Late Bloomers

Look what i found blooming in my garden today...Spring pansies. In late November...Go figure...

I'll enjoy the gift from Mother Nature. They are lovely...

Between the Raindrops

Well, it feels good to be back to blogging again! I took some time off from the computer because in between the raindrops, i have been doing a LOT of gardening. I really missed visiting all my friend's blogs, and am so glad to be back and full of stories to tell you... There have been some BIG changes here in the landscape, some good and some sad. But today we will start with the shade garden.

It has been an incredibly rainy, chilly Spring here in the Northeast so far. But as i keep reminding folks, that's Spring weather for you! I do believe that April showers bring May flowers but rain almost every day in May so far brings soggy ground and flooding all around us. The shade garden is a bit weedy because of this, but i hope to have that under control soon enough! The bleeding heart bushes are just blooming now.

I dusted off my Aunt Joey's statue of Mary and put her in her rightful place in the garden, right next to the bleeding heart and the lily of the valley. I see little chipmunks who like to hang out in the space with Mary quite a bit and eat their seeds and nuts from the bird feeders there...

This is a statue i absolutely Love made by my friend and gallery owner Samson Contompasis. He named it "Mary" after Jesus' Mother.... The hosta and columbine are coming up nicely all around her....

Here is a better look of the section of the garden dedicated to "Mother Mary"

In the back corner of the shade garden is another sculpture by Samson that i call "The Waterfall". It is surrounded by lilies, hosta, astilbe, columbine, and right behind it is a young white cedar sapling. It was intended to be a bonsai in training, but i think i like it there. And it seems very happy there too.

Against the garage wall, we have a spot where a few of my cats who have passed on are buried. A little sleeping cat statue marks the spot. The chippies love this spot and hide behind the piece of driftwood. Here there's more hosta planted as well as coralbells and lily of the valley

A collection of rocks waiting to be made into a little border

and my old rusty wheelbarrow that is going to become a lovely rustic planter if it ever dries out enough for me to paint it with rustoleum and drill a few drainage holes in it!

I am hoping that the weatherman is right and by the end of the week we might just get a little sunshine and dry days and i think everything will burst into bloom! Now i think i will go and visit your blogs and see just what i've missed!

Bloomin' in the Kitchen

Even tho Winter still has a strong grip on the landscape outside, inside things are looking up!

My African violets are responding to the change in the quality of light coming thru the
windows. And every time i see one of them bloom, it is as if i am getting a greeting from my Gram, Mary Stopera, who was the Queen of the African Violet growers....

And my orchids are blooming again! And with all this snow and ice and gloomy weather, i am so glad to see my old friends again!

Orchid plants are so unassuming all year long . But when they bloom, they are spectacular. And the blooms last forever... I have another phalaenopsis orchid that is getting ready to bloom, and it has exotic yellow, green and pink flowers.

My Christmas cactus is also blooming now. Rather, it has been blooming all along since Thanksgiving and is STILL putting out flowers. It must know how desperate i am for bright color and blooming things....

It's the little things like these flowering plants that help carry me thru the gloomy end of Winter and into the promise of Spring gardens...I thought i would share all this color with you!

Snowdrops

Happy Spring!

Spring Day

I actually took these photos on Easter Sunday. It was nice enough for the kids to put on their jackets and go out to play for a while. Lola picked one of GG's pansies (GG is my Mom, and short for Great Grandmother)
A quiet moment sitting on the steps....

Here comes cousin Ryan!

These two are really good friends....

Lo getting ready to play ball, and Ryan rolling down the hill....

Sitting down for a bit of a rest....

Ok Gumma, enough pictures!

Catchin' Some Rays...

Sunshine has been rare around these parts this Winter. But Spring is a~comin'! You can feel it in the air and see it in the color of the light... The dogs can tell...

No...That is not a sheep in my kitchen. That's Gipetto, who has gone all Winter long without a hair cut. He is getting old now and gets so stressed out with the cold. Might be time to call Chiloe our groomer tho...

The girls could go in for a bath and nail clipping too... Just in time for Spring...and the mud...but that's another post...

Took a little ride...

to Little Falls, New York to visit some friends who were having a Bonsai show this weekend. Unfortunately, i was so busy looking at the beautiful trees and talking to friends, i FORGOT to take pictures of the trees at the show...(anyone who knows me will tell you this is not out of the ordinary...;) Anyway, Little Falls is a lovely little out of the way place. Across the street from the gallery where the show was held i did remember the camera that was hanging from my neck.



This is a picture of the old power station that had been abandoned for years. My friend Tom (President of the Mohawk Valley Bonsai Club) told me an artist and his family bought the old beautiful building and are renovating and living there. It looks like there is a little greenhouse in the back if you look close....

The river was really shallow....

but deep enough in the middle for recreational purposes!

Right next to the river was a beautiful little park

My husband Bill sat for a moment taking in all the Spring sunshine and fresh air

All the little ornamental trees were in bloom...

We were surrounded in a sea of pink petals...

May Beauty Surround You