Flowers by my front step

I love seeing these return every year.

A close up photo of the blooms on a lilac tree.
Technically, this is a tree (or a bush) but still, it *is* flowering and I like it. image description: a close-up photo of one set of blooms on a lilac tree. The flowers are light purple and the leaves are lush green.
Bright orange flowers surrounded by leaves.
I think these are some variety of poppy. They have been growing every spring ever since we moved in over 20 years ago. Image description – bright orange flowers with 5 rounded petals blooming amidst greenery.

I didn’t plant flowers last fall

I had good intentions but things didn’t play out the way I hoped they would.

I’ll be mostly buying flowers this year and maybe sprinkling a few seeds so they’ll bloom in late summer early fall.

But we’ve had such crappy weather for so long now that I don’t even know if things would have grown yet anyway.

That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!

Do you know who *did* plant bulbs last fall?

My mother-in-law!

So I’m living vicariously through her garden.

A photo of pink tulips, white tulips, and a daffodil surrounded by greenery in a flowerbed.
Image description: a photo of pink tulips, white tulips, and a daffodil surrounded by greenery in a flowerbed.

Index Card A Day 2022

I’m doing the Index Card a Day challenge front June 1- July 31 again this year. Even though it is only 3 days in, I feel invigorated by the process of relating to the prompts and figuring out what I can draw in response.

Yesterday’s prompt was peony and at first I felt a bit stuck because I couldn’t even remember what a peony looked like. Once I googled it, I had no idea how to draw it.

However, I decided to abandon all hope of doing it well and just aim for giving the impression of a peony with my drawing.

I think it worked out ok. 🙂

An index card drawing of three peonies surrounded by a Robertson Davies quote in green text.

Image description: an index card drawing of three pink peonies with a quote written in green in the spaces between the flowers, giving a slight suggestion of leaves. The quote reads “The little boy nodded at the peony and the peony seemed to nod back. The little boy was neat, clean and pretty. The peony was unchaste, dishevelled as peonies must be, and at the height of its beauty.(…) Every hour is filled with such moments, big with significance for someone.
Robertson Davies, What’s Bred in the Bone”

For My Own Fun

On Friday, my dear friend Elaine brought me this whirl-a-gig as a gift and I absolutely adore it (and I adore her!)

Yet, oddly enough, when I first set it up, I turned it so the beautiful shiny part was facing out into my yard and the plain back was facing the house and the patio.

I don’t know why I did that.

With that set up, someone sitting in the backyard would have the very best view of Elaine’s lovely gift.

But, from my usual reading and drawing spot on the patio, I wouldn’t be able to see the shiny colours.

And when I look out of my patio door I would just see the plain black side of the decoration.

How foolish of me.

If I am going to fully enjoy my whirl-a-gig, I need to set it up so *I* see the best bits most often.

So, today, I turned it to face me and I have been grinning at it ever since.

(I mean, every time I look that way. I have not spent the whole day grinning at an inanimate object. 😉 )

A windmill style decoration stands in a backyard.
Photo description: a black windmill-style decoration on a stick with multi-coloured ‘blades’, stands in a backyard. There are orange flowers and green leaves in the foreground. In the background you can see a wooden fence, a lawn chair, the lawn and my dog!