What a wonderful day!

Today was the day of my birth...many moons ago! I want to thank all of you who remembered!

I heard from almost all of my most favorite people.... there are a couple of exceptions, hmmmmmm!

The most unusual event of the day was when I got a call from my pharmacy wishing me many, many more returns of the years! Never happened before but you may be assured that I will continue with those who want me alive!!! What a clever thing to do for those of us who are over 21.

The tulips in my little sitting area decided that they too would bloom for me today!

We have been having the most wonderful Spring weather, in the 60's and 70s! The apple tree is budding out. The grass is getting greener except for a patch that looks like the grubs have made a new massive colony. We don't use any kind of pesticides so we pay the price. Gravel if nothing else works.

My favorite food in the world is Yorkshire Pudding, this is a photo of today's production.

Turned out totally perfect!  Reason why I will never be a sylph!

We had the pleasure of having my nephew and his son here for a week, and they were kind enough to help me with pruning the apple tree. This is the result of their work! Looks gorgeous!

I spent about an hour the other day fine tuning the water sprouts and other unnecessary branches
and am looking forward to gigantic apples this year and fewer of them. Last year we had more than we could manage. Even giving them away.

We have the most wonderful crop of garlic, which I planted last fall, coming up. There are eight
different varieties with a total of many flavors! It is amazing the growth rates of each, some are slow, some are fast. As they go to their fruition I will keep you posted.

Wherever you are, I hope you have a great and fruitful Spring!

Spring, sun and warm air!

However, there is also pollen and it is three quarters of the way to hell! But, warm is warm and this is what I found today when I went out to brave the bees!

Mini daffodils, I love them and buy pots of them all winter to have on the table at dinner. Then I replant them in voids in the garden. These little beauties are from last year's stash. This is the point of the new sitting area in the South Garden.

As I made my way around and surveyed the land I was pleased to see all but one of the eight types of garlic had come up. Some were up four inches and growing happily.

As you can see, we have very rocky soil to which I add humus in the form of our very own compost.
Some of the stones one finds around here are worthy of polishing and using as top dressing in the
various planters that house the decorative flowers on the portal. Oh, I am so glad that warmer weather is not far off and the gardens will thrive again!  Good luck to you all in the more wintry areas, may Spring come very soon!

The March lion is everywhere....

We had a lovely 6 inches of snow here at the house last week, which had melted by the time I took this picture. We need the moisture so much and we are delighted that El Nino has finally arrived in the southwest. We hope he stays.

I want to share a wonderfully educational garden blog that I have been following for years. I rediscovered it today and I have to tell you it is better than ever. Here for all of you dedicated gardeners it is: http://serenityinthegarden.blogspot.com/

Jan Johnsen has something to teach you at every turn. Search out the Foot Chi section, it is amazing.