When Faces Called Flowers Float Out Of The Ground

and breathing is wishing and wishing is having-
but keeping is downward and doubting and never
-it's april(yes,april;my darling)it's spring!
yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can be
(yes the mountains are dancing together)

when every leaf opens without any sound
and wishing is having and having is giving-
but keeping is doting and nothing and nonsense
-alive;we're alive,dear:it's(kiss me now)spring!
now the pretty birds hover so she and so he
now the little fish quiver so you and so i
(now the mountains are dancing,the mountains)

when more than was lost has been found has been found
and having is giving and giving is living-
but keeping is darkness and winter and cringing
-it's spring(all our night becomes day)o,it's spring!
all the pretty birds dive to the heart of the sky
all the little fish climb through the mind of the sea
(all the mountains are dancing;are dancing)

e.e.cummings

That, my dears, is one of my favorite poems that usher us into spring... and it is finally on it's sweet, bright way to us. The winter was long, and helped us to remember that all life that dies away will be rebirthed in another way. Life is an amazing cycle. It's time to celebrate!!

Emergence

A butterfly emerged last week... I photographed it, and then three more followed suit!

Drinking Gatorade

It was very exciting to wake up one morning to a fresh butterfly! I had to move it out of the small cup that the caterpillars had arrived in, and cocooned in. Now they are all in this larger glass bowl with the coffee filter on top, which has the last cocoon dangling from it. Two of the butterflies were released yesterday and flew away beautifully! The two we kept have damaged wings because they were born in the night and I wasn't able to get them onto anything before their wings dried. I feel really terrible about it. Now there's a branch in there, for the last butterfly to attach itself to. It was just kind of a shock to have one butterfly come out, then three more almost the very next night. The last one will take longer since it didn't cocoon until quite a bit after the others.


Anyway, Spring is officially sprung, and I took a wet, spring walk the other day...

New pink rain boots!

I'm so glad that it's finally warming up again. It's been a bizarre "winter". Cold, yet no snow to speak of, and now that it's spring earlier than last year, it stayed kind of chilly... we've had freeze warnings the past couple weeks. 

Forget-me-nots

Dogwood blooms are out, but smaller than last years

Also, I thought I'd found a meteorite and was very excited! I researched and thought that I had been the lucky finder of a space rock... check it out:

Turns out that it's probably just slag. But it sure had me fooled for a while! I'm keeping my eyes open, though! You just never know!!


I hope you're all doing well... happy and healthy! I'm spending lots of my free time hiking and connecting with nature. Getting grounded. I really need it.


xox

Celebrating Spring & My Birthday

First of all, I have to show you what my best friend, E, got me for my birthday... It arrived early, so I got it about a week and a half ago...

The caterpillars were quite active, at first. They squirmed around, ate their food, and scaled the walls of their little cup environment. Jimmy Boo was extremely interested in them. Beckham paid them no heed whatsoever.

Can't stop watching the caterpillars

After a while, the activity in the cup slowed, then nearly stopped. Although I could tell something important was going on...

The caterpillars were pupating. You can see the chrysalises above! I'm very excited to see the Painted Lady Butterflies emerge from their cocoons! We have a larger container for them that was for lizards or fish, and which we can use to house the butterflies while they get strong. I will definitely post photos or video after they have metamorphosed!


Anyway, as the weather has been gorgeous and warm, we've been taking advantage and going for some nice nature walks...

Which includes climbing around near the river!

And my birthday was full of nice surprises! A photo texted to me by my sister... 

My friends and sister, wishing me a happy birthday!

All the way from California! Loved getting this message while I was being treated to a delicious meal with K...

Oysters on the half shell... mmm...

Grilled salmon on roasted cauliflower & mushrooms

Butterscotch pudding with candied pecans &whipped cream...

It was delicious and romantic, and I think I hurt my face smiling all night! Thank you, K, for a fabulous treat!! It was a very memorable and lovely birthday! 


xox 

A Spring Walk in Bethlehem - To the Cemetery

If you've been following me for a while, you'll know that I am in love with my local cemetery. I've taken lots of photos of it since I moved here last summer. It's no less stunning right now, in the full throes of spring bloom. Ahhh... such a thrill to see!


I love the dogwoods, cherry blossoms, apple blossoms, maples, and magnolias... they are just gorgeous right now! The walk there was beautiful, too... see for yourself!

I love partially hidden courtyards...

Old pink magnolia tree

But then at the cemetery, it's just a whole different world of beauty...

shy little violets

I call these Ghost Flowers

Such a colorful canopy!

And even in my little "backyard," such as it is, I have some flowers coming up...

Spring has officially sprung! The air is warmer... actually quite sultry with the high humidity... the sun is out half the time, and the flowers have been blooming like crazy!

A Spring Walk in Bethlehem

Earlier this week, the sun came out and the temperatures rose... so I went for a walk-about in town, and took some photos of spring. It was wonderful to smell the scent of the blossoms all around me, reminding me of my backyard in California in the spring... 

It was just so lovely out... we have rain in the forecast for this weekend, which is why I wanted to leave you with this hopeful Springtime post. I hope you have a wonderful and warm weekend, and if it's rainy, then I hope you stay dry! :-) I had actually put together more photos, but I'll save them for next week. If the weather is gray and cold again, it will be a nice reminder for me that it won't stay that way!


Many blessings, my friends! 


xox

Good Morning!

Lovely doors in my 'hood

Hello Friends! Well, this past weekend was nice, even though I didn't get to the beach as planned. Sometimes, your plans change and you just need to roll with it! 


I'm excited about a few things... The most important of them being that I'll be having a guest blogger later this week: my friend and fabulous artist, Casey O'Connell! (I can't stop smiling!) I'm also excited because it's supposed to get into the 70's today! Yay! Also, we started making plans for our summer vacation in Cancun, Mexico!! Exciting!!


I went for some nice walks this weekend, as the sun was out on Saturday. Here are a few photos that I took, which made me so excited for more warm and sunny weather...

 And some Insta.gram photos via my iPhone...

Are you excited about spring? Making vacation plans? Please share your exciting news with me... I'd love to hear it!


Blessings to you all! xoxo