creating (a) room

 Last evening, we moved a few things around
 to create a room...
 We're not sure how this will "work" after the bushes fill in
 and hosta plants grow up...
but for the present, it looks inviting to us!
Morning coffee here, perhaps?

April 27

 While my husband mowed the lawn for the first time in 2013,
I noted the grape hyacinths were up....
and divided some hosta and sedum plants to give as a birthday gift to a friend.
 My husband repaired and reposted a couple of whirly-gigs.
A woodsman and fisherman now chop and cast happily in the breeze!
 Can I help it if wild violets are one of my favorite flowers of the spring?
There's just something about them...
but they can be pesky!
It's surely been a pleasant day to enjoy a near-perfect spring day!  
How was yours?

thanks, skeeter

 We arrived home from vacation traveling to enjoy a few days of STAY-cation.
It rained all the way home today....
A large, beautiful box was waiting for me at the post office.
From Skeeter!
I was a winner (along with Flower Lady).  My prize was the froggy rain gauge (above).
Quite surprised and very happy was I to find additional and totally unexpected treasures--
like the gardening gloves
 and other sweet garden art!
Right up my "alley"!
Thanks, Skeeter!
And if you haven't "met" her, hurry over to meet her at

Scene/Seen In Huntsville

 Honestly, it was only after downloading my pictures that I realized how few 
 of the actual flowers I had photographed at the incredible
 Huntsville (Alabama) Botanical Garden!
 
 But I assure you, this was an amazing garden.

 With many features for children,
 hardscape and hands-on features,
I can't imagine a better place to have spent an afternoon!
Huntsville Botanical Garden contains many themed gardens and trails, and beautifully achieves its mission to blend traditional botanical garden elements, the aesthetic heritage of the region, and  the conservation of natural resources. 
 Whimsy was in the air...

 and I believe the adults had as much fun as -  or more than - the children!

I'm curious to know if any of you have been there?????
(And there really WERE many beautiful trees and shurbs, flowers, a butterfly garden, a miniature railroad winding through bonsai-decorated landscape, dogwood trail, a day-lily garden
and SO much more!)

After the Flood - Phlox

Our stroll through Island Park
 was greeted by a painter's paradise!
Don't you think Monet would have painted this scene?!?
 I wonder if the recent flood was responsible for the beauty
 so difficult to capture with my simple, cellphone camera...
 High and low - soft and spectacular...
beauty surrounds us in unexpected places and measures.
For more peeks into our wild flower safari, I invite you to my other blog.

Slowly but Surely

I know....they're so "ordinary".  
But I can't get over the thrill of spring emerging.  
Slowly but surely.

Finally

The very first color in our yard this year.  
Finally.

Spring Initiation

 Three of our grandchildren visited us for a few days.
It was Spring Initiation for our back yard.
How we enjoyed our time in the sun.
 You can see the grass is just now beginning to green up!
The kids enjoyed a belated Easter egg hunt
and were opening their eggs in the picture above...
 The next day, there was sun, too!
T wanted blankets to lay out and read his book.
 A long-hit baseball landed in the little creek that idles through 
 the vacant property next door to us.  Grandpa had to fish it out!

 Just look at that blue sky!
Such a welcomed sight.
We used the outdoor time to set out our lawn ornaments
and various outdoor seating areas.
Can't wait till it warms up enough for morning coffee outdoors, etc...