Sunday, April 29, 2012

Spring Yard

 Despite our drought (4" behind last I heard) my yard is positively lush.  I went for a walk around the yard yesterday to capture it.

The Euchera has sent out a slender spike of flowers (the flowers echo the foliage colors).

Hostas emerge from a bed of pansies...and the gardenia that was transplanted is filling out there between the ferns.  And can you see the Cryptomeria (on the right) that is almost covered by the hydrangea?  It was hastily planted until I could figure out where it's forever home would be. The other one is behind the butterfly bush on the other side of the yard near the toad lilies.


Brazilian verbena (I think) blooms next to a butterfly bush bud while the Fairy Rose explodes in the background.



Beneath another blooming Euchera variant, the Japanese Painted Fern that I thought was long ago lost to drought has sent up a single frond.


The heirloom rose is full of blooms and buds (and an attack of thrips?)...the cutback boxwoods are putting on new growth and recovering from leaf borers, and I can see just how uneven the ground is under the bird bath.


The Fairy Rose and Stella D'oro day lilies are beginning their show while lace cap hydrangeas wait in the wings.



I know you're not supposed to let your herbs bloom, but as you can see the parsley is exploding with pinwheel shaped blooms in green gold.  And the Swiss chard is going great guns in the front corner.



A view from the opposite back corner to the view above - you can see drifts of oregano (leaf green)  marking the curve from Monkey Grass (dark green) to Creeping Jenny (yellow green).


Another view of the verbena which is sadly reduced from it's volume in prior years.



In front and back yards , the hydrangeas are coming!



Stay tuned for an update when the hydrangeas are in bloom.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Mulitple Choice


A. Slow Saturday Morning

B. Post Saturday Morning Walk

C. Recovery from Saturday Morning Escape through gate someone left open.

D. All the above.





Not sure?



Really?





D (with emphasis on item C).



Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Odds & Ends

I'm reading about Jon Katz and the serious illness his dog Izzy is experiencing.  It reminds me of my first dog, Cammie.  She was such a good dog and I'm grateful for getting to have her.  The photo below is the day before  had to let her go.  We went to the park where we spent so much time and took a walk.




A favorite photo from this past weekend...




An in-process photo from this weekend...




A surprise from last week - I was trying to capture the water droplets on the succulent, and noticed the texture of the beautiful green moss (?) on the pot...




I am waiting on an answer to something...please say a prayer for a positive outcome!

Have a good day.


Monday, April 23, 2012

Art Weekend




Got back late yesterday from an art workshop weekend I gave my sister for her 40th birthday.  It was a wonderful experience and now I know how to use my pan pastels. Which is great since I bought them last year.  I'll share some more tomorrow, but for now, aren't these colors lovely together?

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Lush Life

It finally rained, and everything looks full and lush.  Let me show you:







Wednesday, April 11, 2012

SnailMail



When I got home yesterday, I found this package in my mailbox.  I ordered some washi tape from a place recommended by one of the blogs I follow.  Of course, it got completely by me that I was ordering it all the way from the source:  Japan - until I was finished with the order.

Anyway, it showed up, and look what a pretty package they created to ship to me.  The stamps are on the opposite side from the US way, and the return address is on the bottom right instead of top left.

Just thought I'd share.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Monday, April 9, 2012

Weekend Away



Sometimes a little time away and some soap are just the ticket.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Monday, April 2, 2012

It's the Growth



I'm reading the book The Happiness Project.  In it a young woman writes about her realization that in the middle of her good life, she wasn't as happy as she should be.  So she set out to figure out how to change that.  The book chronicles her research, efforts, results and realizations.  

I just read that she had a realization one day that she almost had it but that something was missing.  What was it that made people keep striving?  And the answer (so far) was that we are happy when we continue growing. 

I think there's something to that. 

If you haven't read the book, I recommend it.

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