More spring joy!

The redbud are in their glory this week.   

 It is so beautiful to see splashes of purple everywhere.  All the fruit trees are blooming – and, for the first time this year, all three apple trees have blossoms. 

I have started to do yard work again – this week, I transplanted two blueberry plants and checked on my strawberries that are beginning to have blossoms!  Steve has begun harvesting asparagus. 

We both worked ourselves into exhaustion over the Clean-up Columbia project yesterday.  It started, though, on Wednesday when we walked all around the Oakland Manor neighborhood (60 houses!) and taped invitation flyers to help pick up trash along the Bear Creek between Blue Ridge and Northland from 9-11 on Saturday.  We also walked the trail to see how much trash we might find.  That was a lot of walking!  Then, it took the whole two hours to do the trash pick-up Saturday morning.  Steve took the creek and I took the trail next to it. It is amazing how tiring it is to bend over and pick up stuff.

 

 

Sadly, no neighbors took up the invitation to join us but we did meet a family along the trail from the Derby Ridge neighborhood picking up trash.  They have actually “adopted” the exact portion of Bear Creek as part of a stream-team and they helped us by taking our trash bags from the trail to the street in their wagon.  By the end of the two hours of trash pick-up, and the thank-you picnic for all the volunteers at Twin Lakes, we were so tired. 

Friday night, Steve’s colleague at the law school, John Dethman, took us to dinner at the Sycamore Restaurant in downtown Columbia.  It is a very nice place with incredible food.  John insisted we not worry about the cost so I had an amazing roasted beet and current salad followed by a delicious beef filet, mashed potatoes, and brussels sprouts.   Steve had ham and corn chowder and then trout with horseradish sauce on potato lattkes and spinach. For dessert, I enjoyed a flourless chocolate cake with a scoop of Sparky’s rocky road ice cream.  Mmmmmm. 

We came home to watch Steve’s April movie “Taking Chance”.  Boy, you gotta watch that film.  It is so good.  I watched “Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” Saturday night.  It was surprisingly funny and had a good message. Monday, for home evening, Steve and I watched "Hundred-Foot Journey".  You can now find that title on my Amazon wishlist.

Thursday evening, I provided a student string quartet to play prelude music for a school award banquet at the Tiger Hotel.  These kids are SO good.  

 

 I had a school meeting right afterwards with all the instrumental music teachers from Gentry, Jeff, and Rock Bridge.  I really didn't need to be there, since it was to discuss schedules next year, but I was curious as to who had been selected to take my place.  It will be the Jeff teacher, Alison Schmidt. Boy, she has a big learning curve next year.  I stuck around and made a baby hat and when I was finished, I left.  We all will get paid for our attendance.  

It was fun to return to CCO rehearsals this week after taking a break to be in the Easter cantata.  We are playing and Americana concert this time - Lincoln Portrait, Fanfare for the Common Man, Stars and Stripes Forever, and Barber's Adagio for Strings.  Love it all!