I’ve been watching everything in our yard, trying to assess how much damage was done by last year’s drought and the winter that never came. Not a single freeze. The redbud flowered and now is leafing out, but I think it has a couple of branches that need to be removed to promote the tree’s health. One azalea bush in the front bed is blooming; the others aren’t. However, Tim’s azalea has exploded.
We’re still in drought conditions and will probably endure another heinous summer of dry heat. I’m not even going to hope for grass until conditions return to normal. If they never do, I’ve vowed to cover the dirt with artificial grass. This idea is met with derision and eyerolls from other people living on The Compound. The dogs don’t care. I say if it’s good enough for zillion-dollar sports fields, it’s good enough for me. It’ll be like the Pixie Vs. Squirrel Super Bowl out there.
I have a set of butterfly wind chimes that my great-niece Morgan gave me when I spent time with her in Gatlinburg a few years ago. It hangs in my office door with another set of chimes my sister-in-law Janet gave me for Christmas one year. When the ceiling fans are on, the chimes provide nice music. Ever since she was a little baby, they’ve fascinated Hanley. Today she let me take a new photo for comparison purposes.
Hanley, 2009
Tim and Hanley, 2012
As they were leaving:
Hanley: Bye, butterfly!
Becky: Bye, Hanley!
Hanley: Butterflies don’t talk.
Becky: That was ME!
Hanley: (same facial expression I get from certain people when I talk about artificial grass)
Love that look of fascinated concentration on her baby face. What a cutie!
It’s been a real pleasure watching her grow from infancy to now. It amazes me how quickly they learn.
Flowers in March. sigh. All day snowstorm here today, schools closed, beautiful to watch. No butterflies, yet….
They will come. =)
I don’t think about how things are elsewhere until things happen like when James was here. We were standing outside and he said, “Listen to all the birds singing.” And I remember that I live in a place where I hear birds sing all year round, and lots of people don’t get to hear that.
I have a spiral of stain glass shard chimes that are quite musical as well. However, the last time I hung them at the window inside was in an apartment that had windows on 3 sides, enabling the cross breeze. Otherwise I had to hang them outside on a balcony and hope the wind blows along the building to stir them in chime.
I’ll bet they’re beautiful. Glass makes good chimes!
Like a tree in a summer morning
(with plenty of water and food to stay healthy and provide shade and support a tree house and…
Be a home to squirrels and birds…