Arrrgh!!!

Dear Husband invited me out for a walk today. This is the first one of the season. I was delighted to see that the honeysuckle has begun to leaf out, and it won't be long before the forsythia bursts into bloom.

We live in the Chicago suburbs, and it takes a while for the spring warmth to build up. Our average last frost date is May 15th, so we wait until then to plant tomatoes and basil, and the more tender plants.

I FINALLY got the new antibiotics for the cat.

I had the pleasure of a quick visit to my favorite quilt store this morning.

I've managed to get through the first attempt at giving the cat his antibiotic via his ears. The entire operation reminds me of an "I Love Lucy" set up.

My niece brought me bad news this evening.

We were seated at the dinner table when she announced that to work off the calories of ONE M&M, you have to walk the distance of a football field, or 100 yards.

Of course, the first thought in my mind was the M&Ms I had last week. The second was to wonder how many of them are in the small bag you pick up at the check out lane.

There aren't going to be any further thoughts about this.

My heart is broken. The joyous Illini basketball team made it all the way to the final two in the NCAA and lost last night by two points.

I know....many of you know that I profess to HATE sports, and for the most part, I do. But these guys had such heart you couldn't help but get caught up in what they were doing.

One win followed another, which followed another, until they had lost just one game, and were rated number one.

We watched the last few games, and saw the patterns emerge. I was seriously worried in the game last night when they were down by 15, but they battled back. I told myself that they had won a number of games by sinking a shot at the last moment, and when they were down just two points in the last minute, I really thought they would pull it out.

There was no joy in Mudville, or in Illinois, last night. I tip my hat to North Carolina. They are a great team. But watch out next year. The Illini are going to be hungry. No......make that RAVENOUS! Our time has come to be number ONE!

The egrets have returned! Monday, we thought we had a glimpse of them early in the morning. Yesterday, I saw one egret twice, in virtually the same spot.

You don't suppose someone planted a decoy, do you?? *G*

Dear Husband thought the fishing might be good at that spot. I suspect the egret was standing where water flows from the north lakes, under the road, into the south lakes. Better to catch an unwary fish going visiting, or swept up in the current.

Making a note: Next year, we can look for the egrets and heron in late March or early April.

I've taken on a do-it-yourself project, and I hope I'm up to the task.

Actually, that's a teaser. There aren't a lot of woods in North Central Illinois.

Elegant Mother has packed up and gone to visit her youngest daughter for a couple of days. I went off to exercise yesterday while she was packing her bags, and came home to find her ready to be off!

I just realized that I am coming up on my two year anniversary of blogging. April 23 is the big day.

How does one celebrate a second blogversary? Can I expect a cake or fireworks? Do I have to do a major expose, or change my writing style? (Can you see me doing political commentary?? Get real!)

I guess I better start practicing how to say thanks to ~T~ for having hosted me for the past two years. If every someone deserved thanks, SHE DOES!

I know....this picture doesn't make a lot of sense without some explanation.

Ed, our hunting cat, was sitting on the ledge above the tub, intently peering out the window. He was SO intent, that I was able to walk into the room, leave to get the camera, return, and take several shots before he indicated he knew I was there.

I stepped into the tub to look over his shoulder, and by that time the chipmunk he was watching must have run away. Ed left too, telling me that I had imagined it all with a disinterested twitch of his tail.

You KNOW that he has made a mental note of the new location to visit when he goes out next.

Thursday, I discovered a book on my bookshelves that I didn't know I had. I asked Elegant Mother if she had purchased the book. She didn't know anything about it. It's possible that I saw it somewhere and picked it up, but I simply can't remember. It's a shame really, because "Thief of Words" is a GREAT book!

Susan, these are two of Elegant Mother's orchids. She has a white one in addition to these two. She tells me they are Phalaenopsis orchids. I thought you might like a peek at what she's growing.

Chipmunks are the bane of my warm weather existence. They taunt my cat and eat the tulip bulbs. They filch my crocus bulbs and deposit them for future meals. The following two pictures are of crocus that have been deftly removed from my gardens and replanted along a path next to our property. I was out walking and the blooms caught my eye.

I guess at heart, the chippies are exterior decorators. They wanted to share my gardens with others, the little buggers!

Today we saw a Rufous Sided Towhee for the first time this Spring. Its one of a group of birds which visit us on their way to their summer homes. We have a thrush, and soon one yellow bellied sapsucker will be hunting through the mulch for bugs.

We have a pair of mallard ducks, and we hope to see indigo buntings. Our bird book is at the ready while we watch for new visitors.

since I last posted? I frequently ponder the passage of time. It seems to me that a good description of time would be a steam roller perched on the edge of a hill. Envision it, as it starts to give in to gravity....moving slowly at first, picking up speed until nothing could stop it on it's downhill flight. Eventually, it hits the flats and slows, until all the energy of that glorious escape has dissipated.

I wonder if that simile holds true for our lives? As a child, I thought time would never pass. Now, I'm in the downhill stage, with each day flying by, crammed with activity. Will there come a time when I hit the flats and time will once again move more slowly?

I've talked with my 88 year old mother about this. She feels that there is never enough time in a day to accomplish everything on her list. The key to the passage of time has to be what we hope to accomplish. Time moved slowly for me as a child because I had not yet discovered the ability to keep myself busy. Now, there's a never ending list of things to do.

I hope I never return to that stage where I have time on my hands.

This week, while I've been away from my blog, Mother Nature has been doing her best to paint our landscape. We've had sunny weather well into the 80s with unusually warm nights for April. This morning, as I was having toast, I looked out into the grove, and realized that the shrubs and trees were beginning to blur the outline of the the houses to our west.

During the winter, when the trees are bare, we are very aware of our neighbors. There are six houses along our lot line. From where I'm sitting, I'd guess the houses are about the distance of a football field, or one hundred yards. Our grove is old, and a great deal of it has fallen over the years. We've purposely left it wild as cover for wildlife.

I welcome the leaves in the Spring. They give us a sense of privacy you don't normally have living within the boundaries of a town. The noise is muted and the trees give us a little relief from the afternoon sun.

Despite what Robert Frost had to say in "Mending Wall," I rather like the barrier my grove gives. Perhaps I'm like the neighbor who is buried in the past, but there are times when privacy is to be cherished.

Or, she's getting ready to. We've had unusually warm weather for April. I'm sure the Cubs are thrilled to be playing in warm weather, but the results for some of our plants could be disastrous.

I see that tulips I planted last fall are up and ready to bloom, but today we are supposed to slip into the 50s as a cold front passes, and by the end of the week, we'll be flirting with freezing weather at night. I hope the tulips can deal with it. They never last long here, so I'd like to have at least ONE season of bloom.

In just a month, or so, we expect to have two rather large groups of people visit our home. My mother has joined the Red Hat Society, and we've invited them to brunch on Saturday, May 20. Once the date was established the ladies all insisted they would bring something, making it into a pot luck. They felt it would be the easiest thing to do, since one can't have cheese, and one can't have pasta. Who knows what other dietary restrictions may lurk in the group.

The other group that will be visiting is our friends from exercise. Rather than go out to breakfast to celebrate the May birthdays, they will all bring a dish to pass and we will celebrate here. It's been my pleasure to have them come to us in May so that I can show off the iris. This group has dietary problems, as well, so I've been searching my books for something to offer.

Some crazy person always says "Summer colds are the worst!"

Bah humbug! ANY cold is the worst! It doesn't matter when it comes, a cold is a rotten thing to have to deal with. At least in the summer you could go out and bake in the sun.

Mother came down with a cold about ten days ago. I've been babying her, trying to get her to eat and to get up and move around. She missed her hair appointment last week, but she's well enough to go to her appointment on Thursday. I can tell that she's not quite over it, but she's getting better.

Unfortunately, now I have her her cold.

Bah humbug!

I'm going to wrap myself up in my most comfortable clothes....and carry throat lozenges in my pocket, and have an endless cup of hot tea. And let myself be just a little bit grumpy. It's about all I can afford to do. Life goes on, and there's too much to do to take to my bed.

Jim, from Parkway Rest Stop....here's a bit of trivia for you: Antonomasia is the practice of using a trademark as a generic term.

I'd never given any thought to the fact that someone would have named that misuse of words. Probably some lawyer said, "We can't have people using "Kleenex" to describe just any tissue. We'll have to create a name for this syndrome so that we can take the issue of tissue to court!"

Or, maybe it was the Xerox Corporation who coined the term. There are loads of other products in this same boat.

Jim....did YOU coin that phrase??

It's time for violets and lilacs!

Our yard is full of violets. There are places where it's only violets! We have traditional purple violets, and white ones and pale blue ones. There's one stretch of what is laughingly called "lawn" that I'll have to ask DH not to mow until the violets are gone.

The viburnum growing where the drive meets the road is in bloom, and the scent is heavenly! The cold/cool weather has prolonged the tulip season. I'll have to make note of where they are so I don't kill anything off when I reorganize the gardens this summer. We still have a few daffodils, and the clematis is trying to work it's way up the arbor. I'll have to go out to set up the twine that encourages it on it's way to the top.

I forgot to check my winter sown seeds, and the heat got them all one fine day. I've just about decided where I want tomatoes and lettuces to go....and I'd better get that lettuce in NOW!

YEA, SPRING!!!!

I missed my own blogversary! It's been two years, as of April 23.

Thank you to all who wished me happy blogging earlier this month.

(walking off......muttering about memory and old age......)