Frohe Ostern!

HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYBODY!!

I hope this finds you well.

We are doing well. Spring is finally showing its first sings and I cleaned out my flowerbeds today to see, what all is "peeking" out.
Quite a few bulbs are out and some of my favorite Snowdrops are starting to bloom. They are originally from Europe (I think) and they remind me of home, because they are the first ones to bloom.
And they spread, so after a few years, you have little blankets of them in the yard.

We also went for a Easter walk. The dogs needed some exercise and we enjoyed it as well.
We try to let Pepper off the leash for a little bit. She runs far, but she does come back:)

I don't know why, but I always have Goethe's Easter walk in mind on a day like this that he wrote about in "Faust":

From Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: "Faust", translation by Edgar Alfred Bowring, 1853

From the ice they are freed, the stream and brook,
By the Spring's enlivening, lovely look;
The valley's green with joys of hope;
The Winter old and weak ascends
Back to the rugged mountain slope.

From there, as he flees, he downward sends
An impotent shower of icy hail
Streaking over the verdant vale.
Ah! but the Sun will suffer no white,

Growth and formation stir everywhere,
'Twould fain with colours make all things bright,

Though in the landscape are no blossoms fair.
Instead it takes gay-decked humanity.

Now turn around and from this height,
Looking backward, townward see.

Forth from the cave-like, gloomy gate
Crowds a motley and swarming array.

Everyone suns himself gladly today.
The Risen Lord they celebrate,

For they themselves have now arisen
From lowly houses' mustiness,
From handicraft's and factory's prison,
From the roof and gables that oppress,

From the bystreets' crushing narrowness,
From the churches' venerable night,
They are all brought out into light.
See, only see, how quickly the masses
Scatter through gardens and fields remote;
How down and across the river passes
So many a merry pleasure-boat.

And over-laden, almost sinking,
The last full wherry moves away.
From yonder hill's far pathways blinking,
Flash to us colours of garments gay.

Hark! Sounds of village joy arise;
Here is the people's paradise,

Contented, great and small shout joyfully:
"Here I am Man, here dare it to be!"

It is official!

We made the decision and poor Pepper will be stuck with us and Mr. Whiskers!!!

After buying two Jack Russell Terrier puppies and had them turn out to be half way normal dogs:)
I decided, I owe it to one of those pound dogs to have a better life and who knows my dogs and Martin and myself, knows, that Ms Pepper pretty much won the Jackpot....

I don't know how it is in your neck of the woods, but we have truly the first signs of spring....YEAH!!!!
The Robins are back. Some of my bulbs are poking out. You can go outside without getting your limbs frozen of, .....

Ahhhhh, it feels great, or should I say, LOOKS great, because, I have to spend most of my time inside working....BUT tomorrow is Friday=Freeday and I will enjoy the weather (I am ignoring the weather forecast that calls for rain and possible snow.....)

I heard the word SPRING!?!

Someone was using this strange word SPRING
and I wasn't so sure about its meaning...
When reading up on it, a faint memory came back to me. And I remembered all kinds of neat things connecting with spring.

I like the fresh green, warmer weather and I go and look everyday for the first of my, oh maybe 300 bulbs to poke their little green tips out.
And this year, I will mark my first year of commuting to work!!!

What are you favorites??

I normally post only pictures of my own yard but these are too beautiful to not share. My hubby is still with his sister in Florida and send me some flowers.The plant in the background is a poinsettia, that we gave her for Christmas two years ago. She planted it on her patio and it started blooming again. If that isn't amazing then what.
I take it as a positive sign. Marla is fighting breast cancer right now and she needs this positive energy/Gods presents.

Big Yard Day plus Two Hours Wind Battle

Martin and I started with the spring clean up in the yard. For me, that meant, cutting out all the dead flowers out of the flowers beds and spread out 8 bags of garden soil and 5 bags of manure to amend my flower beds. I will have to dig for some pictures from last year, or better take some to put them on here. The trick was, not to cover up, all the bulbs and plants that are already up and blooming, so instead of just dumping all the bags in the beds, I had to hand spread them around the plants. After I was done with that, I planted a few violets to give the yard a bit more color.
Martin repaired one of our fences in the meantime, killed some (MANY) ants and did other things around the yard. Mr. Whiskers made sure, we did everything correctly and that we were safe:)

After we were done with that (three hours later), we jumped on our bikes to battle the wind on the Keystone to get a two hour ride in. But I feel, I need to ride in order to get in shape for next Saturday for the first Psycowpath Race.

...Yes, I am pooped now. It is partly a bit of left over jet-leg, but also lots of outdoor exercise.

So, I guess, I will go to bed to get my beauty sleep

Off the Bike...

By doctor's order:( Having bronchitis. I guess the ski trip didn't help (but it was fun anyway).

Right now, I am laying low, so I get better soon, so I can get back on my bike.

Isn't it amazing that they even postponed the Heartland Race#1 for me...just kidding, they did it because of the weather but one can dream.

I also need to get better because I "have" to go skiing again. And if that wouldn't be bad enough, this time it is Winter Park, CO, what a "horrible" place....OK, OK, I love this town, even though, I only know it by bike. It is actually the place, where I got my Blur. Only fond memory, besides those few bruises and indentations that I got from those ROCKY mountains:)

Tonight Roxzy, her sister and two nieces, Martin and I went to the Christina Aguilera Concert at the Quest Center in Omaha. Pretty good show! Men, that girl can sing and dance. The Pussy Cat Dolls opened for her and they did a pretty darn good job themselves. I always like good live music and enjoy a well done show.

Amazing how these girls (ladies) can dance on these high-heels without breaking their feet. But that is why that get paid so much money for doing that.

Now we are back home and settling in for the weekend. Are we going to get all that snow??

Isn't it time for spring? I did my first garden walk yesterday to see, if my bulbs are coming up and a few of them are sticking their first green out.

Isn't that one of these beautiful miracles of nature? You put a bulb in the soil in the fall (in hope that no darn deer nor squirrel will feast on it) and then, wen spring comes those bulbs start coming to live and start growing and blooming. I planted about 150 more bulbs last fall. That should bring my bulbous flowers up to, oh almost 400....

Yes, I do like to garden, can't you tell:)

Anyway, I better go to sleep now, it is late.