Did you know this?

Maybe I didn't pay enough attention in science class, but I learned something Sunday about the roots of cypress trees. They apparently have to come up for "breath" so to speak on the ground around the base of the tree. This is a shot of some of the roots of one tree that Suzanne took. Weird, huh?

To me they look like old, gnarled fingers or phallic symbols. What do you think?

Silliness with a camera

Sunday afternoon while we were walking around the Arboretum, Suzanne wanted to go to the croquet "field" and jump around. She did indeed do some jumping, but then she came up with the idea of holding out the camera, spinning and taking photos of herself. This was her effort:


It looked like so much fun I decided to try it. My camera is old and slow, so I borrowed Suzanne's fancier model and came up with this:

I love how the background is blurry. I also love how you can see Deb and Suzanne in the blurry background. But I hate how my eyes are almost closed. And my double chin. But I'm proud that I didn't fall down. It was fun. I need to do more fun things like that in life. Silly is good.

More Arb pictures

As promised, here are some more pictures I took at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine Sunday. It was absolutely gorgeous weather and I would have taken more photos, but my battery became exhausted before I was finished with my walk around the grounds.


This is the inscription above the door to the cottage that proprietress Robin lives in on the property. I love the sentiment.


This picture was taken from the bridge looking south.

The Arb in Autumn

We met for our monthly book club on Sunday at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine. Robin, one of our members (it should be said she recently dropped her other book club because we're more fun), owns this gem of Sumner county. It's absolutely gorgeous any time of year, but fall is especially pretty. My carpoolers and I arrived about 3:45 and enjoyed a walk around the grounds before most of others arrived. Suzanne snapped this picture of the four of us on the bridge:

Me, Tara, Suzanne and Deb

We had a great time and I will post more pictures later. I was a bit sickly yesterday (not because of book club) and didn't do anything but sleep and sit. More to come, I promise.

p.s. the pumpkin bread turned out fabulously even though I didn't have all the ingredients. I improvised and still it worked. hooray for me!

Sunglasses and jacket weather

A thousand apologies to my Mother who gently reminded me that she's checked my blog 14 times and still I hadn't posted anything. This one's for you, Mom!

Here in the land of Kansas, we've been having some gorgeous October weather. It's warm and sunny during the days (hence the sunglasses), but there's just enough of a chill in the air that you need a jacket, too. The trees are starting to turn (I'll post pictures here soon) and I've pulled out my trusty down comforter to use at night. It's good sleepin' weather, I tell ya. I did break down and turn on the heat in my house Friday night. But I turned it back off Saturday morning and haven't turned it on since. I like this time of year when it's rather chilly inside my house during the day when it's warm and sunny outside. And as I sit here typing this, there's not a cloud in the sky and the day looks promising.

I've got book club this afternoon (yes, it's a different day than usual) at the Arboretum in Belle Plaine. I'll be leaving in a couple of hours to head down there with my carpool buddies. I'll post pictures later, but now I must head off to make some pumpkin bread to take with me.

Friday night is for margaritas

Last night after work, I met some friends over at Emerson Biggin's for a margarita. Yes, I only had one margarita, but it looked like this: It was a ginormous 32 oz. margarita. For $4.75! It's what I call the bargain of the century and it was very tasty. The reason for the get-together is that my friend, Sandy, who left the Eagle last year to move to Kansas City with her husband, Marty, was in town. Here's a picture of them: Also in attendance was Cheryl, a current work buddy, and her husband, Mike. It was their 12th anniversary. Here's to many more! They look really happy, don't they? I don't think the happiness was just about the beer and margaritas, either.It was a wonderful evening of laughter and good conversation. I stuck with one margarita, but I could have easily stayed 'til 2 a.m. and had several more. Let's do it more often, guys! So I can get more practice drinking and staying out late, because I'm clearly a wimp.

Sunday visit with Caden

Sunday morning I called Caden's (he's my great nephew) house to see if he was receiving visitors. His Daddy said he was so I went over. We played for a while (it's a shame that he doesn't get any attention from his parents) until it was time for him to take a nap. Here he is laughing at his Mommy:I can't wait to see pictures from Halloween, because he's going to be a cowboy.

After Caden went upstairs for his nap, I turned my attention to Copper, their labrador retriever. He's kinda jealous of that baby and just can't figure out why he's not allowed to lay on Caden's blanket, too. Andrew gave him a treat and he was very gracious and let me take his picture. I'm sure he's thinking: "Take the picture so I can have my treat."