I'm Dreaming of a White ..... May Day?!?!

Ok - this is ridiculous. I've lived in the Upper Midwest for most of my life and I've seen plenty of snow in April ... even an occasional flake in May. But this year April is going down as the snowiest month of the 'winter' - by far! Three snowstorms this month and we're starting to wonder if spring is ever going to come. We've had a few nice days ... emphasis on the word few. But these crazy snowstorms that seem to always hit the weekend ... well, it's getting a bit depressing, to be honest. The girls love the snow ... but even they were a bit bug-eyed this morning when I went to let them out and couldn't even get the door open because of the drift! April snow has a way of clogging up snowblowers too ... and it's just too darn heavy to shovel ... so I had to get professional to get the driveway cleared. Surely, this has to be the end. (We've said that now for the past three storms!) May is just around the corner; my tulips are thoroughly confused and I've been getting my camping gear ready for what I hope will be a long, warm summer. Maybe we'll just skip spring this year and go directly to summer. As much as we like to complain, a foot of wet, heavy snow is still preferable to the tornados that some parts of the country experience with alarming regularity this time of year. And the ground has thawed enough so that the snow - when it melts - will soak in, and green things up instead of running off to the river and flooding. Yep, there is a bright side ... even to a foot of new snow the last week in April.

Happy Birthday Babe!

Midnight is fast approaching, but we can't let this day slip away without wishing a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the matriarch of our corgi family, Babe Diana Wales. Babe is Princess' mother and Dee Dee's grandmother and a very good 'mama' corgi to everyone. In fact, she is the only corgi in the family (possibly the only corgi in the world) who can effectively discipline Dee Dee ... and do it with great patience and without anyone getting hurt!! Babe is 10 years old today; that is 70 in dog years, and though she has some extra pounds she needs to shed (don't we all?!), she is in pretty good shape. She doesn't run real fast, but she's a great swimmer and has helped all the corgis in the family (except for great-grandson Scooter who, frankly, is just too big to float) learn to swim. Babe has a sweet and gentle nature, but don't let that fool you .... she can be tough as nails if she needs to be. And she has quite a sense of humor ... takes great delight in striking some very funny poses and just 'holding' them until she's knows you're looking at her and laughing at her antics!

One of my favorite is what Susan and I call the "Mother Teresa" pose where she gets underneath the drapery sheer and walks forward just far enough so that she appears to have on a nun's habit. (Too late tonight to dig that photo up and scan it in but maybe I'll post it later.) Babe loves 'wabbits' and milk bones and has a secret stash of treats that she thinks are safe. She evidently hasn't been watching carefully enough when Princess comes to visit. Babe, we love you and wish you many more birthdays!