Happy Day, Happy Spring

Yea, our camera is fixed! It became somewhat finicky last fall, but we were working with it. A couple of weeks ago it stopped taking pictures all together. I was afraid we'd end up buying a new one. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm a creature of habit and I know how this camera works- and it usually does a pretty good job. I called the repair number in the owners manual. We were going to have to mail the camera, insured, to Elk Grove Village, IL and pay a minimum of $111 to have it looked at. What?! That's half way or more to a fairly decent replacement camera without adding extra for parts. So, we started looking for another camera. Just out of curiosity I checked the phone book and found one camera repair shop in the entire valley- and they happened to not be too far from our house. I called and they said they'd be willing to take a look. If it wasn't fixable, they wouldn't charge me a penny. If it was fixable, they estimated it would be $80, maybe less. They were very nice, even bumping me up to a rush status- meaning it would be done by Friday- when they learned Joseph's birthday was on Monday. Otherwise, they were booked out three weeks. They called today. The camera was finished and only cost $48 to fix. Yea! We now have a camera that works every time we turn it on and I don't have to learn to use a new one. Happy Day!

In honor of the newly reacquired ability to post pictures, I thought I'd share some tonight. There is a bit of background info first, though.

We moved to New Hampshire in the month of June. When we got there, I found this big, thick, grassy looking stuff growing beside our mud room doors. I waited several weeks, maybe even months, and it didn't do anything but sit there. So, in my efforts to have a pretty flower bed the following spring, I went through and sprayed it all with Round Up and cleared the space with the intention to plant something pretty and colorful in the spring. The following spring I had one little plant come up and I discovered that I had killed several purple iris plants that bloomed in early spring, then did nothing for the rest of the summer. Needless to say, I felt pretty stupid. So, I now have a rule that when I am in a new home I am not allowed to kill anything new or unidentified by me until I've been there a whole year.

I like to hope that I've learned something from past experiences. This year we have several plants coming up that I didn't even know we had, as they were long gone by the time we moved in last June. At first, I wasn't sure if it was weeds sprouting or not, but as they grew I was glad I didn't go out and pull them up. I can say that I had learned to tell the difference between weeds and flowers. This week we were blessed with some pretty color in the front yard. And have the promise of a bunch more on the way. Happy Spring!

I'm excited to see what other types or colors are pushing their way up through the soil still. I don't know enough to identify the flowers by their leaves. I just know they aren't weeds. It will be a little surprise every time one of them opens. There are a few plants that I am fairly confident I can identify as weeds and they don't get to enjoy our hospitality.

So, I really have no excuse for not being outside weeding. Sometime soon, maybe even this weekend, I'll have to get out there and get busy. It's also almost time to be planting a vegetable garden. I better hurry up and Round Up what's starting to grow in the back yard. At least right now I know there's nothing that I'll eventually want growing this summer. Unlike weeds, tomatoes don't just sprout on their own. Drat!