It Will Have To Wait

 I've lost track, but I THINK this is day three of rain.  Constant rain.  A light constant rain.

 I cancelled today's dental cleaning since driving to my dentist entails an hour on Interstate 81, and even on dry roads I am wary of the drive.  So it's cancelled and re-scheduled for early June.  

The pansies are in heaven with this cool 47 degree morning weather and the unstoppable moisture.

 The rain is knocking the pink petals off the azalea bush. but the phlox seems to be taking the weather in stride this week.

 So it's time for other things to put a a bit of color into our landscape.

 Cedar mulch was ordered and arrived that same day.

We love the quality of any soil or mulch they deliver to us.

High quality stuff.

 My husband is such a hands on guy and can never just sit and watch.

He swings the back of the dump truck open, and would probably hop in the cab and do the dumping of the mulch if they would let him.  LOL 

 And of course there is always extra help waiting to help and make the job go faster.

 We planted this Elsie Lee azalea two years ago.... it's not growing as quickly as a few of the other bushes, but it's healthy and within a couple more years should be the height of another just like it that we have.  This is more of an upright azalea bush... it gets four to five feet high when maturity is reached.

 Soft petals that almost remind me of a hibiscus or possibly a carnation.

Enjoy the day, Ladies, and...

 don't let all this rain

 get you down.

Snap The Photo

 Temperatures in the 80's arrived yesterday and we, along with the flowers, were soaking up the sunshine.

Humidity was low.

My favorite weather!

 The sun was high over head when I snapped these photos of the pansies.

Yes, the best time to snap outdoor photos is not the sunniest part of the day, but do we all have to do things the accepted way ALL of the time? 

Different is good.

I'm not a professional photographer.

And to be honest.... you probably aren't either,

so lets stop pretending to be what we aren't.

 Snap the photo, and if YOU like it

then it's a good photo.

 Concentrating on the beauty in life rather than critiquing what is wrong with the photography is so much more relaxing.

 Who cares if greens look yellow, or creams appear pink or blue, or if brown is the color of baby poo,

 Ewwww.

I'm not selling my photos.... and neither are you.

 My pinks may look purple,

magenta or orange

 my lavendar is aqua

and that blue is atrocious and boring,

 so shut up now, please will ya,

I'm trying to focus.

 Snap the photo.

 Snap the photo.

Snap the photo.

Not everyone wants to be a famous photographer,

so let's all keep that in mind and simply have fun

as we enjoy this big world wide web

and read one another's blogs.

I mean.... the internet!!  

What a joy in itself for those of us who remember a time when none of this was possible.

Snap the photo, share it, enjoy it, and some days

just turn off the comments

and enjoy the quiet moment of the photo of a pansy smiling back from your screen.

 

 Note:

Not everyone shoots with an expensive camera.  I have one but rarely use it and find more joy from using my point and shoot which feels better to my arthritic shoulders, nor do I use an expensive photo program that allows for 'cheating' or editing my photos to look completely different than the photo I actually took.  I may sharpen the edges of a flower, but that's it.  If my photos don't appeal to you that's your problem.

 

How To Use An Old Sun Umbrella

 Last year we waited too long to purchase our spring flowers for the deck and our outdoor pots on the patio and front porch, so there were no pansies left by the time I decided to get to the garden center to make my purchase.  So this year we purchased early, full well knowing that there may still be some cold nights that they needed to be covered or brought inside.

My husband wheeled the large pots from the back patio into his lower garage and they are sharing some time with the JD lawnmower and all the rakes, hoes and outdoor tools that also live there.

The tools don't mind sharing.

Last night it did indeed get cold, down into the lower 30's although it did not freeze, but you can never be too careful in caring for your flowers since they are not a cheap investment and you want them to live for your enjoyment as long as possible.

We purchased this patio set as well as the umbrella way back in 1998 when we lived in Arizona, and the umbrella looks horrible with striped areas due to fading from the intense sunlight in the Southwest, but my husband hangs onto things that he thinks may at some point be useful.

Last night that usefulness came in handy.

 He decided to place the umbrella on the table in the screened-in porch, carry the potted flowers from the deck inside,

and set them onto the table.

 then he lowered the umbrella so that it served as a lid and let it protect the flowers for the night.

 This morning the pansies and the lettuce are all safe and sound,

 but they will remain there on the table since tonight has the possibility of more cold temperatures.

 How about you?

Are your springtime flowers potted yet and did you need to protect them last night?

Do you use towels, blankets, or some other method of protection for them?

They Murdered My Pansies!!

 I've been mourning the loss of many of our pansies today.

 Not the potted pansies on our upper deck, but the pansies in the large ceramic pots on the back flagstone patio,

 and also a small ceramic container of pansies on the front porch.

 One pot had red pansies around the edge and gorgeous deep purple pansies in the center,

 and the other pots all had the mixed pansies that were black purple and yellow with deep black faces in their center, eyes and noses....

 Obviously the deer are VERY bold this spring and coming right up next to the house to pull up on the pansies, yanking them from the dirt, leaving the plant itself to gasp it's last bit of life after spitting it onto the flagstone, but taking the gorgeous blossoms into it's mouth and eating them.

I know that wildlife needs to survive, but please... DON'T EAT MY PANSIES.

I spent some time today at a garden center once again purchasing more daffodils.

I won't spend money on more pansies for the deer to enjoy in their midnight salad bowl snacks.

UGH.

Springtime Cool Weather

It's been a busy and somewhat rainy week,

but in between the storms we have found the time to enjoy ourselves

and do some grilling on the deck.

This is my husband.... the man of the hour who is a very 'take charge' kind of guy and does all of the grilling.

 This is our little girl dog, our boxer, Izzy.

She's always very sniffy and curious when grilling happens.

 WE also found the time to do some planting between rain showers,

A couple buckets of daffodils will hopefully add some color beneath our Bradford Pear trees this year.

 and of course you can NEVER have enough pansies, so we have them in the planters on our deck, in pots on the front porch and back patio, and a few with the daffodils.

 The weather was so iffy, but mornings required that I wear a sweater.

I found this new white cable knit at H&M, a store a rarely step inside,

but who can resist a sale with a very nice cable knit for $20?

Certainly not I.

 I paired it with my favorite leather hat,

an old pair of Naturalizer leather boots.

a pair of Tommy Hilfiger jeans from a couple of years ago,

my Michael Kors Runway watch that I STILL LOVE from a few years ago,

and a matching necklace and bracelet from The Loft from my over-flowing jewelry box.

Hat HERE // Watch HERE // Jeans SIM HERE// Boots SIM HERE 

Sweater SIM HERE