Spring is on its Way!

I have friends who look for the first robins as the sign that Spring is on its way here in northeastern SD. Some feel it is the temperatures of 70º as the sign of spring, especially those of us who have come from the warmer winter temps in the south. For me, it is the flowers...the blooming tulips and pasqueflower that I look for to say

"Spring is Here!"

I had posted photos on April 19th of the snow covering the yard and perennial flower bed. Last week Friday (exactly one week later) I noticed the snow had melted in most of the yard and in fact...

green plants (daisy) were peeking through in the perennial flower bed

The tulips are coming! The tulips are coming!

This grouping is a bit ahead of the other group

And in fact, I wasn't sure what these were/are as

I had planted them about 5 years ago and had never

seen them flowering.

Yeah, the flower bed needs attention, but it isn't going to happen

this week. Temps are back into the 40s mid-week through the 

weekend! UGH!

BUT...Today I noticed

The crocuses are blooming!

I had never seen them bloom before because they are usually

done before we ever get home in the spring. Usually there is

some spring before the end of April, but not this year.

 I know these are crocus because:

1) My daughter-in-law has them in her front yard 

and the rabbits have been eating them

2) My friend Scott, posted yellow crocus on his blog this

morning and I recognized the plant

He, Scott, did a time lapse photography project that is a 

must see. Check it out here: A Photo A Day

It will be awhile before the tulips are blooming, but I did 

see  buds on the pasqueflower plant. 

Miss Willa is 3!

Family gathered on Saturday afternoon to help Miss Willa celebrate her third birthday. 

It was an awesome afternoon to spend with family.

She told us, "The thumb has to hold the pinkie."

She is working to make the thumb hold the pinkie on 

her right hand while her left hand is properly

demonstrating "3".

Auntie Kari with Marek and the BD girl.

The rainbow layer cake.

Pretty impressive, Mommy!

Rainbow colored snacks to compliment the theme

Pretty table with ceiling streamers

Wall banner

Eating her special birthday cupcake

We also had homemade ice cream

Sitting with great grandma as she begins to open her presents

Then she moved to the couch to open presents

This one from Auntie Kari

Sitting between great Aunt Barb and Grandpa Curt

A tricycle from Mommy & Daddy

Daddy giving instruction in the fine art of pedaling

Happy B-Day Miss Willa!

Geocaching in SD

Hubby and I have been out geocaching this week because there is a 'rumor' many of the area caches are going to be archived...soon. An avid cacher has placed 5738 caches in and around the area, but for one reason or another has begun to archive many of them. So we are on a hunt to get as many as we can just in case they disappear soon. (We also heard he plans to put some back.) 

Geocaching in SD in the spring is much different than caching in AZ. In our part of the state the ditches  are snow banks, many small lakes are still frozen, the country roads are muddy and will be getting muddier as the dirt roads begin to thaw. Rain is also in the forecast for 2 days next week. So getting out into the country has been at the top of our list.

I don't have any exciting stories to go with our country road travels this week, just some photos to share.

Some pelicans and mud ducks called this open pond home

I caught these ducks in flight

We stopped here to cache, but didn't find it

The inside of this little chapel

Pews of the left fit two people

The ones on the right are for one

Complete with hymnals, prayer books

A large cross has recently been added to the 

Roadside Chapel stop

The orange leafless trees provided some color to the landscape

I wonder if this is a young bald eagle?

It was much bigger than the hawk that was hanging around

in the same vicinity

That is a very large Tom turkey moving quickly to avoid

the camera

He has eaten well this winter!

A small country church and

another cemetery!

Hubby did find the cache

while I was taking photos

But I did find and grab my share on each of our trips

Whenever we stopped today, the blackbirds were 

filling the air with their song

Guess they were also excited about the warm temps

and sunshine

I liked the way the bare trees looked

Not sure of the purpose of this building next to the church 

in the locked, gated & fenced cemetery

Some of the geese we saw today

These guys hanging out on a frozen pond

Some cows with new baby calves

The woodpecker posed for its photo

The squirrels and rabbits I saw today moved too quickly

Not overly exciting, but fun to be out and about on a beautiful

spring day in South Dakota!

Update...

Things are happening around here, they are just not BLOG worthy...

1) We have been cleaning out the kitchen. The remake/update begins Monday morning, so there will be pictures coming and stories.

2) Not that the weather has been GREAT, but we are geocaching, wading into wet ditches, over snowbanks and driving muddy country roads. IF something really interesting happens, the camera is along for the rides.

3) Miss Willa's will be the center of attention at a B-Day party on Saturday. There will be photos from that joyous occasion.

4) We saw the movie "42" this week. If you have not seen it, make sure it is on your list of MUST SEE MOVIES. It was great. PG-13

5) I noticed the snowbank covering the perennial flower bed has disappeared. There maybe spring flowers...soon!

That should help with any questions as to what has been happening and why aren't there any new posts for those of you checking in every day. By the way... THANK YOU for checking in every day!

The sun is shining. Time to get out and find more hidden treasures!

Columbus NE

As we continued along US Highway 81 through KS & NE, another geocaching stop was in Columbus NE , in a monument/memorial park. One of the monument features in the park was of its namesake, Christopher Columbus.

This was the explanation for the two sets of bell towers

They appeared to be identical bells, but then again, I did not

examine them too closely

Each bell was identified by a short history

An interesting stop in Columbus NE

1000th Geocaches

Hubby reached geocache number 1000 while in AZ. I did not post at that time because he did not have amazing photos to go with his milestone. (I wasn't along that day.)

I reached #1000 on our way home. We did not have a sign ready nor did we take photos to document my find, BUT I took photos of the amazing location of my #1000 in Concordia (in Cloud County) KS.

Whole World Mural, the longest sculpted brick mural in the US 

The owner of the cache happened to be working at the museum. 

She shared how the wall came to be.

The mural is 140' long and 15' to 20' high.

Cloud Ceramics donated the 6400 bricks to complete the project.

Work began in February 2007 and the last brick was carved on

April 18, 2008.

Two women, Artist Catharine Magel of St. Louis and Mara Smith 

a brick sculptor, carved the green bricks made and donated by

Cloud Ceramics of Concordia.

The carving was done when the bricks were in a 'green state', 

meaning they had been formed but not fired.

The brick masons began placing the fired bricks on April 14, 2009

and the last brick was placed on June 5, 2009.

Each brick was numbered to identify its 

placement on the wall.

Magel calls the mural "Cloud Anthologies."

Amazing detail.

The mural documents the history of Cloud County.

Inside the museum

Four beautiful vehicles

In fact the woman was enthusiastic and proud of not only the beautiful mural,

 but of several other historic features in the little community. 

We learned it is home of the: 

National Orphan Train Museum 

From 1854-1929 over 250,000 orphaned or abandoned children

from NY were taken on trains to new homes all over the US.

POW Camp Concordia

During WWII, POW Camp Concordia housed over 4,000

German prisoners. The first prisoners arrived on July 3, 1943

and the camp closed on November 8, 1945.

The Floating Rock 

on the lawn of the Courthouse

Brown Grand Theatre

a restored 1907 French Renaissance, 650 seat theatre

 Nazareth Convent

Home to the Sisters of St. Joseph since 1903

Cloud County Museum

housing a 1928 Lincoln Page bi-plane and a 

letter written by Martha Washington

We did not have time to look for other caches in the area, but we both agreed, the museum volunteer and cache owner, sold us on the community. There is much to see and more caches to find. We will return to Concordia KS and next time, spend more time and money.