Chocolate chip mini bagels

E sent me this picture of chocolate chip mini bagels she found when she and D were doing their grocery shopping about a week ago. Thomas used to make them but stopped and I was so disappointed. But they're back!

I had to search several stores but I found them!

Rainbow

It's been raining on and off all day but we were rewarded with a rainbow (actually a double rainbow) this evening.

Early-morning walk

Best part of walking early in the morning is that the streets are mostly vacant ... and there's not a lot of people out. This is East Avenue, a pretty busy street.

The birds were awake, of course.

And this cat (his tag says he's an outdoor cat) came up to me for some petting.

Fully vaccinated

L got her second covid vaccination at school yesterday. E gets her second shot next week. Now to get B vaccinated ...

Five years

This is a milestone anniversary.

Super Pink Moon

Best picture I could get with my phone. The moon was so big and bright tonight.

From NASA: Supermoons are full moons that appear bigger in the sky than usual, though the difference may not be noticeable to the casual observer. During a supermoon, the full moon can appear up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than when it is at its farthest from Earth. That’s because it coincides with the moon's arrival at perigee, the closest point to Earth in its orbit.

And the Pink Moon doesn't appear pink. It was named for phlox, an early-blooming spring flower.

Testing the Tesla

Andy's friend, Claude, bought this Tesla last June. Yesterday he brought it by so we could drive it.

Once he told me how to start it (after telling me how to open the door!) I hit the road. It was so quiet. The only tricky thing is that when you take your foot off the accelerator, the car stops. No coasting to a stop sign like in a gas-powered car.

The computer screen is incredible. It showed cars, your speed, pedestrians, stoplights, a huge street map and construction cones. The car beeped when the traffic signal turned green.

Andy took it on the Eisenhower hoping to get the speed up, but there was too much traffic. He did get it up to 60 mph on an exit ramp. Yikes.

A look under the hood - no engine but you get an extra trunk!

Friends since kindergarten.

Styling’ L

L said she was going to work yesterday when a girl "walked all the way across the block" (not sure what that means) to tell her the shorts she was wearing were cute. Nice compliment from a stranger. Apparently, it was warm enough in Champaign to wear shorts.

And, in case you're wondering, these are the shoes that complete the work outfit.

At Irving

I like to take pictures as I walk around. Irving School is looking good.

The kids were sad to hear the school's principal, who started as an interim principal when B was in kindergarten, is retiring at the end of the 2021-22 school year.

This is the new outdoor classroom, assembled with help of the high school football team.

This cardinal was sitting in one of the pretty blooming trees at Irving, but flew to the ground before I could get his picture.

Hidden flowers

Found these purple flowers hiding in the bushes in front of our house.

Stupid Monopoly

Jewel is back with its stupid Monopoly game although I have to say it's much improved over previous years. You still have to open every game piece but you no longer have to stick teeny tiny pieces to a game board. It's all done via an app and scanning. So much better. On my most recent trip I won a free bottle of water, a bag of flour and a bottle of vinegar. I earned 36 game pieces and the cashier shut her drawer without giving me any. What?!?! I asked for my tickets and she said I'd have to wait until she was done ringing up the next customer so she could open the drawer again. Oy.

Snow?

It was snowing (very lightly) on and off all day yesterday so I skipped my morning walk (although Andy walked seven miles in it) and did a little scrapbooking instead. This spread is for E's album of her birthday last year (via Zoom) and my three-weeklong visit to Redmond last summer.

Interesting nesting location

Look at the birds that made a nest in the "S" of the CVS sign.

Waiting patiently

This cat ...

wants the leftover milk from my cereal. I only give him a few licks.

New shed

First, a pretty picture of church that I took when Andy drove me there to see the new shed. Really.

The previous one was old and rickety so it got torn down.

Two days later, the new shed went up. It holds tables, chairs, etc., that are used for the church's doughnut operation. As doughnut captain, Andy has a lot of encounters with the shed and its contents.

He's very happy with how the new shed looks. And he helped lay the rock base so he's pleased it looks level.

Little art gallery

How cute is this? A neighbor set up a free art gallery, modeled after the little book libraries. You can take art, leave art or just admire it. The string lights at the top actually light up at night.

Close-up picture. There are even people inside (including a mail carrier!) viewing the art. I read that the person who put it up modeled it after one she read about in Seattle.

That’s some baby

Andy pulled this big carrot out of a bag of baby carrots. No foolin'.

It's huge.

April blooms

My money plant (lunaria) blooms is blooming!

And so are my tulips.

And the bush by our back stairs.

Birthday girl

Just because E is on the other side of the country doesn't mean I don't get to make her a cake. With the help of Facetime (and Andy) she even blew out the candles on her cake! Happy 24th, E!

These are the tulips E bought Sunday at the tulip festival. They're starting to open up.

The bin is back

Andy called the village about two weeks ago to tell them our recycling bin was missing. I emailed the village about it last week and heard nothing. Today I called and finally got the bin replaced. It shouldn't be so difficult.

Latest home projects

Andy recently bought some river rocks to put along the basement windows on the side of the house.

The rocks are supposed to keep mud and dirt from splashing onto our new stucco.

And we planted yellow wave petunias and an accent plant in the flower boxes on our garage windows.

Park re-do

The park near us is being renovated and it's messing with my walking route.

When I sent L this picture of the old playground equipment all piled up she said I should grab a piece for her.

And we found out today that Andy didn't tie for third place in the Masters pool - he won third place all by himself. He'll get $46 now!

Big weekend for E

E and BF D had quite the adventurous detour trying to get to Yakima for their first COVID vaccination Saturday. If they were able to take I-90 the drive would have been two hours one way. But the interstate was closed due to snow at the mountain pass so they had to detour to find a pass that was open. That was a 100-mile detour! They missed their appointment times by a couple hours but still were able to get the vaccine. On the way home, I-90 was open. Hoping the second shot goes smoother.

Pretty scenery.

Since E drove a lot yesterday, today was D's turn behind the wheel. They went to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Mt. Vernon, about an hour from Redmond. Looks pretty. A nice way to start her birthday week.

Andy had a big weekend too, tying for third place in The Masters golf pool. He won $23. I would have been next to place but I was tied with several people. Not bad for someone who doesn't follow golf.