its' burst of white flowers. This was by far the lovelist and prettiest showing of our tree. I thoroughly enjoyed it for the week of first flower to last flower!

Then last weekend, we took a trip to Mark's mothers house in Arkansas. They had a horrible ice storm this winter and so many of their trees in the whole area were basically cut in half. But everything is starting to bloom up there now too. Of course, I had to take pictures :)

The field beside their house, filled with small purple flowers....of course, I had to lay in the field of flowers and just take it in!


The kitties, just strolling on a lovely weekend.....

Then, the kitties playing in the flowers. The funny thing about this last picture is that I was taking a picture of the black kittie roaming in the right-hand side of the picture. However, I couldn't believe it when I opened this picture on my computer the first time. If you look on the left, there is a leaping kitty flying through the sky! He's a little above center of the picture and nearly all the way left, right next to the tree. (Click on the picture and it will get bigger if you want to see the kitty easier). I could not have taken that picture if I had tried!


The yard with cool shadows from the sun....

Oh, there were so many birds out all day long when we were there....I was absolutely lovin' it!! Here's a redbird hanging out in the tree.

Then, Keith's geese. They used to be in the garden, but they were downright destructive and mean so Keith made them their own little pen in the front of the yard. Now I know the meaning of a mean goose! You can't tell from this picture, but they are making quite some racket for me. Of course, the gray one is just interested in what was on the other side of the fence.

Keith's caution sign. They definitely let you know when someone is driving up the driveway! Oh yeah, and then occasionally, they just quack to hear themselves quack I suppose.

Keith has built a firepit in the backyard and loves a good fire when they have company. It was pretty chilly the first night, and Keith had prepared a huge bonfire.....so we enjoyed the fire! Here's Mark and his Mama chattin' by the fireside.....

Of course, I love the challenge of taking good pictures and the fire had a lot of color to it this time. Here's one of many, showing the deep blue flames at the bottom. It was a good, hot fire!

Then on the last day before we left, Mark's mother was telling us about a new bike trail going through Fayetteville. We had brought our bikes and wanted to go for a ride, so we drove into town with the bikes and set out on an hour bikeride. It was a very nice trail...I'm jealous! It winds through many of the neighborhoods and you can just get on and off in your neighborhood and then ride through the town via the bike trails. The trail goes all along a river through town. Here's a picture showing one of the several small waterfalls along the way.

Then of course, finally a geeky picture of us on the bikeride. Helmets on for safety!