The other day I took a walk in Skylands (where else?) to see how far along everything might be from blooming there. Not much was happening in that direction unfortunately, but I did find some other things of interest. Such as this turtle family enjoying a sunny rock in the middle of Duck Pond. 

It must have been just that kind of day because in another part of the pond I saw this:

They were all lined up facing in the direction of the sun for maximum baking exposure like a group of devout worshipers.

And what else could you expect to find on Duck Pond? Well … ducks of course!

I'm not really sure why one male's head was green and the other was more blue. Younger perhaps?

Our weekend ahead is varied. Today is supposed to be very nice weather-wise and I'm not sure just yet how we'll spend it. On Sunday Rick heads out early in the morning to catch his flight to Las Vegas for the big trade show and I'll be on my own until Friday. I am hoping to get in a few good walks while he's gone if the weather lets me! I am patiently waiting for the cherry blossoms to pop and my new lens to come in, neither of which is cooperating.

Going back into my archives again this week for the Rurality Blog Hop.

Somewhere along the border of Colorado and Wyoming, stands the old homestead. At least that's what I call it. We pass it every time going in to town from our cabin. If you look closely in the above photo you can just about make it out in the distance just above the gap between STATE and LINE on the border sign.

I don't know its story but I'm sure at one time it was a great place to live, sheltered as it is from the wind by the sandstone bluff behind it. It's obvious that they put in electricity at some point in time, but as they used to say long, long ago: beyond here be dragons. In other words, the electric stops at the state line of Wyoming and does not extend over the border to Colorado where our cabin is. (Our cabin is completely off the grid.)

They had a wonderful view.

 But every year it falls further and further into disrepair. I am always happy to see it still standing each year when we return on vacation. I think it has managed to maintain itself as well as it has due to the lack of humidity in this part of the country. The sage is taking over, the fences are falling down and I'm quite certain the pack rats have made it their new home.

But I can still see its beauty. How about you?

I think Spring is finally on the way. As I type the little Carolina wren is singing away outside my window. I just adore those little birds and their sweet varied songs. I can see buds about to pop on the maple trees and the day lilies have broken ground. The daffodils have lots of flower buds coming. Soon it will all burst wide open and I'll be glad for that.

Our three-day weekend went pretty well. On Friday we did some errand running around. Some errands were successful (like our trip to DSW for new shoes) and others weren't as successful as I had hoped (Unique Photo for this new lens which was out of stock). As soon as I made the final decision to actually buy it and spend my reserved "Mom" money they run out due to a super new sale price. Next week!

We took the dogs for a walk, Rick took down the old cabana canopy frame in preparation for the new one and gave Mia a much needed bath.

We branched out for dinner and tried cooking skate for the first time and it was amazingly good. 

On Saturday we took Mia out for a spin. It was nice enough to have the top down once the day warmed up. We drove down to Branch Book Park in Bloomfield (a suburb of Newark) to check on the progress of the cherry trees, and also because I wanted to know the route so I could drive myself when the time comes. Last year this time the cherries were just about done, but this year they haven't even started yet. We saw a couple of trees that had popped, but most had not. I plan to spend a lot of time wandering around the park with my camera (and my new lens!) just taking in all the blossoms and getting some much needed cherry therapy or "cherrapy". Here's what they looked like last year.

When we got home Rick experimented with the new cook book I got him the other day. America's Test Kitchen's D.I.Y. cookbook: Can It, Cure It, Churn It, Brew It: 100+ Foolproof kitchen projects for the adventurous home cook. He made ketchup! It was very tasty and much better than the prepared stuff. Healthier too! It made the house smell so good.

We used it on our homemade onion rings that accompanied our grilled steaks. Here are the rings before frying. Yum!

Easter was spent doing much not of anything. The weather was cloudy and windy and by afternoon the rain had started in. We bathed Alex, who was sorely in need of a bath, and blew him dry dog-show style in the morning. We just stayed around the house and watched TV, read and I knit some (still working on Rick's slippers, almost done) and cooked our free Easter ham. We also had gratin dauphinois and roasted carrots, parsnips and onions as sides. Delicious! Now we'll be eating on ham for the rest of the week: in quiche, split pea soup and so on. We'll also be having Sloppy Joes this week and using Rick's ketchup in them to see how it works when used in a recipe. 

So that's it folks, the weekend that was. I think I covered most of the highlights. I hope however you spent your holiday weekend was equally as enjoyable as ours.

(Top Photo explanation: I was intrigued by capturing the play of light on the fencing around the pool late in the afternoon as we grilled our steaks. The wrought iron chair on the opposite side of the fence was casting a shadow.)