porchswings n' honeysuckle: Hello Spring

Awake, thou wintry earth -fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn

After the winter we had here in Ohio I think it’s fair to say that even the biggest snow fan would be very excited to see those first signs of spring!

Some of the first signs for me is the Phoebe’s song (which I hear right now as I’m typing Smile ), the first little tree frogs, that we call spring peepers, who have such a lovely chorus, the first tints of green on the willow down by the pond, and the smell of wonderful earth as it’s thawing…just to name a few.

When things like this start to happen…

it’s a sure sign that it’s high time for spring to arrive!

Spring for us means more nature walks…

Fishing…

Blooms…

Green…

Spring is always a great time for people to start a new project (for me, it’s year round Surprised smile ).

I have a deck project going on that I will share with you before too long. I host outdoor garden parties on the back deck and have been trying to come up with a thrifty way to provide some shade for the ladies as they dine. I think I have finally figured out one way to do it and as promised, I will share it soon! Here is a picture of how it looked before I started… (note the peeling paint on the floor) For those of you that saw my post last summer on following no rules on painting a deck floor, this is how it turned out after one winter… I can’t say I’m surprised, but now I know for sure. It did look the same way though, with using expensive wood stain, after one winter. I don’t believe those boards are finishable! But needless to say, I came up with a solution, for now, and hopefully it will work!

Hubby has a project going on under the deck that I’m really excited about too. It will take a little more time but it will be worth it, I believe!

The other day Kenny and I gave his garden tractor a makeover. We were amazed what paint can do! As we were working Kenny would say “Mom, this is so exciting, this is the best day ever!” It made me realize I probably don’t do special things like this often enough with my boys. It did feel good and I want to make a point of doing it more often.

Before…

After…

My mom gave me this beautiful Azalea that I want to plant outside sometime… for now I’m enjoying the cheery color in the kitchen.

I did get the porch swing up a few weeks ago and yes, it did see a little bit of snow, of course. We had a few lovely evenings that were comfortable to sit outside though. I took a picture of some blue faced creatures that I found lurking about…