Still Winter????

So technically it is still winter and while it is not unusual for us to have warm days .. really all year long down here!... we are definitely having a burst of Spring Fever!  The grass is growing and green (my fellas mowed for the first time this season today!)... buds are poppin' out on plants... flowers are blooming... birds are out looking for homes... I really am feeling like it is mid to late March not February.

I love the weather we are having ... everything is feeling fresh and new and at the same time wonderfully familiar...

Our winter pansies were basically dead... not any more! And yes, that hummingbird feeder is full as it the other one in our yard. The finches love to drink from them and we will probably have hummers here within a month.

The daylillies are waking up....

but the Iris' are ahead of them... 

It may be difficult to see the new growth on that Spirea, but check out that daisy.. yep that is a dead bloom which means some time in the last week we had an open bloom!  I hate that I missed it!

And look at the mint!  So green... and what a smell!

The Nandinas are still full of color and berries...

The neighbors plum is blooming and that bluebird house was cleaned out last week... just in time for the beautiful male I saw scouting it out today!  Cannot wait for the bluebirds to set up house... one of my favorite parts of Spring here...

And yes... despite the fact that it is February and still Winter as far as the calendar goes.. and actually still rather cool.. our Azaleas have decided they are ready to wake up and brighten our day!  One end of our house is covered with these bushes and they provide a lovely view from the breakfast room and kitchen.  

Some are saying that plants have been fooled into thinking it is Spring... I say God knew we needed the rebirth of Spring early this year.  A reminder of His grace and glory!

Makes me think of the hymn.... For the beauty of the earth.... For the glory of the skies...

We're having a heatwave.....

Heat is the norm in my part of the US 3/4 of the year... but whew!  it came back early this year! And it came with a vengeance and the humidity decided to kick it up a notch and play while the rain ran away to cover other parts of the world.   So what does this mean for me & mine? Well... it means running errands early in the a.m. and being inside with the a/c during the heat of the day (which arrives around 10:30)... it means vehicles that run hot and need water added regularly... it means dogs that come in panting and flop on the cool floor after being out 5 or 10 minutes at most ... it means mowing the yard and then watering it so the grass doesn't burn up... and it means sad flowers...

We have lots and lots of daylilies in our beds... big bright fiery orange daylilies... even my friend, Jules, who doesn't care for the color orange would love them... and much to my delight I noticed a few bulbs a day or so ago and today we have a gorgeous lily...  but just 1 so far.

Normally I have a sea of them.  But here is why the sea will be a trickle this year...  the heat has devoured our plants and even though we have watered, they just don't thrive as well on tap water as they do on rain.












My shasta daisy greens look well, but there are very few blooms.

I think I need to remove my welcome spring banner and replace it with a summer one!

No pix, but we still have purple and white petunias blooming like mad.  I thank God for every little bit of color!  It is but a minuscule glimpse of what we will see in Heaven!

On a different note.. summer here brings some of the best and yummiest goodies.. fresh veggies!  A friend gave me a big bag full of green beans. Cooked half of them earlier in the week. Have the other half going tonight.

I normally cook nice and healthy, but I decided to honor my Southern heritage with these green beans and loaded them up with ham.  No bacon fat though!  The Ham is bad enough, but oh they will taste sooo good!

The official first day of summer is still over a week away.. someone forgot to tell the South!

Stay Cool!