And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden (and celebrating my fourth blogoversary)

It's that time of year again when the Frederick Meijer Garden has its "Butterflies are Blooming" program. The butterflies aren't easy to photograph so I usually see it as a chance to take pictures of flowers. This year was a nice surprise for me in that I got the best butterfly pictures I ever have. Here is the entire set.

This was over by the coat room.


So was this.


We have one that's similar to this. It's really dangerous. Those spikes can puncture skin very easily.


This is one of the pitcher plants. It thought it was cool.


This is just the beginning of the many orchids.




They also have some springtime plants.






I liked this fountain.


This devil's tongue plant was really interesting.


They're huge.




If you look at this on Flickr in the large size you can see the detail.


More orchids.


This one has a face.






The birds are constantly on the move, so the picture's slightly blurred.


If you look at this one in the large size you can see the brightly colored birds at the feeding dish. One of these days I'm going to get a camera that does better with zoom.


Another butterfly that has good detail.


This one worked fairly well, too.


Golden shrimp plant to the left in this one.


This is the very best butterfly picture I've ever taken. I'm proud of this one.


I just realized, as I looked at the date on this post, that this is my fourth blogoversary. How appropriate that I'd be posting pictures of flowers.

Que Sera Sera

I found this quiz over at Courtney's. She's a Bette Davis. I thought it would be fun to take it, and wasn't thrilled when I saw Doris Day's picture staring at me over my results.

But, I have to say that it's pretty darned close. I have been working a lot on ridding myself of the "hard to be Doris" traits. Anyway, let me know if you try it.

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Doris!

You are a Doris -- "I must help others."

Dorises are warm, concerned, nurturing, and sensitive to other people's needs.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Tell me that you appreciate me. Be specific.


• * Share fun times with me.


• * Take an interest in my problems, though I will probably try to focus on yours.


• * Let me know that I am important and special to you.


• * Be gentle if you decide to criticize me.

In Intimate Relationships

• * Reassure me that I am interesting to you.


• * Reassure me often that you love me.


• * Tell me I'm attractive and that you're glad to be seen with me.

What I Like About Being a Doris

• * being able to relate easily to people and to make friends


• * knowing what people need and being able to make their lives better


• * being generous, caring, and warm


• * being sensitive to and perceptive about others' feelings


• * being enthusiastic and fun-loving, and having a good sense of humor

What's Hard About Being a Doris

• * not being able to say no


• * having low self-esteem


• * feeling drained from overdoing for others


• * not doing things I really like to do for myself for fear of being selfish


• * criticizing myself for not feeling as loving as I think I should


• * being upset that others don't tune in to me as much as I tume in to them


• * working so hard to be tactful and considerate that I suppress my real feelings

Dorises as Children Often

• * are very sensitive to disapproval and criticism


• * try hard to please their parents by being helpful and understanding


• * are outwardly compliant


• * are popular or try to be popular with other children


• * act coy, precocious, or dramatic in order to get attention


• * are clowns and jokers (the more extroverted Dorises), or quiet and shy (the more introverted Dorises)

Dorises as Parents

• * are good listeners, love their children unconditionally, and are warm and encouraging (or suffer guilt if they aren't)


• * are often playful with their children


• * wonder: "Am I doing it right?" "Am I giving enough?" "Have I caused irreparable damage?"


• * can become fiercely protective

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Pizza Night

Ichabod has gotten really good at making pizza. He makes the dough from scratch. Tonight he thought he'd try something different. He decided to precook the dough in the waffle iron.



The paperclip has nothing to do with making pizza. Not sure why it's in the picture.



We wondered if it would stick, but with the help of a little olive oil spray it came right out.



Then he put the toppings on and baked them for about 20 minutes. Here's the end result.



They were good and now I'm full. BTW, the music for the pizza making was the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. Everybody have a great weekend.