Spring in Bloom in Raleigh

 It's my favorite time of year here in the South...dogwood and azalea time, that is!  We have massive hedges of azaleas around our driveway in front of the house, backing up to the woods.

And there's nothing more elegant or graceful than the dogwood, our state flower, in lovely drifts along the branches of the trees that are native to our woods.

And look at this pretty little bloom in my garden!

I am almost finished with the 21-Day Art Journal Challenge on Facebook.

Day 19:  I've Got to Hand it to You

Day 20:  Mandalas.  I loved drawing and painting this cheerful sun face, inspired by the sunshine artwork on the CBS Sunday Morning show.  I have been sketching several more mandalas in my journals.

I have just one more to complete, and I started it today. I am totally having fun with this one!  Just in time for the next challenge to begin!  I will post details when the rules come out.

Spring Has Sprung

For the past two mornings, we have had thunderstorms, followed by warm sunny days.  The cherry trees along our driveway started blossoming while we were in Asheville last weekend  They look rather brilliant against the dark sky.

I like to walk on the greenway nearby after a big change in the weather, so I loaded up the dog while it was still misting a bit, and headed for the greenway on the other side of Rogers Road.  The center of the traffic rotary on Marshall Farm Road is looking very spring-like and pretty.

I knew that volunteers had planted daffodil bulbs along the greenway last fall, but had not seen them yet because I have been avoiding the sounds of the earth-moving equipment and logging station on Rogers Road.  But, today I thought they might not be working due to the rain.  Wrong.

But the daffodils look great in big clumps along both the paved and wooden walkways.

I was on the lookout for deer who might be out and about after the rain.  Sure enough, I saw a "white flag" heading to the thicker woods within minutes.  I thought that would be it, until I spotted this doe and fawn on the other side of the greenway a few minutes later.

Can you see them?  They stood and posed for us while I took about ten pictures.  Kasey is very good about freezing in place when we encounter deer so they don't get spooked.

These appeared to be a doe and her fawn, sort of nuzzling each other in a Disney moment.   I just love encounters like these!

There was a lot of water cascading over the rocks, and I let Kasey go in for a dip despite just having been groomed on Sunday.  As soon as the sun came out, it really got warm and she had her fur coat on, after all.

The dogwood are starting to open up.  Usually it is mid-April when the dogwood trees and azaleas are in their glory, but we are really ahead of the game this spring.

Yesterday was my husband's real birthday.  We went out for dinner at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant, with Dave and Emily.  But I had to have at least a little birthday cake for him at home. (Courtesy of the local Harris-Teeter Grocery store.)  We will enjoy that tonight.

I have a beautiful big customer quilt to start on today, so I better get to work.  Pictures tomorrow, maybe!

March Sketchbook Challenge-"Spilling Over"

The theme for this month's Sketchbook Challenge is "Spilling Over."  Here is my journal page.

With our early spring, the blossoms and leaves are going crazy, the bluebirds are investigating the birdhouses, and it was easy to create a page for the theme.

This is watercolor paper with collaged tissue paper, flowers from an old quilting calendar, my colored pencil sketch of the bluebird, and other hidden elements in layers.  The big orange daffodil center is a seal from a wine bottle.  I have gessoed over some of the collage, and then added colored pencil.

I also figured out that my two previous entries for January and February were only on my own Flickr page, not the group challenge page.  So I added all three at one time today.

Lovely Mountain Weekend

We had a short but wonderful weekend at our mountain place in Laurel Springs, North Carolina. Lots of family...my son Bryson and my two grandchildren--- in fact, I think there were twelve grandchildren all together between my sister and her sister-in-law and me. And look who I got to cuddle and admire for the first time...two week old baby Ragen!

Lily and Avery played outside all day, and enjoyed getting dirty and climbing hills.

It was opening day of trout season, and the creek had been stocked. Almost everyone caught their limit. The prize of the day went to my nine-year old great-niece Hunter, who pulled in a huge trout that is destined to be mounted. I have never seen such a big one- must be a granddaddy!Although the seasons are usually several weeks behind us in the mountains, there were definite signs of spring, including the daffodils I planted along the driveway.

And look what the bluebirds have been up to! We put up bluebird house last summer, and they have already started their brood.

They better be sitting on those eggs tonight, because it is supposed to snow again!

Don't forget to leave a comment on my previous post in order to enter the Blogiversary Give-Away!

Come On, Spring!

We continue to alternate between Winter and Spring here in central North Carolina. So many plants and trees have budded and sprouted. My first daffodils bloomed this week.

This is kind of a strange angle because these little guys are only about three inches tall. I don't remember planting any bulbs for that size, but I think I may have bought a pot of them in bloom at the grocery store and then stuck the whole plant in the garden when the flowers died back. They are very cute! The taller ones have buds, but no blooms yet.

And here is the pink camellia that was blooming back before the snows in January. It is trying to bloom again. Most of the buds have a little brown on them, so I hope they are not all spoiled.

Today was my first day of working with students at my new job. It went pretty well. It is amazing how much less tiring it is to just work half a day. I like it!

What's in Bloom?

Here is evidence that spring is not far away here in the North Carolina piedmont:

One does not normally associate maple trees with blossoms, as they are known more for their fiery display of autumn foliage. But my two red maples are in bloom with lovely red flowers. They are not very showy from a distance, but quite pretty up close.
Here is my first pink camellia. And first daffodil!

How about a nice little cluster of crocus?

I planted a little four-inch pot of rosemary a few years ago, which is now a nice shrub that winters over. It's blooming, too.

When we moved in our house, fourteen years ago, there were no trees in the front yard. Here is a Southern magnolia and a river birch that I planted when they were each about four feet tall. They are facing my neighbor's yard in this photo.

And finally, here is the hemlock tree I planted next to the house on the north side. They normally grow in the mountains where it is much cooler and shadier, but this one has done well in the shade of the house. The little window on top is my new sewing room. I can look down from there and see birds in the hemlock and river birch trees.














Rosemary shrub