Apple Blossoms and a Wish

The best things about today are lovely weather and that the fruit trees are beginning to bloom. I'm particularly fond of the apples.

I guess I post pictures of them an awful lot of years, but seriously, how can you not love flowers in the spring?

This is my favorite for this year. I love how the new buds are so deep pink and then the flowers open to white.

I had a terrible time getting myself to do any work today. In the end I managed to beat myself into a little bit of sorting, one load of laundry (dried outside- first time this year!), a little bit of writing, and a little bit of outside work. A "little bit" of work is not compatible with keeping up with this house and my projects. Sigh.

The outside work primarily consisted of cutting more autumn olive, and that brings me to the wish. The biggest olive I cut out was growing in the middle of what used to be my rock garden. You've heard me lament about its demise before. And I really do wish I had it back. But the truth is, it's way too much work. I used to go outside every evening from 7-7:30 (while Wheel of Fortune was on TV, because I didn't like that show much) and weed. This is when I was younger and climbing and balancing on the rocks in that hill was easier, and I could barely keep up with it then.

The moles took a terrible toll. Most of my gardening efforts have been seriously thwarted by the wildlife.

But, I do miss the rock garden. Here it is when it looked really nice. This is May of 2000. Yeah, that's a lot of years ago. I had to overlap two pictures to show it. I was working toward having plants that had interest from spring through fall. Wasn't quite there, but I was having fun.

Tomorrow will be another hike.

See $10000 Plan, $20 Budget

Real Spring?

  Despite chilly temperatures, perhaps real spring has arrived. The apple blossoms are opening.

And although I'm not a big fan of pink, there is always something about this mix of pale apple green and pink and white that is extraordinarily appealing.

Even though Mrs. Phoebe built a nest, I hadn't seen any evidence of a Mr. in the picture, and she wasn't sitting on the nest at all. However, now we have a family. This is a crummy picture, but she's very shy of me getting close enough to the window to use the camera. This at least proves she's sitting on eggs. The funny strap on the left is the electric wire.

In other news: Again, it's all other news. I did more bookkeeping. I edited all afternoon, and I had a meeting this evening.

See Mrs. Phoebe Gets Cozy

Pink Smiles

 
As you know, pink is not on my list of favorite colors. But sometimes, it's just what is needed to give a little upward bend to the lips or a twinkle to the eye.

The apple trees are in full blossom.



The first of the fleeceflowers in my whatever-still-lives flower bed are starting to bloom.


And this was a nice surprise. I had a big patch of candystripe moss phlox at the top of my rock garden. It has been reverting to patches of pink and white, with not much of the striped flowers left. But look what came back this year! There better be lots of time to build rock gardens in heaven without the restrictions of too many damaging critters and not enough money.



In other news: I got quite a lot done today. In the morning, I wrote and turned in my newspaper column for this month. Then I did two loads of laundry. Remember that cup of coffee I spilled on my maps? Well it also went all over my bed, so I had to wash everything. Then, I got around to trying to start the mower. Usually I have to put it on the charger for a day, but this spring, it started right up. Wow! I got about 3/4 of the mowing done before the rain started and I had to quick take down the laundry! Not bad. I don't often do more than half the yard at a time. So, I didn't quite finish, but did really well. Now it's raining steadily. It's supposed to stop tomorrow afternoon. Maybe I can finish mowing on Wednesday.

	See Just Add Water and Sun
if you like this blog, click

The Rhythm of Branches

 
Right now, there's not a lot of easy beauty going on outside. We got a dusting of snow today, but still not enough to have fun on. So I went looking for some trees that were making music in their own way.

First up is an autumn olive. This is not the same tree as the one in A Shadow Revisited (link below). That tree has broken. But this one might be in the running for a new place to find a similar shadow if the snow gets deep.



This apple tree looks like one of those dancers from India with six arms. When I was a kid, some ladies from India came to our school and danced with candles and little metal things that clicked. They only had two arms each, but I was impressed anyway.



The silver maples always seem to have a graceful swoop in their music. Too bad they are such messy trees, and don't even color nicely in the fall. Nice tone, but maybe not an instrument that is pleasant enough to listen to full time.



Another apple tree seems to be trying to dance in a mirror with itself.



Finally, today, I smiled at the jazzy symmetry of the staghorn sumac.



I think I have a package lost in transit, but can't check until the post office opens tomorrow.

In other news: I wrote two chapters and took a walk. On the days I write this many words, I really can't accomplish much else. However, I did get more copies of "Devotions For Hikers" printed and stapled. I was completely out of them. I think I've earned my evening cookie and a chance to read a book.

	See Silver Maple See A Shadow Revisited
if you like this blog, click the +1   or