Pending Spring

The violets are blooming. See? These particular ones are my favorites because they're like the cloisonne enamel violet on my mother's lost locket. It looked as real as these do and had an amethyst in the center. A truly striking piece of jewelry. (But what HAPPENED to it?)

Anyway, violets are a true harbinger of Spring. And hyacinths, daffodils, forsythia, redbuds, Bartlett pear trees -- all of which are blooming. (My perpetual sneezing can attest to that.) The azaleas are on the verge. (Of blooming, not sneezing.) It's cold and rainy here today (Blackberry Winter-ish), but hopefully that won't slow them down too much. My daffodils didn't bloom at all this year. The foliage looks great, but no flowers. I think maybe they don't get enough sun. Of course, the hyacinths all around them are doing fine, so maybe that's not it.

I saw copies of THE MUSIC BOX on the shelf at Walmart yesterday -- always a thrill. And an added obsession. Now I have to go look every day to see if anyone's bought a copy. (It's how we writers roll.)

So. That's it for this time. It's back to the cookstove for me -- I'm making my rainy day special chicken and rice soup for lunch...

Slogging Around In The Past

I've been hunting through some things -- legacies from my late sister-in-law. I was looking for odds and ends for my son to use to "stage" his house for prospective buyers. Pictures and pitchers. Two Bob Timberlakes and some ceramics that would reflect both the content of the Timberlake prints and the color scheme of the room as a whole.

While I was at it, I also uncovered a very bad, mildewed painting I'd done decades ago, one I'd completely forgotten about. Looking at it now, this truth is painfully clear. I needed lessons. I knew nothing about perspective. Or color values. Or how not to make the ground look like a yellowish, greenish brown ocean. I didn't know how to paint.

But, as you can see, I didn't let that stope me. I remember quite well that had a good time anyway.

I still don't know how to paint, but I found all my painting supplies the other day and at some point I may give it another whirl. Even if the ground looks like an ocean.

I'll even let you see it.

'Til next time...