We had lots more rain last night, but the sun came out for a while today. I find my mood is much more affected by sun as I am older than when I was younger. Or maybe I just notice it more? I was up too early, though, as our blinds were not completely closed and a lot of light peeked in. Hello 5:45 am. Nice to see you…. not. I got up to get an early start on work and had a bowl of soaked steel cut oats.
I made up my blueberry sauce and just dumped the oats (with egg whites) on top for a parfait style breakfast. And coconut butter, must not forget that!
Lunch time included another type of parfait:
Doesn’t that look like whipped cream? It’s Fage. One thing I love about Fage is the fluffy stiff texture. Not runny or gelatinous like other fat free yogurts.
John had out this tropical dried fruit mix because he was making granola. I had to bogart some:
I love dried pineapple.
All of this rain and the garden is just greening up like crazy! It was a little difficult getting pictures this week with the rain, so I got out whenever I could to take pics (and just to admire) 
With the cloudy weather, the tulips are lasting a long time. I ended up with such a nice array of tulip colors this year:
The one tulip that was not open last week was the Iceland.
Beautiful green and pink. I love it! I can’t wait to get more tulip bulbs to have even more next year.
This garden is now a fairly mature garden as I have been working it for 4 years now. It’s an evolving process, but there is now a nice solid backbone to it.
My ferns are going gangbusters with the dampness.
I need to thin these out as they are starting to crowd my astilbes. I don’t know much about ferns. These were at a flip house I did and I dug them up and brought them home when I redid the landscaping at that house. Free is always good.
The Shirley tulip that I pictured before keeps getting more and more purple. How cool is that?
Last week: 
Today:
Some alyssum that are with my geraniums.
And some of these:
I don’t mind dandelions in the lawn, but they must stay out of the garden bed.
I also have hanging planters with some fuschia. I hope the hummingbirds stop by.
I notice a lot of people looking at my garden when they walk down the street. It makes me proud and happy.
Happy happy, joy joy time!
Lots of rain this afternoon. Good thing I got those pictures earlier. That is enough, Mother Nature. Seriously.
I decided to attempt another fish item for dinner. Stats on this were nice. 120 calories and 18 grams of protein. I like crab, so I thought this would be a good option.
Note the picture and how there is a large fillet over a small amount of stuffing. This is the reality:
The fish was 2 tiny chunks stuck on either side of a wad of stuffing. Needless to say, the fish was totally dried out. I kind of liked the stuffing, but I will not be getting this again. I could not wait to get to my pear tonight…
John’s granola he made up today found a home on some cooked up strawberry rhubarb filling. A pseudo cobbler!
Today was a rest day from exercise as we have a 40 miler planned for tomorrow.
Have a great weekend!
Nice tulips! We finally got to our tulip festival and it didn’t rain on us!
The fish dish sure doesn’t look like it does on the wrapper.
Dried pineapple is one of my favourites too!
Have a great weekend!!!
Lotsa rain here too – but we did get a full day of sun today! Amazing! I also feel the lack of sun more now that I’m older – not sure why, but I do need to use a Bluelight in the winter. The last couple of weeks I’ve been okay though, thankfully. I planted fushia also! For the hummingbirds. I hope it survives the heat (??) of summer.
Dawn
That looks like a delicious oatmeal combo today! Love that Icelandic tulip, and am jealous of your ferns and fuschia–too hot out here for those. I guess its too hot for tulips too, because they never look as good as yours. That fish dish looks terrible–they should be ashamed of themselves. But that granola looks heavenly. Nice to have another cook in the house!
It is nice having another cook in the house! It helps that he is cute, too. 😀
So many bloggers are complaining about the rain and lack of sunshine. LOL! I promise you none of them are from Texas. On a happy note we had a wonderful thunderstorm last night that gave us an inch of rain! It was so lovely. Enjoy your ride tomorrow!
That is the weirdest looking piece of fish!
Thanks for the compliment on my fireplace – I love it now, too, but for the longest time we were planning to pull it out. It isn’t actually a working fireplace and it takes a big chunk of the room.
And as always, love the tulip pictures!
More absolutely lovely flower photos!
My neighbors have been passing along free plants this year. I’ve got one whole bed started with nothing but donations. The free aspect is appreciated, but I also like knowing that I’ve got a little piece of everyone’s gardens in my yard.
And I’m with you on the mood-weather connection! Too many cold and gray days in a row, and my normal positivity plummets. Like earlier this week. 🙂
have an awesome ride, Lori!
mmmmmm…..dried pineapple….
Your tulips (and all the flowers) are so beautiful Lori. I wish I knew the names of all the many that bloom around here. Have a wonderful weekend.
Flowers are beautiful Lori. Question: you mention people look at your garden (I would too by the way). Do many people in the US have a garden and put that much work into it as you do? Here in Holland most of the people who have a garden make something of it. I’m curious how that is in the USA.
Gardening is one of the most popular hobbies in the US. Some people hire companies to do the landscaping and others do it themselves. There are so many different kinds of gardens and I think people have the size that they can manage or have the space for. I would have a huge garden if we had the land.
Lori, I always love looking at your garden pics cause I am so NOT good at that… beautiful & thx for always sharing with us!Hope you had a great bike ride & the weather was good for you!
Ive never tried Fage before. I’ve heard great things but never find it on sale!! hehe….By the way, your garden looks BEAUTIFUL! Makes me thing of summer…:)
40 miles!!! Hope the weather cooperates with you Lori! 🙂
Thanks Lori, that’s interesting to know about gardening. We hired a company too to do the landscaping.
Gorgeous flowers! We’ve had a ton of rain so the flowers have really been coming in. It’s great!