Casper in the sunlight on the porch.



All of the kids we saw were quiet and polite and all looked like they knew what they were doing. One of them just beamed when he was given a compliment by the director, who gave us a great tour. I felt kind of bad that we were just sightseeing, because he took a lot of time to talk to us. I guess he has only been there for about a year, having come from Colorado to run the program here.




Almost my whole front "yard" is vinca. It was that way when I bought this house and I love it. There is a little tiny patch of grass, a whole lot of vinca and a foundation plantings. "Mowing the lawn" out front takes about 30 seconds. It has such a pretty flower.
We had a good day. Went to the farm in the morning, stopped and got paint chips and discussed painting the sunporch, puttered a little, read a little and went to an early dinner at Dinosaur BarBQue in Syracuse. It was delicious, as usual. The perfect ending to a very nice weekend.

I get a tiny hint of color from the Pulmonaria (above) and my daffodils. Who cares if there is snow in the forecast...
I was out in the garden today and heard a rustling sound and looked down and saw this little snake. I *think* it is an eastern Garter snake but I'm not sure. Most of the garter snakes I have seen (and ICK!--removed from my house) have been darker in color. But I checked a couple of websites and it sort of looks like some of the photos of garter snakes. Anyway, it was very photogenic and quite tolerant of me photographing it.
We had a family get together and even if we were missing a lot of people, the ones who were there made up for the ones who weren't. And it was SO nice to have Mike & Emily there this year. It's good to have them home. Good food, good libations, lots of laughs and three generations of Quinlans. It doesn't get much better than that.