Just in case you were wondering, there is still snow in my backyard

I don't want you to think I've been a total slacker over here, but I've got a To Do list longer than my arm so all you get today are pictures.  I shall save the witty repartee for another time.

First -- big stick, dirty butt:

And one lone crocus.  I promise I won't document every bit of flora in my yard like I did last year, but this poor bugger is out back all alone:

Someone got a new fuzzy wubba.  When she isn't outside hauling giant sticks around she is inside hauling this around:

In the art department, I accidentally painted a ketchup and mustard flower and it looks surprisingly cool:

My rainbow of flowers now numbers ten pieces.  It will be interesting to see them hanging together.

Here's something else that I was sure was going bad when I was in the midst, but now I just love it.  "With a Song in my Heart."

"Conversation Heart" is a bit wonky-doodle:

And speaking of doodle, there's a new rooster.  My favorite part of the painting is the grassy bits on the bottom so I named it "Free Range."

That's a tragically bad photo.

I've got two wreaths to finish before the craft show.  Here are the two I put together last weekend:

That jewel-toned one is so much cooler in real life than it looks in the photo.

Okay, now I can cross something off my To Do list and move on to cleaning the bathrooms.  Oh joy.

"Shut up, I'm busy."

I learned something interesting this morning.  I was listening to the radio in the car on my way to work and on Writer's Almanac Garrison Keillor was talking about how April 14th was the day Abraham Lincoln was assassinated (150 years ago) and also the day the Titanic hit that big old iceberg (103 years ago).  Mr. Keillor said that another ship tried to warn them about the ice but the radio operator on the Titanic was so busy trying to get personal messages to the passengers his response was, "Shut up, I'm busy."  Hmmmm.  Bummer to be that guy.

In other news, it was 73 degrees yesterday afternoon.  My yard is still half buried in snow but I got out the rake anyway.  I am wishing I had been a bit more diligent in my efforts last fall.

**sigh**

I brushed her all off and she immediately dropped to the ground and rolled around again.  Then didn't want to move out of the way.

You can't tell from these pictures but there is still a giant snowbank in my front yard.  A bunch more melted today, and I even had a sudden emergence of crocus, but there is still plenty of snow.  At the end of the day I hauled Roxie into the bathtub because she was a dirty brown dog.  Man, she wanted NOTHING to do with it.  The dog who will spend an entire day trying to eat the water out of a garden hose and getting soaked in the process was shaking like a leaf in the empty bathtub.  I tried to get a picture but I didn't have enough hands.  I didn't even have enough hands to use the soap.  I guess someone will be getting her baths out in the driveway from now on.

Kathy, Evan and mom were here over the weekend.  And Ruby.  We took a lovely walk on Sunday and I only have two photos to document the event.

Evan found a spoon in a field.

"I can smell the barn from here."  I always say that to myself when I'm getting to the end of a run.  Unfortunately, at this time of year, we can smell THAT barn from a looooooooong way away.  Kathy was gagging but I thought it was a pretty mild day stench-wise.  Those cows have the best view.

I finally finished the St. Patrick's Day-colored wreath.  Two months later.  Kathy and Evan made a very clever centerpiece, so I had no excuse since the glue gun was already warmed up.

Using my purple wall as a backdrop was a bit of a mistake but the white wall I used to photograph all the other wreaths is now a bright apple green.  My paintings look cool on the purple in real life, but in photos ... not so much.

That's a little 5" x 7" cradled panel.  It's a hot mess, but there's nothing I like better than a good hot mess.

I was also working on a word piece but my spell checker fell down on the job and I didn't quite catch it in time.  I had to do some strategic removal and repair work.  I will finish it tomorrow.  I have a few more pieces in progress that I want to finish this week so the varnish has a good long time to cure before the craft fair on May 2nd.  I'm hoping to build my walls this weekend, then spend the next couple of weeks busting out a few more wreaths and generally getting my shit together.  Deep down inside I'm not the least bit looking forward to the craft fair so there will be a lot of positive self-talk happening around here.  "It will be fun!"  (Ha.  Right.)  "You will get to talk to a lot of people!"  (My fave.)  "The booth will look AWESOME!"  (I can only hope.)  "Your artwork will sell like hotcakes!" (Did someone say cake?)  "GET A GRIP!"  (Okay, okay, take a deep breath....)

Sugar Coma

First, let me get the bad news out of the way.  We were at Ann's house today and Hoagie was outside rolling around in something suspicious so Ann went out to check and ... yep, you guessed it.  "BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE EASTER BUNNY!"  (If anyone can guess what that is riffing on, you get extra points.)  There was some shrieking and wailing and all around chaos as it was determined that the body-less bunny outside was probably Humphrey.  The kids took on the task of performing a burial ceremony and planted him out back.  Poor little dude.  On Easter, too.

But then there was shaving cream and there was rice and it was a mess and the Swede looked at us like we were smoking crack.  We had hard boiled eggs coming out of our ... refrigerator.

There will be some egg salad this week....

Spring? Bring It.

Poodle and I were rock stars this week.  Sort of.  We had our three mile "run" on Tuesday and we felt pretty good about it.  Then on Thursday we threw caution to the wind and went about 4.5 miles.  It was a lovely, lovely day -- the sun was shining and it was pretty warm outside.  Felt like spring.

Then it was Friday.  Whoa.  How's this for spring?

HAHAHAHAHAHA!  A bit misleading, but it DID get up to about 60.  We cranked out another 4.5 miles, and we were about two miles in when I realized my shirt was on inside out.  Doh. I knew I was a fashion accident, but didn't realize the exact extent.  It was a bright purple long-sleeved shirt, underneath a dark grey t-shirt.  With this:

I think my shoes glow in the dark.

Anywho, we got home and I found a guaranteed sign of spring:

Yippee!  One of the bulbs I planted last fall!  Spring has sprung!  (I'm not going to mention that the temperature is 25 degrees colder today and it is snowing right now....)  Roxie celebrated our long run by bathing in the snowbank:

She was soaked.  I think someone is going to get a REAL bath tomorrow night.

Back inside, we've got something that turned out more curious than I was expecting - but it's interesting anyway - and something that turned out more awesome than I was expecting.  You decide which is which:

Yessirree.  But now we are packing for an overnight trip to Hinesburg and time's a-wastin', so in conclusion, here's a joke in honor of Abby who is playing in a tournament today:

Q:  What do Easter Bunny helpers get for making a basket?
A:  Two points, just like anyone else on the team.