Pink Saturday soaking in Beautiful Rain

We are so happy this Pink Saturday…it’s raining bucketsful. The turkey roaster birdfeeder was filling up with water so Hubby moved it to the patio. He put it on a little side table unsure if the birds would come to an unfamiliar location …

First a male Cardinal came for sunflower seeds…

Then a cute little Titmouse perched on the edge and started munching on seeds. He grabs one then flies up into the tree to open it.

This female Cardinal and a red headed Sparrow landed below to pick up the seeds that had been scattered on the patio. They don’t seem to mind the rain and it certainly didn’t affect their appetites!  Next month they’ll be building nests and laying eggs.  Then we’ll be adding an extra scoop of birdseed and more sunflower seeds to help them feed their chirping little mouths.

For now we’re enjoying the rain that will get the earth ready for spring. The Lantana behind the garage have survived the winter and are still blooming beautifully. The native plants out in the open parts of the lawn have frozen back and will need to be trimmed back next month.

I’ll wait to trim these back until things are blooming in other places around the yard. That way the early butterflies will have food in the first couple of months of spring.

Native Lantana plants make juicy berries that birds enjoy and so they are common along fence lines where our feathered friends deposit them. After this rain, we can expect lots more to show up in fields and roadsides this summer. This bright purple variety is a hybrid that does not produce berries. If it were not next to a wall, it would not look like this in February.

So my Pink this week is in the form of red and purple in actual color, but very Pink in spirit. Now for a beautiful dose of Pink, head on over to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound   http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ to see who is sharing this Saturday. Hope your week is Pink and your spring comes soon.

First Tiny Bloom of Spring

Last spring on a New Braunfels, Texas, Historic Homes tour, we admired some naturalized white flowers in the lawns of many of the historic homes.

They look like wild onion  or snowdrift…

They are all over lawns in the old parts of town in the spring.  Next door to one of the homes, we visited with a kindly man who was out gardening. We talked about the little mystery bulb and he offered me a start. Before I could politely decline, he had a shovel out and he was loading a box with several nice clumps. Needless to say, I was thrilled.  Well, miracle of miracles, they survived the drought of last summer and the deer have left them alone…so…here is my first tiny flower.

Not much to brag about yet, but it’s only February! I know it will take years until I have  stands like the old homes, but I’m really excited about my little group. Later in the spring, I hope to post again with more flowers…I didn’t try to count the buds because I’m superstitious about counting my chickens before they hatch.

I’m late posting today and not showing valentines…if I have a chance on Tuesday, maybe I’ll make the rounds of Pink Saturday posts that Beverly has gathered at How Sweet the Sound. Hope your Valentine’s Day is lovely and your week is Pink.

Circle of Friends Journal Mail Out Day

Beverly of Pink Saturday How Sweet the Sound fame invited a group of 10 willing blog friends to join in a Circle Journal project. Each of us chose a theme and built a journal.  I picked Gift from the Sea as my inspiration since I love Anne Morrow Lindberg’s book by that title. I wanted the look of the book to be sort of beachcomber.

 

The cover is wrapped with strips of batik type fabric in seashore colors…the words are stamped on strips of sand colored muslin. Inside words from the book remind us of our gifts from the sea…

Inside the back cover echoes the look and theme…

I made tags for each of the other nine “Beachcombers” to introduce herself…

The finished tags will be tucked into pockets made of the same batik strips…

That’s all I am showing…I want there to be an element of surprise when  the book makes the rounds…Each month two new pages will be added by a new member of the circle. Our first mail-out was scheduled for February 1st. But before I sent it out, I had fun with the inside cover of the box…a “group shot”…

Each book will be as different and unique as each of the ten creative journal builders. Mine was mailed to Sheila in Galveston, Texas! How perfect is that? She will create her vision of Gift from the Sea during February…judging by the pictures she  posted of her journal, her contributions will certainly bring my book up a notch. Any day now, Nancy’s book will arrive in my mailbox. I will spend March working on Nancy’s book…March 1st will come and Sheila will send my journal on to the next contributor…  and then I will  send Nancy’s  on to Sheila… By the time it visits all of the other nine “Beachcombers”, it will come back to me in the fall as a true gift from the sea. It’s one of the most exciting adventures I’ve ever joined. It’s all thanks to the idea of Beverly…Let the fun begin!

Pink Jump on Spring

On my way into the grocery store this week I spotted these pretty pink foliage plants for under two dollars. Aren’t they pretty? Aren’t they PINK? There were only these two left, so I was happy to get them.

It’s probably jumping the gun to even think about spring planting of foliage plants, but the pair I bought last year (also at the grocery…also the last two) have survived the winter (so far) in the base of this rubber tree with only a blanket covering….They were less bright, but they are still pink…

Its sister “survivor”  plant…as I call any annual  that lasts more than a season…has  gotten leggy, but is still colorful at the base so I think a Spring cleaning haircut and a little Miracle Grow will pop it back into shape.

The four of them will look Pretty in Pink among the wine corks that I’m using as mulch… Those outdoor survivors are looking better than their cousin plant that was shoved into the back of the makeshift greenhouse in our screened porch…it hadn’t been watered in a long while and when Hubby discovered it, it was ready to give up…

Pretty sad, I’ll admit…plant abuse for sure, but it spent the afternoon outside in the filtered sun and it got a good watering. Maybe the pink will spring back and it will be a happy plant by spring. Maybe I’ll have an amazing recovery story to post for pink Saturday in a few months. Hope your Saturday is Pink and the coming week is filled with good news…We got much needed rain in Central Texas earlier this week and we got our Pink in beautiful lightening bolts and buckets and buckets of welcome rain.

I’m off to the post office to mail my Circle Journal to Sheila.  Beverly has gathered a group of ten fellow bloggers to join in a year long project to create ten journals. Each of us has chosen a theme, designed a journal and we are now starting the circle.  My theme  is Gift from the Sea  because Anne Morrow Lindberg’s book is so wonderful. As mine  makes its way to  Sheila,  I will receive Nancy’s journal and I know it will be amazing…so I have some Pink journaling fun coming my way from her.  It will be such a lovely challenge to create a double page spread each month for each of the chosen themes. I already know what I’m doing for her journal and can’t wait to get started.

Stop in to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Enjoy your weekend as you make the rounds of Pink Saturday participants.

You Go Girl on Pure Pink Saturday with Mary Engelbreit

Every year I watch the Mary Engelbreit web site around June for the new calendars. I buy several of these purse sized folders for friends and family. The size is so handy…

You know the art work if going to be fabulous…

You know it’s going to be loaded with Pink.  Look at this sweet Pink June page…and this February

page…I love how there’s lots of space for notes…and the matching folder is perfect for holding appointment cards. They are surprisingly sturdy holding up the entire year of daily use!

They have become an annual gift that I give my sister at Thanksgiving because with her busy life, she will already be planning for the year to come.  And I can’t think of an artist/illustrator who is more Pink than Mary E.  I never tire of her work. My other yearly purchase is the day-by-day calendar for my desk. This year’s theme is Life Is Sweet…I told you it pure Pink!

Every day includes words of wisdom and quotations that remind us of our many Blessings.  Here is today’s…

“Carry Laughter with you wherever you go.” And with that happy thought, I send you off the visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to check out the list of who is posting for Pink Saturday. Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a very Pink week.