Outside My Window ~ 4.10.2011

Outside My Window…is the sun setting on another Sunday and the end of my vacation.  At 7:42 p.m., we are at 60°F ~ a few degrees warmer than what our low will be for the evening.  Today was amazing after a very chilly return from vacation.  We arrived home Friday evening to rain and quite chilly temperatures…a huge difference from where we had departed from.  Saturday was also quite cool and overcast….I felt like I drove back in time to winter again.  🙂

I am thinking…I could get use to relaxing time and being away from work.  Of course, I probably would miss eating, a roof over my head and other things the money I earn provides but it sure was nice to have this past week off.  I decompressed…I relaxed…I enjoyed time with family…I had it all for that week and it was wonderful. 

I am glad…our trip back home was uneventful.  It isn’t a bad trip at all…not quite 400 miles.  I like the fact that both North and South Carolina have laws prohibiting large trucks from traveling in the left lanes in and around high traffic locations.  I like being able to make the trip on one tank of gas.  I love traveling in the piedmont area because of their rolling hills and wonderful scenery.  And I loved seeing the cadillac with the odd green coloring and Georgia vanity license plates pulled over about 75 miles up the road from the location where he was weaving in and out of traffic at an extremely high speed because none of us were going ‘mach one’ I suppose.  Obviously he never slowed down and Mr. State Trooper didn’t think he needed to be driving so fast and erractically either. 

From my kitchen…is not so much this evening.  Dinner will happen very soon ~ a grilled chicken Caesar wrap.  I know, not a brand new recipe but it is what’s for dinner and I’m posting this for folks who may just be tuning in.  I decided to keep this paragraph in and give you a new recipe each week.  It will also give me the opportunity to try some new things….or re-visit some old ones I haven’t prepared in a long time.  I think it will work. 

I am currently working on…getting my flower garden set up for the season.  I pulled a few weeds this morning, nothing too much.  I generally let everything go when I begin to see sprouts, just to make sure I’m not pulling a good plant rather than a weed.  I can definitely see what are weeds and what are good plants now.  🙂  I need to get some seeds in the ground….my morning glories last year produced a healthy crop of seeds for this year.  I’m looking forward to my fence covered with morning glories again.  I also have some sunflower seeds except this year I picked up a package with several different colors and varieties so that should be interesting.  The day lilies, red and black lilies, lily of the valley, lavender, violets and jasmine made it through another winter and are coming back beautifully.  My azaleas are getting ready to bloom as well.  I had a surprise when I arrived home…my dogwood tree had more flowers than usual.  Perhaps one day it will be full of flowers.  Of course, there will be zinnias again this year….I fell in love with those flowers last year and look forward to photographing them again this year.

I am going…to do a couple of posts on my trip to Ashville and the Biltmore.  One word about the Biltmore…incredible.  Of course there are photos but unfortunately you are not allowed to take photographs inside the house.  If they were allowed, there would be many more photographs.  So many details I could have shot…not to mention the beautiful rooms…but we were limited to exterior and garden shots.  I haven’t taken the time to work on the photographs as of yet….I know, how odd is that.  As you may have noticed, I didn’t spend a lot of time on the computer during my vacation….nor have I since I returned.  As a result, I missed posting my project 52 photographs but I will catch them up as well.   

I am currently reading…my Harry Potter series.  I had the opportunity to experience a Kindle first hand while at my parents.  I have heard the sirens song and have been seduced by its sleek design and easy to read screen.  Nope…haven’t raced out and purchased one yet…not sure when I will but the seed has been planted and it is growing.  I was especially amazed at how clear and easy it was to read in the bright sunshine.  

I am hoping…the seminar/conference I have to go to tomorrow is interesting and the day  goes by quickly.  Yes, my first day back at work will be sitting in a classroom type setting and listening to speakers….groan.  The first day back is generally tough but this is almost a nightmare.

I am hearing…the ticking of my many clocks….the hum of the refrigerator…a commercial on television.

Plans for the week include…back to work, back to reality…spring cleaning in the house and outside in the garden…work on my vacation photographs.

One of life’s little pleasures…checking out the garden and seeing little green sprouts popping up from the ground and realizing soon enough there will be flowers everywhere.  My grandmother loved flower gardens…I think a little bit of her lives in me.  🙂

From my camera…this was taken last year…the most relaxing room ever…it is attached to the bathroom I featured last week…I miss those two rooms…and Papa and Nina too.  Thank you both for a wonderful vacation!  🙂