Great and Blue and Magical

Song -Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens

Over the last few sunny days my son Tyler and I have spotted this Great Blue Heron 

in our trees and down the creek.

Magical...especially to see him soaring....

Mr. Moon

Song - Moon Shadow by Cat Stevens


 Just in case you were not up early on Wednesday morning.....

5:02 am

.....I took these for you!

 

5:24 am

6:12 am

Unfortunately I forgot to set up my tripod the night before so the photos are a little wonkey but you get the idea of this spectacular moon event!

"The world is full of magic things 

patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper."

--attributed to W.B. Yeats

Luna

Song - Moon Shadow by Cat Stevens

So on Monday morning, I awoke early and got my solar eclipse supplies ready.....two pinhole cards, a cheese grater (because I read somewhere that multiple holes look really cool) and my ever ready camera.

But it was overcast and not expected to clear until noon - the eclipse was happening between 9:30-11am.  So I headed over to my mother's house and we sat on her back deck and waited.

And then we saw it between breaks in the clouds.....

We had fun waiting for the sun-moon to peek out from the clouds and it sure did.

Mr. B stopped by for awhile and tried to be my mom's eclipse glasses when it got bright. He is a conscientious son-in-law and loves mom.

Now my brother on the other hand headed up to Oregon and got to experience the total eclipse with his family.  He said it got very cool and the street lights came on. There was also the look of a 360 degree sunrise around them. Now they are stuck in traffic.....

"Yeah, we all shine on.  

Like the moon, and the stars, and the sun."

--John Lennon

Just Hopping By

Song - Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens

The table was set, the flowers smelled wonderful, food (lot's of food) was prepared, the silver was polished and the place cards where set and even though it was supposed to rain, we woke to beautiful blue skies on Easter morning.

As I debated on weather to move the tables outside, the big gray clouds rolled in and made up my mind for me!

Mom let me pinch a couple branches off of her Dogwood tree to add some height to my Tulips.

We had bushels of beautiful Lilacs in full bloom.

And Mr. B cooked the biggest, best ham I have ever tasted! It was over 20 lbs. and took over 5 hours to heat through.

Friends and family arrived with babies, armload's of food, flowers and smiles.

They were greeted with a Mimosa bar.  Mmmmm....which I had to sample while helping to cook because I wouldn't want the Mimosa's to not "flow" properly!! You know how that can be.

After Brunch, the fun began.  We headed into the backyard to watch the kids hit Grandma Betty's traditional Pinata filled with toys and candy for the little ones.

Two year old Jackson gave it a good try.

My nieces two children, June & Calvin both went after the Pinata with gusto!

Junie getting some pointers from her dad, Brandon

Direct hit!

Calvin finally busted it up with a mighty baseball swing.

Then it was time for the adults to have a little fun.  My dad hid plastic eggs in the front yard while no one was looking.  Each one had a number inside and when you presented Cal Sr., with your number, he hands you an envelope with money inside - yep, real live money!  Now sometimes it's only some spare change and other times it is several dollars.  Of course there is also the "Better Luck Next Time" note as well......

My dad is looking pretty good for a temporary Easter Bunny huh?!

We enjoyed "coconut nests" filled with Jelly Bean "eggs" baked by Ashley, brownies from Katie & a wonderful fruit Cobbler from Mom.

And then.....the sky opened up and the rain came pouring down.  The guys pulled out their electronic games and Calvin was very generous with sharing his new birthday game with all of us!

Happy 6th Birthday Calvin!

Hope your day was filled with friends and family!!!

"An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare."

   ~Unknown Author

Morning Has Broken....

"Morning has broken, like the first morning.

Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird.

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning.

Praise for them springing fresh from the world." 

- Cat Stevens