a bloomin' good sign

About a week ago now, I found my first FLOWER blooming in the front yard. I know, you're thinking a crocus, or a pansy that wintered over, but you're wrong. One of my English Daisys is blooming. I was so happy to see this first, and very unexpected, sign of spring. There are two blossoms on this little plant, and yes, that white stuff at the top of the frame is snow.



At my house we have taken advantage of the warm days this week. Wednesday and Thursday after picking Ben up from school the kids have played in the play area in the back yard while I got to pick weeds. Yes, I said got to. Working in my yard, in the dirt, is therapy for me, and for those who read my last post, you can tell I'm in need of a little therapy. I filled three five-gallon buckets by the time I stopped Thursday. If you know my yard, that's only a drop in the proverbial bucket compared with what's left, but it felt so good. And I take pride in knowing that one area of that flower bed, the one that looked all green and lush with weeds, is now bare and ready for some more little weeds to sprout. God made weeds to bless and curse me.

Today Ben and I picked out some fun seeds to try this summer. Last year I planted some birdhouse gourds on the back fence. They grew well, and all summer it looked green and beautiful, with sparsely scattered fresh white flowers blooming in the early morning. I have yet to see if any of them will have dried properly, as I tried two different drying methods. But Ben and I found some new crazy looking gourd seeds today. They're called "dipper gourds" and they look like nature's version of a ladle(or later, after returning home, I realized they might also be seen as huge falic symbol--but keep your mind out of the gutter--they're ladles). We got a few other annual vines to try back on the fence. We'll see if we get any of them to grow. Our other fun purchase was Ben's choice: white pumpkins. I saw them last year and was tempted to get them, so it wasn't too hard for Ben to convince me they would be cool. He's excited to make a "ghost jack o'lantern" next fall.



I know, winter is still here. But all I can do is hope that Sunset City's groundhog was right predicting the weather on the 2nd. According to "Sam," we'll have spring in two more days. I'm ready. I have a few more buckets to fill.