First Day of SPRING...yippee

Spring has sprung, and I am seeing signs every where! Took a walk around the yard as soon as the sun came up and marveled at all the green. The azaleas are done..one week of gorgeous was all we got. Had some pretty heavy rains and that always guarantees blooms on the ground. We still need more rain...my lake is so low..lower than I can recall in 21 years. We are under our first burn ban of the season already. Had a fire out here 2 weeks ago, 1/2 mile from home. Started in a dry lake bed, spread to 20 acres and threatened 5 homes. Our fire guys rock, though, and they saved all the houses!! I was at work, as usual, but my son called and said a helicopter with a huge bucket was dipping from our lake. About 20 dips, Chris said. Wish I could have seen it...would have been some great pictures. Anyway...first day of spring and I have to go to work...if the boss wasn't doing taxes today, I would definitely be calling in with Spring Fever! Don't wanna work...I wanna play! Happy Tuesday...HAPPY SPRING!!! *e*

I had a stump....

About a year and a half ago, I had a huge pine tree that had been hit by lightning cut down. When Dallas, the tree guy, was cutting I requested that he leave a good height stump. For the memories, you know? So, I had a stump. I also have a strange thing about galvanized metal things. Things like buckets and wash tubs...turns out I have 3 wash tubs {that's officially a collection, right?}. So, I had a stump and I had a wash tub...or 3...What to do with these 2 odd things? That was easy. Nail the tub to the stump and fill it up with lots of color! Went to Lowe's last night after work, as a customer tipped me off to the fact that Monday is when they usually mark down the plants that are not so perfect anymore. They had 5 huge rolling carts filled with all kinds of plants...all 1/2 price. Score! I like instant color, but I love 1/2 price!! Came home from work tonight and thanks to the time change, was able to fill the tub before the sun went down and grab a couple quick pictures. So now I have "stumptub", and I think once the plants adjust to their new home, they should thrive. I love this time of year in Florida. Spring right around the corner, and no need for the A/C yet. Oh...and some great news...the barn is back on track!!! The electric will be put in next Thursday, and then we can finally finish off the inside. My son is really tired of sleeping on my sewing room floor {can't imagine why. it's only been 18 months!} A lot of stuff has gotten in the way...my carpenter has cancer, my electrician is getting a divorce, and my bank account sprung a leak. :o} So, I'll keep posting and maybe real soon we can have a blogger barn warming!! Thanks for reading. I'll be back. *e* PS I guess blogger still doesn't understand me! Why can I never get my pictures in the correct order? arrghh!!!

Some deeper thoughts & some beautiful colors

Okay...I know it's been almost forever since I posted anything, except maybe a letter in a mailbox. Contrary to rumors that I have run off to a foreign land, I am still here and slowly making my way back to the land of the sane {?} people. It's been a weird year, and I just went through 5 solid weeks of difficult "it happened then" days...but today the sun is shining, I'm here to enjoy it and I know I'm getting stronger every day. My faith has been tested with all the sad news of the past week and my heart aches for all those who have lost so much. We had the 5th anniversary of our Groundhog Day Tornado, and I can still remember the fear that came with that 5 years ago. My thoughts and prayers are there with all those touched by these terrible storms. I've been reading a lot of your blogs...some happy...some sad..and all have been a part of my healing...to be able to "reach out" to others, even when I did not feel like putting myself "out there". So, I hope I'm back to stay for awhile. I'm playing with my camera again and when I saw the great colors in my yard today {once the sun finally arrived} I just knew I had to share them. These are just 3 of my Azaleas that are blooming as we speak. The really deep magenta{?} ones were planted by Joe 8 or 9 years ago...and have never looked this beautiful. I'd like to think he can still see them...they certainly are bright enough! Hope you like 'em....and since they are not in any sequence I won't have to fight with blogger to get them in the right order :o}...Happy Sunday! *e*