After an amazing sunset walk around Lake Calhoun on Friday night, Jesse and I drove home to our St. Louis Park abode. While pulling into the driveway, I spied two gray, fluffy creatures on my deck, flanking the steps. I immediately thought it must be squirrels facing away from me with their poofy tails pointed toward the sky.

(Now, you need to understand that I have a hate/hate relationship with the squirrels who live in my tree because they dig up my potted plants and pluck leaves off my maple tree!)

While Jesse took a photograph of the symmetry of the animals to our deck stair case, I was determined to chase them away. As I moved closer to the deck, my eyes adjusted to the dark. And to my surprise, I realized that I was staring into two sets of owl eyes!! The birds flew into the maple tree. I curiously observed the maple tree and spotted another owl. After about 5 minutes of playing “Where’s Waldo,” Jesse and I counted five little owls in our yard!

I think (but I’m not sure) the owls are adolescent screech owls. Photos below by Jesse.

Here’s what they looked like last Saturday! They are about 5 inches tall!

Here are some random photos that I took this week!

I took in this sunset from the top of the Calhoun Square parking garage last Thursday.

This lady bug was hanging out in a flowering tree in the church parking lot on Sunday. (The blooms on this tree do not smell good.)

An extreme close up of my beverage at Spyhouse tonight: sparkling raspberry green tea. It tasted delicious. However, I just learned that green tea does indeed contain some caffeine. There goes my bedtime.

Every year I go to the nursery and buy plants for the yard. I’ve never planted seeds. I’ve also never planted vegetables. 2010 is a year to try new things—so I did both! I put some vegetables in my window box and planted some sunflower seeds by the garage. I figured the bright orange-yellow would look super nice next to my blue siding.

I planted the seeds about two weeks ago and checked in today to find tiny little sunflowers sprouting! I’m so excited to see my seeds are growing (yes, excited even though the seed package says, “guaranteed to grow”). The sprouts are about an inch tall and here are the photos! As long as the plants survive, I’ll post pictures on the blog so you can watch them grow with me! As a bonus, I saw a beautiful caterpillar and photographed it, too!

Guaranteed to grow? Sold!

The seeds. I love all the different stripe patterns! Each sunflower seed is similar to the next yet totally unique—I find this level of detail amazing. We live in an awesome world.

Pushing up dirt!

Stretching out.

Reaching for the sun.

Isn't this a beautiful creature! I love the color combination of turquoise, gold and black. I dig the pattern.

Trying to find a good place to spin a cocoon.

Zoomed in so you can see the incredible detail!

P.S. Are you watching the Discovery Channel series called “Life?” It is one of my favorite shows. The photography is brilliant and with Oprah as the narrator, what’s not to love! You HAVE to watch the episode on plants. It has forever changed the way I look at plant life. Plants are so much more like animals than I ever thought! Check out the Life website and set your DVR to record!!!

Last night I attended the Minneapolis Community and Technical College Portfolio Show. I was quite impressed by the portfolios—these students are showing some great work! The show is up through the end of day today (from 10 am to 7 pm, address listed below). If you can’t make it to the show, check out the show’s website featuring the portfolios of the students: http://gra2010.com

After perusing the show, I experienced an amazing sunset. Here are a couple of my favorite photos. I took these from the top level of the MCTC parking ramp.

MCTC Portfolio Show | 1501 Hennepin Ave | Minneapolis | Wheelock Whitney Hall (they have signs directing you to the show)

I took these photos four weeks ago and forgot to post them! Spring was just emerging and I was at the Walker Sculpture Garden.

This is a teeny tiny flower!

Detail of a support beam (the foot bridge from the sculpture garden to Loring Park)

More teeny flowers. Loving this color combination!

I love the stripe patterns on the palms of this plant.

I took these photos last Friday while taking the dog for a walk in my neighborhood. I love that spring is here and plants are budding and blooming!

This is just funny. The space is available for rent, however the placement of the sign might lead you to think otherwise. Available? Or Unavailable? (The former tenant was called “United Martial Arts.”)

Plymouth, MN on Hwy 55

Everything is melting and spring is near. Here’s my latest batch of photos to share:

And these last two photos are just for fun. I ate some delicious strawberries the other day, and one was making a fishy kissy face at me!