Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!!

May you all be blessed with the graces God gave to us through his son,

 our Lord, Jesus Christ, 

who has risen on this glorious Easter Sunday.  

Until next time....

Spring Comes to a Neighbor's Yard

With camera in hand I walked to my neighbors, where, if there were any signs of spring, their yard would be the first to show that Spring was surely on its way.  I wasn't disappointed.  The snowdrops were in full bloom, along with a few crocus.  Believe me, this was a sight for sore, tired, winter weary eyes.  On my hands and knees, flat on my belly you could find me joyfully taking these pictures. 

As I walked toward the blooming snowdrops I passed by another neighbor's tree that just happened to have Mr. Robin perched quite nicely among the left-over dried red berries.

 Guess who else is glad it's spring.  Toby loves to spend the entire day outside when the weather begins to warm up.

And one more, oh I shouldn't say one more, I have dozens more, but one more TODAY of the ranunculus.

"Notice and marvel at the small beauties and gifts in your life.  When you do, you become an active participant in life and one with all of Life."  ~  Madeleine Kay

Joining Tina wither her Tina's Weekend Flowers...

Until next time....

Letters on Friday

Dear Tina Fey & Paul Rudd,  you disappointed me with your latest movie, "Admissions."  Wouldn't you  think that with a cast starring Tina & Paul and Lily Tomlin it would be one belly-laugh after another...not so, hardly a giggle, at least from me anyway.  Tina & Paul, what happened??  Better luck next time.

Dear Bunco Babes, you surprised me at my delightful "birthday dinner" on Monday night (I know the celebrations just continue, heh, I am not complaining).  No gifts is the rule, just cards....but you were so generous in presenting me with a sweet gift certificate to a spa.  And not just any spa, Coldwater Creek Spa.  Now the question becomes, do I decorate my nails from top to bottom, or do I have a 'oh rub harder' massage, or a 'make me look younger' facial...oh decisions.  Big thank you hugs your way, Babes.

Dear Barnes & Noble, thank you for being our place to gather when we have no Bible Study on a Wednesday morning.  You provide us with a spot to sit, warmth to drink and sweets to nibble while we discuss important events like Dorothy Hamil leaving Dancing With the Stars.

Dear Sun, you really are there.  I was beginning to wonder if you had decided to take an extended vacation, but you are back.  Yesterday was sunny, today is sunny, tomorrow is predicted to be sunny.... it's a record.

Dear Kohl's, thank you for being fully stocked with new spring goodies.  I spent way too much money, but I am going to be spiffy in my new duds when I go to Arizona next week.

Dear Trader Joe's, what can I say, ranunculus and blue hydrangeas all at the same time....be still my heart.

Dear Blogging Buds, have a blessed weekend and for those celebrating Easter, Happy Easter.

Linking to Mona & Nancy & "The Long Road to China"...

Until next time....

Sweet Violas

Decorate the canvas of your life

Make it a piece of living art.

Decorate your home.

Fill it with plants that breathe and mirrors that shine,

prisms that paint rainbows on your walls.

Fill vases and jugs and bowls and baskets with flowers

and fruit and anything that brings you joy.

Decorate your body.

Paint if that's your passion.

Drape yourself with scarves that flutter and fly.

Decorate yourself with chains and beads of silver or gold or

with silk or cotton or wool embroidered or laced with ribbon and all

as lovely as you.

Decorate your garden with anything the squirrels won't eat,

and decorate the sky with your smile.

Until next time....

Gripped Or Is It Griped?

Oh my goodness, the grey skies continue along with the cold temps with only images of spring buried in our hopes that soon, soon we will be released from the grips of winter.  Yes, it has definitely gripped us, or should I say griped us.  (gripped means to hang on, not let go, griped means to bellyache).  

Which leads me to our word of the week....untoward.  Not a very difficult word, one that is quite easy to use in a sentence, but not sure if I have ever spoken the word.  Untoward meaning "not moving in the direction toward something".....Using it in a sentence "If things are going untowardly one month, they are sure to mend the next." - Jane Austen.  Which brings us back to our untowardly weather...it doesn't seem to be moving in the direction of spring.  But as Jane Austen says...it is sure to mend the next (month).

Remember this?

Here it is today....at least it's useful, dirty but useful.

I'll just keep buying tulips until they begin their ascent from the cold earth.

Saw this idea on Pinterest so bought a 4 pack of these sweet violas and planted them in egg shells.  After ruining 3 egg shells by cracking them on the side of the sink, I finally pulled out a butcher knife and cracked them with that.  Much easier.  Aren't they sweet?

Hope you are having a wonderful week and Spring is making an appearance in your part of the world.

Linking to Madge's Rurality (figured the birds and the squirrel could fall into a rural setting).


 "In the Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."~ Margaret Atwood

Until next time.....

The Poets

To The Thawing Wind by Robert Frost

Come with rain. O loud Southwester!

Bring the singer, bring the nester;

Give the buried flower a dream;

make the settled snowbank steam;

Find the brown beneath the white;

But whate'er you do tonight,

bathe my window, make it flow,

Melt it as the ice will go;

Melt the glass and leave the sticks

Like a hermit's crucifix;

Burst into my narrow stall;

Swing the picture on the wall;

Run the rattling pages o'er;

Scatter poems on the floor;

Turn the poet out of door.

Today is the anniversary of the birth and the death of two of America's greatest poets.  Robert Frost was born on this date in 1874 and Walt Whitman died on this same date in 1892.  These two men both possessed an amazing talent for the written word.

Miracles

WHY! who makes much of a miracle?

As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,

Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,

Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,

Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water,

Or stand under trees in the woods,

Or talk by day with any one I love--or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,

Or sit at table at dinner with my mother,

Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,

Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon, 

Or animals feeding in the fields,

Or birds--or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,

Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down--or of stars shining so quiet and bright,

Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;

Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best--

mechanics, boatmen, farmers,

Or among the savans--or to the soiree--or to the opera,

Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,

Or behold children at their sports,

Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect old woman,

Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial, 

Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;

These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,

The whole referring--yet each distinct, and in its place.

To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,

Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,

Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,

Every foot of the interior swarms with the same;

Every spear of grass--the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women and all that concerns them,

All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.

To me the sea is a continual miracle; 

The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves--the ships, 

with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there? 

Walt Whitman

Until next time....

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - The March 24, 2013 Edition

Oh man....we had one day of spring and now it's snowing again.  Yesterday actually felt and looked like Spring, sun shining, birds chirping, temps above 40....ahh Spring, but then whapp winter just can't seem to stay away.  My favorite garden center opened this weekend. I had to wander down with camera in hand just to see what they could possibly be selling that can withstand our low night temps....eventho there wasn't much it was great to see some color.  I managed to capture all the challenges for this week's hunt (except one) on my visit.  Ashley's challenges this week are:

• Asian
• Wavy
• Draw
• Soft
• Texture

OK...I am starting  out with my (except one) image.  This was actually taken last spring just about this time...oh what a difference a year makes.  An Eastern Red Bud that I am going to say is Asian in it's origin and it sorta resembles the cherry blossoms that are famously Asian.

Look at the shadows of those pistals or stamens or whatever the correct terminology is for those wavy things..it's been way too long since I was in a biology class.

The gift shop was loaded with cute new "must take this home for the kitchen windowsill" items.  Look at that cute drawn face.  How could you not love him.  I know this was a stretch....it's called creative license.

And then there were the pussy willows, gathered in bunches and so very soft to the touch.

And finally the textures in this birdhouse were perfect for the last challenge.  And to top it off, I added a texture....one can't have too many textures.

And one more....I had to stop at the grocery store to pick up "stuff" and couldn't resist buying more tulips....$4.99 gives me such pleasure.  Linking to Madge's Top Shot

Hoping Spring comes your way and that your week is filled with sunshine and happiness.

Until next time....