Spring is on the air?

It's been so cold around here I go about my duties in the house clad in zebra skin...

...and it's been rain rain, constant rain. I cannot wait any longer. My little gardener's heart feels anxious, and I've been impatiently waiting for the sun to start making a different; going out and coming back in throughout my entire days, hoping to get some work done in the garden, but alas thus far I have only been able to pull out a few bucketful of weeds... which is just a insignificant triumph, considering that I have a whole field of weeds on my hands to plot.

The other day, the sun came out for a few hours and I was so excited with all that brilliancy brought down onto our precious world by wonderful, glorious sunshine, I decided to start beautifying the front porch...  

I collected all the pretty pillows and furniture cushions I could find to embellish the settee and brought out two of the ferns I had winterizing in the garage, consciously knowing that I was running a huge risk by doing so...  but hoping... oh hoping they will do fine, because I could not wait any longer...

Madness has taken over. Sheer madness. Oh, there's so much I want to do outside, so much I want to see growing there.. running round the garden like a mad woman... looking up the sky, pulling weeds, moving things around.  Then my brain has gone bonkers and decided there are hundreds of things I want to plant this year... transplant, create, spray-paint, whilst hair blows in the wind, resembling those of a cackling witch... 

  

I went to check on the woods this afternoon to see how things are coping there with all that flooding going on...  The waters have come down quite a bit, and they are running peacefully towards that part of the woods where everything and everybody disappear and become part of the invisible world behind the shrubbery.  Is it true is it not that there lays an invisible door somewhere to the other side?  At least, that's what my imagination wants me to believe...  why, “if I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?”  Lewis Carroll....

Well, I best get going now... another little trip will take us away from home tonight and I best go get my things ready... that Fisherman husband of mine surprised me with a huge bag of Dahlias today... are these lovely flowers perennials?  Anybody knows? I'm not sure where should they be planted because I don't know how high they grow... tall?  No?  I can't wait to start planting!  I'll leave you now with this picture of my bougainvillea...  it looks so pretty sitting on the table...

 Hugs to all of you!  

Rain, fog and rain...

All was still in the valley of the Walking Dead.  Mist had drifted in from the Appalachian Mountains nearby and was clinging to the atmosphere around the little white cottage...

Birds twittered uncertainly in the foggy damp, and clouds hid the sun...

A chipmunk came scuttling down the slope, fell head over heels, tumbled down the leaf-covered hill and picked herself up again.  Snuffling, she raised her cute little nose, listened, and headed towards the group of old fir trees at the foot of the little white cottage....

"I knew it" murmured the chipmunk happily".  "Oh, yes, I knew before the rain, last night, I could smell it coming, but she wouldn't believe me, no, not her!".

"Oh little chipmunk, but I do I do!  I knew it too... truly I did!".  I exclaimed.  'Cause, that's just how it is every time after the rain.  The following morning, after a rainy night, this is what we would wake up to...

It's call FOG.  And I love it!

It was so dark beyond the garden where the woods stand still like the very same zombies who dwell there, that you could scarcely see the gaping crevice behind the trees that swallowed up the mist...

Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little ;)... but if you know me just a bit you'd probably know that days like these can get my imagination running to full speed... but really, that's just how it's been around here... it's been rain, fog, more rain... would the skies ever give up and shut theirs door down on us any soon now?  I mean, 'cause it's been raining rivers round here.  It just doesn't stop!  It rained so much last night, and the wind shrieked and howled so loud that I had a dream our little white cottage was swooped up in the air like in the Wizard of Oz and... oh where had we landed?  The first thing I did after waking up was run outside to see what had happened there...

Milky waters erupted from the earth, overflowing the woods...

Can you imagine what could happen if it keeps raining this much for a while longer?... flooding and distortion of the natural balance of the ecosystem.  But I'm not going to worry unnecessarily, and just enjoy the beauty of it all... cause I do I do.. I find immense beauty in rainy days and milky, muddy waters....  days like these make me want to cozy up and wear warm, thick socks....

...Grab a book and a cup of joy.... 

And dream my day away...

May you find pockets of tranquility in your busy world, wherever you are...

  

Our Sunday at home

Last week when we were in Tampa, we heard a whole lot about a famous restaurant they have there... located in the lovely Tampa Bay area.  After one of my readers suggested we should go see it, we finally decided to go 'investigate' for ourselves...  Thank you, Delaine!!  I looked for you in every woman that passed by and smiled ;)

To be truthful, we didn't find the food too authentic, but the restaurant in it self is a jewel, and a must see if you are visiting Tampa. 

This is such a beautiful place...  owned and operated by 5 generations over 110 years and deemed by the USA Today one of America’s Most Historic Restaurants; as it is the oldest in the entire state of Florida.  It has a marvelous openness to it and peaceful atmosphere where their yesterdays and our todays mingle and come alive in a lovely room overlooking the ocean....

We liked it so much, we decided to 'imitate' some of their dishes for our lunch today... of course, adding our 'authentic' flavors to it...

I made the 'Arroz con Pollo' -- Chicken and Yellow Rice "Valenciana" and the Fisherman took charge of his favorite... the 1905 salad. 

I am so happy to be able to enjoy the quietness and peacefulness of our quaint little cottage again.... The clouds are like marble in the sky, and it's been cloudy and cold today and spring seems so far away... but I love being here and love the coziness and freedom of home... 

A new angel is now watching over the woods... 

Oh can you see him... over there?  An angel descending, bringing from above echoes of mercy, and whispers of love...

So, never fear what lies ahead as you travel deep into the wood, my friend... for there are angels by your side watching over you... ;)  Really, isn't he just lovely?... sitting there, at the entrance of the woods which lay behind the gardens, it brings forth such an array of thoughts... and to my mind things like an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family in old England, a love denied; a mystery.... 

The bougainvillea plant in my dinning room is blooming profusely,

being it is such a small plant...  

I'm so enjoying this vibrant little corner of sunshine and a handful of spring by the window in our dinning room... it is such a haven of joy on short cloudy wintry days, like today..

How's your Sunday thus far?  Quiet, stressful, happy or plainly boring? Whatever you do, find the magic in it, my friend.... 

I'm sure if you really look, you'll find it!

The trick to life is finding your magic, 

finding the meaning that will drive you forward every single day of your life.

LINKING TO:

MONDAY FUNDAY

White

Still cold and muddy at home... I tried doing some spring cleaning round the garden this morning, but found the task overwhelming.  I can't figure out why, but after all that marvelous Florida sunshine, I can only think of  the color "white"... and it seems I have a lot of that around our little white cottage. Inside and outside...

“She knew then that white was more than a color: 

It was a cold, pale shade of understanding that seems to take all of your hope away.” 

― Vannetta Chapman,