ra-ra-run and get yourself some ranunculus~

friends, although i always say that fall is my favorite

season of the year, spring is right up there

vying for first place. 

it's the flowers.

i'm so lonesome for them by the time spring rolls

around, that i'd practically work at a floral shop for free.

i've been seeing ranunculus (my favorite flower) on other people's blogs and instagram

pages and anxiously waiting for them to be available in minnesota.

i even called trader joes more than once to see if they had

them in stock yet.  well guess what? they're here and it's worth

a drive somewhere, somehow, someday-if you love flowers

like i love flowers to get yourself a bunch of these beauties. they

are only available for a short time. they don't always look that

pretty when you buy them, especially if they're not fully open, but

that's how i like to buy them. if you get them in tighter bud form, re-cut and

put in a vase, they slowly open up and you can get almost

 two weeks of enjoyment out of them. 

:  )

if you're a blog follower of mine, you know that planting wheatgrass is another

spring tradition at my house. here's the first pot of the year, sprouting, growing

a couple inches a day and looking so pretty on my table,

i was up at the lodge last week because of this.

the notice most of us dread, second only to a tax audit.

jury duty.

i got the first notice in january saying i was on duty from feb. 1st --may 30th.

to say i freaked out was an understatement.

4 months? are you kidding me!

i didn't even care about feb. march, and april-

but in case you forgot i have a daughter getting married in may.

seriously people!!!!

my jury duty isn't here in the cities either, it's in wadena, 3 hours from here

because we own a property up north.

well, i got a letter that i needed to be available last week,

so i went to the cabin, called in like a good citizen and

the trial had settled out of court. that meant a few days to relax, walk in the woods,

enjoy my husband and vacuum up dog hair...

lars and i did some 4-wheeling, but we also took long walks and looked

for antler sheds, let the dogs play in the woods and watched bald eagles circle
high in the sky.

this might look like junk to you, but when we bought our place there

was this big pile of weathered pallets and the guys talked about burning it

till i yelled "NO!!!"

cole has made some cool things already out of some of it and there's more

waiting for the next project.

dale started tapping the trees last week too...no maple sap yet, but we're

excited to make syrup for the second time.

melting 4-wheeler tracks

duke. what can i say? i love this dog like i've loved no other dog.

i didn't have my camera settings right here, but i still think it's a cool picture of him 

laying in the snow.

we have this teeny pond right outside the cabin and it had a thin sheet

of ice on it in the mornings. koda stood on the edge and watched while

duke charged out on the ice- breaking through every other leap- to retrieve the ball i threw for them.

from ice and snow back to these beautiful flowers.

the snow is completely gone in our yard now and i cannot wait for my

tulips, daffodils and squill to pop their heads through the dirt.

i want to try growing heelebores this year... have any of you ever grown them?

if you have, please give me some advice and

have a wonderful week!  

xo,  beth