Spring: Two steps forward, one back

The latter part of last week brought 60-degree days, sunshine and an itch to go outdoors. We also had Ava for a night, and I worked on sewing and quilting projects on Saturday after it got cloudy and cooler. Friday was the peak day of the week.





Cooler than normal temperatures have helped keep our early bulbs, like the purple crocus in the front bed, fresh and lovely. For once, the camera captured the color almost true. In some lights it looks too blue or too reddish, but this is about right.




Out back, the first wave of jonquils took over on Friday as well. These white and yellow blooms are our earliest. The all-yellow ones are starting to show color now and I hope the rains we are having tonight (38 degrees, brr!) don't spoil them.

I have no idea how long the daffodil and jonquil bed has been planted along the driveway. I think we gave the plants some bulb food last spring while the foliage was still green... at least they show no signs of thinning out. We planted some bulbs out front in the planter in our new wall last fall, and they are just now pushing up. These guys along the driveway seem to sprout starting in December!

Our very first sign of spring is this bunch of miniature daffodils on the south side of the house. There is only the one clump, but it gets larger every year. When the late afternoon sun reaches these, they glow like pure gold.

The diminuitive plants are no more than 8 inches tall, and the little flowers are just a bit over an inch across. Every year I say we should lift and divide them, but so far it hasn't happened.


Soon there will be other blooms to enjoy. We have many different varieties of columbine, and they come up in various places, some of them unexpected. But this one seems to be emerging right next to a plant marker, so we must have planted it last year. I can't remember if it is blue or yellow or--??. So I'll wait to be surprised.

After a messy winter of frequent small snow storms and heavy street salting, our Gracie was ready for a spring bath. It was such a mild day, Norm set up a car wash in our driveway and afterward it looked like we had a new car!

This coming week there should be several appointments to keep and my plan is to resume a schedule of genealogy/memoir work on two days, quilting on two days, shopping and errands on one day. Plus we need to get back to our regular exercise schedule, too. We have been kind of lazy since we got back from our Florida trip. (I am blaming it on Daylight-Saving Time, myself!)