slow spring, books, and framed art

Spring is behind here in Illinois. Most of the month of April was unusually cold and rainy. It felt like an extended March. No drinking our tea on the porch in the mornings, no yard clean up yet, nothing planted except some pansies. This was my view across the street yesterday. Overcast (as usual) and the maple tree just starting to bud. Today is cold with wind-driven rain. One of those days where you just want to stay in bed and read or watch movies all day. I've actually never done that unless I was sick or recovering from surgery.

 Have you?

Taking a walk around my yard yesterday, I did find some beautiful things to photograph. Isn't this blooming leaf exquisite? This is my next door neighbor's maple tree, which borders our property. The leaves are a dark red, almost maroon when they're in full bloom. 

My peony bush coming to life.

Bleeding Heart finally in bloom.

Hostas growing more by the day.

Cheerful daffodils in my butterfly garden. They're late bloomers as they don't get much sun.

Does anyone know what these flowers are ~ are they a variety of tulips? I saw them by a library a couple of weeks ago and was smitten.

Libraries and books

We don't need anymore books, but there are a couple of Chicago suburb libraries that have fantastic sales and sometimes we can't resist. This was the stack I came home with a couple of weekends ago. I recently finished Anne Tyler's, "French Braid" and was disappointed. I'm hoping "Redhead by the Side of the Road" will be better.

Brian's picks.

Framed art

Our hallway bathroom is small and the main wall by the sink holds the towel bar. Otherwise, this wall is blank and boring. I'd been thinking about getting some kind of art work for this area for a long time, but never came across anything that I felt was just right. I bought this double matted frame at Michaels, hung it up and liked it. Funny thing is, the prints in the frame are the ones that came with the frame. I went through my stash of paper art I keep for art journaling plus some photos and nothing worked. So the store prints are staying for now.

I've had these white framed mats for six years. They used to hold Tim's college graduation photos. He's been replaced by cats. 😉

Zippo (who passed away in Nov 2018) and Monkey (who passed almost three months ago) now have a place of honor on the wall of my office/guest room. Photos taken by Tim.

Here's to warmer weather, morning porch sitting, and working in the yard. Have a beautiful week!

"The world's favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May."
~ Edwin Way Teale

playing catch-up

Hello! Sorry I've been gone for awhile. It seems that there just isn't enough time to blog when I want to, or else I haven't been in the mood to write. I'm still struggling with this back pain on and off (I finally start PT next week) and I recently had a horribly infected stye on my eyelid which made me feel cruddy in general. I've noticed a lot of blogs haven't been very active lately. I think Instagram is taking over. I do like IG and it's definitely a lot easier to post a quick pic with a few words, but I also miss the stories and warmth behind regular blog posts.

It's been a crazy weather ride here in northern Illinois, but that's typical for April. Last week, there were a couple of days that were actually warm enough to sit out on the front porch in the morning with my coffee (which I never take for granted - it was glorious!) and for a couple of beautiful, sunny walks in the State Park. And then a few days later - this past Sunday - we had a snowstorm that dumped six inches of wet, heavy snow on us. Two days later, it was 70 degrees and all the snow was gone.

So now everything here is finally exploding into bloom...I take a walk around my yard and see hostas, clematis, sedum, lamb's ear, bishop's cap and clematis all coming to life. Chives, fennel, red leaf sorrel and mint are growing in the herb garden. Some of the buds on my lilac bush have gently opened, revealing tiny purple flowers that will soon burst into heavenly scented blooms. I even saw my first butterfly the other day! This red admiral  was on a dandelion in my next-door neighbor's yard. His side yard joins up with ours on the south side of our house. The neighbor's side yard gets direct sun, so the dandelions love that area. The bees and butterflies need the dandelions in the early spring for pollen and nectar. I'm so glad our neighbor is like us and doesn't spray any weed killer on his lawn. Did you know that weed killers not only kill butterflies and bees, but in us humans are linked to cancer, kidney, liver and nervous system damage, endocrine disruption and reproductive toxicity? So, please - leave the dandelions alone! And hey, if it's your thing, you can use the dandelion greens in your salad or make dandelion wine with the flowers. 

We haven't begun yard clean up in earnest yet. And there is so much to do. All the garden beds are filled with wet, dead leaves; there's blown wood chips all over the back yard; piles of dead pine needles from the arborvitaes that line our back yard; perennials that need to be cut down; bare patches of ground that need grass seed...the patio furniture will need to be uncovered and the patio cleaned...and on and on. I've only done a little raking around the yard so far because of my back and because of the weather.  I read on a gardening site that if you start cleaning out your garden beds before the daytime temps are at least a consistent 50 degrees F., you risk throwing away butterflies, bees and other pollinators that are overwintering in the dead leaves and hollowed out stems of last year's plants.

I finally got my old, chippy window on the buffet painted (I do want to distress it a bit though) and the decor in my living room lightened up a bit for spring.

This weekend is a holiday celebration for both Jews and Christians. However you choose to celebrate, I hope you have a blessed weekend with your family and/or friends.

snippets of saturday, sunday

We woke up to snow on Saturday morning. Just not right for April, even though it's not a big surprise for our area. Hubby said it looked like powdered sugar on the pachysandra. It was the craziest weather day. We had bursts of snow and hail off and on all day, along with 50 mph winds that had its icy hands rattling the windows and gutters and clanging them against the house.

 Staying in on Saturday was a given. I actually dragged out some of my scrapbooking/journaling stuff. And the reason I say actually...I am terrible at making headway with this. It's hard for me to sit and concentrate on projects. I'm much more of an "up and doing things" kind of person. 

Had yummy food food going on all weekend:

Roasted pepitas make a tasty, nutritious snack. Just toss raw pepitas with a little extra-virgin olive oil, pure maple syrup, chili powder and cumin and toast in the oven at 350F for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.

Made a VEGGIE CURRY for dinner - delish over rice.

Sunday morning blueberry muffins...wheat and dairy free, no refined sugar:

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

2 cups almond flour or almond meal (I used almond meal)

1/2 tsp baking soda

4 large eggs

4 T raw honey or pure maple syrup

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp apple cider vinegar 

1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch sea salt

1 c frozen wild blueberries (NOTE: Do not thaw!)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mist a muffin tin with cooking spray. (Note: This recipe only makes 7 muffins.) 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk almond flour/meal and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, honey or maple syrup, vanilla, vinegar, cinnamon and salt; pour into flour mixture and gently mix until combined. Fold in frozen blueberries.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden.

--------

Homecare (isn't that such a lovely word...so different than housework) included repotting some succulents and making a new vignette on the top of the dresser in my office/Phil's old room. 

There's always the sweet pleasure of sleeping kitties, curled up like commas and squeezed into their little beds.