Smiling

It's TGIT and I'm getting a haircut in the morning and I don't have to work tomorrow except to do a bit for the shop, and get my mom's taxes done. We have the g-kids this weekend and we can't wait. I must be on an upward biorhythm or something because I'm just smiling inside. And get this -- I heard the weather was going to be nice this weekend! When's the last time that happened!

We watched "My Name is Earl" tonight and saw new episodes, and then a marathon of "The Office." They'll have new episodes next week. And "30 Rock" will be back soon but I can't remember when. Maybe that's what's been wrong with this winter....no new episodes of my favorite shows. Maybe that's why the rut got so deep.

We have TWO daffodils blooming in the back yard. That's really kind of lame, because the clumps are pretty big and should actually have a dozen or so each. While I appreciate the daffodils that did manage to show up, I will be digging them up and figuring out something else. I'm guessing my yard has become too shady for them. Or they're just worn out. It can't be that I don't know how to grow daffodils, can it?

I also read today that it's time to cut back the roses. I only have one that counts and one old climber that we tried to dig up but didn't get it all. I'm going to cut the good one back and focus a little on it and see if it can possibly be pretty. I'm not much of a rose grower either.

I am darn good at hostas. And my astilbes are the envy of the neighborhood when we don't have a late freeze. Or a way too harsh summer. Let's face it -- they look good for about two months and then I get tired of fussing over them so they're on their own. They lost most of their blooms last year in a really late, week-long, hard freeze so my hope is that they'll be spectacular this year since they didn't have to put out so much energy blooming.

Since the squirrels dug up so many of my hens and chicks, I stuck a couple of them in the ground in a spot that gets a lot of sun and rarely gets watered (next to the A/C). For some reason, the squirrels won't bother them there, they just can't stand it when they're in pots on my deck. I saw the hens and chicks I stuck in the ground the other day and they look great, even after the winter. Guess I should have stuck more of them in the ground. I did put one pot of them into the shed, more to protect the pot than anything, and they looked pretty good too. I didn't really feel them though, so they could just be dried hens and chicks.

My white crabapple is beginning to leaf and bud. I named it Andrea, after a dear friend that died of leukemia a few years ago. It doesn't bear fruit, but has THE most fragrant white blossoms in the spring. I always bring in a sprig of them, put it in the kitchen window, and think of Andrea while I'm doing dishes. We used to call her Little Miss Vanilla, because she was the only one in our group of friends who didn't really like chocolate. She was very reserved but very kind.

Spring brings a lot of things back to us.