Job Interrupted...Again

I am behind.

I mean really behind.

More behind than I have ever been.

Usually I look forward to spring with eager anticipation...

...and an itchiness to get digging in the dirt...

...and anxious to spring-i-fy everything.

Especially the back porch.

This year...

...not so much.

This year my nemesis - allergies - reared its ugly head.

Then, I had a horrific infection move in and take over.

Then, 'The Monia' came to visit.

So, I am behind.

I mean really behind.

More behind than I have ever been.

Finally...

...I went to the local nursery yesterday and came home with the back end of my truck full of flowers.

So, today has been planting day.

Sort of.

At least I have tried and have gotten about half-way planted...

I have had three separate interruptions.

Interruptions like this...

...and this...

Maybe I will be able to finish up my planting and cleaning of the back porch tomorrow!

Afternoons

I've taken to riding along with The Mister when he does his afternoon chores.

His friends come to greet him with eager anticipation.

He just plops down on a bucket and they come over to him for a little individual attention.

Then, they line up at the feed trough and dig in to dinner.

Sometimes they have to come back for a little more TLC.

Then, they just chow down till their bellies are full.

Then, go on their merry way living the life of a country critter.  And The Mister rides into the sunset with the girl.

Honoring The Fallen

Low on Effort/Long on Cheer

Perennials make me smile.

They are so determined to leave their mark and return year-after-year.

They are like a greeting card that comes in the mail on a random day that just makes you smile.

They require so little effort but offer so much cheerfulness.

They dress up the ordinary.

And they add intrigue to our daily walk.

This post brought to you by Peonies and False Indigo - two of my favorites!

What a difference a few days make

A few days ago I was out in the yard with my camera and snapped some photos of the beauty out there.

I couldn't stay long because my allergies had brought on coughing, sniffling, wheezing, and gasping.

Not pretty.

Not pretty at all.

Then, I was out again a couple of days later and all the difference in the world had taken place...

The warm, sunny weather and humidity had done its job.

The blooms of the yellow Knock-Out rose had completely come to life.

It was loaded with sunshine and pale yellow blossoms.

The peonies were bursting open like fireworks.

The ones by the back porch are a deep fuchsia pink which contrasts so beautifully with the mulch, the greenery, and the grey of the lattice-work.

 They were heavy with blooms and brilliant with color and simply luscious to look at.

After a heavy downpour and a few more days, everything - and I do mean everything - was a bit bedraggled and it looked a bit like the chapel after the I-dos and everybody had left.  The only thing remaining was the flower petals scattered along the ground.

So, yesterday I got out my nippers in the cool, late-afternoon light and snipped off the sad, stemmy leavings and await the next round of blossoms from the rose and next years bursts from the peonies.

Random Thoughts

I got one of those forwarded emails that you read and chuckle and forward on the other day.  It was just lots of random thoughts.  You know, things like...

Wouldn't it be great if we could put ourselves in the dryer for ten minutes; come out wrinkle-free and three sizes smaller?

My people skills are fine.  It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work!

Even duct tape can't fix stupid...but it can muffle the sound!

Lord, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the friends to post my bail when I finally snap!

Of course I talk to myself.  Sometimes I need expert advice!

Old age is coming at a really bad time.

I don't have grey hair.  I have wisdom highlights.  I'm very wise.

At my age, getting lucky means walking into a room and remembering what I came in there for!

In more random sharing...

Here is a post I wish I had written: This One's for the Mothers

As I'm aging, I really appreciate that "precious years aren't meant to last forever," and I think I absorb miracles a bit more than I used to do.

I find that I agree with Emily Freeman who says, "We are all leaving a trail of beauty to those who come behind us." I am truly becoming a woman who realizes that we all need to muster up The Courage to Leave a Legacy.

I told my daughter-in-law this week that I didn't really feel like I was so successful at what this writer said in this post but there is still hope for her.  Sweetly, she reassured me that her husband could indeed be sweet and thoughtful at times and that, like me, she may or may not have teared up when she was reading the post.

And, like Karianne at Thistlewood Farm, I'd like to grow up and go to something... Becoming  ...maybe when I retire and that date isn't the crucial beginning-of-the-school-year-time for me.

Happy randomness!

This post was brought to you by Mother's Day gifts past and present.