Ta-Da!

The flowers are in full bloom!


Even though it's overcast today, the colors are still so vibrant they almost glow.

Got the urge to make some jewelry last night and came up with these earrings. I had restrung a friend's broken bracelet and had the heart dangles left over. She hadn't been able to find all the pieces when the bracelet broke and I couldn't fit these into the new pattern without making it lopsided. I used antique gold findings with cranberry freshwater pearls and Czech crystals and glass beads I bought in Prague last year. The little dragonflies add a touch of whimsy to them.

Watching the Flowers Grow - Part 2

I took these photos at 6:30 this morning (Friday the 13th). I love the way the dew on the plants looks in the early morning. The azaleas will probably be in full bloom in another 7-10 days - earlier than usual this year. The climbing rose has bloomed all winter - even in below freezing temperatures. I just planted the daffodils last weekend and they are really shooting up quickly.

Joseph's Coat climbing rose

Daffodil

Southern Indian azalea - Formosa

Now It's (Almost) Spring

Well, it seems the below freezing temperatures we had last week are gone and have been replaced with the beginnings of spring. I planted some daffodils - my favorite flower - on Saturday. I bought them in small, individual pots and they were only an inch or so high. After planting and watering, they are now about 6" tall and the buds are starting to show. The azaleas are also beginning to show some color and the climbing rose is covered with buds. We are always fooled by these first signs of spring. Invariably there will be another couple of rounds of cold weather before winter actually exits.

The cold has kept me inside more lately so I've been making more scarves. Most of them are the knitted fuzzy kitten scarf style but I did do a couple of crochet ones also. I had an afghan pattern I adapted to make a diamond filet pattern in a super soft creamy ivory color yarn by Caron Simply Soft.

For the first time in several years the Taller Half was home on my birthday and we celebrated with dinner and flowers. Not being much of a shopper, he filled a birthday card with a little something green (my favorite color!). Mom-in-law got a cheesecake from our local specialty bakery and we dived into that after dinner. At work the next day, my friends surprised me with a gift card to Hobby Lobby and a bag of peppermint chewy candies. The birthday card was a fold out with monkeys all over it. They each picked out which monkey represented them and were spookily accurate in their choices.

Hope's Cheesecake

Sherry made me a wonderful fleece throw with a deep forest green on one side and a print with white cats on the other. It has been so nice to snuggle up with while watching my BBC movies. Terry and Barry gave a beautiful, hand crafted wooden necklace display stand Barry had made. He is such a talented woodworker with a fine eye for detail. My photograph doesn't do justice to the piece.

Sometimes life is so good.