I Found Spring in Dayton, OH

After Toby and I drove for 6 hours through 3 states, stopping for a couple of potty breaks, both he and I, a trip through McDonald's and a gas fill-up I arrived at my sister-in-law's home.  The closer I got to my destination the greener the trees became, the red-buds were bursting, and I spotted tulips, flowering trees,

and lilacs in bloom.  Ahh Spring had arrived in this part of the world making my spirits soar.

Spring has arrived at home too....the garden is greening, the trees are budding and it is supposed to be 80 degrees today.  Yep, we just jumped right from winter to summer, skipping Spring....happens quite a lot here.  But I welcome the warmth and the new life surrounding me.

Joining Kim & Nancy for Texture Tuesday and Tuesday Muse....

Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.  ~Virgil A. Kraft

Until next time.....

Traveling Again

This will be my last post until next week.  I am off on another adventure in the early AM.  This time to Dayton, OH to visit two of my lovely sister-in-laws.  I was scheduled to visit last summer, but you know how life sometimes gets in the way of plans....well, we finally put a date on the calendar and I am coming, ready or not.

I am traveling with Toby since I thought my daughter would probably go into shock if I asked her to dog-sit again so soon after returning from my Arizona trip.  She is probably still recovering.  Now, Toby has never traveled longer than 45 miles in the car.  How do you suppose he will handle 300+.  Little worried, but we will go for it.  I have not told Toby yet, it will be a surprise.

And guess what???  It's raining again.  That's enough, thank you very much.  I so wanted to go back to the Arboretum again today, but that was not in the cards so I took pictures of my soon to be gone, but not forgotten Trader Joe's ranunculus instead.

And then I snuck outside for a brief pause in the rain....you can see the tree in the parkway from the raindrop on the rose bush.

Very verdant green....this is the boxwood bush alongside the garage.  It is probably 10 feet tall, not exaggerating, really.

Tomorrow is my grandson's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Brandon.  I am patiently waiting for he and his lovely wife, Hilary to make me a great-grandmother...I want a baby in our lives...too long without one.  They have been married almost 3 years and I know his Mother would like to be a grandmother too, so don't you think it's time??  Ofcourse, it really is none of my business when or if they have children...just my wishin'...!!!

And yesterday was my brother's birthday.  Caught he and his dog reading on the porch while visiting last year, living the life of retirement.  And no, I am not wishin' babies from them.  Happy Birthday, Danny.

And my sister-in-law (the one I am visiting this weekend) whose birthday was April 15th...Happy Birthday, Mary Jo and no babies from her either.

"Until further notice....celebrate everything."  ~  Unknown

Until next time.....

Along Comes Spring

After meeting with my movie gals to see "42 - The Jackie Robinson Story" I headed to my beloved Arboretum to see what was in bloom.  But first, I must tell you to run don't walk to the movie theater to see this film.  What a good one, great story, great cast, and just a darn good movie.  Two thumbs up, as Roger Ebert would say!!  

After the rains we had last week, my beloved Arboretum was totally under-water and closed from Thursday until Sunday afternoon.  There are many ponds along with the DuPage River that runs right through the arboretum that rose to record levels.  Roads had been flooded, along with many of their buildings which suffered water damage and while there I saw the pumps still pushing water out of the buildings.  Folks, we had really damaging floods here.  But today was a good day, the sun was shining, the temps were in the upper 60's, the birds were chirping, and signs of spring was everywhere you looked.  So after enjoying the movie with my gal pals and a nice lunch and chatter afterward at The Corner Bakery I topped off my day with a trip through the Arboretum.  

The magnolias are in bloom...

The scilla are everywhere.  I love their little blue flowers that resemble a blue carpet in spring.

And the daffodils are in full bloom and covered entire areas...

And when you mix the scilla and the daffodils together, oh what a beautiful sight!!

White Forsythia is so incredibly fragrant...the aroma is almost overwhelming.

This was growing in a large pot by the entrance to their education building...not sure what it is, but anything with these buds must be gorgeous....

Bushes were sprouting their new buds...

And there were even small bunches of crocus blooming amid the daffodils.

The word of the week is verdant which translated from an old french word that meant green.  Today a verdant landscape is lush, healthy and bursting with greenery.  That is exactly what I witnessed as I drove through the arboretum yesterday....a verdant landscape bursting with green as well as color.

Linking with Kim Klassen for Texture Tuesday and Nancy at A Rural Journal for her Tuesday Muse

Until next time.....

After The Rain....

After the rain the buds make an appearance.  Spring is evident everywhere I gaze.

Happy Earth Day!!

"I believe in God, only I call it Nature."  ~  Frank Lloyd Wright

Until next time....

Need a Little Peace

I need some peace in my life right now after the week we all have had....the devastation in my area is almost overwhelming due to the flooding. The sadness of losing pieces and parts of your home and all the memories that are associated with those parts is heartbreaking.  I escaped without any problems, but all I have to do is walk down the street and see water-drenched carpets rolled up by the curbside, furniture and bags & bags of what were once someone's treasures to witness the tragedies.

I have dug back into my images from Phoenix, a gentler time, to post today.  Peaceful images.....

Linking to Madge's Weekly Top Shot....

"A smile is the beginning of peace"  ~  Mother Theresa

Until next time.....

Better Days Ahead

Hallelujah the sun is shining today, albeit the temps are just barely 30 degrees.  Since all of the rain, the grass is green and there are obvious buds on the trees, not bursting buds, but buds nevertheless.  I knew it was going to be a better day as I watched the television last night as the remaining "terrorist" was apprehended and the streets became lined with the citizens of Boston applauding the works of the local, city, and state Police and the FBI.  As I watched and saw the images of the youngest "terrorist" and heard what a fine young man he was while in highschool it makes me wonder, how does someone like him, get so far off-track in his life in such a relatively short time that would bring him to destroy human lives on purpose?  An answer we may never know.

I am going to focus on the good this next week...beginning right now....this past week focused too much on the bad.  Today my good friend, Marti is hosting a brunch to raise money for the Purdue University Cancer Research that she is very involved in.  Instead of running a 5K and asking everyone to donate, she opts to host a brunch where we enjoy eating while we donate.  Yesterday I  helped her in the preparing by creating spring on her tables.  Again, Trader Joe's to the rescue with their abundance of beautiful tulips.

Marti cut out the butterflies and hung them from fishing wire from her chandelier....aren't they sweet?!

Decided to play again with Jill's "Creative License Friday".  This week the original photo was taken by Gail Dixon, my blogging friend, from her blog "Louisiana Belle".  Visit Gail, she takes the most amazing bird images...breath-taking.

Here is her original photo....

And here are two of my renditions....the first one I added a texture from Lenabema Anna from flickr

The second one has a texture from Nancy Claeys from her blog A Rural Journal.

Ok, I am off to wash my hair and get dressed to go fill my tummy with Marti's wonderful brunch.  Hope you all have a glorious weekend.

"Life isn't tied with a bow, but it is still a gift."  ~  Regina Brett

Until next time.....