A Trip to Wisconsin and Restful Saturday

Whew! It is GOOD to be home. I just came back last night from a trip to Wisconsin for Kettle Foods! We were there for five days to run a very complicated experiment that took months of preparation. Lots of eyes have focused on the results and the pressure was on! I'm happy to report that everything went very well with only a few nail-biting moments. I still have to crunch numbers and write reports, but the hard part is done and we were all pleased with ourselves on Friday.

Here's the management team at the Prime Quarter restaurant in Janesville where you pick out and cook your own steak and texas toast on a large community grill in the middle of the restaurant. It was lots of fun and Larry and I both enjoyed our filets.

Potatoes!!! Lots of potatoes!!!

Larry, me, and Carolyn outside of the Wisconsin plant just about to leave for the airport.

After five days in a strange town, sleeping in a strange bed, eating strange food, and a two-hour time change, it was SOOO good to get home. When I woke up this morning, I was amazed at the transformation my little yellow house has gone through in only five days. Spring has finally found my little town and as I drank tea (my first in a week) and wandered around, everything struck me as idyllic and absolutely beautiful.
This is the view of my neighbor's front yard from my porch. Along the whole street, more plants are starting to bloom, following the daffodil's decline. Tulips, bluebells, dogwood and magnolia trees are all going crazy. The air smells like damp soil and green grass. I can hear the stream foaming in the back and bird song. Starlings, ducks, robins, and scrubjays all announce the new day. Wake up! Wake up!

The flowers on my birch tree in front are loosing their petals and when the warm wind blows, they float across my yard like snow....

A robin is making a nest in my neighbor's arbor...

The blueberry bush I bought at Gardenpalooza, already growing leaves and waiting to be planted.

My new raised beds! I hope to make more progress on my garden this week before another pending trip to Beloit....

Say hello to #6 and #12, happy to be let out of their coop...

Grass is one of their favorites and I was careful not to spray round-up too close...

this mornings hidden treasure...

My yard may look like it's nothing but patchy grass and weeds at first, but upon closer inspection, one can find surprises hiding amongst the dandylions.
This....

and this....

and, well, of course this....

I feel renewed and rested. My house is beautiful even in it's rough state. I'm going to make into an absolute paradise. That is my promise to myself.