Tuesday, April 28, 2009

HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY, BEN!

Sunday was Ben's birthday.



I didn't forget it; I spent the weekend in the garden where there is no wi-fi.

.

A year and one week ago, Ben became my son-in-law.....



.....and it was a good thing.




I did send him a gift in a timely fashion, but when I visit in May, I might give him a new pair of sunglasses.




HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR BIRTHDAY, BEN!! (and I hope Red Lobster was worth the trip)

Monday, April 20, 2009

HUCKLEBERRY



Today's post is all about the many sides of Huckleberry.


There's dancing Huckleberry......




........flying Huckleberry.............





.................................................loving Huckleberry...............





.............................................................................sidewinding Huckleberry...........






................................................snapping Huckleberry..........




...............................stalking Hucklebery............




.........and Tim.




I got these pictures of Huckleberry when Tim hit the ball in the back yard and then we watched him go crazy. Huckleberry, that is. Not Tim.



And lastly, there was sleeping Huckleberry.





At least he would get some sleep if I would put the camera down and leave him alone.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

WINNING DAY AT THE BALLPARK




I was able to score a couple of great tickets to this afternoon's game against Pittsburgh.




Even though it rained during a lot of the game, we were under cover, toasty and happy



Beer and brats for lunch.




An afternoon away from the office, phone and computer. But best of all,

WE WON!!!!!

Sunday, April 05, 2009

OPENING DAY!! and other stuff

Tomorrow, April 6, is baseball's Opening Day!!! (except for two games last night) And the Cardinals open at home this year. I love the first day of a new baseball season. The rallies, the hype, the expectations that This Year will be The Year, Casual Day at work.

For the first time in quite sometime, the Cardinals are playing the day after our home opener. In the past, no game was scheduled the second day, supposedly so they could make up the Opener in the event of a rain out. Which I never really understood. It was, OPENING DAY!!! EXCITEMENT!! RALLIES!! Radio Station Give-aways!!

Then rest a day........other teams were playing...having fun.... making exciting plays. We had to wait another day...... and then FINALLY, we're off and running.

This year the weatherman is predicting tomorrow to feature blizzards, storms, floods and wintry mix, and NOW they play the day after the home opener. I'm actually glad I don't have tickets for the first day this year. From the sounds of the wind outside of my house right now, it's going to be bitching cold.

But dire weather predictions didn't prevent The Powers That Be from doing this to our City's fountains.



It's just silly if you ask me.




Yes, in honor of the first day of baseball, 2009, our fountains appear to be spewing Hawaiian Punch.

And in other news........ Yesterday was Opening Day for our neighborhood garden. Neighbors Linda, Dave and I are going to attempt to grow a bunch o' veggies. Dave here is getting set to bust the sod.



While he did this, Linda and I went off in search of garden tools, soil testing kits, bread and pickles. And gas for the tiller. He made good progress while we were gone.



I left Linda in charge of supervising Dave and went to the front yard to attempt to get an artsy fartsy photo of the crop of white wildflowers growing there.









But I got tired of lying in the grass to get a good focal point in the sea of white, and watching Dave with the tiller was killing my back. So I went for a massage, thinking I might have better luck trying to get that shot after getting the kinks worked out.

But by the time I returned, Dave had finished tilling and had mowed the yard, wiping out the sea of white flowers. Oh well. But we're gonna have a BIG garden. It looks like we are also going to have a bird bath right in the middle of it.




Today, I went to Art Hill in Forest Park where lots and lots of kids were flying kites. Oddly, the pictures of the kids weren't all that great; but I did get a shot of this guy.



And I'm OK with that.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUCKLEBERRY*



*We don't know his actual birthdate, seeing that he was adopted and all. But since Jenni and Tim will have had him a year in May, and he was several weeks (months?) old when they got him, I've unofficially given him April Fool's Day as his birthday. And I wanted an excuse to post a bunch of pictures of him. Although, I really didn't need an excuse to do that.

But first, a morning shot from the deck from the last time I visited Jenni and Tim. I love this view.



When I was visiting, Jenni and I took the Huckster to the Lake to run around. Oops. I said "The Lake". I mean, "the lake". In Missouri, "The Lake" refers to Lake of the Ozarks. In Maryville, it's Lake Mozingo. Or Mozingo Lake. Anyway, we took Huckleberry out to run on the levee.




You can almost hear him applying the brakes on this one.




His training is going well.



Lake investigation needed to be done before we left.



When we got home, Huckleberry and I played catch on the deck. The run on the levee apparently wore him out, because after a few tosses, Huck made the mistake of just watching the ball roll across the deck.......



......and then he watched it as it rolled down the hill.



I tried a few shots of him just chillin'.....



....but then he got bored.......



.......and then got tired of the puppyrazzi.




But I did get a family portrait, although it looks like he's busy smelling Jenni's ear.



A little discovery was made that weekend. Jenni and Tim almost always call him by his full name, Huckleberry; seldom "Huck". But while we were playing Settlers of Catan, Huckleberry kept trying to get on Jenni's lap. She sternly told him "Off, Huck, off!"

And made the discovery about the danger of shortening his name.

You all have a safe and fun April Fool's Day!!