Sunday fun day

Wow, what a week.

I worked 46 hours at my clinical training. I actually enjoy that place which is a very good thing since I'm always a bit wishy-washy about nursing. Ugh. Me liking a place makes the time spent go by so much faster...and while it's wrong to wish time away, I can't wait to graduate and be done with school!

I had Wednesday off, it was a gorgeous sunny day. I spent it seeing a friend who I rarely get to see. We took her daughter to a playground and watched her go. So sweet! Then I went home, made a casserole that I ate the rest of the week for lunch (ew, definitely casseroled out!) and then took my big bear for a looong walk with another friend. We were gone for 1.5h! So the total of my walking that day came to about 13km!! I walked ALL day! Once I did the math through google maps, I realized I should really get a pedometer. It'd be interesting to see how many kilometers I walk per year. :)

 (NO SNOW!)

So yes, I actually didn't do much of any crocheting! What?! I know... I couldn't really believe it myself. There just didn't seem to be enough time between work, getting ready for work, sleeping, taking care of Koda... I only made a few more rainbow parrot baby blanket squares. I think I'm up to about 25 squares already!

So now that you know what a boring work-filled week I had, I reaaaaaally enjoyed yesterday! Hubby is home again, life is back to normal, the sun is shining and spring is officially here. I met up with my friend Pinni, and we went for a long walk through the woods here. I've passed so many photo opportunities on my way to work and back that all week I had been planning to go back and take pictures my next day off. 

I love when plans come to fruition! 

So please, enjoy the million pictures I took. 

Yeah, there are a lot.

 Here is my glorious Sunday!

We headed out and discovered a little "pond" from melted snow... It was covered with frogs that I think were in the tadpole making business if you catch my drift... Lots of ribbiting going on.

"Leskenlehti", always the first flowers I see each year. 

Tampere bayou. All this from melted snow. I love it!

Sinivuokko, or anemone hepatica.

The main thing I wanted to take pictures of. Obviously. I love them and the woods are covered in them right now!

Small starts.

Big sunshine. 

I found pussywillows in various stages.

Figured out how to get bokeh from a puddle in the background. Then swore later that I would learn bracketing.

Enjoyed a patch of birch. When I have a farm one day with a ton of land, I want lots of birch to admire!

We found a patch of these flowers, no clue what they are. They attracted quite a few bees and butterflies. The chase began for bee and flutterfly pictures, but was mostly in vain.

The path then brought us back in to woods like this. Green with spring. :)

...and the view beyond was gorgeous. Melting ice!

Down we went to the water's edge... The rocks, the reflections, the sun... It was just so pretty!

It was such a great walk with good company! 

That evening, my little Manta bear came back home from her grandparents' and she had been washed! She is looking mighty pretty now!

And we celebrated hubby's and Manta's homecoming with sesame soy salmon, potatoes and salad with ginger salad dressing. 

The marinade for the salmon was SO good! I added grated ginger and minced garlic to it, delish! And now I am fantasizing about chicken with the same marinade... 

YUM!

So yes, that was a real Sunday fun day.

Tomorrow is May day and today starts the partying! So I should be off to take care of chores so I can enjoy the celebration later!

Have a nice May day!