Inspired by autumn rain

As if to compensate for the summer drought, the autumn sky is steadily sprinkling rain for us. I took in some creative inspirations from my front yard.

I am sure my garden feels as refreshed as I am thanks to the autumn rain...

Getting ready for school...

Yes, it's my favorite time of the year. Of course, I am not talking about the heat and the humidity of the season but the shopping for school supplies time! Even though I am no longer in the school system, I get so excited about school supplies along with my daughters. They think I get more excited about it than they do. And it's probably true! It might be second best shopping chore, next to book buying. Ah, the smell of new books and new notebooks...

Gem and I were at Staples to pick up some binders and I saw these black and white composition notebooks. I got myself all three different designs. I like the flower one while my daughters opted for the checkered one.
We also purchased some extra items for the county public school's school supply drive.

Yearning for the ocean...

Our power went out on Sunday afternoon, due to gusty 70 mph wind that swept across the county. Thinking it would come back as swiftly as it went out, I didn't think much of it. So naive of me, sigh. It came back on Tuesday and we were considered lucky since there are still many without power. Not having air conditioning in this heat, you yearn for the ocean breeze and hope for no summer for a few years to come...

On one of the Metro stops from work, I could see the Discovery Channel building with a shark looking at you.

It made me think of other sea creatures...

While I was out, spring went by...

Hello everyone! It seems like spring has come and gone while I was engulfed by life's mundane things and doings. While we hung out with Neptune on the Virginia's shore... The cherry tree on our yard shed its blossoms
and as azaleas bloomed dad came by and filled the pots on the porch...

Ode to Spring

Oh how I miss thee
Those gleeful days of spring
My love for you is lasting
Unlike those adolescent flings

As I lay in warm sunlit grass
I hear the birds chirping pounding my ear drums
Why the lovely days so quick to pass
And soon autumn brings sprouting mums

Rosy cheek dawn brings the night a quicker
The moon soars up early, come hither
As the cool season breeze fades away
How my heart longs to swing into spring today

- by Mad

I couldn't remember my favorite spring poem so my Mad offered her own.
I am ever grateful for her creative mind!

Cabin Fever

Gusty wind is blowing new snow all over... when do we get to go for a nice walk?

The power goes off and on as I frantically cook to last us a few days just in case the power goes out. Pepco has pulled in workers from repair work due to dangerous conditions... We are hoping for a quiet evening.

We are charging cell phones, laptops, and inflating aerobed to camp out in the basement, which supposed to be the warmest spot in the house in the winter. Hope that's true!

Finally, the sun's out!

With the sun out, the world [yes, I have such a childlike perspective] is so delightfully bright!

Although the snow causes such a physically demanding labor, I love the whiteness of it all.

A job well done!

It's still coming!

Still digging and still snowing...
It has passed the window sill!

Snow...more to come!

The school is closed due to snow. I took a walk outside to capture the pretty wet snow on tree branches.

When the girls were up, we baked a pan of brownies and ate some with dollops of ice cream.

As we are eating, my phone rings with a text message from the county Weather Alert: Winter Storm Watch until Saturday PM. Expect 12-20" of snow. Mad moans audibly since her major birthday party is on Friday.

I remind her about her actual birth day.... We had historical inches of snow and the government closed for the day. I remember starting out 5 in the morning when the snow pile reached mid-thigh. When she was a toddler, I used to tell her that the heavens celebrated her birthday with lots of pretty snow and government closed to honor her birth. Oh, the white lies we tell our children!

Snow covered East Coast II

It's been snowing since last night and hasn't stopped yet. Although we have made some attempt to shovel the snow, the wind kept blowing it back to the shoveled area. We gave up the fun and stayed inside watching the snow fall...

There was a small bird looking for shelter in our back yard. It scurried from bottom of one tree to another. There was also a bird dodging under our back neighbor's deck. That made me wonder; where do birds go for shelter when the leaves are all gone?

Holidng on to the fall

Walking around the neighborhood, to my delight, I noticed remnants of autumn still lingering.
Took some photos with Mad and was inspired to make a holiday garland for the shop.

Thinking of spring

Due to the fair [considering it's still February] weather, the daffodils are trying for air. Our daffodils are among the latebloomers in the neighborhood. I didn't notice them until I searched for their tips, less than 1/4 of an inch above the ground. I searched for them only after I overheard a lady before me at the supermarket line talking to the cashier about how much her daffodils came up.

I want spring to be here soon... really soon.

In that vein, I made two pincushions for my shop. One with an iris to bringforth the spring and another of a basket, inspired by a similar one in a Japanese zakka magazine. Perhaps the thought of a basketful of irises prompted it...