Ally, Ally, Quite Contrary…

How does your Spring garden grow?

Glad you asked.  Here are few photos of the backyard.

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A maroon pansy, planted last fall, has returned and is looking pretty.

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The gray stone path on the hillside is happy to be the center of attention between salvia and boxwoods.

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A hosta and a catmint with tiny purple blooms stand side-by-side under the deck, thrilled with the wet + cool weather.

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The pachysandra patch directs your attention into the forest, which is amazingly green this Spring.

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And up on the deck, a potted orange gerbera daisy suggests that Summer is around the corner.

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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, everyone.

Make it a good one.

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The First Day Of Spring: Blue, Yellow, Orange, Green

The skies were unbelievably clear on Sunday morning.  Memorable, even.  The colors of our world looked spectacular.  

Because of this we decided to go for a walk around a city park.

The park was almost deserted, despite it being a beautiful day.  No one else wanted to enjoy nature, I guess.

Here are few photos.  Just because.

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I’ve got a busy week going on here.

I’ll end this post by wishing you, my gentle readers, a Happy Easter.

Catch up with you next week, kids.

If We Were Having Coffee On This February Morning…

THE SETTING:  

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We’d be sitting in my kitchen at the table, staying warm, glancing outside at the bleak leafless trees that make you wonder if you’ll survive this time of year with your sanity intact.

We’d be drinking basic brewed coffee, with cream, and eating donuts because carbs are where it’s at when the world is this dull and gray.  

We’d be listening to the local university rock radio station because on Saturdays they play hits from the 60s & 70s & 80s– and it’s fun, once in a while, to groove on tunes from the past.

THE CONVERSATION:

√  We’d be sharing… our latest reading obsessions, which in my case would be 3 different books that I seem to read depending on which room I’m in.   My father did this and I realize I’m doing it now, too.  So, when I’m in the tv room I’m reading The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin.  In the living room I’m reading 1215, The Year of the Magna Carta by Danny Danziger & John Gillingham.  And in our bedroom I’m halfway through The Key by James N. Frey.  You’d assure me that this book-reading behavior isn’t as weird as it sounds.

√  We’d be discussing… how I find Cheryl Tiegs’s out-of-touch criticism of Ashley Graham’s size and look to be sad and spiteful.  I’d mention that I never thought CT had much on the ball, so I suppose she hasn’t noticed that the ideal body image of models has evolved and diversified since her days as a model.  I’d realize that I was being snarky, but conclude that sometimes it’s the only response to stupid.

√  We’d be laughing… about how this week, after months of effort, I got to Level 445 in Candy Crush Soda Saga, and how I believe I just might make it to the end of this game, which is Level 565.  You’d roll your eyes at me because whatever, but I’d still be proud of this achievement considering I’ve never come this close to finishing one of these silly games before.

√  We’d be talking… about how when Zen-Den went to buy paint for one of our bedrooms, he made me the happiest girl on the block when he bought me a brand-new slick and wonderful Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap Fan Deck that has in it, according to the SW sales clerk, 200 new shades of paint.  My little amateur interior designer heart is racing with the possibilities.

THE CONCLUSION:

IMG_0028We’d have to part after an hour or so of chit-chat because we each had obligations in the afternoon to get ready for. 

We’d hug and promise to get together sometime in the Spring, which for both of us is busy, then realize that maybe it’d be Summer before we do this again.

And we’d thank each other for listening to & laughing about our small victories and wacky ways.  Like friends do everywhere.  Often over a mug of coffee.

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Idea for this post came from Diana at Part-Time Monster.

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More Snow, More Gray, More Mellow

SATURDAY THE SKIES WERE bright blue and it was sunny outside, but very cold.  We spent the whole day driving every which way around the region, doing errands.

Not being at home, basically.

Then Sunday arrived, even colder than Saturday.  We decided to stay inside, doing pretty much nothing worth talking about.

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LATE IN THE AFTERNOON it started to snow again, so I grabbed my camera and took some photos of winter scenes in the waning afternoon light.

As shown here, the midwestern winter colors are a natural earthy palette all their own.  Very subdued, tending towards gray.  Either you like them [I do], or you don’t.

To me, these shades of gray, which I only see for a few weeks during the year, are a reminder to relax and mellow out.

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