Saturday, March 15

Signs of Life

We are having the wettest spring! As opposed to last summer when there were huge fissures around our yard from the severe drought, we are now getting rain, rain, and more rain. When I walk in the lawn, squishy sounds greet my ears, and water pours into the holes of my crocs as my feet sink into the swampy turf. (If you could call our lawn 'turf'. -- It's more like 'healthy weeds' than anything!)

Today was no exception with the rain. And thunder and lightening kept the kids close to our sides much of the day. The gutters overflowed into my flowerbeds, drowning the poor plants that managed to survive last year's drought.

But after the rain ended, the sun burst out from behind a cloud and rewarded us with all the signs of spring.

Hollyhocks in my garden are taking off! Can't wait to see their blooms!

Vinca is already showing pretty blooms. And that was one of the things I was thinking of pulling out. Oh, dear! I'm very tender-hearted toward a plant that will do well with me. So, maybe she'll stay.

My Confederate Jasmine is also thriving, although reddish in color. ??? I saw its brothers and sisters at the nursery I bought it from, and some were green; some were red. Mr. Jim told me that it did seem odd, but it still was healthy. Maybe a different variety???

Forsythia just glows under the evening sun. Yesterday I noticed tiny hints of yellow; today it is open.


The greenest thing in the woods is still the moss. If I could turn my yard into a blanket of moss, I would do it in a heartbeat. I love it! Now, though, I am enjoying it in the woods (not from the edge of my yard). -- Our dear neighbors (I really mean 'dear'!) are blazing a trail through the woods from their house to the top of the hill, with another trailhead entrance at the edge of our lawn. It has since made me feel like a participant in our woods instead of a by-stander. -- I can enter the woods without tripping over vines and being torn to shreds by briars. It is lovely!

Of course Dear Children felt the need to be a part of Spring by playing in the mud puddles!