Our lone tulip has opened. Such a pretty yellow!
Since it hasn’t bloomed in a couple of years, I was very happy indeed to see it yesterday morning. Some long-ago owner planted this. Perhaps the same owner who planted the peonies down near the road.
I worked my tush off yesterday, battling brambles, mulching garden beds, trimming rose bushes. I was tuckered out at the end of the day. Too bad I woke up at 4 am this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, which is part of the reason I’m writing this so early. I want to get going outside before thunderstorms roll in during the afternoon and I collapse in my chair.
I’ve done a lot outside, but every time I stop and take a look around I am reminded of how much more there is to do.
As for the day yesterday, it was sunny before I went outside to work, turned cloudy as soon as I started gardening, and the sun did not return until I was done for the day. But whenever it emerged, I was so happy to see some sun! Today? Doubtful, as we have rain coming later in the day.
Almost all the lilac buds have opened. The small bush I bought several years ago has grown and both Don and I were impressed by its size yesterday. I’m so glad I planted it. A cottage in the country – climate permitting – should have a lilac bush. Our neighbors across the street inherited some huge lilac bushes, easily 12 feet tall. One white, one purple. I remember Laura coming over to greet us after we had just moved in. She was carrying lilacs and chocolate chip cookies. We felt then, as we do now, that we had been blessed with good neighbors.
Happy Tuesday.
yay you for keeping on with the garden work despite having little to no sun yesterday. your hard work will pay off!
don’t think i’ve ever seen a tulip with pointy petals (usually see the kind with almost-squared ends) … beautiful, especially in that yellow!
glad that you have nice neighbors (and someone who planted the tulips and peonies a long time ago). am sure they feel the same about you and don.
hope you all have a great day. i am *still* going through old files and papers and it is taking such a long, long time … but (like your gardening), it will be worth it.
kathy in iowa
Hi kathy in iowa,
Many years ago, it took me a good week to organize and purge my files, but I also assembled a Word document with every file name in subject and then name order. I noted in parentheses after the file name when to discard the file (for instance, I discard tax files after five years,). I keep archived files in a separate plastic file bin in the garage, and also note in parenthesis after the file name that the file is in archive and the date that I should review the file and shred contents). Now with my master list of files, I find filing and purging easier to do. I also don’t let the filing get piled up, and I’m smarter about what documents to keep or toss.
I have a friend who has kept all the utility bills since she moved into her house 20+ years ago. Those are the first papers I would shred. I only keep the current one to be paid and the previous one.
I’m passionate about an organized filing system, especially after revamping the one at my workplace decades ago. It’s still being used today. (Haha, mainly, I suspect because no one wants to retackle it rather than it being a great system, though I think it’s was.). Isn’t it funny now that most people keep electronic files how paper still seems to clutter our lives? However, the way I file electronic files is the same as the paper filing system, so I know where to find things pretty quickly.
Good luck and persevere! Then reward yourself when you’re done for a job well done!
to wendy t …
thank you so much; your filing system sounds great and your good example and encouragement are much appreciated! i don’t have a computer or laptop, but sure could create a list/shredding schedule on my phone or paper. thank you!
and that says a lot that they still use your filing system at your old job. good work, wendy!
i moved almost two years ago into a much, much, much smaller place (a wee bit over 500 square feet). before, in a big old place, it was very easy to ignore some boxes of paperwork (uh, why have i kept continuing education certificates from 1994?!? “out of sight, out of mind” maybe) … but now space is very limited and just today i learned i only need to keep up to the last six years worth of ceu certificates. i can do that! i sure don’t want to leave a mess for my family nor myself so i am spending some vacation time to sort/shred files and will be soooo glad when it’s done! i know there is the need for ongoing diligence and i am determined to not have to go through this process again! and yes, there will be a treat or two when this project is done … haha!
anyway, thanks again, wendy! i appreciate your encouragement and sharing.
and best wishes to your friend with 20 years worth of utility bills.
hope you are having a good day!
kathy in iowa
kathy, you are always the NICEST person; thank you for your kind thoughts … someone did mention to me once that with the advent of social media (something of which I’m not too familiar), some younger couples now will do a blanket thank-you online, OTO, to their ‘followers’ which apparently includes all friends/relatives/associates …?… I’m speaking of specifically wedding gifts – – and, to each his own but, to me, if someone has gone to the trouble of getting me something I wanted or surprised me with something I didn’t even know I wanted(!), I (personally) want to let them know specifically of my individual appreciation; I just don’t feel that this sort of thing should ever be taken for granted … and an example is being begged to go to an out-of-state wedding, having to take time off work, spending the money for plane ticket and lodging and meals and rental car (my husband had to do this; we couldn’t afford for two of us to go, just one of us) PLUS a wedding present carefully bought, then to never get a thank-you note ..?.. really ..?.. call me old-fashioned, and it seems I need to ‘get over it’ because it’s happened more than once in recent years, at least in my small corner of the world…a trend with which I have to get ‘okay’ and accept…I guess…!…
(Claudia & kathy, I think I’m complaining! Didn’t mean to put a damper on the lovely lilac and tulip photos – – and, Claudia, your little spot of heaven, enhanced even more with good neighbors…well, wow, you are lucky! And a PS to kathy: I am BURIED in paper. My husband is going to be away for a week very soon and I am going to use it to my advantage so I’m not in his way – – by spreading out, setting up sort bins and work tables, a shredder up & ready. I’ve bought some filing supplies in preparation. I want to be like Wendy T and not have this baggage!! You, me, Claudia; we live in the smaller spaces where clutter can grow SO quickly.)
this is so weird…I meant to put my comment with kathy’s reply on my own further down the page, but it got hooked to this one…I must be sleepy..!!..
to vicki …
no “thank you” after all that time, effort and expense? wow! a sad wow. :(
in our tech-y world, i would be fine with an electronic “thanks” … but a group one? ugh and no.
am sure you will keep being kind and that is what our world needs … thank you.
and thanks for your kind words to me! :)
best wishes on the paperwork project … you can do it! it’s taken me a couple days now, but i can see the finish line and that is motivating me to keep going (on a dark day when i just want to sit by a window and watch it rain).
hope you have a great day.
kathy in iowa
It will be worth it, Kathy. Just make sure you allow some fun time, as well!
thanks, claudia. :)
it IS worth it! what felt like mountains of papers (to go through) are now molehills … and it will all now easily fit in an old two-drawer file in my coat closet (instead of an embarrassing number of bins) …yay!
as you know, i have this week off from work (yay again! ). hope to get this project done tomorrow, then take friday off to knit, read, whatever i want!
hope you have a great day and thanks for being an encouraging person!
kathy in iowa
Lilacs are so beautiful and unfortunately I found out as a child that I am very allergic to them. I will have to enjoy looking at your beautiful photos.
I’m so sorry you’re allergic to them, Laura!
I think lilacs and tulips and iris are my favorite flowers. well… and little pansie (kittie faces!) too.
they all have sentimental reasons for me. but still. it’s glorious to see them photographed so beautifully! that yellow is exquisite! is it not?
we’re having our rainiest spring on record here. but since we know in August we’ll be panting after just one drop… it is a blessing really.
there is nothing like a severe drought. even the little forest animals suffer.
I’m trying to ‘live in the Now.’ can you tell? LOLOL! xo
The yellow is gorgeous, Tammy. Not too bright, a softer yellow.
Living in the now is my goal, too. It sure can be hard!
The yellow is a soft yellow and I love it!
Living in the now is my goal, but it sure can be hard to do, Tammy!
Claudia, I started researching for a lilac that would grow in my area, and came across one whose image looked familiar. Haha…I have it at the back fence! And, oops, I’ve been taking care of it wrong, so I’ve corrected that. The flowers are not like your lilac at all, being clusters of very small purple flowers. I knew the Latin name when it was planted but didn’t know the common name. In areas with deer, the deer like the tasty buds and nibble them off. That’s how the plant’s growth is controlled. Since I don’t have deer in my area, I have to use trimmers and nip the ends off.
I’ve never had any trouble with deer eating my lilacs. And they’re out there, in the middle of the yard – very accessible to the deer. Maybe they’re more attracted to your version of the lilac!
That tulip is striking. Glad you got so much yard work done. I got side-tracked, moving things out of the way for a water heater replacement., and then moving them all back. What fun! Hopefully this afternoon I can get outside and continue to clean and mulch the garden beds. There’s still lots to do, and it seems to take me two to three times as long to do things as it used to. So there’s that.
Enjoy your day! ;)
It takes me much longer, too. I wish I had the energy that I had ten years ago, Donnamae!
Your photos are so lovely!
Thank you, Linda!
Those lilacs! I grew up in Milwaukee and then moved on to Chicago and lilacs meant Spring.Now I’m in Northern Ca and I am thankful for Trade Joe’s lilacs. Some folk here do have luck with them but I have not.Enjoy your garden puttering.xo
I will. Thank you, Annette!
We had 2 lilacs in our yard when we moved in but had to take them out. Planted right next to the house. Some people don’t know that lilacs grow large and need more room than that. I miss them. Might plant one out back one of these days.
They need to be exposed to the sun, as well, which is why I planted my bush in the middle of the yard. Thanks, Jan.
Tulips and lilacs! Biggest sigh — they are gorgeous. There are buds on my neighbors (which may as well be in my yard; it’s on our border line!) She’s very generous with allowing clippings! They are truly the fragrance of spring.
They sure are! As I was mowing yesterday, a wave of scent came from them every time I passed the bush. Heaven!
I think the good-neighbor thing may be where a person lives, I’m not sure (hope it isn’t ME). I’ve never had a neighbor reach out to me but once (since I was married, in a house), and that’s with relocating and living in five different areas. (My great-aunt would always greet a new neighbor with one of her home-baked pies!)
Since we’ve lived in our current neighborhood, which is just tract housing, older block with some fifty homes, we’ve tried. With someone new next to us, and with their baby just born, we took baby gift and a full meal from salad to entree to dessert; never heard another word. On the other side, the guy has had three babies in very few years and for the last two baby gifts, again, never a word of thanks or acknowledgement. But I get a lot of that these days with other occasions even in my own family – – wedding gifts, baby gifts, graduation gifts, birthday gifts; not a phone call, not a thank-you note in the mail, not even a email acknowledgement or text. I sound ancient, but ‘in my day’, we were taught it was mannerly to say ‘thanks’ when somebody did us a good turn, of any kind. My husband disagrees and says a gift should be given with no expectation of gratitude; that the joy is in the giving.
to vicki …
i am sorry you’ve had experiences of your kindness not being returned with appreciation.
i know the good people and things of this world outnumber the not-so-good and outright bad (subjective, i know), but (of all the changes i’ve seen since i was a kid many, many years ago) the drop in civility, manners and respect is worrisome to me. anyway …
may all the good you do come back to you!
kathy in iowa
I’m sorry about your neighbors, Vicki. We have good ones, though we do have Jehovah’s Witnesses on one side and the woman has tried to convert me several times. I put my foot down and that doesn’t happen anymore. But they’re very nice people once the need to ‘convert’ is out of the picture. All of our neighbors have been there for us when we needed them and we have done the same.
Growing up in Dearborn, we had great neighbors as well – including…a Jehovah’s Witness family on our right – they, however, wisely never tried to convert us. Everyone was lovely and we used to talk for hours with all of them.
Nothing against JW by the way, only my discomfort with people trying to convert me.
Yeah, I also have nothing against a JW but there can be a persistence/pressure to woo and convert which can be unsettling to a non-JW. When I was growing up, we had one gentleman who just wouldn’t take Mom’s polite ‘no’ and he’d follow her around to the rear yard of the house, which was unnerving to me as a child because I could sense her unease as I toddled between them. She had tried to convey that she was of her own religion to no avail. (My dad was at work or I’m sure he would have invited the man to leave.) Today, a dedicated, young & radiantly-beautiful JW woman often offers brochures on a downtown street and she is so quietly sincere & sweet.
It was a problem with my current neighbor in that she tried several times. My neighbors when I was growing up knew that trying to convert your next-door neighbor was not a good idea and that it was best to do that elsewhere. I was polite with my present neighbor every time, but, finally, I had to say NO MORE. And then I had to explain why it wasn’t a good idea. Hopefully, we are past that for once and for all and can just chat without me having to worry that something I say could trigger another conversion attempt.