A Great Neighborhood

I live in a great neighborhood. In September, we have an old-fashioned block party, with police barricades blocking off the cars even. Last year we all had such a good time, we had another one, impromptu without the barriers, but we still sat outside in Nancy's driveway/street with a portable fire pit warming our tootsies and melting marshmallows for S'mores.

From last year's block party:
Jan and Tim set up kid games in their driveway.

From last year's block party:
Warren, Sam, and Tim are playing "Pitch to Sam." Best game on the block!

Take tonight for example, I walked out to take some shots of my blooming daffodils and ornamental cherry tree.

My daffodils are out! You can see Jan with her cane in the background.

Out on our block were Jan and Tim, who live next door, and their darling grandson. Tim was trying to get his lawn mower working. I was glad it didn't work because even though their grass is long, it's so peaceful without that noise. Seems too early to start the eternal mowing racket. Jan was limping around with a cane, her arthritis acting up again. Jacob was trying to play softball with the "big" kids.

Nancy and her two "big" kids, Sam and Maya, and a couple more boys, cousins or buddies of Sam, were playing softball in the driveway/street/Tim-and-Jan's front yard ball field.

Maya in her soccer practice outfit. You can see Linda on the left. Sam in the red hat on the right.

Along came Linda and her little min-pin, Gretchen, taking their nightly walk. We firmed up plans for our weekend "Wine Chat" with Nancy. More on that later. Nancy and I made a gardening date for Saturday.

Before I went back inside--it was getting too cold to be outside without a sweatshirt or jacket--I reminded myself how blessed I am to live in such a great neighborhood.

Then I got cold and went inside, Linda and Gretchen went on down the street, Jan and Tim took Jacob inside, and Nancy and her mob went off to Soccer Practice. The street quieted down.

But I suspect we will all be out there tomorrow night. The kids will be batting more softballs, Jan and Tim will be trying to get their lawn mower working, Gretchen and Linda will come by on their nightly walk, I'll be outside taking more photos and itching to begin that gardening, and Spring will continue to warm our hearts and gardens.

Life is good.

It's "Officially" Spring!

I abhor winter. I search for signs of Spring as early as January. Yup, as soon as the calendar swings around into the new year, I'm ready for Spring. This year, as with last year, we've had lots more winter than Missouri usually sees. So it's been grim around here in my search for the first sign of Spring.

But I now declare, IT'S OFFICIAL, SPRING IS HERE!

I don't care if they had 10 inches of SNOW in St. Louis this Tuesday or 4 inches over on the east side of my town on Wednesday. The blizzards raging through Ohio this weekend don't bother me a bit.


because I've found SPRING!


This little plot is located outside of where I work. It's a 3 x 9 foot patch of raw earth. For a gardener like me, I see a blank canvas waiting to be painted. Just last week, I was telling Warren how we were going to come over here soon on a weekend and level the dirt out and start PLANTING!

I've walked past this garden plot every day, dreaming and planning, looking at the dirt, wondering if it was old construction fill or if it has any topsoil with nutrients in it or if we'd have to haul some good earth over here along with the bulbs and seeds and mulch. I'm thinking we can split out some of my most prolific perennials and bring them here.

Then a couple of days ago, a faint shimmer of GREEN caught my eye as I walked up the ramp. I stopped in my tracks. What is that? Oh, wow! It's green! Some thing's growing in Missouri! Even though the green is weeds, I don't care. My long quest for a sign of Spring is over. I don't have to look anymore.

SPRING IS HERE!

Never mind the blizzards, people. The snow has already melted in St. Louis. It will melt in Ohio, too. Spring has definitely grabbed hold of the calendar and even though winter is not giving up without a fight, I know now that Spring will prevail.

Let's hear it for SPRING!

Romance at My Age..

...is a wonderful thing! These pretty flowers arrived at the office. Then last evening we had a very nice dinner at a local winery with a window view to the surrounding countryside. Beautiful day, beautiful night, beautiful man!

Thanks, Honey!

Thank You!

Big thanks to Ben, Sarah & Dan!
I love all of you!
to quote a famous person,

How'd I ever get so lucky!

Love,
Mom

Early Arrival at the Office:


Later, budding already:

So I took it home.
Here's what I left for the office:


Thanks!