Home still....

Well, today we were supposed to be in Cody, Wy today to visit Yellowstone. Duane's work has him staying here for a while longer.....soon, maybe we can head West.....

Trip to Beaufort

Hop over to Glory Days to see what we're up to!

We need more rhinoceroses!!

Yesterday at the Asheboro Airport, we noted that we had an NCDOT Citation jet scheduled to land. They were flying from Texas, which we thought was a bit odd....

Before long, a van from the NC Zoo shows up to meet the jet.....

Apparently, the jet was carrying some precious cargo - one cooler - yep, you guessed it - rhino sperm!!! Betcha weren't expecting to read that this morning, were ya????

Just a flower shot

So, the World of Karen is pretty mundane lately!!

I planted 3 Amaryllis bulbs that Grandma Hall had given me over the course of several Christmases. I had kept them in pots inside - but I thought I'd try and see if they could survive outside. Last fall I planted them extra deep in a semi-shady spot under an old oak.

And, I'm happy to report that all three made it through the winter!




Just one has bloomed so far - and it is a little worse for wear due to some bug nibbling on it....but very pretty all the same!!

A very happy birthday to me!

I had a wonderful birthday!! Lots of phone calls and birthday wishes...

Robert had offered to cook me dinner, so I invited "the airport gang" and told Robert to expect 8!! He did a wonderful job with dinner and everyone enjoyed!





Now to the Good Stuff!!! Of course, I received "the card" from my sis that we've been trading for many years.

And flowers from my sweet hubby


A shirt from Dick and Lindy from a recent winery tour - perfect for me, as most of you know!!


Some zany earrings from Diane - there are 3 pieces hanging, they "tinkle" when I move my head.


And some lovely "Sister" figurines sent by my sweet sis, how precious!

Almost finished front porch

We finally got around to doing some of the finishing on our porch project. Here's the "before" shot you've seen a month or so ago. Original, peeling rails - some of the boards were split and rotting.


This is how it's looked for several weeks - the railing is all in place, but I wanted to give the entire entrance a bit of a facelift.



So, we painted the risers white and the treads grey with stain (so no more peeling paint!!! The stain soaks in and can just be done again if it starts to fade.) We also painted the concrete landing with a nice grey concrete stain. I'm pretty pleased!!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Twenty nine years and counting!!!

Locusts!

It's noisy outside!! The cicadas are here! They supposedly go in 13 or 17 yr cycles. Not sure which one we're in....kindof pretty as far as bugs go....



Here's a very short clip that illustrates the constant noise outside!





Otherwise, not a lot going on around here. No big projects or anything - just a few weeks away from our Yellowstone trip, though.

Here's some pretty flowers in the yard....




This is one of the amaryllis bulbs Grandma gave me a few years ago. I've planted 3 outside - this one is the only one to send up a shoot so far this year. Looks like a bug is eating the blossom - we'll see in a day or two if it opens spectacularly!!

Mother's Day continued

So, we got back from Asheville mid-afternoon on Mother's day....just in time for some relaxing yardwork. I was leisurely using the leaf blower to clean the grass clippings from the carport. I went to the hangar to store the blower....and almost jumped out of my skin when I almost stepped on this beauty! Duane often has old hoses laying around on the hangar floor when he's doing maintenance, so my eyes didn't even register that this was a snake until I was almost stepping on him!! He's harmless - so I let him find his own way out (or maybe not!!)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

We flew up to Asheville Saturday evening for a nice visit with both Granny and Mom....can you believe, I didn't take a single photo??? We had a great meal with Granny and most of the entire McCraw clan Saturday night and a terrific brunch with Mom Sunday morning.

We had a nice flight back - beautiful weather leaving Asheville -




It got cloudier as we approached home....Duane had to fly an actual instrument approach into Siler City - that's always fun to do when there are real clouds (not just simulating for training).


It was lucky that we landed at Siler City Airport before going home! Miranda (who is working at the airport today) had these flowers for me from her and Richard. Aren't they gorgeous?? Robert called later to wish me a happy Mother's Day also, but he has too work tonight. A very nice Mom's Day!

Pretty flowers

I know, I've been lazy with my blog lately! Just not a lot going on - that's a good thing sometimes!!

Just some pretty "Japanese irises", long ago stolen from Mom's garden....