Spring Forward

Hello, Dear Friends! Time is racing ahead as we spring forward 

into a new season! 

We had a relatively mild winter, here in the Pacific Northwest, 

and I am very grateful for that.

Some years are better than others and you never 

can predict these things, although I keep buying 

'The Old Farmer's Almanac' in hopes that it can be done. 

xx

As we transition to spring, the weather has been typically unsettled, with sunshine, 

rain, hail, wind and then back to sunshine, sometimes all in one day! 

Despite it all, nature is her usual resilient self, and we are seeing 

more and more signs of spring. 

I indulged in a few pots of pansies from the garden center, 

and you can see that the wild plum tree is starting to bloom

in the background. 

That signifies the official start of spring here. 

Forsythia below the deck. 

It's a wild tangle that wraps around the corner, 

started from one little rooted twig. 

My first daffodil has bloomed in the barrel I planted last fall. 

I planted some crocus, too, but I think the squirrels 

made off with the bulbs! I had better luck with pots on the deck. 

xx

The groundcover around it is yellow Archangel. 

It is extremely invasive, 

but when you have large expanses of 

shady ground to cover, it is perfect. 

It will have upright yellow flower bracts in a few weeks

and has lovely, variegated leaves that are evergreen here. 

Hellebore - Lenten Rose. 

I've tried growing these in various places with no success, 

so I kept this one in a pot and it seems to be thriving. 

It took years for this ivy to spread. We built the wall about 30 years ago.

Back when we were young and strong. 

xx

I have so many gardening chores to do. The first is to cut the 

dead hydrangea blooms. I keep them into early spring 

to protect the new buds from any hard frost we might have. 

You can see them in the background. It's a wild place that 

I live in!

Kai carries around his little toy wherever he goes. 

But don't you dare try to take it away! Haha! 

This little guy sat still in the budding viburnum tree

 long enough for me to take some sweet photos. 

Don't let that innocent look fool you, though. He is very territorial - 

chasing away anyone who gets near his feeder. 

I have to keep several feeders full to give his rivals a chance. 

You can see that he is giving me the eye, too! 

Another sure sign of spring are the alder catkins. 

They look so pretty against the moody gray sky. 

When I was a volunteer art teacher in the elementary 

school when my children were young, (way back when) 

I had the students paint a light green tree on gray construction paper, 

with pink catkins on the branches. 

I found the inspiration driving down the road one spring day, 

past a stand of Alder trees illuminated by the early morning sun

against a dark gray sky. 

The paintings turned out so pretty that they were hung in the windows 

of our local post office. 

xx 

Small town sweetness. 

I taught art once a month in my daughter's 5th grade classroom 

for a year. There were several of us who volunteered 

through a guided program, using famous 

works of art, then using that artist's technique for the students

 to create something of their own.

We volunteers had to come up with the projects ourselves, 

which was sometimes challenging, 

but a very fun and rewarding experience.

xx 

It is getting rather cold out here. Time to go inside! 

I've put away all of my Irish treasures for St. Patrick's Day,

 and replaced them with a few Easter decorations. 

I also sewed a tiny curtain to hide my coffee mugs. 

I have quite a few for when the whole family comes to visit.

I also cleaned underneath the cupboard - my goodness - there was a whole 

dust bunny living it's life under there! Haha! 

x

I have a thing for tiny glass baskets.

They make good candy dishes. 

Or vases for bouquets of dandelions. 

xx

This little pansy doily was my Mom's. 

I had given it to her as a gift years ago. 

We had been shopping in an antique store

together (one of our favorite pastimes) 

and I had picked it up to buy it 

for myself, but she loved it so much, I gave it 

to her after I bought it. 

It didn't take much to make her happy.

xx 

I added a soft pink throw and some sweet bunnies

  to my daybed. 

xx

This print has no identifying information, so I don't know who 

the artist is, but I loved it when I found it at a thrift store. 

Gift from a loved one. 

xx

A paper tulip my grandson made last year. 

This little fairy has a bunny companion. 

Bright, pretty flowers from a dear friend. 

Hop on the Bunny Train! 

Something from when my children were young. 

Ramblin' Man dislikes cooked carrots. 

I love them, so I pull them out of his soups and stews

and enjoy them all to myself. 

Curiously, he likes them raw, though.

Speaking of my dear man, thank you for all 

of your kind, encouraging comments in your last post. 

He is recovering nicely from 'minor' surgery

and expects to make a full recovery. 

(Big sigh of relief)

Having a big family means there is always 

someone to worry about...especially 

now that we also have the grand-boys. 

I suffer from anxiety at times, but I am learning 

to manage it. Deep breaths...lots of faith...

I'm sure most of you can relate. 

xx

I put all of my delicate things out of the reach of little hands. 

The Mr. installed a new faucet for me recently. 

I had gone out to lunch and shopping with my two daughters, 

and when I came home, he had it all done. 

Now that's true love! 

xx

The old faucet was nice, but it was bronze and the minerals 

in our well-water would bind to it and no matter how

much I scrubbed, it wouldn't come off. 

Through trial and error we have discovered that chrome 

is the best solution. 

My version of an 'egg tree'. 

These are real, hand-painted blown eggs, 

a sweet gift from my daughter years ago. 

I have managed to keep them intact by 

packing them carefully in an oatmeal container

after Easter. 

Hand-painted sweetness with 

velvet pansies. 

'Now my dears', said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning,

'you may go into the fields or down the lane, 

but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden: 

your father had an accident there;

he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor'.

(That's a little disturbing!)

The St. Patrick's Day table when  

we had our dear friends over. 

I served Irish stew, (except I used beef, not lamb)

a salad, and Irish brown bread. 

Of course, I didn't take any photos of the meal! 

I meant to, but was too busy serving and 'catching up'

with them! 

I made a pretty parfait in my green dessert dishes, too. 

I tinted vanilla pudding green, then layered it with crushed 

mint Oreo's and a whipped cream cheese/heavy cream mixture

flavored with a little sugar and mint extract. 

It was very pretty and sooo tasty! 

I offered to serve lime mimosas, but they wanted red wine, 

so that's what we had. 

The cloth has shamrocks with a dark background. 

Of course - green fruit and jelly beans. 

We had a pot of gold, too! Chocolate coins. 

xx

My new coffeemaker.

(The old one stopped working.) 

The brand name is 'Nostalgia'.

We found it on Amazon.  

It goes nicely with my vintage stove. 

xx

A couple of books that I've been reading. 

Creating a wildflower garden month by month

with detailed planting information 

and wonderful illustrations. 

I have Bird's Foot Trefoil growing in my gardens. 

It's a pretty little low-growing, deciduous vine that scrambles over 

the ground, or anything in front of it, but doesn't take over. 

And of course, I named my daughter, 'Heather'. 

This is the cover page of 'Life in the Garden'. 

I have not been familiar with the author, Penelope Lively, but as 

you can see she is quite a prolific writer. 

She is British, and in her 80's now, and I do like her down to earth

writing style, so I will be interested in reading more of her works. 

I've removed my craft shelving from the upstairs bedroom 

that I am turning into a guest room, and 

tucked them into a corner of the library. 

It's not the ideal solution, but I've tried to keep it all 

as unobtrusive as possible by using 

baskets and boxes and crates to hide it all. 

This is the big picture. 

Ramblin' Man's desk. 

The flower 'vase' is actually made from tree bark. 

The Grandboys play with their toys in this room, 

so I needed something unbreakable. 

xx

I'll be busy this week working outside, tending to my 

gardens and tidying up my deck to get ready for 

the season. 

Weather permitting, that is. 

I have plenty of projects inside, too. 

Still working on clearing out the bedroom upstairs 

and also doing a bit of sewing for gifts. 

I will keep that a secret for now! 

I also need to catch up on my nature journal and will show 

you my entries in my next post. 

I will be hosting Easter, too. So, a busy month ahead. 

What are you up to these days, Dear Friends? 

What are you reading? What projects are you working on? 

Any fun plans? 

xx

"We may see on a spring day in one place more beauty in a wood

than in any garden."

- William Robinson -

'The Garden Beautiful' (1907)

 

"Treat your friends as you do your pictures,

and place them in their best light."

- Jennie Jerome Churchill -

(1854-1921)

English writer (mother of Winston Churchill)

xx