Snow?

Last week was about as nice a week as anyone could want.  Or so I'm told.  I was in MA for 10 days.  I spent the first weekend in western MA with my best bud.  Then on Patriot's Day (an eastern MA holiday) they drove me to Natick (Boston) for 4 days of training for work.  After training it was back to the western part for the weekend and then home again.

While I was there the weather was beautiful.  The flowering trees were out in their glory.  Forsythia bushes were vibrant yellow.  Every day I could see the regular trees get greener and greener.  The temps reached the low 80s.  The only problem was that MA is soooooo dry.  Fires all over the state.

The first weekend I was there, we took a drive to check out a yarn shop in Great Barrington -- Wonderful Things.  Oh my.  Lots and lots of yarn.  I did not plan on buying anything.  That plan didn't work.  LOL 

From there we drove north to North Adams to Tala's Quilt Shop.  Lots of fabric but not what we were looking for.  We were on a mission for a specific color and texture. 

We headed back home via the Mohawk Trail (Route 2).  We just happened to notice a "new" shop, A Notion To Quilt.  We did a u-turn and stopped in.  The name seemed to ring a bell but we couldn't place it.  Happened to be the shop previously located in the city of Shelburne Falls.  They just recently moved to a new location.  Very nice store. 

My hotel was in a great location.  Less than 2 minutes from my classroom and right across a VERY busy street from the Natick Collection (a mall).  Very upscale but also stores for the average shopper too.  It has 270 stores on 2 stories.  The challenge was getting across that street without getting hit.  I had to walk a ways to get to a crosswalk light.  The stay was topped off by dinner at Legal Seafoods.  Fantastic food but a little pricey. 

So anyway, I get home after enjoying a wonderful warm week in MA and there was wonderful weather here at home.  Tonight they are issuing freeze warnings and maybe even snow.  Come on, it is almost May!  My tulips and the neighbor's Magnolia tree are going to suffer greatly. 

A Beautiful Day

Today is a perfect day!  It was our first 70 degree day since last October.  The humidity was log and there was a nice breeze.  A great day to be outside.  So after work, a friend and I went to Meijer Gardens to view the butterfly exhibit and walk the trails through the gardens.  Being a sunny day, the butterflies were very active.  One of the butterflies we wanted to find was the Clear Wing.  Thanks to one of the visitors there, we found one.  Because they have clear wings and are not very big, they can be very hard to find.  Nope, no pictures this time.  Hopefully I'll get back out there before the exhibit is over (end of April) and get some more butterfly pics. 

Once outside, it was sooooo beautiful.  We walked around the sculpture park but didn't take them all in.  Time was a factor.  Then we walked around the farm house and barn and took the boardwalk at the edge of the pond and enjoyed the guess, swans and ducks.  I so enjoy the gardens.  Can't wait until more flowers besides the daffodils, pansies and miniature iris are in bloom.

Crocuses

The neighbor has crocuses in blossom.  And we had just had a light mist.  The scene just begged for pictures.  I decided I needed to take them from an angle that I normally don't do (it's hard to get back up).  So I brought out a bath towel, spread it out nicely and got down to eye level with the flowers.  Did you know they don't grow very high?  (I'm real glad I was in the back yard.)

This was pretty cool I thought.  Showed the water drops.  But I decided to have a little fun with that picture.   It almost makes it look like I took it at night. 

                            Here are just a few more.

Notice the tulip trying to horn in on the scene.  I thought about plucking it out but then thought better of it.  Of course I could have moved but that would have been a lot of work.

 

 

I like how that one petal over toward the right almost looks translucent.  Anyway, I had fun taking them, was able to get up without calling 911, and had fun playing with them in Photoshop Elements.

Experimenting

I read on another blog about Windows Live Writer.  I decided to try it. So this post will be just trying things out. 

So if I want to add a picture

I can do it.  I just have to figure out how I get it so I can have the print next to it rather than on top and bottom. 

 

 

I guess it is like this but something happened and I lost part of my picture. 

Hmm  it seems to be reappearing every time I go to a new line.  That's strange.  But it works.

 

Now it will be interesting to see how it looks on the blog when I post it.

Spring is sprung

The last snow in my yard has finally melted. I think it was Thursday it finally disappeared. Now I know that it is doesn't mean that's it for the season. But there is hope.

I'm finally feeling like my old self again. That bronchitis stuff is nasty. I had it for over 2 weeks and stayed home from work 5 days total. I'm glad I was able to work from home when I felt like it.

Today is a play day. A friend and I are going to Saugatuck for the day and then coming back here and watching the Final Four games. They should be good games. Time will tell. First time all #1 seeds made it to the Final Four.

Coast Guard Rugby is playing Harvard for a tune-up game for Nationals in two weeks. Go Bears!

Something I'm going to be pondering the next few days/weeks. What makes a work team mesh as a team? How do you fix a broken one?