Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty.
–William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale

I walked thru the back yard this morning and saw my first, and maybe only blooming daffodil of the season this year. Most of mine are barely up yet. Would have taken a picture but the dogs and the weather haven't been kind to it so......................

Don't forget to post your weather related pictures. Only 2 so far.

My pack above is on it's way! Hope they enjoy!

Ruth thank you so much for the excellent package you sent. I will post details and pics later but wanted to say how much I appreciate and how lovely everything is. I am on my lunch break now so I ran out of time.

Ruth, I am so grateful with everything you sent. Thank you so much for the Sarah Bernhardt peony (pink), Oolong White Peach Tea (white), nail brush and cucumber soap (green), and King’s Gold daylily (yellow). I love peonies and have over a dozen varieties, but I didn’t have Sarah Bernhardt. The picture doesn’t do it justice. I think I counted 12 eyes on the huge plant you shared with me. I had purchased one a few years ago online and it arrived all shriveled and didn’t make it. My grandmother had this one and I remember how much I enjoyed the lovely flowers and fragrance. I love tea also and this Stash Peach flavor will be delightful for my daily afternoon tea break. I needed a new nail brush and the green one you sent along with the cucumber soap will come in handy. And, the King’s Gold is a beautiful daylily. The 6 fan plant you sent is so generous of you too! The picture looks like a yellowish orange color and I can’t wait to see it bloom! I will thoroughly enjoy all of these items and will try to remember to send you pics when they bloom. Thank you again!!!

Jeanne, I will be sending your package out by Thursday. I am waiting for an item to arrive.

Susan, I'm happy that you liked everything. It was fun putting it together. Wish the daylilies would have grown more, but we kept having freeze after freeze. I know it's probably too early for you to plant them outside.

Bingo words

blarney stone

Festival

Thanks Ruth. Our temperatures are so crazy right now. I will pot it up indoors until it is more stable so it doesn’t freeze. We are in the 50s today and nice for a few days and then it will be cold again. The peony should be safe to plant now though.

I had a great time putting everything together for Jeanne and I will mail it out tomorrow.

Well, I could not decide if I should submit a pic...off the TV...of our very good looking and well liked weather man, Henry, doing the weather this morning or Henry giving us our Orange County forecast for the next few days...great weather and yes, I am in shorts. No problem if these don't qualify for the pic contest...thought I would go down a different road...lol.

Love your weather forecast Annie. Perfect weather. We have a beautiful full moon tonight. I wanted to share it with you all.

Beautiful picture, Susan!

Thank you Jeanne!

Love the pictures Annie and Susan. Keep 'Em Coming.

Have until Monday to send as many as you'd like.

It is 79 and sunny here and a beautiful sulphur butterfly keeps flying around in the yard.

Bingo words today.

brogue

banshee

My little garden tale for today. I have a concrete statue of St. Francis in my garden - probably about 3 feet high and about 2 feet wide. When I was out there today I noticed some yellowish leaves trying to make their way out from under the statue. Daffodils! (Previous owner planting). Of course, no sign of them when I moved in the fall so the poor things were trying to grow and get to some light. I moved St. Francis to the side and dug them up, put St. Francis back and did a lot of struggling to get them planted in the ground again (yes, rock hard soil and tree roots). I hope they live. Both the digging out and replanting were difficult. Thankfully there were only 4 bulbs to try to replant. It shows how plants will struggle to live.

67 degrees here in Cary. Perfect! Some of you are already hotter than what I like.

Annie I'm coming for a visit...love your weather right now. And Ruth 79 love your temps as well. Still in the 40's, 50's and some 60's here. The freeze last week melted everything I have. Hours and hours of work cutting off the wilted leaves now.

Annie your pkg is being mailed tomorrow. It was fun putting it together.

Night Ladies.

Melinda thank you for the wonderful pkg I received today. You did a fantastic job with my colors and the word LOVE.

My Easter sign is just in time to hang up and will plant my Red Dutch Lilies and Varigated Purple Iris tomorrow. The black oven mitt is hard to see because of my black counter top. Love everything.

Lovely package Shirley....

Susan, that pic of your moon...I have been studying it intensely...blew it up...it is blurry simply because my eyes are so bad...but I look at pics the way I see them...not the way someone with good vision looks at them. This is very interesting,...abstract, water color effect. Love this!

Happy St Patrick's Day

Are any of you celebrating or doing anything special?

I was going to cook the traditional corned beef and cabbage, but a friend said she went to 2 different stores and no corned beef. I really don't want to run around shopping, so order to go it is.

My new laptop came yesterday and seems to be good this time.

Jeanne, what a nice surprise on the daffodils. I think the dogs might have dug up my Ice Follies. Not a one is up yet. I planted Pink Charm that I got at Christmas and they aren't up either. They were planted in the front yard so I know the dogs haven't dug them up.

Bingo words

clover

Irish Cream

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I love to go all out to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but it will be low key this year. Maybe I will make my usual green cupcakes for the weekend. Oh, the aroma of corned beef and cabbage and the rest that goes with it - has my mouth watering. I wonder if we have corned beef in our stores? Probably not.

Jeanne, I mailed your package out yesterday. The USPS said it will be there by Monday. I hope you like it.

Wow, what an awesome and interesting package I received from Annie today.

Hope y'all can read everything cause I'm just going to let the pictures tell the story.

Thank you, thank you. I love everything. Hubby and I are already enjoying that delicious chocolate.

My pkg to Annie went out today and should arrive Monday!

Anybody watching March Madness? I am...love it! Posting 2 pics...

I will call this "Spooky"...it is dark...turned the night light off on my camera

Ok, pic # 2, I will call "space"...

Happy Friday

We did not watch March Madness.

I love all the pictures and all the packages being sent.

Bingo words today

mischievous

bagpipe

Send weather pictures thru tomorrow, Sunday the 20th.

Bingo words

daffodil

four-leaf clover

Edited.....

Shirley, loved my package...a card, red calla Lily, April notepad, Artichoke Parmesan dip mix, butterfly ornament on a stick.....have it in a pot , tweeting birdie (so funny) and an Easter kitchen towel...thanks much!!!

OH NO!!!! I knew I would screw this up.....and yes, I did!!

Ruth, I am so sorry. I sent you your swap with the word that I chose C A F E, not the word you chose D E A L. I had it in my mind that I had to send to you a swap with the word I came up with. No wonder, you said it was interesting?????? No kidding!! I apologize big time.

I need some coffee with something "perky" in it.....right about now!! Off to the bar.....

Happy Sunday!!

Good morning all.

Yesterday was the last day to post weather related pictures for the contest.

Please message me your votes by Thursday the 24th.

Please vote even if you didn't send a picture.

I will only vote if it's a tie.

Comments welcome on the picture below of an oak tree in my back yard

Annie, I was hoping you wouldn't catch that.

I loved what you sent. Good Chocolate, good coffee, green money, what's not to love, so you did great. It just took me a minute to figure it out.

I looked up the Red Alert calla lily. It's beautiful.

Shirley, what is your secret to growing calla lilies? I can't get them to last longer than a year or two.

Storms forecasted for all day here today.

Bingo words

leprechaun

Daylight Savings

And speaking of Daylight Savings, who else wants that to be our only TIME?

Ruth....LOL....I caught it alright!! I would have had no problem if you called me on it and embarrassed me by saying, "Hey Annie, are you in lala land?" My response simply, "Yes, Ruth, I am." You don't try and defend it when there is no defense............HAHA!

Susan, I received your wonderful package today! Thank you so much. My word was snow and my colors were pink, blue, red and yellow.

Susan sent a lovely card and:

S = Spring blooming perennial - Bleeding Hearts and a bonus cutting from a rose

N = A decorative nest with a bluebird

O = Organic Red Hibiscus Tea

W= Wrap by Vatican Homes and "wooden" cuttings of Forsythia for me to root.

What a great package. I'm excited to see if I can get the Forsythia to root. I've heard it's one of the easier ones to root. I give me a 50-50 chance on the rose, but I'll certainly try. The yellow wrap is so beautiful and I haven't had bleeding hearts in my garden for decades so it will be fun to see what it thinks of NC.

******

Sorry ... just now adding my picture of what Susan sent.

I am glad you liked your package Jeanne. I have successfully rooted forsythia in water and it blooms beautifully in a vase. I just change the water every couple of days and in about 6 to 8 weeks you have roots. I took those from a plant on my property that was here when we moved in. It grows quickly and forms a tall hedge. I pruned it back last spring after flowering and it is at least 8 feet tall again. I don’t think it will grow taller than 10 feet though. I had taken a couple of cuttings in the winter to create a nice planter of evergreens and pained the cuttings of the forsythia white to give some contrast and interest. It was on my porch for a month in a pot that I kept watered and it rooted. So I put it in the ground and that was 3 years ago so you can imagine how quickly it will mature.

I love bleeding hearts and they do really well in a shaded part of my yard. I remember you said you have more shade at your new place so I am hoping they will love it there in NC too.

Have a great rest of your week.

We had an interesting evening. Tornados all over the area. We were under a tornado warning until 6 something then they changed it to a watch and severe storms. Our city weather siren was going off and we were finishing dinner when things started frying around the yard. Only lasted a minute or 2. Broke some glass items in the yard. A small branch off one of our trees. Some damage to siding.

Tree across the street broke

Fence between us and neighbor. Plants, pots, chairs and who knows what else underneath

More of the fence. My grandsons swing set from 22 years ago, smashed. I grew vines on it. Beautiful with Heavenly blue MG. Also my husbands shredder or some piece of equipment is under the fence pieces. And bicycles

But after it was over, a beautiful double rainbow. My phone didn't capture it very well

Received my lovely package from Jeanne!Thank you so much! Besides shown above, was a pkg. of coffee flavored peeps! Which are gone! I love Peeps and coffee are wonderful! Already gone! Thank you so much!

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
–William Wordsworth, I Wander’d Lonely as a Cloud

Of Spring Weather:
Chillier, but daffodillier.
–The 1991 Old Farmer’s Almanac

I found this blooming yesterday. I got it at a local swap. The lady said it's just a common yellow. I planned to add some Dutch Master, which is pretty common. Do you guys that grow daffodils think this is Dutch Master?

Update on swap

Ruth..................sent and received

Susan N...........sent and received

Jeanne.............sent and received

Melinda............sent and received

Shirley..............sent and received

Annie................sent and received

Anybody else voting on weather pictures??? Can vote until 6 pm tomorrow.

Today's bingo words

rainbow

Ireland

Ruth, I PM you my vote.....I think on Monday!! If you did not receive, let me know and I will resend.

Tornados....have never been in a true tornado. It is amazing to me how fast the destruction happens....in the blink of an eye. I am glad you are A-OK!!

Happy Wednesday!!

Is anybody out there ?

In the cold of the night, the fire burns bright, you long for the unseen
On the edge of the sea, your thoughts run deep, you long for a place you've never been
Is anybody there, is anybody there, you cry to the full moon
As your thoughts run wild like the thoughts of a child, you wonder if you'll be there soon
I say slow me down, slow me down
I want to hear the sound, slow me down

Is anybody out there
Is anybody out there
Is anybody out there
Is anybody out there
Anybody, anybody

Here I stand, letter in my hand, the letter that you sent to me
But as I turn each page like the turning of a wave, I feel you turning me
Slow me down, slow me down
I want to hear the sound, slow me down

Is anybody out there
Is anybody out there
Is anybody out there
Is anybody out there
Anybody, anybody

I don't know anything no more
I don't know anything no more
I don't know anything

I really liked Annie’s weather pics.

Congratulations Susan on your moon picture. It really is a great shot.

I'll get the Mark Roberts 2022 Calendar April Showers fairy mailed to you in the next few days.

bingo words

bloodstone

donnybrook

luck of the irish

Bingo

Congratulations on bingo Shirley.

Thank you Ruth, I had no idea I had won, what a surprise. I just could not resist that moon picture it was so unique. Thanks again everyone that voted.

Congrats Shirley on BINGO.....you beat me to the call!!!

Susan, Congrats on the pic win.....well deserved....you got my vote!!

Ruth, this has been a wonderful OBF month. Thanks again for hosting!! I am 99% sure I host the month of April (OBF).....will double check. I better put my Annie hat on and think of what I am going to do. For sure, it will be simple!!

Happy Evening OBFERS!!

Ruth sure glad the tornado was not really bad. Hate you lost the things you did. When they hit you never know what damage there will be.

Congrats Susan on your moon picture.

I knew I only had one word left for Bingo and planned to check it early this morning but had a Dr. appt. out of town. Checked later this evening and yeah. You just never know with BINGO.

Susan and Shirley, prizes have been mailed.

That concludes this months swap.

Thank you to all that participated.

Thanks for being the hostess, Ruth. It was a fun swap.

Thank you so much for hosting such a fun month Ruth. I loves it. I will let you know when the calendar arrives. Thank you again.

OK OBFERS, I am hosting April OBF. a simple swap is coming your way....I will post tomorrow (Wednesday) or Thursday!! Happy Spring!!

Thank you again Ruth for a super month of March Madness....haha...

Annie

I am nuts....I will post APRIL OBF tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday!!

Ruth, thank you so much for the awesome prize April Showers calendar. I received it in the mail today. It is even more gorgeous in person!