Sunday morning this and that

Friday morning at work I buzzed in a delivery person who had two Valentine's Day arrangements of roses. One of them was for me! I assumed at first that they were from my husband (this particular florist has the nicest roses in town and he always uses them when he sends me flowers) but I was wrong. They were from my dad! How sweet was that?!

Since I'm an only child, my dad always got both me and my mom presents on Valentine's Day--we're "his girls". Usually when I was growing up it was candy, a similar (but smaller) box to what he would buy for mom. These days, I'd much rather have the flowers. Thanks, dad!

I wanted to cook a special dinner for Gregg for Valentine's Day but didn't feel like it on Friday night after a long day at work. So I did it last night instead. Homemade spinach lasagna, a nice loaf of Italian bread, salad, and a cherry-topped cheesecake for dessert was what I came up with. It was all delicious!

One of Gregg's oldest friendships is with a Vietnamese guy named Thanh. He invited Gregg over  this weekend to see his greenhouse and to give him a couple of items to give to me (he knows how much I like flowers and gardens). The first is a small potted pomegranate that has two tiny fruits on it. According to Tranh, these fruits are strictly ornamental and too bitter to eat, but he grows the plants because they're so pretty. He also gave us a large concrete planter--he had salvaged 6 of them from a business that was getting rid of them--and something  up to the size of a small tree could easily fit inside. It's attractive but it weighs a ton, and so far I have no idea what to use it for. I'm glad to have it, though! I'm sure I'll figure something out.

I'm participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by Cornell University this weekend. What I seem to be seeing the most of at the feeders right now are tiny little song sparrows. There's a flock hanging around this weekend gorging themselves on the good quality seed we buy. The pair of Carolina Wrens I keep seeing at the suet feeders are still around and starting to grow plump! All that rich suet and mild winter weather, I guess. I'm hoping they have a nest nearby. Speaking of which, the Red Bellied Woodpecker that visits those same suet feeders has turned out to be two separate birds--a male and a female. (I learned how to identify the sexes recently.) I really hope they're getting ready to raise a brood of baby woodpeckers close by this spring. I'll bet they'd be adorable when they started to fledge and follow their parents to the feeders! We shall see.

It's another long weekend (President's Day! yay!) and I don't have to go to work tomorrow. My friend Marian has invited me and a couple of other friends over tonight for wine, food, and the premiere of the new season of Outlander. I'm looking forward to it! I'm making a nice batch of guacamole this afternoon to take along. I think Gregg's planning to invite his friend Ben over tonight while I'm away. They'll have a good time talking about aquariums--Ben's a fish nerd, too. I like it when Gregg has time with his friends, which doesn't happen nearly often enough.

What's going on with you this weekend? I hope you're all having a good one!