Springtime

We must be the luckiest folks alive!  Here it is, not even officially spring yet, and the temperature outside is 80 something!  We had a thunderstorm night before last, grilled out (in shorts!) last night, and have worked outside most all day in the warm-to-hot sunshine.  It just doesn't get any better than this...and oh, I almost forgot:  flip flops!  Greatest footwear invention ever...especially for one with feet that need surgery and whose shoes (all of them) hurt like heck.  Yes, I'm in heaven.

I started off this morning pulling weeds.  Not the most glamorous job, it is true; but very satistying.  I got about 2 gallons-worth pulled and discarded.  Then onto pick-up-sticks.  Then to fertilizing our azaleas, all 58 of them!  Most are budding, so I can't wait til we see that snowy sea of white again, circling our house.  We have a few red ones mixed in, on the back bank, and a couple old pink ones which were here before the house was built, on the corners of the lot.  Hope they liked their acidic drink and show me their appreciation soon!

John is busy spraying every square inch of our cedar trim, in an attempt to thwart the annual onslaught of carpenter bees.  They dearly love our house, but we do, too.  And this year we will win, mark my words!

The redbuds are blooming...and the forsythia, quince, jonquils, and tulips.  Soon we'll have geraniums, zinnias, and marigolds, as they join the pansies, daisies, daylilies, and knockout roses.  Then all the wildflowers will join in, and the hydrangea and dogwoods.  Once again, heaven on earth.

We have wild raspberries and blackberries in our woods, and before the sticker-bushes (briars and brambles) come fully out, I'll get a few each morning to round out my breakfast.  Nothing sweeter!

This year, we have a special treat as our long-awaited evergreen clematis finally bloomed!  We have waited three long seasons to see the beautiful and fragrant white blossoms, and we have not been disappointed.  It is COVERED!  The vines have climbed the pergola and droop down low, just for me to see.  They have been well-worth the wait!  We also got a few blooms off the Carolina Jasmine, but only a few.  Maybe next year!

So much for my yard-in-review.  Our friends in DC are enjoying the cherry blossoms; our Florida family have already had camellias and azaleas; so folks all over can join in saying, "Happy Spring!"  Thank you, God...for a job well-done!