April in Maine

 Still brown. And that's nearly all that I have to say about that. Warming is slow coming. The grass is looking rough. One good thing: the forsythia is beginning to bloom. 

You will have to look closely!

The last of my mountain of 

snow, created by the plow clearing my driveway, melted a week ago. It left a lot of winterkill in its wake. 

I have slowly done my own yard work this year. I spend about an hour each morning sweeping, blowing, raking with good results. It eventually gets accomplished. Even the town crew has been along removing and cleaning all those piles of sand on the street's edge.

The winds of March blew all through March and straight through April. I have heard a lot about these winds from all across the country. I am not a fan of wind. It was blistering cold yesterday and it is even colder today. Snow showers are expected for tomorrow, the final day of April.

Porch Rocker Tipped

We should have celebrated a birthday last weekend, but schedules didn't work out so we'll be celebrating this weekend. I'm looking forward to that. A gal has to get out of the house once in a while. It will be the first time this April birthday will have been honored in May.

Easter Sunday, Laurel and I met at a local steakhouse for a delicious dinner. Afterward, when she walked me to my car, she exclaimed, "Mom, your car registration is way overdue. And so is your inspection." So I had those chores to tidy up in the week that followed. I really am slipping. Say, does your state require you to register your car yearly and have an inspection? The cost for the inspection was $12.50; the cost for the registration was $140.00. I consider the registration an extra tax that is unnecessary and punitive.

What else do I have to share? 

Nothing.

I will try to catch a photo or two at the birthday party. I should not make these promises. Everyone in my family hates photos. ッ 

Thank you for reading. (I see that I have titles worked out for the next few months.)

Here's to brighter days ahead!

Love,

Vee

March in Maine

 The color of March in my valley is brown...

~ Gladys Taber

Yes, mine, too, Gladys. Brown and ugly. Very.   

Back Yard

Rhubarb is Up

Front Yard

It would be tempting to whine a little. Okay, I may be pouting some.

Still I have a crockpot with a pot roast simmering on the counter. Thank you, Kitty. My son and his boys are going to enjoy a delicious meal tonight. 🙏

And I have guests coming for lunch. Yippee! It's so cold today that the fake fire will be crackling. 

Warmer days are coming. ツ

Love,

Vee

 

Happy Spring!

No matter what changes take place in the world, or in me, nothing ever seems to disturb the face of spring.

~E.B.White

Surprise! I even surprised myself. The First Day of Spring deserves some special recognition after a long winter.

  

My little chalk board drawing message has been up for some time. I have certainly been eager for better days knowing full well that life goes on and that there can be challenging days in any season.

The above pictures are of the less than stellar joys of the day outside, though the temps in the 40°s are good. The car is parked outside because the garage door is stuck in ice. I will wait for more melting before I dare to put it back in the garage. Shouldn't take much longer. Once things settle a bit more, I'll be manning the leaf blower to get the dirt swept from my drive. I had my driveway professionally sanded three times this past winter, which is unheard of.

The Christmas arrangement returned to me from my sister-in-law who generously allowed me to tip firs in early December. These tips are still doing well so I am keeping them for a bit longer. 

Let's go inside where things are looking brighter. 

 My daughter has started me on a bunny collection I think. The blue one is the first she gave me and the pink one arrived for my birthday. Jemima Puddle-Duck also arrived  for my birthday. She is very cute and pert. Have you ever visited Martha Ellen's post about Beatrix Potter? So much fun to ride along with her and her husband as they tour England. You can find more tours on her blog The Joy of Home with Martha Ellen. 

Oh I have been loving visiting BJ at Sweet Nothings these days as her posts are so bright and cheery and she posts such pretty pictures. I have been teasing her that she can make anything look fabulous. Well, if you don't visit her, go ahead and take a look around. Of course, she'll make you hungry! These cupcake liners are a gift from BJ years ago. I used to keep them in an apothecary jar, but I took the jar to Goodwill this winter. Just tired of trying to make it be cute and it was so large. 

I am still enjoying twinkle lights even if they are on the pussy willows. ☺

No posies in the house, but this little windmill from my son and family sitting in the ivy is my little flower just now and it is enough.

Have a blessed spring, my Friend!

Whatevers...

A quick trip around the yard...you know, the annual quick trip. The azaleas are the only thing worth looking at and I am hoping that the cooler temps will keep them around a little longer.

I am hankering for a rhubarb custard pie...maybe soon!

The forsythia is pretty scraggly since I lopped it off and thinned it out. I will never do that again!

And this is the proper way for equipment to leave the building—after it has been paid for. This is my week's work so if I am scarce this week, catch you next!

Saturday Morning Musings

I staggered from my bed before six this morning...perhaps I lurched...possibly I rolled...one of those anyway. I barely recall the days when I arose gracefully, stretched my arms to the ceiling with my left hand grasping my right wrist and thanked God for the new day.

The first sight to greet me was the early morning rain from my dining room window as I lifted the blinds. Day Two of an eleven-day stretch.

The second was the unfolded laundry piled on the dining room table. I had fallen asleep in my chair last night and so I had staggered...perhaps lurched...definitely did not roll to bed where I found a bed top full of unfolded laundry. The laundry was scooped up and plopped right here on the dining table. Someday I'll learn to do a chore in a timely fashion so that I might avoid ironing the towels. ッ

☕☕☕

Then the prettiest sight of early morning...

A sermon has been transmitting on tv...phrases float on the air...so stressed you can't be blessed, so blue you can't be true, so disappointed you can't be anointed...

Thank you, Lord, for another day filled with Your goodness no matter the aches and pains and sorrows and gray weather and chores undone...You do fill my life with good things.

A blessed weekend to you...



Comments still closed...busy weekend...

Double Word Light

💛💛💛💛💛

As you can see, not much happening in my garden. Have a Happy Weekend!

comments closed... what can one say about daffodils and azaleas in spring? Ha!

Word Light

Two sunny days in a row...we're on a roll up here. 😂 This rain has become almost more than one gal can take, but I know that I am not alone and that many corners are getting an excess of spring showers.
🌼*🌼*🌼*🌼
That said, I'm popping in a few springy photos taken  yesterday. I was with my dad and we had a good day. Lots of fun conversation and lots of bird watching. 

~on the road again~

~along the way~

~house on the hill~

~ as seen while collecting the newspaper~

~our scene on the world~
~the setting~

 ~the birds were active and happy~

~all day long~

~if Winston Churchill had been a goldfinch~

~wearing a leaf collar~

After all the words of late, you deserved word light with pictures. A happy May day to you...

🌼*🌼*🌼*🌼

A Brighter Day

Just can't leave the blog as I did yesterday. Talk about mortification...I truly am...mortified that is. I am blaming a snowstorm and my being prone to think the worst first. You'd think that I would have learned by now for I have always been proven wrong by doing that, given enough time. The blog was an easy fix once I settled down long enough to figure it out.

"It will pass, the sun will break through..."

Okay, moving right along with something brighter...

Yes, it did snow all day yesterday accumulating about four inches. It won't last this day. Funny how snow in December seems good and fine, but at the end of April it is terribly discouraging. Though it may look like winter outside and, while I am hearing the steady run of melting snow from the roofs,  inside it is spring. Further, snow does not compare to tornadoes, floods, hail or many of the foul weather systems that some have faced recently. Spring has always had a mind of its own.

~a simple centerpiece~

Besides, since the first robin has been spotted, it must be spring!

Of this photo, John says that my ink blot profile must be off the chart. (Hmmm...wonder what he means by that.) This is a marble birthday cake made by my grandson and me for his dad's birthday. When it came out of the oven, I called Jakob over to see what he had to say about the picture on the top. We see a rabbit on skis. It looks as if he is tossing globs of chocolate into his mouth. One can even see the motion marks. Jakob said that since he was responsible for the chocolate part of the marbling that he is obviously responsible for this picture. We got a kick out of it.

My gift to you today is closing comments so that you may skip along with all due apologies for yesterday. Gheesh. 

See you next week, The Lord willing and my wits stay intact.

ツ