C.C. ….. Frankie has made changes at Just My Opinion. I told her that some readers might have difficulty reading her blog, and she changed it for you. I know that the Lone Star background that used to be on my blog was a problem for some of you, so I shared that information with her. Maybe now you’ll be able to see what she’s up to.

What is is about having a cold that makes getting through the day so tough? Is it lack of oxygen? All I wanted to do was sit, covered with a quilt, and snooze or read a book. This morning was the first time that I’ve accomplished anything of note, so I’ve lost three days of my life!
Luckily, while I was busy vegging out, those around me were busy. My favorite landscaper visited with his crew, and cleaned out an area where I plan to plant a willow tree. They actually did more than I expected, for less than they originally proposed. They moved a beautiful viburnum for me that was dying for lack of light. And, they dug out the raised veggie beds for me, lined them to keep weeds from slithering in and making a home, and then refilled them with new dirt and compost! I can plant spinach immediately!
The early daffodils are all open, and the star magnolia is absolutely gorgeous! I’ll have daffs blooming for six weeks or so, as long as the weather is kind to them. I’ve been looking at catalogs and magazines, trying to decide what will be going in under the windows at the front of the house. I’m very drawn to a collection of coneflowers in the new colors and shapes, but I still have about three weeks to look before I make my final decision. As my brain clears out, perhaps I’ll be able to make better choices.
I need to collect myself and get on the road to visit EM. This is the weekend when her caregiver has part of Saturday and Sunday off. Frankie is doing the Mom-sitting this week. It’s my turn in two weeks. I hope that all my sisters will go to church together with EM and have lunch. It seems like a good thing to do for EM. We’ll see what the weekend brings.

I think I’m allergic to children five and under. Isn’t that awful!? We went to Florida the last week of February and spent several days with our granddaughters. Dear Husband was the first to fall, but we both came down with the same upper respiratory gunk that our littlest grand daughter had. It took weeks to get over it.
Saturday, we attended a first birthday party for one of my great nieces where there must have been easily a dozen children 5 and under, and Sunday we were with two five year olds and two one year olds. Monday…..I started hacking. Do you suppose I’ve been living in too rarefied air these past few years? You’d have think I’d have picked up some bug when I visited Elegante Mother in the nursing home.
At any rate….I’m having my pity day, and tomorrow I plan to get on with my life. It’s a gorgeous, sunny day today. It started out a little gray and just kept getting better as the day rolled on. We are expected to go from the mid to low forties to SEVENTY DEGREES by Friday…and then back down to the forties. My daffodils won’t know what hit them!
I have pots of Johnny Jump-Ups (mini Violas) to plant. Frankie selected four inch pots of purple and yellow flowers and used squares of plastic cut from a pink plastic table cloth, with pastel curling ribbons to create wrapping for the pots. These fresh little flowers graced the tables on Easter. I plan to transplant them this week into pots for the front entryway.
I’m SO glad that taxes are over. I’ve mailed those that have to be mailed, and provided e-forms for those that need to be sent electronically. I’ve even made the first of the estimated payments, and noted when the rest are due on the calendar! We’re cooking with gas! It’s good to have that nasty chore done.
I hope you have all made it through Tax Day unscathed, and can enjoy the beautiful Spring weather!

Many of you know that Frankie, over at Just My Opinion, is my “little” sister. Actually, she is taller (I’m the wider one), but she’s roughly nine years my junior. Like me, she doesn’t blog daily, but her entries are fascinating, and very thought-provoking.
I encourage you to visit her blog to read the entry called “Living Your Dash,” or the post entitled “The Integrity of a Battleship.” Even more, I hope you will tell your friends about her blog, and that you will add her blog to your blog roll, and that you will become a regular reader.
I don’t often suggest blogs for others to read. We all know how to find new contacts, and most of us are short on time, but I’d hate for you to miss what I consider to be such interesting issues. So, visit Frankie, and get to know her. I promise that you will find an intelligent woman, open to dialog, with a quirky sense of humor!

Hi, guys! We’re all well here at Chez Buffy. I’ve been busy working on taxes, and helping to settle Elegante Mother into her new digs. I have been working on the edges of SPRING CLEANING…..emptying out boxes of papers I didn’t need to store in the first place, and reorganizing my “stuff.”
Things are starting to green up here in the Chicago suburbs. The first of my daffodils opened yesterday, and the star magnolia is getting ready to burst into bloom. Some miserable four-footed visitor has eaten the tops off the day lilies that are growing out in the herb garden, but they’re pretty hardy. They’ll come back.
My cranky old cat, Edward Scissorhands, had his annual checkup and shots last week. He’s still hanging in there, but he’s painfully thin. He’s delighted, as we all are, that it’s warmed up a bit so he can go out. He used to stand near the door and quietly mew that he’d like to go out. Now he stomps into my office and shouts “OUT!!!”
Frankie (from Just My Opinion) (my youngest sis), is here for several days, helping me sort through some of Elegante Mother’s things, visiting with My-Sister-The-Nurse, and joining us for Easter. She’ll be taking her God-mother to visit with EM on Saturday. I wish I had her energy. I spent most of my time running to keep up with her! I’m so glad she’s come to visit.
I need to help Dear Husband with dinner. Last night we did Tortilla Soup, and tonight we are working on Chicken Fajitas. It’s odd to have Mexican food two days in a row, but I doubt anyone will complain. More sour cream, anyone???
If I don’t make it back before Easter, I hope you all have a lovely day.

Ya know, I didn’t mean to sound pompous about blogging versus Facebook. I think you should be able to do whatever floats yer boat. I simply don’t have the time right now to learn the finer points of Facebook.
I think this is going to be a lot like how I was about hand quilting versus machine quilting. I was SUCH a hand quilting snob that I felt you needed to go to your bedroom if you dared to say the “M” word. Guess who is interested in trying out long-arm quilting machines?? Yup…that would be me.
Frankie and Cop Car….thanks for the clear thoughts you posted in the comments. *S*

Well….maybe it’s not quite that bad. You see, my on-line friends have found Facebook. For all I know, some of them may Twitter or use MySpace. I spent the evening visiting the blogs linked to my blog, and I was disappointed to see that many of them are posting less, or not at all.
I should tell you that I, too, have a Facebook account, but I get to it so rarely that I can’t remember my password. Luckily, I can reset it. I am sufficiently lacking in spare time that I can’t sit and learn all the cute little gifts that can be given, or browse all the groups I could join. I’m not sure I even understand all the different ways of leaving messages or carrying on conversations.
But, most of all, I wonder WHY my friends would like to have me post how I’m feeling or what I’m doing throughout my day. “Buffy has gone down the hall to her powder room.” “Buffy has gone to the kitchen to brew a cup of tea.” “Buffy has disappeared behind a towering stack of material to be filed.” “Buffy is cleaning up cat litter.” “Buffy is working on Accounts Payable.” “…another litter run.” “…another powder room run…” “MORE LITTER!” Get the drift??
I’m glad that you are all enjoying Facebook. Please forgive me if I turn out to be your less technologically able friend.

This was what the front lawn looked like roughly five or six weeks ago:

It’s hard to believe we can change weather so fast. I generally don’t mind winter, but this winter we had exceptional snow. It snowed often and it snowed a lot. We were not the worst hit in the Chicago area. I felt we got off lightly,but you can see we had our fair share.
Bogie…..does this make you feel ANY better??? (Grins)