High Five for Friday … Garden Variety.

It’s Friday and I’m feeling particularly energetic today because I took the day off. I clearly needed to mentally check out from work for a few hours – a “little” something called avian flu remains on everyone’s mind here in Minnesota so I think it’s fair to say our work days have been intense. (Not complaining, mind you – just reality.)

Shortly, I will be heading off to pick up Joe and then Teacher Man after school and we’re headed to my sister’s home for a mini family reunion dinner. My aunt, uncle and cousin are in town from New York so we’re all getting together for some wine, food, and lots of catching up. We also get to meet my cousin’s son, Carter, who is nearly 2. I bet Miss Morgan will be fascinated with this new little person in her house!

In the meantime, I’ve been pretty productive: a 3 mile run this morning, a quick trip to pick up a computer part Joe needs, and some time in the kitchen making cookies and a pasta salad for tonight while I’ve got Food Network on the television. I love days off like this!

As for my ~~five~~ (okay, seven) Friday photos … I give you the garden variety version with a little Joe thrown in for fun. It’s been cloudy and rainy nearly all week, but it certainly has resulted in a very green landscape. Now if it would ever heat up, I think all of my flowers would shoot up fast and we’ll have to start mowing the lawn three times a week!

Enjoy early spring in my garden and have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

The first of my bearded irises is blooming!

Senor Frog is keeping an eye on one of my peonies.

I have to show off my garlic – if only because I have never attempted to grow it before! I think it’s looking pretty awesome. 🙂

Ah, lilacs. One of my top 5 favorite flowers without a doubt. This particular variety is “Yankee Doodle” and I love the deep purple color.

Plenty of green around here, after the much-needed rain came this week!

And some color, too, on our front porch – plus another one of Joe’s frogs. Someday I should do a post on all the frogs that kid has collected. Some are outside, some are in his room – and all are clearly an obsession. Better yet – maybe I’ll have him guest blog his frog knowledge for you. 🙂

Speaking of Joe … he was chosen to attend the “Young Artists – Young Authors Conference” at the College of St. Benedict’s today. He was pretty pumped about the whole thing, as evidenced by his high energy level at 7:00 a.m. Now if I could only capture some of that energy and disperse it as needed on regular school mornings.