Spring has sprung
The flowers has riz
I wonder where
The birdies is
My mother said this every spring and every spring my brother and I cracked up at it. We were easily amused. Spring has come and gone here on the Gulf coast. It's beautiful while it lasts but it doesn't last very long - about 2 weeks if we're lucky. The azaleas were gorgeous this year. They look like crap now because we cut them back almost to the ground. If we don't do that every 3-4 years, they get to be taller than the house. That really doesn't bother me. I don't have to close the curtains at night when the bushes are covering the windows and it feels like my own Secret Garden but with all the comforts of sitting in my big chair in the living room. Mr. "I Like Order", however, can't stand it.
Every day for the last week I've been harvesting a basket full of the sweet peas I planted on my birthday at the end of January. Another week or so and they'll be finished. My, my, they have been "zaystee" as the Taller Half would say. This year I'm trying a new planting idea. I've planted tomatoes and peppers right in 40 lb. bags of dirt. All I did was throw them on the ground, poke down through the bottom with a long knife to make a couple of drainage holes, and cut the center out of the top side of the bag. I put the transplants down in the soil and covered them with dried glass clippings from the first mowing of the year. It seems to be working, too. There are 8 tomatoes and 5 peppers on the plants. Of course, the Taller Half said it looked awful and that I am just too lazy to garden the right way. Okay, I don't have any trouble with that - but I haven't seen him planting any veggies.
On the crafting front, I'm finishing up the last baby blankie for a new little friend. There sure has been a rash of reproduction among my peeps and their families. It's a good thing I'm almost done because soon it will be too hot to sit holdng a crocheted blanket across my lap as I work on it. Afghans and blankies are winter work for me. Now that the temperatures are starting to head toward the 90s, I'll get back to the work bench and play with the "way too many beads" in my collection. When the weather is pretty I just can't seem to stay in the house for very long.
I taught two jewelry making classes last month at the Daphne library and had a great time. Thanks to Tonja for asking me to be a part of their Thursday arts and crafts program. I told the ladies who attended that they would only need 3 skills to start making their own jewelry pieces and then showed them how to make a loop on a headpin, open and close a jump ring and use a crimp bead. They were amazed at how easy it is to make simple, stylish pieces that cost a third of the ones in the department stores. I'm looking forward to getting together with them again - those gals have some great pattern and color combination ideas!
Happy May!
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