Day 329 - Still going strong

Amazingly, my birthday bonsai is still blooming in November! Must be doing something right. :)

Day 232 - He did it!

Remember those little noises I said Lew was making the other day?? Well, they grew into one big ruckus and surprise, surprise, a Wii remote was sitting on my desk yesterday morning - an early Happy Birthday to me!!

He's the only person I know who can mosey into the local WalMart and mosey on out with something that the whole rest of the country is still having a hard time getting their hands on!! And for about half the price, too. The man is ridiculously lucky!

Today he went out and picked up the pretty pink skins too. Fun stuff! :)

Day 222 - Bodacious bloom

After a visit to a girlfriend (and her hibiscus) in Florida several years ago, I wanted some hibiscus in my yard too. Originally, we bought six plants but two died and the remainder struggled for a few seasons before they decided that our yard wasn't such a bad place to live in.

We still battle some kind of munching critter, but for the most part they've developed into pretty plants and produce humongous blooms. Seriously, these things are at least saucer-sized, with or without munchers!

Day 181 - Penning in Pink

A gift from Lew, my pink pen/pencil set has held up well under many years of use, abuse (unintentional) and non-use. It's pretty tapestry holder keeps it nicely protected.

Day 180 - Pink from the past

My mother loved her earrings and wore them all the time. She had several styles - dangle, flower-shapes - but her favorites were button earrings and she had them in almost every color. These have yellowed with age over the years, but back in the day, they were a pretty Pink pink.

Day 179 - Rosy Pink

The mystical properties attached to rose quartz make this special heart-shaped gift from my daughter-in-law even more special. Historically, it is a symbol of love and beauty. I keep it on my desk and periodically run my fingers over its cool smoothness when I think of her.

About Rose Quartz

Pink or peach-colored quartz is called Rose Quartz. It has a hardness of 7.

Rose Quartz is found in Brazil, India, Madagascar, Spain, and several locations within the USA.

Rose Quartz will chip and crack rather easily.

Rose Quartz fades in the sun; most Rose Quartz is dyed.

Rose Quartz is the love stone, used to improve and strengthen the special bonds between people.

Rose Quartz is the alternate for garnet as January's birthstone.

Rose Quartz is the anniversary gemstone for the 2nd year of marriage.

Rose Quartz is the state mineral of South Dakota.

Day 178 - More pink memories

When she was still a lil bits, my granddaughter had long, silky, golden hair and loved having pretty, girly things in it. Her mommaw (aka me) loved brushing and combing that long hair and helping her put those pretty things in it. She's 22 now, and has outgrown her little girl hair pretties, but they (for this photo, the pink ones) still reside in her dresser drawer at my house... just in case. ;)

Day 176 - Wet pink

Had to contort myself a little to get this shot, but I really liked the results.

One of these days maybe I'll get a "big girl" camera with a super duper macro lens. In the meantime, my little point and shoot doesn't do such a bad job with the water drops on our front yard pink impatiens.

Day 175 - Pink on pink

Now I'm really pushing it... toothbrushes. I'm down to taking pictures of my toothbrushes. Arrggh!! ;)

Karin, you have no idea how hard pink is for me. Not that I don't like it, I do, I just don't have that much. So much for my girly side, huh? lol

Day 146 - Pretty 'n' pink

We're running a little late with our planting this year, but we finally made a start with the purchase of two flats of New Guinea impatiens today. Getting them into the ground should keep us busy for a bit.

Day 112 - Cherry Blossoms, northern style

Since we're north of the city, our cherry blossoms start peaking about 3-4 weeks later than those in Washington, DC. We only planted our two trees 3 or 4 years ago, but they've produced massive amounts of blooms this season for our enjoyment. Even the rain and chillier temps of the past two days hasn't dampened (pardon the pun!) their beautiful display of fluffy pink.

Day #131 - Still more blooms...

(without flash)

(with flash)

Our rhododendron are all suffering from some kind of leaf damage this year, probably due to the irregular weather, but they're still presenting us with some beautiful flowers. Still waiting on two others to show their stuff, but this second one has burst into bloom in the last few days.

(If you enlarge the photos, the stamens look like they're painted with gold paint! Isn't that wild?)

Day #128 - Beauty in bloom...

At the risk of y'all getting sick to death of my flower/yard photos, I just couldn't resist our first rhododendron bloom of the season. And this is from a bush I thought was dying years ago. It's all scraggly and spindly and only gets a few blooms a year, but the flower is so unique and pretty I just hate to dig it up.

Day #122 - Cat eyes...

I often take my glasses off when I'm scrapping so I can "see" better when doing close work. Rather than lay them down in the mess of paper, photos, and stuff that usually covers my desk, I put them in this so they don't get lost. My sweet daughter-in-law gave me the pink quartz heart, I bought the other piece.

Day #118 - Dogwood flower - petals of pretty...

I got this beauty at K-Mart in 1980-81 for a whopping $8. It took years for the silly thing to bloom - seems it was getting too much nitrogen from the lawn fertilizer and had to be mega-mulched - but it finally figured out what it was supposed to do and has been rewarding us with it's loveliness ever since. Now it's priceless.

Not wanting to get my camera (or me!) wet in the drizzle today, I took a quick close-up instead of putzing around trying to frame the whole tree for a full shot. Maybe when it's dry outside, I'll try again.

Day #114 - Cherry Delight...

The long wait is over and Spring is finally busting out all over in my yard. DC's Cherry Blossom Festival has come and gone and their blossoms have all bloomed and blown away, but ours are just starting to dazzle us with all their gorgeousness.

Aren't they just to die for?? :)

Day #113 - New life...

Gazing from inside windows and seeing nothing but deadish, brown bushes around the deck, I had pretty much written this baby off as winter wound down. Along with two of her buddies, who didn't look much better, I figured they'd gone to azalea heaven and we'd have to replace them... again. (We haven't had much luck with azaleas and the deck - I don't know why.)

Imagine my surprise and delight when, whoosh! - after a couple of sun-filled days, they all of a sudden greened up and burst into bloom!

I know better - next time I'll go outside and look at them up close and personal before declaring them a lost cause.