Eye Candy

I couldn't stand it any longer, camera in hand with macro lens attached, I went to my favorite garden center yesterday afternoon.  I was not disappointed, they were filled to over-flowing with colors that could cure any winter-worn soul.  And by the size of the crowds there were many winter-worn souls filling up carts with flowers in hopes of bringing spring to their colorless yards.

****Please don't forget about my giveaway happening in just 3 days to celebrate my blog anniversary of two years.  See details here...

The word of the week is "mesmerize"....which means to hold someone in your thrall, as if they are hypnotized or spellbound.  I become mesmerized every time I visit my garden center with all the beauty that abounds.  And to tie this word into our weekly Bible study that is concluding this week...I think Boaz must have been mesmerized by Ruth almost as soon as she arrived in Bethlehem.  I have been sharing my weekly word with my Bible Study group trying to tie the word into our studies.  It's been fun, but we are ending this week and won't return again until Fall.  Many of us continue our gathering each week at Barnes & Noble.  Last summer we focused on "The Fruits of the Spirit" taking one every two weeks and sharing our experiences...perhaps patience is one to revisit.

"The front door to springtime is a photographer's best friend."  ~ Terri Guillemets

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.....

A Little Bit of Spring

Yesterday we had spring here in Chicagoland.  The sun was shining, the birds chirped, the temps almost reached 70 degrees.  It was glorious.  I grabbed my camera just to see if I could capture little signs that once again Spring has returned, but as you can see, it is slow, really really slow in arriving.

There are just the tiniest buds on the quince bushes, teeny tiny swellings on the rose bushes, day lilies have popped thru and are showing their green blades and the tulips have emerged, no blooms, but green leaves.  Sigh....I have a feeling we may skip Spring this year and go straight into Summer which is not a rare occurence around here.  The forecast is for rain and in the 50's for the rest of the week.  But rain or no rain I am buying pansies for the front porch.  I want color, oh where or where is the color??!!

And with Spring the critters arrive....well, not really this particular bunny (took this in Arizona) but definitely cousins of his.  Love this one's big ears and the chunk missing on the right ear.

Since my lovely vacation to Arizona I have been neglect in educating us with our "words to sound smart"....I have chosen the word diaspora as this week's word.  It originally was used to described Jews living outside Israel and later expanded its meaning to describe any body of people scattered outside of their homeland.  I do believe that all the residents that live in the Sun Lakes, AZ community are definitely diaspora....not a single one is a native of Arizona....they all came from different places, usually from colder climates searching for the warmth of the sun.  How about you, are you a diaspora? living outside or beyond your original home?  I guess I could classify myself as such since my roots are in Texas but now I have lived so long in the Midwest (30+ years) that if I moved from here I would be another diaspora.

Linking to Macro Monday....

                                     

Well, gotta go finish those taxes...yeah I dragged my feet (you know procrastinated) until now I am down to literally the last minute.  Have a great week everyone.

"Like yourself.  You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and appreciation." ~ Buddha

Until next time.....

.

You Have Got To Be Kidding....!!!

Today March 20, 2013, is the official start of Spring.  You have got to be kidding...it was 14 degrees with a wind-chill factor of -2 when I got up this morning and the afternoon temps never got above 23 degrees with a few snow-flurries.  Mother Nature you are definitely waning with bringing warmth that usually accompanies Spring.  Oh well, the body is not ready for springtime clothing...I am still carrying around that extra layer of winter fat.

Today after Bible Study a group of us went to see a theater production of "Fiddler on the Roof"...it was a beautiful production, the scenery, the lighting, the cast, the orchestra could not have been better.  Some memorable songs came from that show....Tradition - Sunrise-Sunset - Do You Love Me? - If I Were A Rich Man....I have been humming them ever since I left the theater.  There were over 1700 people in the audience for a Wednesday afternoon matinee, so needless to say it took us awhile to make our way out of the theater and back into the car....by the time I got home I was cold.  You know that cold that you get when it just kinda penetrates through your whole body and the only way you can warm up is to a) take a hot bath b) wash dishes in hot soapy water c) brew yourself a nice hot cup of coffee.  I opted for option c...eventho the other options work quite well.  The branch in the pic below represents what the day should be....spring flowering, the cup of hot coffee represents the warmth that we didn't get from Mother Nature.  I know it's a stretch but...heh, it's the best I could come up with.  I think I'll go take that hot bath anyway.

I must say goodbye to my tulips...I have enjoyed them and probably took at least 100 plus pictures of their blooms in the last week, but I honestly think sometimes I love them more in their waning hours than when they are fresh.  PS...have you noticed I have used the word wane or some form thereof twice during this post?  I am getting so very smart.

And because I have nothing interesting left to say, I will astound you with more fun facts from 70 years ago.   The big music hits from this era were The Andrew Sister's rendition of "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" and big bands were the big deal with Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey, Harry James, Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller all selling top records.  No wonder this music so appeals to me,  it was the first music I ever heard.

Now I am going to take that hot bath and crawl under the covers and finish reading "Don't Let Me Go" by Catherine Ryan Hyde, our book club choice for this month which meets tomorrow night.  Sweet story.

There are many memorable quotes from "Fiddler on the Roof"....one by Tevye "As the good book says, if you spit in the air, it lands on your face."  Remember that!!

Until next time....

Textures on a Tuesday and the Beginning of a Year of Facts

Sun, glorious sun shining in the front window.  I wish I could say that warmth buddied up with the sun, but when I took these photos the outside temps were 17 degrees....doesn't scream warmth does it.  I am holding on to my birthday tulips as long as possible, but they are waning (ha..remember the word for the week, makes me sound brilliant, doesn't it?).

Today is Texture Tuesday over at Kim's place and at Nancy's A Rural Journal she is also hosting Tuesday Muse...both fun places to hang out....

Kim asked us, along with using at least one of her textures, to also add words to your image...either directly on the image or in the description...

Here are my entries this week.  The first one above is textured with Anna from the Downton Abbey collection...

Below is 1) the original sooc and 2) desaturated and lightened using the 0303 texture and the added text.

And finally with an added action from Florabella.

My good friend, JoAnn gave me a book for my recent birthday entitled "Now You're 70 - Fun Facts for Your Generation"...and if you count backwards you know that I was born at the height of World War II.  I thought it would be fun to post little tidbits about the last 70 years, some I remember, some not. But one I know we all remember is this poster of Rosie the Riveter representing several million women who excelled at jobs that were traditionally male-only, helping to build the ships, tanks, planes and guns that were needed to win the war....And after that, there was nothing stopping us women.

So not only am I going to increase our vocabulary with our 101 Words to Sound Smart...but let's discover some facts from the last 70 years.

Until next time....

Another Word....

Did you like my word yesterday?  Have you used it yet?  The word was temerity. I introduced the word to the women attending Bible Study this morning.  Now, introducing new words to this group of women is not something I normally do, however since we are studying the Book of Ruth I thought the word was quite appropriate to Ruth's personality and what makes this woman tick.  If you recall, the word temerity means bold with a big dose of braveness and some rashness thrown in.  Now if any of you have the slightest knowledge of the story of Ruth, you know this woman had a huge amount of bravery, and certainly had to be a little rash when she left her homeland and her family, after becoming a young widow, and followed her Mother-In-Law to a new land, leaving everything behind.  Now that woman had temerity.  How many of us would leave everything that we had ever known in our entire lives to follow our Mother-In-Law??  Holy cow....Temerity with a capital T.  So try to use the word this week and make everyone think you are really smart.

OK, I am on a roll with these words...I guess I want to get smart fast beings as I am on the downhill side of my life...this isn't morbid, just the truth.  Second word this week is Quagmire, meaning a soggy, soft piece of land that if you walked into it, your shoes would most likely be sucked off.  This is exactly what happened to the corn fields after 10 inches of melting snow, along with buckets of rain....one big quagmire.

And because I don't want you feeling as tho you have been left in a quagmire....a bunch of daffodils to brighten the day.

The sun is shining here, but the temps are hovering around 30 degrees...not exactly springtime temps, but the grocery stores are filled with daffodils and tulips right now, so spring may not be leaping forth outside but inside my house spring has sprung.

Linking with Madge's Rurality.

Until next time....