Our Weekend in Pictures - Leaving Out The Boring Parts

I had a hankering for Greg's Bagels all week, so bright-ish and early-ish Saturday morning we headed down to Belvedere Square. He does these Colossus Bagels that I am getting hooked on. They are covered in sesame, poppy and fennel seeds. When my friend Elizabeth first told me about them, I pooh-poohed them as I don't much care for the anise flavor of fennel. But I trust her taste, so I tried one once. Soooo yummy, especially toasted.

While we were in Belvedere Square, we figured that we might as well have some lunch at Atwater's...their food is so yummy. And here's our lunch...or most of it, you can't see the bowl of Tomato Basil soup that Mr. Pointy Sticks is slurping up.


I got a cup of the Chicken Tortilla soup...that's a glop of Lime Cilantro Sour Cream on top...good soup. And, while I was tempted to get the same salad I got last time, I forced myself to branch out a little. The salad I ordered had tiny (marble-sized) potatoes, asparagus, marinated onions, portobella mushrooms, greens and capers in a mustardy vinagrette. It was delicious, though I think I preferred, just slightly, the bibb salad I had last time with the blue cheese. We picked up some other goodies at the market...some pasta and sauce and some cookies.

Back home (and here's a shot of the house front now that the rhody's in full bloom)...


Then we headed to Valley View and got flowers for the front and side of the house. The ones we (well, mostly Mr. Pointy Sticks) planted in the front and side beds are going to take a while to be established and photo-worthy, but I worked on the front porch planters and I think they turned out pretty nicely.
There are petunias, both pale blue (shown in bloom) and cream with yellow middles (still in bud) and nicotiana (pink in the bluey-green pot by itself) and white (in the biggest pot) and some pinks for scent. Then I bought a gerbera daisy to put in by the front steps were there's sort of a bare spot.
Mom always had lots of gerberas. I'm hoping this will do well here.

Today we went to the Solar and Wind Expo over at the Fairgrounds. Mr. Pointy Sticks has talked for years about getting solar power panels on the house...and this was our chance to look into it. We talked to some reps of a couple different companies, one of whom will be sending us some info. Our house is not set up ideally for solar panels. But I was excited to see that one company there installed Solatubes. The main bath in the house used to have a skylight that has been closed up and the room is so dark! We've been thinking (well, I have) that it really needs a Solatube for a while now. They even have them with exhaust fans attached. Perfect. It might be nice to have one peeking down into the hall, too, which is also sort of dark.

There were people demonstrating Segways (too much fun!) and people selling windows (very slick salesmen...not appealing, though I would like new windows) and a company there from Fargo ND with adorable electric cars.


Look how cute! Top speed only 25 mph, so not allowed on the Beltway. And if you have a large family...

...a six seater! Doors are extra, as is a heater. The salesman said they are mostly used on campuses, parks, golf courses and the like. But so cute!

So that's our weekend. The sock is growing, by the way. I carry it with me everywhere and can usually manage to get at least a couple rows done on every little commute.

And look! Mr. Pointy Sticks remembered Mother's Day. See my pretty new earrings!


They're about 1/2 an inch wide...so pretty.