Spring is Springing

The bulbs are pushing out leaves in the front yard, and we have our first blooming flower. It's so refreshing to finally see color in our otherwise gray and brown landscape.

Can anyone identify these? I'm hoping for tulips and daffodils!

This last week has been a good one. We spent Thursday-Saturday at the Inn at Walnut Acres in beautiful Bellefonte (pronounced bell-font), PA. This is a tiny historic town near State College, and it is full of beautifully preserved Victorian houses and antique/country clutter shops.

Obligatory toy store hilarity

The inn is a bit odd because it is actually a modern large house in the country outside of town, rather than the usual drafty creaky-floored Victorian manse. The house is also home to a large family including younger adults/teenagers, so the fantasy of a world populated only by adults was somewhat compromised.

On the bright side, the rooms were large and comfortable and we had a steam shower! The grounds were extensive and included interesting animals.

Exhibit A: Misty the friendly guard dog

Exhibit B: Cowgoat

The restaurants we dined at were also very good. Dinner on Thursday at the High Street Pub where we encountered an art opening also presented a clean, modern pub dining experience, however, the Guinness was served in a bottle. Waffle lunch at the Waffle Shop was as advertised, but Dave didn't get enough chocolate chips on his waffle. Cool Beans coffee shop was a surprisingly cozy hangout, which we did while sipping lattes and playing cards. Dinner at the Gamble Mill was not all it was hyped up to be, but the restaurant is very nicely decorated and the food wasn't bad.

The week ended with me doing laundry and cleaning out the guest room (getting it ready for whoever might drop by--HINT HINT), and both of us got some crappy mild upper-respiratory illness.

This week I'm back in my office after finally finishing the cleanup after the floor debacle. Now I'm thinking about gardening and trying to figure out what to plant after I clear up all the old dead weeds from the beds. Any ideas?