Spring Fever

What does the dreamy, dazed artist do when her head is filled with cotton and the sun beckons? If she is me she counts the budding figs and peaches, checks out the blueberry blossoms and moves on to the roses to see if any of the buds have popped yet. She reads her favorite blogs; Dooce, I Blame the Patriarchy, Finslippy and Fussy. She takes pictures in the garden to put on the blog which she wonders why she has started since she is a boring writer and it just gives her one more thing to obsess over instead of heading for the studio. But in addition these are the things that fill out my life and keep me from being a compulsive painting machine. My love for John, our little created paradise and the love we share for our family and friends. Here is the man I love doing what that man loves to do.

Last night we visited our oldest daughter and her family. They left for Hawaii this morning and we all gathered for a Birthday celebration. I took the pictures of the violets and bleeding hearts in her garden.


The violets grow in Oregon as a groundcover. I have them in front of my studio instead of grass and alongside Corsican Mint. The mint is the kind the monks use to make Creme de Menthe and it smells like heaven when you walk on it. Try it in your bare feet when the ground is dewy.

My youngest daughter's family has adopted a new puppy from a dog rescue. He was so sick a week ago that he collapsed into his water dish and didn't bother to move. He hadn't eaten and seemed to have given up. After a week of force feeding by the talented dog whisperers in her house little Cooper was strong enough to take a walk on a leash. Steff says he is part Lab, part Grrrrr-man Shepherd and part something else that herds sheep. But he is all cute and very smart. He joins a house with 2 female cats and so far they are getting along splendidly.

I'll finish up with some more pictures from our place that I took this morning. Then I am headed for the studio - NO KIDDING.

The peony is covered now with enormous pom pons. This is the color they turn when they fade. Eek, there's a weed in the background!

We have pansies and chives in a tub on the deck. Handy for those morning eggs.

We have dozens of varieties of rhodies but these pink ones are my favorite.

The apple trees are covered with blossoms. The mason bees and honeybees are busy helping us pollinate (actually, they do all the work with no effort on our part. That's a pretty good deal for us.) I hope we'll have a bumper crop this autumn so we can borrow Will & Sue's cider press again and make a party out of it.