A Much Needed Long Weekend at the Beach and a Green Spring!

I feel like it's been weeks since I had a real blog post. I took a long weekend away last weekend and went to North Myrtle Beach to see my parents and my sister and nieces. My 2 year old niece learned to crawl out of her pack and play, which made for interesting mornings. And I happened to mention that I couldn't believe the mosquitos were already out and I didn't like them because mosquitos suck your blood. Totally freaked out my 4 year old niece! ( I have boys, they think that stuff is cool.) We had great weather and got some stellar photos on the beach. My sister has an awesome DSLR camera that makes me drool.

Lately, my weekends have been for work over flow and things I don't get done during the week. There's always the frenzy to get everything done before you go away and then the frenzy to finish and attempt to "catch up" when you return. A delicate balance that I never seem to achieve. This time of the year my blogging may ease up a bit. I'm working hard to regain my weekends. They are after all for fun, relaxation and gardening (yes, I find gardening relaxing too). Certain gardening tasks must be done in a certain window to be effective. The weeding, mulching and planting marathon has begun.

 

Blooming Dogwood

Red Japanese Maple

Blooming Wisteria

I can't remember what this flower is. I planted it about 10 years ago and this is the first year it has bloomed. Awesome foliage too!

 

My Mom gave me some of her Amaryllis when I was visiting. Already blooming and liking it's new home. The fat dog on the right is Izzy. She was the chewer, now she just eats a lot. We've been instructed to put her on a diet. This should be interesting.

 

I love this time of the year when the sun is bright and everything is vivid green and blooming! So hopefully this explains why my blogging has slowed. I do have some exciting projects to post and some new ones in the works. Stay tuned, I will be sharing soon!

 

Blooming Wisteria

So I know I always write about painting stuff, but I just had to share these glorious photos of the wisteria blooming in our back yard this week. We planted this beautiful weed 11 years ago. We had alway intended to create a large arbor for it to grow on, but everything we read said wisteria can crush structures. So we just keep it pruned like a small tree. It was a transplant from one that my mother had in her yard. We just love it! Even though it has to be pruned heavily several times a year and it grabs the small children as they walk by, we just love the scent of the spring blooms. The purple color is amazing!

I took this photo a few days later. The purple of the wisteria behind the glowing red of a recently planted Japanese Maple. Great inspiration for color on an accent piece of furniture or wine glasses! I would love to see photos of YOUR gardens in bloom! Feel free to send in your best!