Tag Archives: daffodils

Spring ‘Done Sprung’ 3-5-2024

Yesterday, as we were trying to leave to take our cat, Abby, to the vet, our progress was impeded by a 3 foot (+-) black snake. My husband tried to nudge it on its way, but finally picked it up and tossed it out into the back yard. (One sign of spring I’m not particularly fond of.)

Our tulip tree, If you look carefully at the bottom center of this pic, you’ll see the recovering Amber keeping me company as I took pics this morning.

Redbud and forsythia

It really helps my mood to be able to invite Amber to join me and to walk around the yard a bit, seeing things coming to life, or in full celebration of the joy of the weather.

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Daffing

Our daffodils are blooming strongly now. This is about a month early in comparison to other years. The temperature is 65 and is supposed to get to 69 today. I’m really enjoying this, but a bit worried about how hot our summer will be, if this is already the end of the winter.

It’s funny. I’ve ‘cleared out’ the daffodils around the well house several times over the years and we still have a good amount for a display here. I’ve finally given up, letting them do what they will. I’ve relocated bunches, and so have nice yellow all around the yard now.

Such a happy flower!

We’re back from Lunch Bunch now. Patty and Linda were there and it was wonderful. We were the first ones there, so enjoyed talking with David, the owner of the restaurant and Mikey, our waitress. They had wondered why the Lunch Bunch group had quit coming. I filled them in on everyone being seemingly “too busy,” about my husband’s fall and broken collarbone, etc.

Time passes. Things and people change. We all get older and either deal well with the changes or don’t. We left it that Patty will text me the next time she and Linda can come.

I told them that my massage therapist was moving her services to the retirement place where Linda lives. I discovered that when I finish my massage is a good time to visit with Linda, so we’ll both look forward to that next month. :0)

My heart filled up with good hugs with Linda and Patty. We had lots of laughs, good food, news, etc. Wonderful time.

I will try to do something constructive with the rest of my day. I’ll do my yoga practice, maybe do a bit outside, and see how things are going.

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It’s Friday ! 2-16-2024

e-mosaictile.com

We got home just awhile ago. We enjoyed eating breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants in Greenwood, The Dari. AND, because of the kind pre-paid card from my massage therapist, we only owed $5.00, including tip. You can’t beat THAT with a stick.

We checked out Greenwood Pharmacy, 560 West Center Street, 479-996-2000, which just opened recently. (In a very short amount of time last year, our pharmacy, plus two others in Greenwood, closed.) The new pharmacist is Tanner Cooper, a nice young guy. We discovered his MOM went to school with our former pharmacist! Anyway, the next time we need to have a prescription filled locally, we’ll use his services.

Eating breakfast out today will help me ease into the fact that Lunch Bunch seems to have stopped now. Since Christmas, I am the one who texts and calls to see if anyone plans to come. We haven’t met since then. Things have quietly moved on. Everyone has other plans now or are unable to come. I’ll really miss seeing everyone each Friday, as we’ve been doing this for over 20 years. I don’t give things up gracefully, so I’m in mourning for the group.

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I’m hoping our plumber will get here today. After talking to him when he came recently to see what we needed, I’m feeling really lucky NOT to need him for something more serious. He and his helper are still busy trying to restore everyone to their former status after the incredibly cold weather we had for so long. We are lucky that our pipes didn’t freeze. We had to swallow a bit at the humongous electricity and water bills we just paid, but the alternative is much, much worse.

Sign of Spring Coming –

My sweet daffodils will probably get frozen, but they’re trying to bloom their heads off right now. They are in several places in the yard, with a gazillion bulbs ready to open. I love it.

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Sharing Some Spring

Heavy thunderstorms are on the way, but who can be down looking at blooms like these?

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Hooray for March!

Unknown

My spirits have lifted. I don’t care that it’s rainy and cold, knowing that spring isn’t too far off. I’m hoping that we’ve broken the back of winter, but I know that Mother Nature can change her mind and sprinkle (or slam) us with more of the white stuff this month. I’m trying to keep positive thoughts about all of it, seeing lots of blooms around the yard – more each day.

This morning, for example, I noticed that several of our redbud trees are blooming.

A quick walk around the yard – it IS still raining a bit – shows lots of color. Here’s a forsythia.

The tulip tree didn’t lose all of its blooms.

And daffodils are showing their happy faces all around the yard.

My heart is full as I see all these sweet things blooming their little hearts out. I hope that you are seeing signs of promise and hope, too.

Enjoy your Friday.

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Happy March 2023

Filling the Jars

Happy March! Celebrations are going on in the Lewis household that February is gone for another year and that the start of spring isn’t too far away.

We’re in for a BUNCH of rain and possibly severe storms starting today and running through Friday, with a flood watch. Since we live on top of a hill, if we make it through the thunderstorms, gusty winds, and hail, we’re good. :0)

iStock

I’m doing laundry, changing bed linens, vacuuming and other exciting stuff today. Right now we have lots of happy looking daffodils all around the yard, so it looks like our yard is celebrating, too.

This is an older photo, when we covered the boxes with tarps. This year we used fabric weed control cut to length and held down with bricks. They have lasted all winter and through the thunderstorms and gusty winds so far.

I’ll get serious about figuring what I’d like to plant in my garden this year. I’m hoping for lots of lettuce and spinach plants for sale soon. Also sweet onions of some type. Tomato plants, of course, radish seeds, celery plants transferred from buying bunches at the store. I’m thinking about trying some herbs on my kitchen divider this year. It’ll be fun to start digging in the dirt again.

I hope that this first day of March is a beautiful one for you.

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Spirit Lifters

It’s cool here (45 degrees F. and a pretty good breeze), but I needed some spirit-lifting and took my camera outside to walk around and see what I could see.

tulip tree
tulip tree blossom closeup
just one of the groups of daffodils
Redbud starting to bloom
Forsythia starting to bloom
Wisteria buds
Harder to be down when Mother Nature is starting to put on her annual show! :0)

“Be like the flower, turn your face to the sun.” — Kahlil Gibran

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Weather Resentment Syndrome

I’m in a whine-and-cheese frame of mind this morning as I watch our weather deteriorate. I’ve been so happy seeing signs of spring, shoots coming up through the debris of the winter, daffodils blooming, our tulip tree full of buds and starting to bloom. All this comes to an end now – at least for awhile – as the temperatures fall and LITTLE BITTY white pellets start to fall.

I was just outside for several minutes, taking pics and realizing that the white stuff the weather people predicted has begun. I had to really concentrate, holding my head very still to SEE it. I FELT it falling on me, though. The wind has picked up and the temperature is really BRISK out there!

I really love our tulip tree. It’s quite fragile, though, and so you have to keep an eye out for the buds and then blooms because they don’t last long in the best of weather. They really lift my spirits, though, for however long I can enjoy them.

Usually it doesn’t snow here after my birthday (March 9), so I’m fully into ‘weather resentment syndrome’ considering this a personal insult to my embrace of spring.

Hopefully, this will be a really quick last gasp of winter that will melt quickly and won’t kill everything. All appendages are crossed.

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Thoughts on a Mild Monday 3-7-2022

QuotesGram

We came through the night – with threatened severe storms – just fine. The cold front came through and now it’s 31 degrees F. We have another chance at a ‘wintry mix’ Friday, but I’m really hoping the back of winter has been broken and that we’re moving on to spring. I’m also hopeful that Mother Nature receives the memo and acknowledges the official beginning of spring on the 20th, if not unofficially, before.

My spring garden of veggies is still only a bright spark in my mind. I’ve decided to wait out this week and see what happens Friday. I want to uncover at least some of my raised bed square foot planters and fill them with early spring plants of spinach, lettuce, and broccoli, if not more. (Ours looks much like those in this photo, except we built them up at my chest level, on metal table-like supports, so I don’t have to bend over double or get up and down from my knees.

Meanwhile, our daffodils are determined to put on bold, happy faces no matter what our weather is doing. I’ll gather some more to bring in the house today.
Free Arts

I’m definitely starting to have ideas rattling around about playing in my art room. I’ve been finding artwork all over the net that is getting my juices flowing, particularly involving mixed media stuff.

Have a safe, happy beginning to your brand, spanking-new week.

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Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature, playing in my art room, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds, Thoughts on a ________, weather

I’m Diggin’ It!

dailymail.co.uk

I’m itching to start working in the yard, cleaning up, and planting early spring veggie plants in our square foot garden. I just walked around the yard between sessions of rain and was so excited to see more daffodils blooming here and there.

Then, as I was getting ready to come in, I saw our tulip tree has a gazillion buds plus some that are showing color!

We’ll still get more freezes before we can officially say goodbye to winter, but it really brings up my spirits to see the plants bursting forth.

I’m keeping an eye on the 10-day forecasts to see when I can get serious about looking for early spring veggie plants. All I need to do is pull off the tarps and grab my trowel! (If you’ll pardon the expression…) :0)

CAN’T WAIT!

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Spring Anyone?

Daffodils and Tulip Tree
Forsythia
Red Bud Tree
Another Red Bud Tree

We actually have 7 Red Bud Trees blooming right now. Iris greenery is spearing out of the ground and in some of the planters around the yard. Today the sun is shining and the high is supposed to get to 70!

Much of the rest of the week will be rainy, bringing life to more and more.

I love this time of year.

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It’s Springing!

Although our last spring frost is technically April 5th here, there are signs of spring everywhere I look outside! I couldn’t be more ready.

Yesterday I planted the elephant ear bulbs I’ve had in our garage in a trash can of Mel’s Mix (soil alternative). The bulbs were ‘slimy’ on the outside (ICK!) but I dug the deepest holes I could in the planter and planted them. I have no clue what will happen – if anything – now. If they DON’T sprout new growth, we’ll look around and see if we can get replacement bulbs. We really enjoyed the display last year.

Our tulip tree is blooming!

It’s hard to be down when Mother Nature’s beauty is blooming its heart out all around you.

Happy Sunday!

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Think Spring

Carol Auclair Daly

Isn’t this wonderful? I don’t know who actually sewed this, but I WANT IT!

I’ve been feeling a bit down this morning for no good reason. I took a walk around the yard and immediately felt my spirits lifting.

This afternoon, my husband walked with me while I took Amber out to the garden and around the yard, training her to walk with the no-pull leash/collar combination, and even HE was remarking how lush our daffodils look right now!

If YOU’RE feeling down, come visit!

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Poor Stupid Daffodils!

Our weather has been really strange this winter. We’ll have a cold snap, then spring-like weather, then cold again – then a pretty snow, then thunderstorms. It’s no wonder my daffodils are confused.

 

“Friendship is a shiny thing, a steady beam of light
A lantern on a lonely street, a song far in the night
A smile, a touch of a loving hand, a quiet moment on a hill
And, oh, what a happy little child bringing home a daffodil” (Unknown)

 

 

 

“A host of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” ~ William Wordsworth

 

“For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.” – William Wordsworth

 

“A house with daffodils in it is a house lit up,
whether or no the sun be shining outside.” ~ A.A. Milne

 

 

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Spring is Finally Springing

Ar Ali – Linkedin

FINALLY, signs of spring are popping up around here!  I’m delighted, though I feel bad for the people still getting more snow, and the awful flooding in the midsection of the country. I just know my spirits are rising with each passing day.

I still haven’t been able to find spinach plants locally (they said call again Wednesday), so I’m going to see if I can get another batch of seeds started, using another technique and keeping all appendages crossed for success. I would really love to shed my moniker of “Serial Seed Killer” some day soon.

That said, the red onions and head lettuce plants in the garden are doing really well. I’ll see what other wonderful things I can find to plant when we go out for errands today.

I finally reached the bricklayer today, who said he was personally covered up with work, but would ask another good person to give us a call for an estimate on rebuilding the two brick planters that failed recently.

I hope you are enjoying some signs of spring, too!

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Sharing a Bit of Spring

I told you earlier that we’re due for some hard freezes starting tonight. UGH. :0(

I dashed out and cut some of the daffodils that are blooming all over the yard right now. The ones left out there probably won’t last through the night. It cheered me up to see them today, so I brought some in to save the idea of spring, and wanted to share them with you.

Hopefully, spring is actually coming – though the weather guy remarked that it is really unusual for us to have such cold weather this late.

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Outside Morning

 

 

Right now the temperature is dropping pretty precipitously, but this morning it was nice. After we did errands I spent most of the rest of the morning outside.

I love working outside, even though I poop out faster than I used to.

I checked on the onions I planted in my raised bed square foot garden recently. I used one whole 4 foot x 4 foot planter for Sweet Red Onions this time. They’ll stay there until harvest starting in August if all goes well. After I checked on these, I weeded another planter. We have six in all.

Then I checked on my seeds in the greenhouse. I’m trying to start Iceberg lettuce, Simpson lettuce, and spinach. So far, no sprouts.

Since it’s supposed to rain this evening, I spread fertilizer in our planters.

I walked around, drinking in the sight of our daffodils that are happily blooming from one end of the front yard to the other. I saw some hyacinths that are blooming, too – a sight for sore eyes.

The forecast is for SNOW Sunday and Monday, so I’ll find a king-sized sheet to put over the onions in the hope they’ll come through this hopefully last cold spell of the season.

I’m SO ready for spring!

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“Daffodils”

“Daffodils” – Paul Militaru Photography

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Debbye’s Bouquet

My friend Debbye Hughes was fighting cancer when she got me into art. She was creating watercolors, actually giving me a couple, and got mad at me when I oohed and ahhed over her work, wishing I could do something like that. She glared at me, saying, “What’s keeping you from it, Linda? You have no excuse. YOU have the time. YOU can practice until you do as well as you can. Who cares if your paintings don’t go anywhere but your own refrigerator door? JUST DO IT!

When I went to her funeral several months later, there were two huge bins on either side of the chapel door. At the end of the service, we were told to take a handful of the daffodil bulbs from a bin and plant them. The idea was that we would think of Debbye (just in case we didn’t remember how special she was by herself) each spring when the daffodils bloomed.  I had never heard of anyone asking this and loved the idea.

I planted mine all in a bunch in the front yard, hoping that when they came up, they would form a kind of daffodil bouquet. This picture shows you that the idea was pretty successful.  Just an added reminder of the wonderful lady I had the opportunity to know, and a reminder not to give up on trying to create art.

When I was out walking Amber (she’s now clamoring for me to take her out again, putting her head under my arm and bumping my fingers off the keys over and over while ‘complaining’ in her dramatic whine) and saw the sun shining through the greenery and flowers in this group of daffodils in the back yard. I hope that Mother Nature doesn’t send crushing cold through here, freezing all the nice blooms that have come up all around the yard.

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Before the Storm

Our weather people are forecasting possible severe storms this afternoon, this evening, and overnight. UGH. We really do need the rain, but I can do without the ‘severe.’

Our blooms made it through two nights of hard freezes, amazingly, but I’m not at all sure they’ll make it through high, gusty winds, blowing rains, etc.  So I’ve taken some pics to share with you, just in case we lose a bunch of the nice blooms we have right now.

sp-frontyardinspring

Here’s our front yard in a picture taken from the driveway. It makes me happy coming or going to see the lush daffodils almost everywhere I look, plus the tulip tree.

sp-tuliptree

Here’s a close up of the tulip tree. Most of the time it has green leaves and looks quite ordinary, but right now, its ‘tulips’ are wonderful.

 

sp-redbud2

We have some redbud trees around the property. Right now this one is looking pretty nice.

 

sp-iris2

We have several groups of twice-blooming iris. They’re our favorites. We love the deep purple color.

 

sp-iris

sp-daffodils

Here’s a close up of some of the daffodils. We started with one group beside the well house. Each year I dig some up and plant them elsewhere. This year I’ll try to get some going across the back yard.

Today when we went out to the shop, my husband said, “If I lived by myself, I wouldn’t have any flowers. It wouldn’t occur to me to plant them. I’m glad you did. THANK YOU.”

(Now he tends ‘his’ clematis planters, and tries to get our mandevilla to climb up the trellises to the roof of the deck.)

HAPPY SPRING!

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Sproing!

Spring has definitely sprung here in Greenwood, Arkansas. Accordingly, since a lot of things are blooming, we’re due for a hard freeze both Saturday and Sunday, probably killing everything. :0(

Our daffodils are abloom all over the yard, more lush than I’ve ever seen them.  Here are a few examples –

 

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d3

 

 

sp16

Our tulip tree is abloom, as well.

sp12

d9

We’ve also had several purple iris blooming. Here’s one that’s gorgeous this morning –

 

d13

Mother Nature sometimes has a nasty sense of humor, particularly in Arkansas. I’m hoping that these sweet plants – plus my Georgia Sweet Onion sets – will survive the hard freezes this weekend. If not, we have at least gotten to enjoy them for a bit.

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Riches and Roadrunners

Friends at Lunch - Pinterest

Friends at Lunch – Pinterest

I’m feeling rich today. It started with Lunch Bunch – a group of friends that my husband and I enjoy every Friday at the Pizza Barn in Greenwood, Arkansas. I don’t know how many years we’ve been doing this. The group started with just three of us – three ladies having lunch. The group has gotten larger, and then smaller over the years, but my husband became an official “Lunch Bunch Member “several years ago. It’s a great time to catch up on what has been going on. We give comfort when needed, and share laughs a lot.

We did our errands and came home. I noticed this as we drove into the garage –

 

Purple Iris

Purple Iris

We have beautiful iris, some of which bloom twice each year, but I don’t remember any blooming in February before….

 

Daffodils

Daffodils

This bunch of daffodils was blooming in the back yard, close to the place where our land stops being a yard and begins being woods.

 

riches-roadrunner-factzoo-com

FactZoo.com

While I was taking pictures, a roadrunner came into sight. (I couldn’t act fast enough to capture a picture, but the one above gives you an idea.)  He would run a few steps, then stop, His tail would come up and his head would come up. He would hold the pose a few seconds and then put his head and tail down and run a few more steps. He did this wonderful dance all the way across my line of vision as I held my breath.

 

riches-spinachsprouts

The spinach seeds are sprouting! These are the seeds that I soaked in water for 30 minutes before planting. I don’t know if the sprouts will continue to grow, or if I’ll have something to plant, but I’m excited that I finally got some sprouts!

And finally – I’m feeling rich because I’m going for a massage today.

 

My wonderful massage therapist fell and broke her arm badly last year. She has had to have three surgeries since then. She faces a fourth surgery in the near future to hopefully get things finally back to normal with no pain. She is now giving one massage a day and I lucked into an appointment for this afternoon.  My body is already sighing in anticipation!!!

What a rich lady I am!

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Potted Cat

pc2

This potted cat is definitely ready to harvest. I don’t know why Abby loves to sleep in a pot under the table on the back porch, but she does it every time we’re enjoying airing out the house, as we are today.  We could have saved a LOT of money on cat  beds.

In other plants, the celery is continuing to do well. I now have seven plants in soil on the window sill. I’m planning to move them to the garden mid-March, if they’re still alive then.

My spinach seeds still weren’t sprouting. One of my books suggested putting the seeds in water before planting for about 30 minutes. I did that this morning and then put the pots on the window sill. Fingers crossed.

I’ll plant my Sweet Georgia Onion sets this week some time. I’m hoping, but don’t really believe, that we’re past killing freezes yet.

Meanwhile, I was checking this around the yard and had a big surprise. My daffodils are not only sprouting – they’re BLOOMING!

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daff5

I’m really ready for spring. We’ve had a wonderful winter, with hardly any ice. I would love it if we could simply sneak into spring now, allowing the sprouting plants the longest possible life without getting zapped. These sweet daffodils really raised my spirits today.

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