Brightness

All of the flowers that we planted last spring (well, almost all except for the ones that DIED) are starting to bloom, making our backyard bright and colorful. Except for the parts of the yard that still aren't finished and we're starting to wonder if they ever will be finished. But, still, it is nice to look out the back windows and see some pretty flowers.

Robin

At least I'm assuming this little butterball of a bird is a robin, after all it does have a red breast, right?


He was eating these little berries that fall off of our tree out front.


These berries make a huge mess so we were hoping that this little bird would go tell all its friends that there is a smorgasbord of berries just laying around, come and get 'em!

Rainbows and Frying Eggs

Rainbow!


We get excited about rain around here, and even more about rainbows because both are pretty rare in these parts.

And while the rest of the country is shoveling snow, we have trees in bloom all over the place. This is the type of tree that we used to have in our front yard until the wind blew it down, so now we just have to admire from afar. But at least we don't have to rake leaves in the fall anymore.


Keith came home with a little tiny egg pan for me today. Every time I cooked an egg in the big pan I would get all frustrated because the pan is so cheap that the egg(s) would slide over to the edge and you'd end up with kind of a mess, so when he saw this little pan while walking through walmart this morning he thought of me. How romantic.


I feel like I should get a little toy stove to go with it.

Spring is Springing Up All Over

Buddy must have a touch of spring fever, too, this morning Keith left the bedroom door open after he got up to go to work and a whole bunch of cats decided to take advantage of the open door and come on in. I think they expect that the promised land lies inside our bedroom somewhere because each and every morning they rush in as soon as I open the door, milling around in anticipation of what I don't know. But, each morning is the same scenario, something exciting lies behind the closed bedroom door.

When they manage to get in while I'm still trying to sleep most of them are pretty good little kitties, they'll lay quietly beside me on the bed or sit on the chair staring at me, patiently waiting for me to wake up. But not Buddy. He will walk up one side of the bed, down the other, across the pillow, and when that doesn't wake me up, he'll just walk across me over and over and over. Until I either get up or throw a pillow at him. To the cats me getting up in the morning means the promise of a can of food being opened. Not like they are starving, they get their dry food when Keith gets up and there are usually numerous bowls of largely untouched dry food all over the kitchen floor when I stumble out there to open that can. Buddy always stands on the counter right by all the bowls waiting waiting for that can to pop open. And then he just licks up all the gravy and leaves the actual meat to slowly dry out in the bowl.

Anyway, spring. I know in parts of the country it's still freezing cold and snow drifts are piled high, but here in California spring seems to happen overnight. We only get rain for just a few short weeks in the winter here, and it's like all the plants and trees get that drink of rain and go hey, we'd better get blooming here because this is the only chance we'll get, so start popping guys!

One day the trees are bare and the next day they are in full bloom.

Our little back yard trees got the message and got their blooms on.

Spring Comes Fast in these Here Parts

And goes away fast, too. We had beautiful 75 degree weather here yesterday and today it is in the low 60's and chilly out there. Okay, I know it's still snowing in parts of the country but here in California we are spoiled and anything under 70 and we're freezing!
Our trees are shedding their blooms already-looks like it's snowing with all the little white petals blowing around.
The tree is almost all green now.
We went out for breakfast at Coco's this morning-yeah, I know, we eat out too much. Yeah, I know, we could eat at home for much less money. But, we are lazy and don't like to cook or go to the store, so...Coco's it is.
Of course, a big breakfast makes Keith sleepy, so...
Any time Keith is horizontal, Buddy feels like it is his duty to keep him company.

Spring is Here and has Been for a While

I just saw on the news last night that it's still snowing and freezing cold in parts of the US. Well, not here in central California. We had temps in the mid seventies and even up to 80 on Friday this past week. Our trees and flowers are blooming. It's like one day there are bare branches and the next day the trees are full of flowers. This is the big tree in our front yard and the planter box and steps that Keith built.
This morning we went across town to Mimi's cafe for breakfast. We had eaten dinner there the other night and thought we should try them for one of our almost weekly weekend breakfasts. Their buttermilk spice muffin is delicious.
We stopped at the Barnes and Noble across the parking lot from Mimi's-hey they named a restaurant after our kitty!-and I picked up a book called Living the Creative Life-ideas and inspiration from working artists. I've been very uninspired lately and thought maybe this would give me a jump start on some new ideas. The jewelry shop on etsy was pretty slow this past month, although supplies were selling really well. I get real nervous when I don't sell much in the jewelry shop for a few days, thinking 'acckkk, it's all over with and I'll have to go back to work at wal-mart!'
I think it's going to get harder and harder to sell the jewelry, there are so many new sellers jumping onto etsy each day expecting to make tons of sales right away. A new listing gets buried in about 5 seconds. But, I'll keep trying and making new things and maybe this new book will get some creative juices flowing.