Quarterly Book Report

Say It Isn't So

It's April.  That means we are officially one fourth of the way through 2017!  Three months gone!!  How can that be?  I haven't even clearly defined my New Year's Resolutions!!! I know one of my resolutions was to write more blog posts. Yikes. I promise to get going with that one. So, before any more time goes by, I'd like to share with you the books I have read so far in 2017.  Since there are a number of them (another resolution - read more) I will not bore you and review them all, just present titles from the best to the worst and give a quick thumbs up or down.

Great Reads

The Language of Flowers, Vanessa Diffenbaugh
👍👍👍👍👍 ( You gotta read this one)


The Book That Matters Most, Ann Hood
👍👍👍👍👍

Never Too Late: Your Roadmap to Reinvention (Without Getting Lost Along the Way), Claire Cook
👍👍👍👍

Nine Women, One Dress, Jane L. Rosen
👍👍👍👍

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake, Amy Reichert
👍👍👍👍

The City Baker's Guide to Country Living, Louise Miller  👍👍

Not So Great Reads

Commonwealth, Ann Patchett
👎👎

Homegoing,Yaa Gyasi
👎👎 

They May Not Mean To But They Do, Colleen Schine
👎👎👎👎

May you have a fabulous remainder of 2017.  Hope this list gives you some food for thought.

I Spy Spring!

So it is 36 degrees out this morning and the skies are gray.  Monday the sun will break out and by Wednesday the forecast is for a high of 73 degrees.  My husband has plans to warm up at the driving range early in the week; we have a meeting scheduled with our tax man on Wednesday, and on Thursday my husband will hit the links with his best bud for the first time in 2016.  What does all this mean?  Spring! my friends.  Yes, hallelujah... Spring is arriving.

As I sit here enjoying my mug of steamy, rich coffee, and the fireplace warms the chilly sun room, I can't help but look forward to the spring days I know are coming (minus the tax man, of course ).  

I long to drag the bikes out of the garage and dust them off, pump up the tires, and oil the moving parts. (Yikes!I need to oil my moving parts too!).  The many trails we haven't ridden yet, beckon. Our favorite rides await repeating.  Fresh air. Sunshine. Warmth...warmth...warmth.  God's grand symbol of rebirth never fails to invigorate me. I marvel at all the signs that announce...I'm here...hang on...I'm returning...

So here is a posy ... close your eyes and picture
SPRING!!!

I SPIED SPRING

I spied
A redwing blackbird
at the feeder today.

Three fat robins
poked around in the squishiness of the thawing backyard.

I spied
clumps of tender
green snowdrops
proudly studding 
the base of my 
neighbor's mailbox 
pole.

My neighbor's little 
boys
are back at play.
Tricycles rev again
up and down
the driveway.

I walk the pups
around the loop.
Brisk March winds 
cause a few wet tears 
to form in the corners 
of my eyes.

The softly, surging sun
promises to dry them away,
leaving only flaky
                                    salt patches
                                    as a reminder...

                                    I spied
                                    Spring
                                     today.

Sweet Potato Vine Love

Good Morning Dear Readers,

The weather here has been doing its usual spring thing: one day hot and sunny, the next cool and breezy, another rainy and gray.  But the flora world seems to be loving it just the same.  In fact, my perennials are sprouting and springing up in luxurious clumps all over my gardens.

That even goes for indoors!  What??? I know... how can an indoor plant be influenced by the outside weather, you ask.  Well, it can't really, but I wanted to share with you a funny incident that happened in my kitchen produce basket involving a quirky sweet potato. I usually store onions and potatoes in a wire basket on my kitchen counter.  For some reason, I had one lone sweet potato among a stack of russets.  One day, I was cleaning out fading produce when I spied a clump of small dark green leaves poking out of the bottom of the stack.  I pulled out the lone sweet potato and was surprised to see that one end of the spud had a prett y thick growth of quarter-sized leaves.  Hmmm....guess I wasn't cooking with this one. The sight of the blossoming sweet potato triggered a childhood memory of sweet potatoes soaking in jars on the window sill of my classroom, getting ready to plant a Mother's Day surprise.  I bet many of you have a similar memory.  So, I thought, what the heck, might as well go all the way with this potato since it wants to become a plant so badly.  I plopped it into a ceramic pot from my gardening supplies in the garage, added some water to the pot and set it in the sunroom to sprout roots.  It just loved the special treatment.  Within two weeks it grew lovely thick roots and even more leaves. This past weekend, I decided to plant it in a large container on my patio.  I'll keep you posted on the progress, but here are a few photos of the planting session; it's a very simple process.

all sprouted and ready to plant

Best to have thick growth of roots and leaves; be patient

Be sure to add drainage to pot to prevent root rot

pot the potato!

I added a trellis to help the vines as they grow

Spring Inside and Out

Hello Dear Readers

I know Spring is well underway, and I assure you I have welcomed it into my home.  I just haven't had time to share with you what spring touches I have added to bring spring into my world.  So I did a quick photoshoot around the house, inside and out, and will simply share with you now, some of the quick things I did to celebrate the season.  After such a cold and long winter, I was delighted to decorate the house with new life!

family room mantle gets dressed in spring blooms

I have a grove of lilly of the valley blooming under a kwanzan cherry tree in the back yard.  Every spring, I look forward to their reappearance.  It also reminds me of my grandmother who was born in May, since lily of the valley is May's flower. I gave them a place of honor and put a few blooms inside some vintage jars.  I also added a few branches of the spirea bush that is putting on quite a show in the side yard! Here's a closer look at the blooms.

My kitchen needed a little spring too, so I added a new Scrabble message next to my birdie that sits on the window sill my my kitchen sink. Now I can look at birds inside and out  

Birds and nests and eggs are such symbols of spring.  I decided to use these symbols in my spring decorating. My dining room is inundated with wedding preparations, but I managed to carve out a little space on the dining table to display a vintage silver tray filled with espresso and tea cups that I made into bird nests with moss and shredded raffia (PS - the center tea cup is from my grandmother's set...I will do a whole post on that later...they are one of my favorite things)

Front entry also needed a touch of spring...eggs for the vintage egg basket.  Scored the simple white eggs at Walmart at Easter time.

Outside is welcoming the season too. Pansies at the front door...

Hope you have brought spring into your home too!