Last month, N. and I headed about 30 minutes from home to go observe my friend and her family work their “cattle”. We arrived for the tagging of the calves, vaccinations and … castration! We had never been to such an event and arrived after lunch but we were able to get some dessert. This is a friend from running club so several of our group were there. We first said hi to the horses that had been used to gather the calves. The calves were all gathered in one area and were mooing for their moms. They knew they probably wouldn’t like what was coming up! The funny thing…

This will be a recurring theme this month as I share some pictures from the month of April. I have been trying to really enjoy the moments in nature big and small, whether it is noticing how different the landscape looks in the fog, wildflowers in fields or on a little day trip with the boys. In Georgia, in the spring we sometimes get mild weather like we have this year and we really enjoy those pretty blue sky and mild temperatures. Flowers blooms, the grass is new and green and the bugs minimal. One new found hobby is bird watching. We’ve had birdfeeders at the house since my mother…

A few weeks ago, my son and I went on a campus visit to one of the colleges he is interested in attending. Georgia Tech is about 45 minutes from us if Atlanta traffic is agreeable and is located in midtown Atlanta. Georgia is a research university with an emphasis on advanced research and technology. The campus is right off the I75 and in town but you wouldn’t know it is in Atlanta apart from the occasional peek at a skyscraper. The campus is compact with 400 acres with wooded areas and you can walk from one end to the other is 15 to 20 minutes. There are trees, bushes…

A couple weekends ago, my oldest asked for a drive to his ACT test. We originally thought the location was closer so I had made plans for a run and preparing for Orthodox Easter by cooking, but the unexpected change in plans worked out well. I looked up some free things to do in Rome, GA which I will share on Friday, but since the Darlington Campus was so pretty, I wanted to share a few pictures. Darlington is a day and boarding school in Rome, GA. The campus serves to children PreK through 12. Since the weather was so pretty, we decided to enjoy snack by the pond. As…

A few weeks ago, I accompanied my son on a school field trip. Of course, I didn’t read the email fully and ended up at the wrong place, but thankfully both locations were in our town so I only wasted a total of 30 minutes. I arrived at the nature preserve 15 minutes late. The children were listening to a presentation about animals that live in the preserve and nearby, about composting and how in the preserve, nothing was touched. Then the fun part of the field trip happened which was a hike of about 1.5 miles. The hike was somewhat hilly and mostly circled a large pond. There were…

If you missed my last two post about my recent visit to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, you can see the troll exhibit here and read about the orchids in this post. I love how much color you can see at the botanical gardens in the spring and I enjoyed seeing the tulips in bloom. They were in different spots than in the past so it took a little exploring to see all of the areas where they were planted. The origami Pegasus is now a permanent exhibit here and these two tones tulips made for a pretty scene. Bright yellow and red just scream spring! I wish the tulip beds…

On a cold day, the perfect place to be at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens is the orchid pavilion. Even better is during the orchid craze because there is such a variety of orchids displayed. This usually happens during the month of March and April. Today, I am sharing my favorite pictures of this year’s display. There are several ways to enter the area where the orchids are displayed, but my favorite is through the rainforest area because of this newly painted archway. I inadvertently matched it with my yellow sweatshirt and the pink and purples in my scarf. There are many areas perfect for taking pictures! This one mural is…

On a cold day last week, I met up with my friend and her daughter and we headed to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. It was chilly and hovered in the mid 40s that morning. I couldn’t remember which exhibit was happening and it was fun to realize that the trolls were out! I am excited to bring my boys during spring break. The large trolls by Thomas Dambo (6 of them) are folklore inspired range from 15 feet tall to 25 feet wide. They are made of wood and reclaimed materials. The traveling exhibition will stay at the botanical gardens till September 17. I am curious if one will stay…