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!  :)