The fountain is bubbling.
So is the lion fountain. The lights are up. The umbrella table is out of storage. The cushions are out and the swing is ready for action. It's time. Nice weather is upon us. Our summers are the best. Pleasant temps without being too hot. We can sit outside at night with no bugs.
Now all I need is my flowers. That comes tomorrow.
There is still a lot of planting to do.
You may have noticed that I love to read blogs. The ones I try to read daily are listed at the side so that you can enjoy them too. Some are decorating blogs, some are photography related, and a few are just for fun. One that I have been really liking lately is Paisley Rain Boots. She is not only a great photographer but a writer as well. I envy her gift with words. She visits coffee shops and just writes about what she sees there. It may be just mundane but she with her words make me feel just like I am there with her. She also goes on adventures just by herself with her camera in tow to find good locations for interesting photos. Her enthusiasm and encouragement are just what I need to kick start my photography. I love my camera. But I have grown stale and lazy with my photography. Year after year I take pictures of the house, yard and neighboring pond and rarely venture out of my comfort zone. I read a lot about how to take better photos but don't put the time in to practice. So I have to change that. I need a road trip with a camera. Just by myself so that I can stop when I please. I'm looking forward to better weather and taking off.
Something is happening here. My blog muse ..as Tessa says...has taken a leave of absence. I seem to have little to blog about. It's not that I'm not busy...or maybe because I'm too busy...but the everyday things that consume me lately are not that worthy of a blog post.
We are getting ready and doing those spring chores that will make us prepared for when the nice weather arrives. Today is another dismal day with lots of clouds and no sun. I'm doing the ordinary weekly cleaning chores. If I have a minute I go to the big computer and work on turning my blog into a book. I've done 2015 and 2014 and now am working on 2013. It's not hard to do using a program called Bookemon but time consuming. I'm also learning to use my new iPhone. Sadie also likes to be walked on the good days when we can get out. And I'm finding time for a little reading too. And I like to visit other blogs. Yes, I am busy. But I'm not doing anything particularly interesting right now. No projects to show. No great photos. So I apologize for the lackluster blogging. It's a funny time.
Look carefully and you can see it. It's snowing here. This may be a record for the latest snow in the season. It will snow for a while and then we'd see blue sky. Then it will come down again fast. It's been doing that all day. Next week we will have temperatures in the seventies. Hurrah!
If you haven't read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah you have missed a great read. I had seen that this book had been on the best seller's list for a while and even picked it up once and read some pages. But for some reason I didn't continue and took it back to the library. But when Joan told me how she loved it I tried it again. This time I couldn't put it down..it was that good! From the beginning to the end it will hold your attention.
With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
A new ceiling fan from Lowe's. We never replaced our old one when we remodeled so it was time. I love the modern look of this one. It suits our kitchen.
Over the weekend I bought a few new plants at Ashcombe's..some red dahlias that look great in the blue and white pot, an African violet I bought at a church flea market, some lemon thyme r, pineapple sages Jacob's Ladder and heliotrope. I can't wait for warmer weather to get things outside.
The new maiden hair fern looks great on the table.
My oldest grandson was married this weekend in Belize. What a beautiful place for a wedding. We love Gretchen and are so happy to have her in the family.
The best way to spend Mother's Day is being with your family and I got to do that this weekend at Chris' house. Ryan and his family came up to open up his pool. Ryan has worked in aquatics since he was young first as a lifeguard, high school assistant swim coach, ran the aquatics program at Chautauqua Lake for a Boy Scout camp, work at a company that maintained pools, maintained pools at a hotel,resort and is currently working at a huge water park so he is really qualified to get Chris' salt water pool ready for the season. Here he is teaching Leah how to add the right amount of salt to the pool.
Of course Sadie could not understand at all why she wasn't allowed to jump right in the pool. She wanted to so bad but the water was too cold for that. This summer she will have so much fun.
The pergola project came out really well. Chris and Ryan work so well together and they have a lot of skill. We will enjoy this for years in the future.
Jenny the kids and I went to a few yard sales on Saturday. We made a stop at Ashcombe's my favorite gift/nursery. We had lunch there and on Sunday I got to go back and spend my Mother's Day gift card. I bought some plants and can't wait to be able to fill my planters. We watched a movie in Chris' media room downstairs Saturday night. What a wonderful weekend.
While all the other dogs were just being dogs Sadie sat by the edge of the pool watching with fascination the little cleaning machine that swept the bottom of the pool. She couldn't figure out what it was so she layed there and watched it go back and forth. Of course she would have liked to go in swimming but they had just opened the pool and treated it. It is the time of year again to celebrate Mother’s Day. To those of you who still have your mothers I implore you to spend this special day with them. My mother passed away in 2000 at the age of 80. I was so lucky to have her all those years. She was a very special lady. She was born in Georgia and married a northener who brought her to Pennsylvania. But every year my father would take her back to her family to visit. She came from a family of 13 and knew what was important in life. We were raised with a sense of belonging. She gave us roots and family values. How we all loved her.
I have been lucky to be a mom. My two boys are grown now with families of their own. I am so proud of the men they have become. Being a mother has been the greatest joy of my life. We all are so happy when we can be together. Isn’t that love what life is all about?
To all you mothers out there congratulations on your special day. I hope that it will be filled with love.
The ever faithful hostas are leafing out. I use a lot of them in my beds because they are an easy plant to grow and fill in nicely. 
I am safely home from my sister vacation. I traveled all day leaving Fredericksburg VA at a little after six this morning and driving until one. It was such a wonderful trip. We three always have such a good time laughing and joking. I will post some pictures of the home tour tomorrow.
I brought home a few plants. Diane gave me a yellow lantana in a new African violet pot and I bought a pink and yellow one in the Hydrangea pot that Diane gave me. At the garden tour someone was giving out plants and I took a white oak and holly seedling. Even though our planting season isn't until after Memorial Day I will keep them on my kitchen windowsill till then. It was so green and summer like in Virginia and I can't wait for better weather here.
One of my happiest memories of school in the fifties...dancing around the May Pole. Another memory...making May cones and picking wildflowers to go in them. We hung them on a neighbor's doorknob and ran away. We learned the joy of making someone happy.
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