Saturday, April 12, 2014

Spring Break

Hello, my friends. I’m not going to apologize for being such a sporadic blogger, ok? It is what it is and I kind of like things this way for now. In the past, blogging had been such a blessing because it was a distraction for me with everything that was going on in my life.

The winter is finally over here in Maryland and the grass is slowly turning green, buds are coming out on the trees, the birds are singing in happiness, but I swear – this is the first year that I’ve been in this old house on the hill that the dogwoods have bloomed so late. They’re only just budding at this point. And the ancient azalea bush at the front of the house which is usually in full bloom about now is only just beginning to bud. What a crazy, long winter. It was truly the winter of my discontent but I’m going to put it behind me . . .

 

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We are now officially on Spring Break from school. With all the snow days we had accumulated, we had to add an entire week to the calendar at the end of the year but we managed, through forgiveness from the state, to add a couple of days back to the calendar and we added them to our much-shortened Spring Break enabling us to have the entire week off. This is something that all of us look forward to, believe me. School will end on June 6 rather than May 30 this year.

I have no big plans for the week other than getting some much-needed work done around here. The yard is a mess and I sure am missing having my husband being around. He took care of so much here. He really enjoyed keeping this place neat and tidy in the first years we lived here.

I have a couple of fun things planned for the week, as well. And George will be super glad that I’m able to be here with him.

 

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The images in this post were taken indoors in natural light using my Nikon D7000 with my 60 mm macro lens and the little flash bounce from photojojo. The spring flowers are compliments of one of our parents who brought planters to everyone in the school office before Break. How nice! And they smell really wonderful, too ~

 

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Ok, here’s something really freaky. I had a scare last night. I was lying on the sofa in my living room, reading a book. My cell phone rang and it was my boss/friend/neighbor, Christine. She told me, in a voice that was a little shaky, that she didn’t mean to scare me, but I was to hang up the phone and lock all of my doors immediately and then call her back. She briefly explained that there had been an accident at the bottom of our driveway, and one of the people involved had fled the scene and was reported to be coming up the driveway on foot. She said the police were there and they were bringing in dogs.

I can’t remember moving so quickly. I had all the doors locked and was at my bedroom window looking down the driveway within 30 seconds. I could see nothing – no lights, no shapes – it was kind of scary. There are so many places to hide up here and it freaked me out just a little bit. I called her and she said that her husband had been driving by right as it happened and had called her to alert me to lock the doors (he didn’t have my number). She drove down to check it out and the police told her to move on. She said there were six cars at the end of the drive but she would let me know when it was clear (which it was within a half hour). Quite the scare last night!

Well, I’d better get to work. I have a number of things to accomplish this morning and I woke early to get them done. The weekend is supposed to be beautiful and I want to enjoy every moment (as soon as I get my darn chores done)!

 

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Thanks for stopping by, my friends. I’ll try to post more in my free time this week ~

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34 comments:

Willow said...

I would have been more than a bit scared ~ that was freaky !
I hope your weekend is serene.

Country Girl said...

I know! I have no idea what happened but am sure I'll find out eventually. Thanks, Willow ~

~C.G.

Country Gal said...

That is scary . Glad all are ok though . Lovely post and photos . Our kids have had their mid break in March . Enjoy your weekend it is nice weather here to gona spend the day out side ! Thanks for sharing . Have a good week.

Kerri Farley said...

Your images are exquisite! How nice to have a week off - I'm sure you'll have loads of fun. Spring has finally made an appearance here too....and we are supposed to have awesome weather this weekend :)

Lee Owenby said...

Love, love, love these photos! You have a great eye for cropping and composition.

Happy spring Kate!

Anonymous said...

Our family moved to Arizona in the late 70's, and that summer the Tyson men broke out of the prison and the father was noted to have said that if he ever got out that he would kill a particular person who lived around our little town. We could not drive in or out of our town without being stopped, being told to open our vehicle's trunk, and having the sheriff and his men stand there pointing guns into it as the trunk lid popped open. Quite frightening, so I can relate a bit to how you were feeling last night. ugh... so sad the world has to be this way.

http://murderpedia.org/male.T/images/tison_gary_gene/Tison.pdf

The Weaver of Grass said...

Lovely to read such an upbeat post Kate - do hope this year bring you a lot of healing.

Debbie From Illinois said...

First of all, happy Spring break!!!! I agree that winter was way too long this year. I was cleaning up the yard yesterday and I was so thankful to feel the warm breeze and the warmth from the sun on my back. Ahhh, it all felt so good.

Sorry about the scare you had. It is nice to have neighbors that look out for each other.

Enjoy your break with your furry friend!

jinxxxygirl said...

What a scare Kate!! Wow! Nice to have neighbors that look out for each other huh? Not a very great start to your Spring Break!

But you have great plans and a great buddy to hang around with you in George. Enjoy the warm weather. We are doing much the same. Looking for a certain couple of plants to plant in the Garden but no luck so far...so i'm off on another search this weekend ... then puttering around the house and in the craftroom..... Be good... take care .. look forward to your next post my friend. Hugs! deb

Annette Whipple said...

Friends are a wonderful blessing. I'm glad Christine called and kept you safe...and that they cleared the scene quickly.

Enjoy this break. We look forward to hearing from you when you write, but no apologies needed!

Lisa Gordon said...

Glad that all is okay, Kate.
These images are just beautiful.
Have a great weekend, and a wonderful spring break.

JC said...

How scary.

Hope you have a nice Spring Break.

Mersad said...

That was quite a scare you had. Enjoy the spring break, I hope you'll finish up your chores (our yard is a mess as well). Lovely photographs as well.

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

WOW that's scarey. I'm assuming the police caught up with whoever was heading up your driveway?


Love your images, just beautiful -

Carolynn Anctil said...

I hope you enjoy your break from routine. I'm glad the recent night's events didn't evolve into anything more serious. Every once in a while, I'm reminded of how isolated I am out here..

Carolynn
A Glowing Ember

Michelle said...

So glad you are safe! I know George would sound an alarm, too.

Hilary said...

Ack.. that sounds scary enough to produce fertilizer for those lovely flowers. :/ I'm glad you're okay.

Hilary said...

So you're saying that George would not scare any intruder off???

JaneK said...

Oh holy crap. I need a little excitement but I am glad to not have it if it is like that! Glad nothing came of it for you and glad you have good people looking after you....

Blondie's Journal said...

As most know, Kate, I live in Chicago and we have a lakehouse in a little town in Michigan. I lose sleep there all the time, especially when the dogs bark. We have huge floor to ceiling windows (19 feet up) thus no curtains. I always get the creeps at night. There are two policemen in town and that's a good 20 minutes from our house. In Chicago, I can call the police and a patrol car (and about 5 more) would be here in under a minute. I have felt your fear at the lakehouse. That's all I mean to say!! And I'm glad all of it worked out and you were safe. And please, always keep your doors locked.

Not to miss what you said earlier in your post, it's been a devastating winter for so many of us. I'm so sorry you have to tackle all of the worst on your own. Sending big hug and encouragement that you can do it. You will.

XO,
Jane

Winters End Rambler said...

Ooww! Spine chilling stuff Kate....glad all was well after all that. Er....housework and free time this week...good luck with that one! Take care, could almost smell that hyacinth,
Jackie. x

Veronica Roth said...

Holy smokes Kate, sounds freaky. Hope the police resolved the situation. I'm only just getting to know you thru your blog. Do you live in the country? I remember...millions of years ago...my late husband and I were living in a remote area, he was on dialysis and hooked up to his kidney machine, I had two small children sleeping upstairs, and a knock at the door produced two drunk boys who said their car broke down. I literally didn't know what to do. Ended up calling the AA for them and not letting them in, but boy oh boy the panicky feeling. I can still feel it when I think back. Hope your next week is a smooth and calm one. Big hugs to get over the shock. :)

ahomespunyear said...

What a scary thing to happen...glad you're safe. Sounds like you've had a really hard winter - so lovely to see spring flowers

Kay said...

Gee, just like out of the Lisa Jackson novel I just finished. Yeow. !!! That can be scary.
I hope you have a fantastic spring break. We had one of our "awesome" days on the coast today, even 80 downtown official. No wind.....even got a bit warm for me, but sure was great. I have been reading, shopped for grub, (Easter dinner prep) and laid out in the lounger and been reading a lot . The simple life.

Kay from Coos Bay (hey that rhymes)....

beth said...

i would have totally been freaked out because i watch way too many movies…scary movies…and TV shows.

i'm so happy all is okay and you had someone watching out for you!

enjoy your week….xoox

The JR said...

blog when you can......I enjoy hearing from you when you feel like posting

yes, that was a scare. i'm glad you have good friends that are aware of danger like that

take care and i love the pictures

Daryl said...

thats one way, not the best, to get the cardio going .. i am glad you have the week off ... enjoy the heck out of it xo

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

OK, now that would really freak me out and it takes a lot to scare me. Glad you're OK. Enjoy the rest of the week.

thotlady said...

Strange and scary. Have a nice week off work.

Em Parkinson said...

Have a lovely productive break. I must say, I would have been completely freaked out too!

mrs mediocrity said...

Yikes. Your heart must have been racing! I hope you are enjoying your week, we had three beautiful days, then some snow, but I think it's going to warm up again.

Spring is waltzing in slowly.

Anonymous said...

I understand about the discontent. I hope you are able to continue to move past it all. I always hate to hear that time heals but with that, I hope there's lots of sunshine, happy people and loads of flowers in your life right now. ♥

Bluebird49 said...

Funny how fast we can move when urgency comes!
The pictures are so lovely---the crisp, yellow jonquil against the misty, mystery blue flower in the first photo is a beauty. But, I sit here---loving the crisp white of the last flower and a bit worried that I cannot name it---my daddy's very favorite flower! More than a bit, actually! It seems to happen more often...this maddening grasping for a word and finding it's beyond my grasp! Frustrating! He loved them so!

thewiildmagnola said...

oh the beauty of it all.