Heidi and I went to Pettiti's this afternoon and wandered around looking at all the beautiful flowers.
Ahhhhh. . . .
We bought new rosemarys, as we do every spring. They smell like heaven, or like chicken, as I used to say! (my mom used to bake chicken with rosemary. It's a connection.)
Spring seems to be unfolding slowly this year, with new beauties and delights every moment.
I love early flowers more than any other kind.
They're like that first swallow of water when you're completely parched. I look at them and I remember how good it feels to have green things growing.
Or blue things, for that matter.
Or even yellow. Aren't they darling, these Siberian irises? They are SO saturated with color, so vibrant against the earth. They take my breath away. Soon, it will be time for daffodils and primroses, hyacinths and lilacs. Bleeding heart and epimidium. But right now, I'm so busy gloating over my lovely early bloomers that I'm not at all impatient for what comes next.
Happy Spring!
It's that time of year again, when the fairies are waking up and needing their houses to be built and fixed up and kitted out. Olivia has whole encyclopedias in her head about the fairies if you care to listen. She can tell you all about it.
Ben isn't so much into the fairies this spring. He's more into noodle fighting anyone who will oblige him.
It's quite fun, especially if you have two noodles and twirl them around your head while making fake karate "Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" noises.
I've missed playing outside.
This photo was a total fluke. The light was low, and the flowers were also low, and the ground was a bit wet for me to lay down on my tum-tum to get the shot. So I just held my camera against the ground, aimed in the direction of the flowers, and pressed the button. I took around 10 shots. This was the only one that worked.
Spring, spring, spring, spring, spring, spring, SPRING!
This weekend, I was so lucky to go away with four other wonderful, fun women to a gorgeous "cabin" (we keep calling it a cabin. Don't be thinking "camping" at all. Don't be thinking rustic. Be thinking: vacation dream home) and sing and talk and laugh and pray and lay around doing nothing. It was Awesome.
Linda, Diane, Margie, Jill, and Me! Taken by John just before we took off.
First, we had a super-fun road trip.
And we stopped in Charleston, West Virginia for super-delicious crepes.
I didn't get carsick. Much. It helped to have four interesting people to talk to and bother the whole time.
Our little cabin in the big woods:
We sang a lot.
And ate a lot.
And had just the most wonderful time!
Hi Cat,
I think we know each other well enough now to talk about boundaries. But before we talk about that, I do want you to know that we all find you charming and handsome and all that. I do find it amusing when you visit me while I'm gardening. Myles thinks it's great fun when you try to get him to chase him in the yard. The ladies find you quite enchanting, pressing their noses and whiskers to the windows to watch your macho antics. We like you, we really do, don't get me wrong.
However, I feel that we need to address certain issues.
First of all, please refrain from walking on the roof of any of our buildings over here. I saw you on the garage roof today, and I could tell that you were guaging the distance between that roof and the main house's. Just don't do it, kitty. We don't need you pressing your sweet golden face into the upstairs hallway window, causing all kinds of feline palpitations in our quiet household. Also, I don't want to worry about you falling. So knock it off.
You handsome devil, you.
Secondly, I need you to STOP teasing the animals who live here by parading around on the front porch, chasing leaves and giving the impression that living outside is so much fun. I'm sure it is, but they don't need to know it.
Thirdly, when I am trying to take pictures of the animals looking out the window, can you please control your tail? This was the best shot, and you wrecked it. I find that difficult to forgive.
Finally, although we do find you charming, handsome, etc, please remember that the people across the street are YOUR people. You need to stay over there and take care of them. That is what having people is all about. They might feel neglected or upset if they knew how hard you were trying to get in the door whenever I open it. They might see it as disloyalty if they knew how much time you spent on our porch. So please, Yellow Cat, keep these boundaries in mind. We want to be friends with you, we really do.
Sincerely,
Myles, Emma, and Ada's Person
Yesterday, Heidi called me while I was watching the kids.
"Are you watching the kids right now?"
"Yes I am," I replied.
"Do you want hot cross buns?"
"Of course!" (I've learned not to question Heidi on these things.)
"Ok, we're in Brunswick right now and we'll be there in a few!"
I put some water on for tea, rounded up the little twerps who are all recovering from something, and waited in eager anticipation.
Soon, I saw this:
Mike was still home for the impromptu tea party.
And Emma was a little piggy about the sprinkles: licking her finger then swirling it around the pan to pick up every last one.
She had her winky-winky camera eyes going for these two shots. Kristen and Chad were both sad to miss the party. When she got home, she said the Mike had rubbed it in that she had missed it! Nice, Mike. Chad merely saw the photos and said, "Hey, I want hot cross buns!"
Ben, who was sick during the party, took one bite of his bun and decided it was weird. Later, after some meds had taken effect, he asked for his bun and declared: "you know, I think I'm getting used to these buns. I could eat these all day!"
There were a million birds in the neighbors' crab-apple trees yesterday. A big flock of rosy robins and later a bunch of glossy grackles. SUCH a flurry and busy-ness going on! So much EATING to do. It was exhausting to watch them, and I had to get a snack afterwards.
The birds know it: spring is coming soon.
I'm trying to believe them.
Sooooo, quite a weekend here! The twins spent the night with us on Sunday night, because Kristen and Liv had to go to a Girl Scouts sleepover. At. The. Mall. Yeah, so they were kind of tired on Sunday morning at church, and by the time they came over later for dinner, Olivia had completely lost her mind. It was fun.
Yeah, that's a napkin on her head.
The twins weren't much better.
Emma got the giggles so badly that she gave herself some intense coughing fits. Not once, not twice, but MANY times. Because, you see, everything was funny.
I, of course, maintained my usual level of maturity and decorum. Someone has to set the example.
Hope you all have weekends that were just as fun.
Today is Cynthia's birthday! Hooray! She has been doing marvelously since her surgery, recovering quickly and easily, although she still has pain and discomfort. Yesterday, we went out to the Pine Tree Barn for nummy nums and PIE.
That soup is awesome. Here is a close-up:
Oh lovely! French Onion Soup and a lemon crumb muffin.
We each got the soup, then split two meals among the three of us. It worked out perfectly, meaning we got to taste everything and STILL have room for dessert.
Hello, beautiful:
Cynthia's smile started to look less forced:
Happy Birthday Cynthia!
It's also my cousin, Karen's birthday today. She and Cynthia share the day, although Cynthia insists that Karen was born on her birthday. We have several sets of "birthday twins" in our family. In fact, I am a birthday triplet. Crazy, huh?
Ada thinks this plush, soft, cozy, warm, awesome blanket belongs to her.
Every time I turn around, she is snuggled up with it like it belongs to her.
She manages to ferret it out and get it all furry even when I've buried it under other blankets and pillows.
(I think she looks like a crabby, old lady here.)
What she doesn't know is that this is MY blanket. Mine. Mine. mine. mine.
Hence the disagreement.
(Imagine her rolling off the blanket now.)
I've been so depressed this last week or so. The threads of my life keep unravelling all at once, and I am exhausted with trying to slough through each day. It might be winter, I don't know. I spent yesterday afternoon planning this summer's garden, including what seeds I'm going to order and writing on my calendar what days I'm planting what. It was soothing and it helped a bit. I'm trying to focus on the bright bits and not let the dark parts drag me down. These help some too:
Those two. They are in perpetual motion, zooming in and out of the frame, laughing, mugging, getting too close. I love them to pieces.
Chad and I went to the hospital this morning to visit Joe, Sarabeth, and sweet Jillian Grace.
Just a darling little doll-baby!
You can see photos of mama and baby girl at
Congrats! Glad we got that baby shower in when we did!
