Bottoms Up!

I will be joining the King soon if I don't see progress in the front of the house soon.  Gr.r.r.r.r.r.r.r. 

Nothing to Report

I wish I had some progress going on with the front landscaping to share with you tonight; unfortunately after ten days of stormy weather there are still only puddles and a variety of

mushrooms.

 Just when I am ready to throw in the "trowel", 

I step out into the backyard and find

peonies

roses

clematis

and oakleaf hydrangeas

ready to burst into bloom.

   

Faces

My mom is busy in the kitchen, and she left her computer out.   I think I will surprise her and write her Sunday night post.

I am the one they call Willie.   My  favorite thing to do is roam the backyard discovering new smells.  Sometimes I find gifts hidden beneath the dirt.  It doesn't make my mom happy when she sees me stopping for a snack.  I've been seeing a lot of this lately.

Who came up with toothpaste for pups anyway?

 I'm not for sure how she always seems to know what I am doing; she is usually walking around looking at her flowers or waiting for birds to fly in for their dinner.

I wonder...

I often feel like

someone is watching me.

I think

there might be

be a little

bit of

tattling

going on

in my

backyard.

Spooky...

The faces in my yard.

Easter Wishes

May your Easter be filled with beauty and love.

(and maybe a little bit of chocolate)

Happy Easter!

Bonnie

Today... Puddles

Not wanting to bore anyone, I thought I would wait to see what happened in the yard today giving you a two day update.  But alas, after storms last night and again this afternoon, today nothing happened.   Yesterday, when I got home I found orange flags everywhere marking the new garden borders and the creek bed.

All the brick had been removed.   The two pallets will be moved to the backyard.  All of the border rocks and stepping stones had been removed and moved to the side yard to fill in around the new blue stone. 

Today this is what I found.

Finding my foxgloves drowning in mud after last weeks storms, yesterday  I  staked my irises just before the storms hit last night. We had 60 mph winds last night; my first bloom is still standing.

Tomorrow my class will have their Easter egg hunt.   They worked on their baskets today.  Aren't they the best?

Hope you found something smiling back at you today!

It's Really Going to Happen

They really started today!

I am certain I can come up with some wonderful use for the bricks, they are pulling up, in the backyard.  I suggested a nice outdoor brick fireplace.  I really didn't get the response I wanted. 

 

Excavation Begins

"To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often."

--John Henry Newman

Tomorrow the excavation in my front yard begins.  I must be very honest, I am a little nervous.  That is a lie...I am a "great big" nervous.  

This is the weekend I would have cleaned out the front beds and changed out the pansies with inpatients.  Instead I worked in the back, leaving my front yard looking pretty sad.

I've moved many plants to the back;

I still have more  to rescue. 

I'm hoping they will begin with the brick walkway.

The grass will mostly disappear with the transformation of my 

front yard garden.

Now I need your help.

I want to paint my front door a different color.

I am not opposed to changing the awning as well.

 

It is a double door.

There is a solid door behind the 

glass paned door.

I would love to paint the doors red, but I'm

not for sure what it would look like with my brick, or what 

color awning I  should choose.

All suggestions are welcome.

I'll keep you updated on the garden redo.

Change is exciting...I think!

Another Storm

When we headed to bed last evening we were aware storms were on their way.   We were under a tornado warning.   Shortly after 1:30 a.m. I heard the power go out  (I am a very light sleeper).  As soon as the words, "There goes the power" were said,  the sirens began sounding and we each received a call, on our cells,  from a local TV station telling us we were in the path of a suspected tornado.   We jumped out of bed grabbed our clothes, Willie, cell phones, computers and flashlights and headed downstairs to the hall bathroom.    The electricity came on shortly, but U-verse remained out;  we were able to track storms on our cell phones.

As I sat on the floor with Willie in my lap I started thinking of the plants I forgot to put in the garage.  I had left them on the table outside.  I thought of the little bird that made its nest by the playground door at school. Three of the eggs had hatched Wednesday.  I knew there was little protection for her.  I knew my children were scared even if they remembered our reading Thundercake.  I worried about friends who I knew were in the path of the storm I was watching move through our area.  I thought of my god-daughter living by herself, recuperating from a broken hip, suspecting her mother, my dear friend, was driving in the storm trying to get to her. I knew there was nothing I could do but turn it over to a greater power than myself, and I said a silent prayer.

We were back in bed by 3:00 a.m. and surprisingly I didn't have any trouble going back to sleep.

It is with daylight that you discover destruction.  We were not harmed.   Our home seems to be okay, I am sure we will need to have the roof check, but that seems so minor.  If damaged it will be replaced.   

My plants I left out survived.  I lost the beautiful foxgloves that just bloomed this week, but I will collect their seeds and they will come back next year. The "oak worms" seemed to have been blown and washed out of the trees, but again that seems so minor today.   I don't think our baby birds survived even though the mother was still trying to sit on the nest when I left school today.  It broke my heart, I cried for the sweet little mother not understanding what had happened, but still I have to put it into perspective.

Lots of cleanup tomorrow.  And I will do it with a joyful heart.

You see, lives were lost in the early hours of this day.  This storm did not discriminate.  Lives were lost in a house trailer and in a lovely brick home. There was a dad and his baby girl, and a mom and her seven year old son. Another child was also taken.   I don't know the names of any of the deceased, but as I survey what I did not lose during the storm, I must first acknowledge those who lost everything.   I cannot even begin to imagine their lose.

Tomorrow we will go on our way never thinking or hearing again about lives that can never be repaired.   It is the way we survive the knowledge it could have been us.  Even though I do not pretend to understand why, I suppose this is, in some way, our gift for today.

Have a terrific and peaceful week-end!  May you have uninterrupted dreams. 

A Few New Things

The longer I am on blogger the more I notice there is something for everyday, (i.e. Mosaic Monday, Thrifty Tuesday) and I love seeing what everyone posts.  But alas, as I have mentioned before, I never know what I am going to write about.  When I set about trying to manipulate my thoughts I usually end up deleting everything.  My muse visits, I write.  I suppose some posts are better that others. . .

More than any daily named post, I see  a lot of Wordless Wednesdays, with a lot of fabulous pictures.  What a terrific idea!  I only have to go through my pictures and post a few.  Wonderful!

Here lies the problem dear friends.  I am seldom wordless!   If there is a story to be told, I am going to tell it, probably when you don't have time to listen.  Thus one of my reasons for being here in the first place.  (I really don't take myself as seriously as a few of my post have led you to believe).  With that said, today will be titled "Wednesday's Wellness Walkabout".  (I know I always have to be different.  I just dance to a different beat.  Think how much fun I will be when I get really old...).

Here are a few things I found when I was out with Willie today.

my first meyer lemon baby of the season

They maybe starting my front landscaping Monday. We may solve the mystery of the missing water valve.   I am fully prepared to be proven wrong.  I will keep you posted.

A Field Trip

"There is always music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it." ...Minnie Aumonier

 

 

A few days ago a dear friend and I headed out of the city to visit one of my very favorite nurseries, White Wagon Farm.  We have made this yearly trek for several years and each is just as enjoyable as the last.

 Here are a few things I saw while walking through the gardens and plant stalls.

tranquility at it's best

Oh, did I mention there is also an art studio?

We managed to find a few things to take home.

our bounty

The afternoon was not only enjoyable because I could shop wonderful and sometimes unusual plants.  Or, that I could walk the paths finding delight at every bend.  I love taking this "field trip" every year,  because I get to spend a few hours talking about plants and life, and simply being with my dear friend.