Friday in the City

Friday evening, Ella and I headed into Philly to meet Rob at his office. Ella loves to see where he works, check out his desk, and share a soda with him. Then we met up with Buck and Wu for dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse on Spring Garden. We had a fun time hanging out with them, and Ella especially enjoyed having two special backseat buddies in the car to play with (I mean, to bang her balloon into)! We hope we can do that more often in the summer months.

Ella helping Rob with his files

Ella trying to figure out how Buck's Neo-Geo game works
(a future gamer?)


Sorry, Buck--I didn't get a picture of you for some reason, but here's one from Easter (He looks so smart!)


Wu and Ella after dinner
(chilly and ready to get into the car)

Blooms

One of my favorite reasons for Spring's arrival, beside the warmer weather, is that flowers start to bloom and brighten our yards. Our first flowers were crocuses and daffodils, which arrived in plenty of time for Easter this year. The hostas started peeking through the mulch as pencil-thin sticks, and within the past week are opening and spreading quickly.

Last Fall, Rob built me a raised garden in the side yard. This weekend we worked on digging out the remaining grass and rocks and filling the bed with tons of top soil and a rich humus/manure mix. The goal is to put all of the vegetables and herbs that I grew in containers and in random spots around the house last year in there all together this season. We purchased a new hose that we can attach to our rain barrel so that I can water the garden directly from the barrel easily. Right now I am reading up on some designs/tips from Vegetable Gardening for Dummies (thanks, Madge and Dad!) and taking some trips to nurseries/farms to figure out exactly what we will try to grow. It's a project that our whole family is looking forward to.

first sign of Spring amid the snow

ivy growing in Chestnut Hill


first sign of a crocus

more crocuses opening

pretty in the sun

before our front flower bed was mulched

after the mulching, but before anything really started blooming

top view of crocuses
(I think these flowers take nice pictures because they are so delicate and thin)


daffodils


tree in bloom


blooms up close


filling in the garden


Rob working hard

Beth's Visit

Last month, my friend, Beth, came to visit for the weekend. She is a speech therapist working near Baltimore now and we met our Sophomore year at Penn State in the dorms.

We went out for dinner together, went to Tyler State Park, made a meal together, and just hung out. It was great to catch up with her--laugh and relax. Hopefully we will not let so much time go in between our visits--the last time she visited was over a year ago.

Ella helping Beth make a delicious flourless chocolate cake---
Thanks, Beth--it was so yummy!


friends