Refreshed !!!

It is spring!! One of my favorite times of the year, IF we receive rain. And we had a little over 2" this past weekend. All of the plants are refreshed and they were looking beautiful as it was because of the rains we had last fall.

As I had mentioned before, I had forgotten how beautiful this part of the country is when it rains or snows, even if it is a little below average. It is the way below average that has hurt us. We are not as lush as the rainforest in Australia, http://dsaaustralia.blogspot.com/ ,where my daughter and her students were yesterday or today, however that works. Anyone interested in keeping up with Jennifer's personal blogs from Australia can also go to http://everydayinaphoto.blogspot.com/












The photos today are of a columbine, old fashioned iris that smells like concord grapes and the chocolate mint plant. It has another name, but I cannot recall it at the moment. It is a vine and in the spring it produces these deep, cocoa red colored flowers that smell like chocolate mint. One of my favorites in the garden.

Spring!!!

Spring seems to be having a hard time finding its way here this year. The flowers and trees are more lush than they have been in years. In the last 8 or 9 years, they looked tired when they started leafing out in the spring. They probably knew what lie ahead in the coming summer months.

The following are a few photos I took two weeks ago. Things have changed drastically in that time as everything has grown. Had hoped to update some of them today, but the wind was blowing and flowers are much prettier standing upright as opposed to leaning over.

Reflecting

The wind is blowing and it is warm outside. The warm I don't mind, the wind I do. Hopefully we will be blessed with rain this evening as we desperately need it, again. As someone once said, our part of the country is always on the verge of a drought. So I didn't stay outside long and I was not long at weeding in the flower garden, BUT I did come across something that prompted this post.

The photo is of a whirligig that is in our flower garden. Yep, there are only three petals remaining on the flower, have no idea where the other two are, as I have not seen them for several years after one of our big blows. It doesn't twirl anymore, but it will remain there among the flowers. It reminds me of many things. One of the things it reminds me of is myself, faded, rough and worn around the edges, with not all parts working 100% anymore. I need things like that around me as they are comforting in some odd way.

The sun face was the center of the flower and fell off the whirligig some time back. I had not seen it either. I found it this afternoon laying on the grave of our little dog, Vixey. So I am taking it as a sign to do something with this little metal sun in memory of her, as she loved the flower gardens and spent hours hunting in them. It will also become a reminder of friends that I will no longer have association with on a daily basis, as they have recently moved on to other areas, but we shared making such things with metal, fabric, beads, wire, melted things, etc. for several years.

Another reason I am going to use the little sun is that we often times throw things away that aren't new and exciting anymore, a little worn or broken, or we have taken what we want from it and that thing no longer has any value or worth to us or is not useful to us anymore on our quest.

It is also a reminder of all that is going on around me, of what I feel is the desmantling of our country and the way of life I have known for many years, a good life that I fear my children will lose and my grandson will never know. BUT the sun will come up tomorrow, if it is God's will, and it will not warm the earth anymore now than it ever has.

Catching up again

I am trying to catch up on more things. It is already May 7th and I have not posted anything for this month. So much for trying to do better.

This large pot was a birthday gift from my husband. The photo doesn't show how big this thing really is. It is 30" tall and about 36" wide. This thing will hold water and my guess is that it will end up in one of the flower beds as a water feature of some kind.

The bicycle planter was an early Mother's Day gift from my daughter, her husband and son. It is a nifty little item which I put together this afternoon and I am about ready to head out to the greenhouse and plant flowers in the baskets. They won't be very big yet, but they will grow.

I am still enjoying the Harry and David selection of goodies Jennifer and her husband gave me. They are a special treat on occasion.