Daffy in Spring

It rained all day today.

It rained yesterday.

And there was snow and sleet the day before.

But when the sun came out for a second

there was another sign of Spring!

 

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Mixed up Birdie

This little Bluebird of Happiness landed on my deck on a chilly rainy Supposedly-Autumn day.

Isn’t the arrival of bluebirds supposed to announce the arrival of Spring?

And just look at this confused little guy all puffed up to keep warm.

Is Autumn really on the way or what?

 

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Sunshine en Route

For the Daily Prompt: Song

The jonquils have bloomed, the tulips showed their happy faces, the grass is greener and greener and the bees are busy welcoming Spring to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley!

And though I cannot carry a tune, I carry around a song.

“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”

Music by Allie Wrubel
Lyrics by Ray Gilbert
Performed by James Baskett
© 1945 Walt Disney Music Company

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay

Mister Bluebird’s on my shoulder
It’s the truth, it’s actual
Ev’rything is satisfactual
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Wonderful feeling, wonderful day, yes sir!

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay

Mister Bluebird’s on my shoulder
It’s the truth, it’s actual
Ev’rything is satisfactual
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Wonderful feeling, feeling this way

Mister Bluebird’s on my shoulder
It is the truth, it’s actual… huh?
Where is that bluebird? Mm-hm!
Ev’rything is satisfactual
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Wonderful feeling, wonderful day!

From Wikipedia:  For many years the song was part of an opening theme medley for the Wonderful World of Disney television program and it has often been used in other TV and video productions by the studio.  It is one of many popular songs that feature a bluebird.  Today, this song is used as the main song in Splash Mountain, a log flume ride based on “Song of the South” at Disneyland in Anaheim, California and Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Original Version:

 

 

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Winter Whisper in Virginia

 

There came a winter storm this March

that threatened to arrive in a roar

but only crept in with a whisper and

left with a whimper, not more.

It was a March storm that welcomed spring.

 

 

 

 

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I Might Get Down to that Size Again Maybe?

Image from http://www.articlesofhealthcare.com

I get “the bug” this time of year.  Not the flu bug (please), but the urge to get rid of stuff.

Sunshine brings it on and Virginia has had many sun-shiney days this winter

It’s high time to make decisions about what clothes to discard and which to donate!

Over twenty years ago I was a working girl of semi svelt proportions who invested in quality stuff befitting a career girl’s status.

And would you believe those pencil thin skirts and silk blouses are still in a back closet?

They are the favorite clothes that will not button or zip no matter how much I hold in deteriorating abs.

Never mind  the suits and silks of the past are no longer in style and never mind that most of those vintage beauties are ridiculous to wear in the country.

Sensible sneakers and jeans are things to wear here in rural Virginia (with the exception of one or two special occasions where people still turn out in jeans!)

But back to the bug, my warped thinking every Spring is,  “Hang onto this.  You might get down to that size again!”

That skirt was high quality you know.

But there are many other “things” to hang onto.  Shorts, bathing suits, and even underwear have accumulated in plastic bags marked Medium, L, XL, XXL (notice there never was a Small).

It is exhausting work to try all those sizes back on.

Sigh.

I have managed to donate two coats to Good Will, but promptly bought two more – needed someting in beige after all.  Something to wear with jeans.

Best to leave all this decision making until it is really Spring, or maybe a year from next Spring?

I might get down to that size again!

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Looking Ahead

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The Show Stopper Stops

Our Rhododendron is 26 years old.

When Bill and I first moved to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia the little “Rhodie” was a house warming gift from our friends, Terry and Barbara.  An avid gardener, Barbara actually planted it in a corner of the front yard.  “It will be protected there,” she said.

Barbie was right because the Rhododendron eventually grew and bloomed and surprised us with some amazing displays.  And then she burgeoned into a giant beauty, almost touching the eaves of the house and spreading wide and well beyond her expected corner boundaries.

“Time to cut things back,” I thought,  “Maybe with a trim she will thrive and be renewed.”  And though I really hated the idea, I clipped away to slim her down.

Rhodie’s big displays promptly stopped.

We were lucky to see one or two flowers in a season.

She must not have liked my pruning because season after season there were only one or two flowers on display.

She was on strike, so I decided to leave her alone – no more pruning, only watering and mulch.

Years later and Rhodie has grown to enormous proportions once again.  She is reaching for the eves and spreading beyond her rightful place, and she is big and fat and happy!  And just look at all the gorgeous flowers!  But is there such a thing as too big?

Help!  So many of you,  my blogger friends, are extraordinary gardeners.

To prune or not to prune.  That is the question.

 

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May in the Valley

Spring casts its spell on the hills and dales in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

 Click on image to enlarge.

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Light and the Masterful Masterpiece

Strange weather hounds us here in enchanting rural Virginia.  Days range from perfectly sunny to projected “severe thunder storms” to high winds and even overnight freezes.

The world certainly looks different with a changing sky and I still play with light to create unique photography (and of course, to develop a photographic masterpiece).  It’s a long and arduous struggle though.  There are so many fabulous photographers who understand their complicated cameras while I stick to my old friend, “Pal” (ye olde trusty cell phone always at the ready).

This last week I was struck by the awesomeness of a looming storm and tried to capture a green green pasture crowned by ominous gray clouds.

The road out of Camelot was next.  Somehow, punctuated by the shadows of the season, decked out in spring foliage and outlined by ever green grass, my plain old gravel driveway took on a rather elegant persona.

And lastly I was trying to imitate the light in a Vermeer painting.  Old Dutch paintings have the most wonderful light and detail.  But Vermeer would no doubt be aghast at my Veggie Still Life.

I will keep you posted if a photographic art masterpiece suddenly emerges in the Dork Collection!

Johannes (or Jan) Vermeer is now recognized as one of the great Dutch painters, but while he was alive he could barely make ends meet, and his artistic achievement was almost entirely ignored for 200 years after his death. Little is known about his personal life, other than he died poor and young and left behind a wife and eleven children. Vermeer is admired for his realistic style, his subtle use of color and light and his unusual and inventive brush technique, but fewer than forty of his paintings exist. His most famous works include domestic scenes such as Girl With a Peal Earring (1665) and The Music Lesson (1662-65), and tranquil landscapes such as The Little Street (1657-58) and View of Delft (1659-60).  

From Who2 Biographies http://www.who2.com/bio/jan-vermeer

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The Downside of a Country Season

It’s SPRING everyone!  It’s SPRING!

Even the birds are singing.

And look at all the pictures of a picture perfect world!

It’s SPRING!

But what about the itchy eyes,

the filled up nose, and

the constant urge to sleep?

It’s SPRING everyone!  It’s SPRING!

 

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