Friday, April 1, 2011

Unexpected free time

I was supposed to have company this weekend!  I had the menu mostly planned, the bedroom straightened and vacuumed, the days cleared of obligations, and then the phone rang!

My oldest son and my lovely daughter-in-law are both under the weather and can't make it.  That is pretty disappointing as we have not seen them since right after Christmas! I am positive they are laying at home, pining away for the Mad Mom and Dad, wishing they were driving up to northern Wisconsin, (in the snow) and counting the days until they get here in a couple weeks.  Um, well, a mom can dream, can't she? Before you feel too sorry for them, this is what they looked like when they were vacationing in FLORIDA about 6 weeks ago.
Don't they look warm?
Yeah, you're right, they'll be fine.  (Swallows bitter taste, smiles and moves on!)

So I have some unexpected free time- what to do, what to do??  I have a PILE of magazines that came during play season, including art teaching magazines, gardening magazines and a Prevention for sure.  Plus I have a great short story collection by Alice Hoffman- The Story Sisters- and my book-club book for next month- The Feast of All Saints- by Anne Rice.  Reading during this nasty, rainy, cold weather seems like a really good choice!
Reading material to choose from!

I could go and clean a closet or a dresser, or heaven forbid the refrigerator, but somehow that doesn't seem like a good way to spend the weekend, AT ALL.  We have very good friends who are boiling down their maple sap and having a little pancake get together tomorrow, where they celebrate all things maple!  That sounds like a much, much better plan for a Saturday afternoon!

I believe there will be other springy things that I think about this weekend, as well.  My little baby tomato and pepper plants are up.  They are looking a little leggy, so I will bring in more light for them this weekend.  I will also pot up and plant a few annuals- mostly seeds- in order to save a little bit of money on my container gardens this spring.  I can not WAIT to go shopping at some greenhouses in a month!!




Lola was talking to me tonight when I returned home from fetching those books from the library.  She thinks that I should make her a companion of some sort!  Seriously, Lola, do you really think I am going to have time for that??  Well, we will see, I really have to work on the giant hand first.  Maybe she will be happy with a dog or butterfly or something.  Lola needs to stop being so demanding!
Lola- my creative drive- captured in concrete!

I want to finish this post with a few more flower photos, as I am really wishing and hoping for more color in the landscape soon.  I read a quote somewhere, today, that said the snow is getting a whole lot less pretty every time it falls!  That is an understatement if I ever heard one.  If I am lucky, number 1 son and his wife will bring me a pretty pansy dish (a shallow pot full of blooming loveliness) in 2 weeks when they manage to make it up here.  I will be mad with anticipation for that event.


Until next time, be a joyful giver!  :)

6 comments:

  1. Just seeing your little sprouts put a smile on my face because they remind me of what is yet to come...or supposed to! I am seriously getting depressed with this weather and dullness! I think I need to spend some time with Lola!

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  2. Unexpected free time IS a gift! I know I would choose the gardening magazines! Yup, those seedlings need some light! Last year the greenhouse here opened April 1-- no joke!

    I think Lola needs a dog!

    The trilliums are to die for!

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  3. @ Tanya- you can spend time with Lola anytime you want! Just tell her I have enough to do right now. I had a powerful vision when I drove in the driveway and saw Lola- she will be getting a companion of some sort this summer. It was sort of weird! I hope my hands hold up, that is hard work.
    @ Rachelle- I sort of did several things. I read a garden magazine, started The Story Sisters, and found a fan for the seedlings, too. As well as plans to add at least one more light. Since we replaced a window in that back room, I don't have access to really big windows with all that light. So I am trying to supplement with extra flourescents.

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  4. My trilliums are JUST up in Georgia. I planted a part of our woods with native plants like trilliums, May Apples and wild ginger. Yours will be there soon. That patch you show is 1000 times nicer than the little one in my woods with perhaps 6 plants! Beautiful!

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  5. You would not believe the place where I took this picture. It is a stretch between 2 lakes where there are more trilliums than you've ever seen before in your life! It's amazing. We make sure to drive through there a few times during that bloom!

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  6. Snow again this a.m. Hard to get in the gardening mood. Last weekend Mary Ayers and I went to a garden expo in Minoqua...my first. I was pumped when I left, but now am hoping for more promising weather. My goody bag had coupons for assorted items from greenhouses in the area and a packet of Garden Babies Butterhead lettuce seeds. Looking forward to planting season.

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