Out Like a Lion

March seems to be going out as a lion. We are under a winter storm warning. Heavy snows are predicted. The snow began this a.m. but is mostly melting as it hits the fairly warm ground. As the afternoon goes on the temperature is going down and the rate of snowfall increasing. The overnight forecast is for 8 inches. Spring snow tends to be very wet and heavy but it tends to melt within a few days. As I look out my window now the flakes are so big and pretty.

I took a lot of Armando and kitty cat photos last night only to discover at Proex this morning that the setting was on email format. So I can't print them for scrapbooking but I can use them here. The photos I took on my drive back from visiting Emily were also in email format. I had taken some cool barn photos, which I like to use in card making, so I can't get them printed.

My grand daughter Katie turned 4 years old last week. She got a cat for her birthday. It is a white cat, about 8 - 9 months old. His current name is Horton unless Katie has changed it over the weekend. Can you guess what movie she saw recently?

I will post snow photos tomorrow. I just went out and scrapped off my car. The wind is really picking up. Fortunately tomorrow is my stay home and clean day.

Easter

It is Easter Sunday, a joyous day in the Christian calendar, a dreary , snowy day in today's weather reality. I'm one of those people who wants weather to match the sentiments of the day. A day like Easter, when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, calls for warmth and sun. Christmas calls for falling snow, lots of it. Halloween calls for damp, dreary, windy weather. Thanksgiving calls for a sunny, cold day. But so often the weather just doesn't co-operate and today is one of those days. But it can still be a warm sunny day in our hearts.

I have a feeling this is going to be a cooler spring and summer. I think it was the summer of 1990 that was unusually cool. Gorbachev came to visit Minnesota on Pentecost Sunday, which was June 3rd. The governor's mansion is in the neighborhood where we lived at the time so Alex and I wanted to see Gorbachev. It was 28 degrees, Alex was wearing a snowsuit. A snowsuit in June!! It was also Grand Old Days, the largest one day street fair in the U.S., but hardly anyone showed up that cold day in June. Anyway, my prediction is a summer similar to 1990's.

Have a wonderful Easter Day wherever you are, no matter the weather.

Another Morning in Kitty Paradise

These photos were taken by Sondros. The kitties keep us laughing. They are so darn cute. It's time to clip their nails again, LOL. Talk about razor blades!!

We woke up to a lot of snow. Now, if the sun would come out I could get some spectacular photos. I will post snow photos later today.

Enjoy this snowy day. It's March, winter will be over soon. It never lasts forever, it only seems that way.

The Owl

As promised on scrapsmack, this is an old photo of an owl. The original photo is on thin photo paper, circa 1900. The album is from New Jersey, I bought it on ebay. There was no writing to indicate date, place, etc. I found one photo I could date to about 1902 of the Beacon Incline Rail near Fishkill, NY. I'm thinking this owl was injured, otherwise I don't think it would have been so easily photographed.

Clare & Galway

Clare and Galway, born 20 January 2008 joined the McBride family yesterday. I found them via Craigslist. They were living in Prior Lake, MN. Their mother is a tiny, petite calico cat. It's hard to imagine that she had 5 kittens. She must have looked like a blimp.

They did very well on the drive home. They slept well all night and have carved out their special niches in the apartment.

Clare is what I guess I would call a muted calico. She doesn't have the distinct spots that my previous calico cats had. But she's not really a tortoise shell, like Kilkenny, because her colors are distinct. She is named after County Clare, Ireland. Galway is an orange cat, he matches my hair. I had been looking for an orange kitten for awhile. I don't think I've had an orange one since about 1952 when I had Fluffy. He is named after beautiful Galway Bay in Ireland.

They are keeping us entertained. Kilkenny ignores them. Wexford is staying up high. Donegal is grooming them.

Major spring snow storm due tonight. The nice thing about spring snow is that it melts fast, seldom lasting more than a day or two.

25 Years Ago Today

Today is Saint Joseph's Day. It is also the 25th anniversary of our son Alex arriving in the United States. He was born in Bogota, Colombia. On December Eve 1982 we received a phone call asking if we'd like to adopt a baby boy. Our older son Nathaniel was 5 1/2 and our daughter Emily 3 1/2 at the time. We had been on a waiting list for about 2 years at the time of the call. We said a boy or girl would be OK with us. It took from December to March to finish the rest of the paper work required once a child has been accepted. Normally travel to Colombia is required but my husband's medical partner had been diagnosed with terminal cancer so there was no way Jim could travel to Colombia. I could travel but being alone in Colombia, or anywhere, with 3 children wasn't something I looked forward to. The courts ruled we could have a friend in Colombia transport our new baby home. so on a very snowy, blistery day I drove with my other two children and a friend, who was to become Alex's godmother, to Minneapolis-Saint Paul to meet Alex. Jim was on duty at the hospital. We were living in northern Wisconsin at the time. Little did I know I would one day live in Saint Paul. On the drive home, after spending the night in Minneapolis, we got hopelessly lost around Chippewa Falls/Eau Claire. Diana thought she knew a short cut. LOL, it was no short cut. The visibility was down to zero at time. I think it was St. Joseph who saw us home safely.

And it's been wonderful having Alex as a son. And now he's a father to an adorable little boy. Time sure does fly.

The photo was taken when Alex was about 2. Emily was taking a bath and Alex decided to join her, LOL. I don't have a working scanner at the moment so no airport photos.

Is Spring Coming?

Donegal wonders if spring is ever coming. Lots of Minnesotans are asking the same question. They must be forgetting that historically March is our snowiest month. You can always plan that at least one of the state high school sports tournaments in March will see a good snow storm. I can only think of 3 sports that have tournaments in March, there may be more: basketball, hockey, and wrestling. Hockey is going on now, I think. LOL, with my kids all out of high school and college I don't follow sports any more. I still think the winters here are mild compared to Cassadaga,NY winters.

BTW, I don't know why my Saint Patrick's Day post was dated 3/16. I posted it after midnight, it should have been dated the 17th.

Darn, I just missed a great photo op. It is 0300, snowing hard, and the train is going by. It reminds me of the Polar Express, which is a great story. I love having a train track very close to my apartment. It reminds me of pleasant McBride homestead memories.

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Saint Patrick's Day

Blessings on this most wonderful of days.

May the blessing of light be on you—
light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you
and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire.

and

May the frost never afflict your spuds.
May the leaves of your cabbage always be free from worms.
May the crows never pick your haystack.
If you inherit a donkey, may she be in foal.





Photos: Howth Castle, where friends of my parents live.

Glendalough, one of my most favorite places which I visit on every trip.

Friends, after Kilkenny beat Waterford in soccer semi-finals. Yes, they are wasted. The man in the yellow/black soccer shirt is director of the Irish chapter of Europeans against the Smoking Ban (or some such name). How the rabid anti-smoker and he met is a long story.

Basic Grey

How hard can it be to find the name of a particular Basic Grey pattern? I can tell you, it is very hard. I make cards for friends and neighbors. I've had many requests to make a certain card, shown here. I used a Basic Grey paper for the photo mat.I could not remember the name of the series or pattern. I eventually found it. It is the Fusion series and the paper I need is Fusion Explosion. So, once I had that I thought it would be easy to find. Wrong. My local scrapbook shop no longer carried it as it is about 2 years old. I found several on-line places but all were out of stock on that item. I finally found a few sheets on EBay. So, they'll be here in a few days and I can make more cards. The house in the photo is an abandoned farm house near the Minnesota/Iowa border. It was a beautiful autumn day when I took the picture.

Express Issue

Three photos. One shows that spring is indeed coming to Minnie-sota.We won't talk about the predicted storm on St. Patrick's Day.


The second shows the real Spammy for the scrapsmack crowd.











Picture number 3 shows el nino trying to make friends with el gato. El gato is in striking mode should el nino move one step closer.

Owls, Birds, and Butterflies

In November 2003 a young owl crashed into a window at the school where I was the school nurse, in St. Paul, MN. The owl was very stunned. His left eye appeared injured but later he could open it.His wing appeared broken. His imprint was in the window for a long time as we didn't want to wash it away. We notified The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota, they recommended we put him a box until they arrived as the owl needed darkness. We named the owl Screech. Yeah, I know, original weren't we!It was identified by the Raptor Center as a long eared owl,very rare in Minnesota. They were very excited to get him because of how rare they are here. Previously only a few had been identified in Minnesota but no where near us; rather in the lower southern corner of the state. We are located on the banks of the Mississippi River and get many birds in our courtyard, but never an owl in broad daylight. Screech spent several weeks at the raptor center while his broken wing healed. Then he was released in southern MN where he will hopefully find other long eared owls.














These are a few examples of the many birds of Hawaii. I took these photos last month along Waikiki Beach. I love seeing colorful birds. They are easy to see in Waikiki because they are everywhere. When I go bird watching here along the Mississippi I need binoculars to find the birds amongst the foliage.




These are photos of Admiral butterflies taken in June 2005 by my son Alex. They were taken in Ontario, Canada. We drive to Armstrong, where the road ends, then fly to an island, never the same one twice. Every morning these butterflies would be found in shoes left to dry out on the dock.

Hawaii: The Wedding

In February I traveled to the island of Oahu for my niece's wedding. Julianne is stationed in the U.S. Army, as is her new husband. Hawaii is certainly a better assignment than Iraq. Juli, who has her B.S. and M.S. in criminal justice, is a surveyor with the Army Corps of Engineers. But given the amount of dollars being spent in Iraq she's not doing much surveying. So Juli plays the taps for the many military funerals in Hawaii. While that might not mean much to you civilians the sound of taps is a must at military funerals.It gives those of us who've been in the military chills, the same way the National Anthem does, or Eternal Father for us Navy veterans. So it is an important job.

The wedding was held at the Ocean Crystal Chapel, on the grounds of the Hilton Hawaiian Village at Waikiki Beach. The location was beautiful. I especially liked the throwing of rose petals on the bride and groom as they exited the chapel after the ceremony. I have to say, Protestant weddings aren't very long compared to Catholic weddings. That makes it easier for kids at the wedding. The reception was held at the hotel also, in one of many reception rooms. There were several other weddings the same day as Juli and Stephen's wedding.

I caught the bouquet, what a hoot!! I was told to go up since I am not married. Well, I figured if I was competing with young Army women I, the old Navy Nurse, was going to out jump them. I did ;-) I wanted the bouquet so Juli could get it back. I sure am not planning on getting married again.

It was a beautiful wedding in a beautiful setting with a beautiful bride and handsome groom.