Special Birthday

On April 20th my dad celebrated his 80th birthday.  We took the day and went on a birthday trip.  Early that morning we headed for Russell Springs, KY where our first stop was the Mighty Dollar where everything is a dollar!  We told him he could buy anything he wanted for his birthday, but he couldn't find anything he needed.  Then we headed for The Bread of Life, a restaurant near Liberty, KY.  They have a buffet and we were pleased to find out it was catfish day!  After a great lunch we drove around in the Amish community nearby and visited one of their stores.  On the way home we visited Mill Springs KY the site of a civil war battle and and a working mill.  It was a great day with perfect weather!

Later in the month on April 29 we had a big birthday celebration on the Ponderosa.  Family and close friends joined us to celebrate Dad's birthday.  Again we had perfect weather and a great time.  There was good food, lots of laughs, some little cousins who enjoyed each other's company and of course birthday cake and presents!

Tax Time Visit

During the middle of April at the end of tax season when the husband is so busy, he doesn't know where I am,  I took off for a few days of visiting with the little ones!  We went to the newly re-opened Opry Mills and just had a good time!

 This is how a boy shops!

 This is how a girl shops!

  

They both love eating dinner on the deck!

 A mama with her hands full!

Easter 2012

I have some catching up to do!  My sweet Aunt Linda even reprimanded me for being a procrastinator about blogging.  I've just been having so much fun that I didn't take time to write my Ponderosa posts.  It is very nice to know that someone missed me!
I'm going to back up to Easter when we had our annual egg hunt and picnic with family and friends.  It was a perfect day (April 7, 2012)  filled with good food, egg hunting and an Easter parade.  We were disappointed that the Ponderosa stinkbugs got the flu and missed their first egg hunt.

And here's the world's most handsome five year old all dressed up for church on Easter morning!

You forget

You forget 

just how good a strawberry picked out of the patch

can taste!

Gnome Gardens

I spent several hours this weekend creating miniature gnome gardens and generally beautifying the Ponderosa with blooms!

This one is beside the lilac bush and has a house complete with bench, resident gnome and his bluebird friend.  Little hands can rearrange the garden if they want to play in it.

Most of the items used came from the dollar store or I used a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby for the bench.  The little birdhouse came in a package of six and I super glued it to a wooden kitchen skewer!  The moss is free for the digging here on the Ponderosa, the gladiolus were already there and the hosta spout I dug up from one of the many giant hostas growing around the house. 

My second garden is started but it needs some more items for the grand kids to be able to move around.  The plants are moss roses, they look like miniature rose bushes and should spread out and cover the ground as they grow.  The stepping stones are flat, round river rocks. This one has a door instead of a house  I'll be scouring the Mighty Dollar for some more miniatures!
I said I made them for the grand kids, but I enjoy creating them in little spots!  It's starting to look like Rock City around here!

April 12--Take Twelve

It seems I've been lazy and only made one post since last month's Take Twelve!  The last three weeks have been exceptionally warm and plants are budding and blooming too early and people have been tempted to plant before the last frost.  Hopefully this morning was the last one--not only did it frost but the temperature dipped below freezing, bad news for the plants.

We tried to save the strawberry crop with sheets and water!

My chore this morning was to uncover everything!  Then because we can and because it was Thursday my Mom and I went shopping!  We call it bargain shopping, we don't usually buy anything unless it is a good deal!

Just a couple of our stops.

Lunch--we always eat fast food so that we don't waste shopping time.

Some of my favorite purchases today.

Got home in time to inspect the plants for damage and enjoy some sweet potato fries for dinner.  April 12 was another great day on the Ponderosa!