Chilly Spring Day, Flowers, Easter Promise

 I finally made it outside yesterday,

 a trip to the compost bin,

where I throw all the peelings from potatoes, apples 

and all the other stuff that I feel should go back into the earth.

As I came down the steps from the deck 

something caught my eye.

So tiny, yet there it was, 

a little Johnny Jump Up growing between 

the cracks of the bricks in the pathway to the gate.

 Now mind you, I don't carry my camera 

when I am on my way to empty potato peelings,

so I ran back into the house and grabbed my camera,

ran back outside and got down on my hands and knees

in the grass, all to get a better shot 

of this pretty volunteer.

 Then I see another!

I didn't attempt getting down on all fours to snap it,

(getting up is a Kodak moment in itself, believe me).

My thoughts were of how I was going to come out here soon

and with my little garden shovel, 

dig these up and transplant them to safety before 

the lawn mower clipped their heads off.

I know how they got there.

I usually always buy this flower as one of my 

filler plantings for my deck pots. 

They reseed themselves where the wind blows the seed.

 Unfortunately I did not make it out with the 

camera in time to get the hyacinths. 

They were so beautiful and fragrant last week.

I was in such a hurry one day I just never made it back out.

One bulb planted 2 years ago evolved into

8-9 individual flowers. They could use some separating.

I should also put some straw down to keep the dirt off of them.

Our thunderstorms with wind and rain are responsible.

We all know how brutal the elements can be on our flowers.

So I walked around the deck a bit and went to look for 

the one flower I love for its teeny-tiny blue blossoms.

My forget-me-nots.

The weeds have taken over in this patch of flowers, 

the kind of weeds that require a long straight digging tool

and gloves, the kind of weed that bites and is like thistle. I am forever fighting these no matter how deep we put the mulch. I refuse to use weed killer because of the bees, and

I cringe when hubby does his Roundup thing around the fences.

I walk a bit further to the forsythia bush.

It is all a bud with green sprouts,

but there are only 4-5 yellow blooms.

Something else I missed these past couple of weeks.

The mulch beneath it is littered with spent blooms.

My bittersweet vine made it through the winter.

I planted it 2 summers ago and the first winter the rabbits

really did a number on it.

They had feasted on one of the main stems.

I was not a happy camper at that point, 

and made a mental note that I would fix them!

I would be smarter and put some fencing 

around the base of the plant.

Well, Fall and Winter rolled around and I never got to 

doing what I said I would, so when I walked out to the 

back of the inner yard I was holding my breath.

Everything looked okay, thank goodness!

My rhubarb is looking good. 

I need to get out one day very soon 

and clean up the dead leaves that are littering my flowerbeds.

I need to get out here and use some elbow grease

and get my yard back to what it use to be.

Right now it needs work.

All I see is work, work and more work.

The red buds I planted are in full swing.

I have 2 in my yard. I planted both.

 I planted my trees when they were just tiny sprouts.

Years ago my mil found one growing behind her 

garbage can and asked me if I wanted it.

I took it home and planted it in my front yard.

 

This is the one in the back yard 

that I can enjoy from my kitchen windows.

 

And last but not least,

this is the one my mil gave to me so many years ago.

She passed on in October and I always think of her 

when I look at this tree. 

This Winter as it lay dormant I thought of her

and how her life here on earth is over.

And now in Spring my beautiful tree is once again alive

because God made it so.

I know for all her goodness and her faithfulness

to God, that she is also blooming and alive.

It is so close to Easter and we should all think about

the wonder of the Resurrection, 

the promise that God has given us of 

renewal and eternal life.

~*~ ♥♥♥ ~*~