So In Love...

Today, the sun is shining, the breeze is perfect, the temperature is just so right.

I am so in love right now.....

A Peony bud, Lily of the Valley, Pansy growing amongst my strawberry plants and Gout weed

 I love how random pieces of junk that I sometimes find, in secret stashes in the shed, or forgotten areas of an overgrown garden, turn into something beautiful.....

 I love the fresh, pleasantly light scent of the lily of the valley, wafting through my kitchen in front of the open window.

 I love the delicate beauty of my bleeding hearts, and I love their name so much!

I love the tranquil sound of the trickle of water, falling down the levels of my water fountain, as I drink my morning coffee...

The morning I came out to my backyard, after two days of straight rain, and saw the sprouts on my sunflowers, sure did make me smile!

My favorite without a doubt is my ferns. In this yard, I don't have that many.....yet. I can close my eyes, and see the towering native ferns, in the front flower beds of my old house. They were at least three feet tall. When the wind blew, I could hear the ferns swaying. When the rain fell, the drops could be heard, pounding onto the seemingly delicate leaves. I could sit out on my front stoop in a rain storm, because it was covered over top, and I felt like I was in a tropical rain storm, being witness to the wind whooping the fern leaves back and forth, catching the rain, hard and heavy, before releasing them to the base of the root.

We all know too well what this is.....

dandelion

Do you remember as I kid, holding them under your chin, and if your chin appeared yellow, it meant that you would have good luck? Another myth was that if your chin turned yellow, you liked butter. I have also heard that if you hold a dandelion under your chin and it appears yellow, you will wet the bed!  Funny how our chins always appeared yellow, and yet it took forever before we figured out that is just what happens when you put a yellow flower that close to your chin-it reflects it's color!

Don't you miss the childish naivete of believing in the simple things?

And what about when a dandelion turned from its thick yellow flower, into spindly soft fluff of seeds. Picking one of those babies and blowing it, meant you had a chance to make a wish. I wonder how many of those wishes came true? I don't even remember what kind of things I wished for. What would I wish for now? What would you wish for?

Another myth I heard was, blow the seeds, and it would determine your wealth, it would tell you if your lover was faithful, it would be an insight to how long you would live. Now I see them blow across my lawn and I curse them, thinking of how many more will be popping up in the next few days!

I am so in love with spring days! I am in love with the sound of my wind chimes as I sit under my gazebo typing this up, I love the smell of the fresh cut grass. I look to my right, and my eye catches the small strawberry patch, perky and pretty with white flowers. I look to my left and I see my potted flowers, butterfly candle and my new magazine, bright and crisp, waiting for it's pages to be turned and dog- eared.

Another thing I am in love with this spring, is homemade sauces, marinades and salad dressings! Like this one here, lemon feta dressing and marinade!

If you would like the recipe for this, please check out my other blog, A Pinch of Creativity!

So, this is just some of what I am in love with this spring, how about you?

Have a lovely weekend!

Tannis

Beautiful Spring Days

I just love, love, love, unexpected beautiful spring days!

When I woke up this morning, I quickly recognized that half the week is nearly over, and I have not been feeling my regular self. I was happy it was an earlier yoga day and the sun was going to be shining! I was happy and delighted that this would be a day of sunshine with a multitude of things to do, yet nothing that needed to be done! Well okay, I did get an order for 24 cards to be done that day, but I knew I could fit it in if the inspiration came to me!

So it was a beautiful day with yoga, and gardening....

Some worm catching....

I don't know why she always has to wear my stuff, but she does!

And of course, with my girl, the water and the balloons always come out. I swear, give the girl a bucket of water, or a hose, or even a few cups of water, and girlfriend could keep herself busy for a long, long time!

The weeds were pulled, half of the garden turned, dinner started, as Dave would say, "the prettiest skewers I ever made!" No picture though. I did get some pictures of the animals on this lovely day....

Later though, Harvey would sneak out the front door, make a mad dash across the street, veer towards the traffic half a block away, get scared shit less, and run back home to hide under the Adirondack chair. He would then be dragged out by his tail, mud stuck to his paws, and thrown in the house. He is now grounded. Bad Harvey!

And now, I will end my afternoon, my favorite way, listening to the girls laughing, having a glass of wine and reading a book.

Oh thank heaven for lovely spring days! Enjoy yours!

Spring .... it has arrived

The first calendar day of spring has come and gone, but it truly has not felt too much like spring. And then we had today! It was a beautiful, full on sunshine day! The warmth of the sun was so powerful today!

We spent nearly the whole day in our pyjamas, crafting and playing with the cats! After lunch we checked the temperature and it was +8. There was nothing to do but take the dog for a walk. And so we did. I took the dog, Haley took my camera. I looked at her, with her rubber boots, her hoodie, hair bouncing with her walk, and my camera hanging around her neck. She was a vision to me. She looked so grown up, a mini professional photographer in training! Her view of the spring day with the camera was this.....

Haley's boots from her perspective

School



Me in the back yard.

There were plenty of puddles, lots of families walking and riding their bikes! The sun shone through the tree branches, stretching it's rays to reach deep within to help those buds turn to baby buds.....

We walked for an hour, which I tell you was not very comfortable in my new red rubber boots. But it was dry. I love when you walk in a puddle that is really big, or you stand in it just to see the ripples of water, your feet feel like they are getting wet. Then you wait a moment and you realize, no, it's just that the water is that cold!

I love to watch the ripples in the water after Haley has walked through a puddle!


Spring always makes me think of high school spring fever, my first love, late nights in the back yard, driving with all the windows down! Most of all, I love spring for the possibilities of new growth......

Shedding the unwanted and enjoying the blossoms of the new! As nature takes it's course on the outside, we learn, every spring, we learn to blossom again!


Happy Spring everyone, take some time to really enjoy!

Tannis