A very HAPPY week....

It is spring break, so no subbing. A great creative week (but unfortunately, not a paying week).

It may have been a rainy, cool week, but I don't think I've had such a good week in quite awhile. I got to work on a TON of projects that got my creative juices flowing and I found out that two of my photos are going to appear in Kansas! magazine. I couldn't be more excited.

Here are a few things that stood out as making my week extra happy:

Working on my photos

I spent the last few days getting my photographs ready for my April show at Radina's (Aggieville location).

Flowers on a window sill

Last weekend we had a small dinner party, so I went to Dillon's and spent about $14 on 2 bouquets of flowers.

I took the bouquets apart and made my own arrangements in a variety of vases.

They filled about 10 vases, which are now scattered around the house and still going strong!

Signs of Spring!!!!

Blooming redbuds

Dazzling tulips

Bushes of peach flowers

And the hint of the lilacs to come

Being completely caught up on Mad Men!

I am completely addicted! I have always loved the 60's and I feel this is an honest peak into what life was like then (at least on Madison Avenue). I especially love the clothes and decor. I spent the last month watching the first 4 seasons so I could go into the new season knowing what was going on. Ike is baffled at how I can watch so many episodes of one show in such a short time (I usually watched while doing other things around the house.)

Heavy Cream....

I know it is not the most healthy thing, but seriously, adding heavy cream to just about anything, makes it better. It makes me incredibly happy.

Anyway, those are just a few of the things that made my spring break spectacular!

Wood in the Hood

Look at all those varieties (Elm, Walnut, Hackberry, Mulberry & Cedar!)

First of all, forgive me for that lame post title. Second of all, Ike and I spent the afternoon cutting wood....Well, Ike cut (I am deathly afraid of the chainsaw), I carried the logs to the trailer and arranged them in a nice little heap.

It couldn't have been a more beautiful day. Hello, 60 degrees at the end of January?! It had to be spent outside. Pottawatomie County had taken down some trees outside of town, so we decided to go scavenge what was left to add to our growing wood pile. We are planning to get Ike's wood burning stove in before next winter, so we are stock piling now.

It's like fitting together pieces of a puzzle.

It was a lovely day (despite the fact that I threw a log into the trailer, which hit a smaller piece, which popped me in the eye. So, now I have a cut and swollen eyelid, but at least my eyeball is intact. I should also note that three weeks ago I fell down our stairs, bruising my tailbone, and two weeks ago I burned the crap out of my right hand. 2012 has started out as a dangerous year for me!) After cutting and piling the wood, we enjoyed a cup of tea on the porch swing.

Ah, Kansas living.

The little bench Ike made with found wood.

A coke bottle we found that was made here. It lives among the wood.

A Rose By Any Other Name....

I've never really cared for roses, at least not in bouquet form. They seem so....predictable. I much prefer wildflowers. Yesterday, all of that changed (at least me not caring for roses, I still kind of prefer wildflowers.)

Ike and I took Belle for a walk in City Park, taking time to stop in the rose garden next to the fountain. I took one sniff and I stopped. The smell. It brought up a very vivid memory of my Granny Bales (my dad's grandmother on his mom's side) and I standing next to her neighbors rose bushes eating gumdrops when I used to stay with her in Iuka, Kansas (I had to have been like 3 or 4. I have a freakishly good long term memory.)

It was a very happy memory (and also reminds me of the swing that use to hang from her tree in the front yard. I wonder if it's still there.) But, I digress.

And oh, the roses were beautiful. They were all so different, but still so alike in so many ways. Red ones, white ones, small ones, full ones, baby ones...you get the picture. I really think, at least for me, roses have to be seen in their natural habitat to be fully appreciated.

So, please, if you are in the neighborhood swing by City Park, and stop and smell the roses. You won't be sorry you did (especially if you go at dusk).

For those of you who can't make it down, here is a sampling of the roses I had the pleasure of viewing and smelling! (Sorry there are so many pictures, but I couldn't narrow it down. And I thought...It's my blog and my photos, I can do what I want!)

Enjoy! (Click on each photo to get an even better view.)