Good Things Happened: Summer

Just a quick post.  I snapped this photo on Sunday morning when the sun was shining down so blindingly, that I just pointed my phone and shot.  That plant seems to like its spot.

Hope you all are well!

Good Things Happened: home, sweet, home

It's been days and days since I posted.  There was a minor medical issue that kept me at home for a few days - all better now.  Being at home with nothing much to do gave me a renewed appreciation of it, as seen below.

On the first day, niece Amanda and her family sent me flowers.  I can't think of the last time I got flowers!  It was thrilling.  I'm still enjoying them.  The delivery man seemed to enjoy my reaction, "I got flowers!!!"

I was looking for something else in a kitchen cabinet and found these two forgotten items.  The one on the left is a handy thing in which you can pull tarragon through the holes to strip the leaves. Stripping tarragon is kind of annoying, so I guess that's why I bought this.  It doesn't come up that often, but when it does, I'm set.  :)

There was clean out the refrigerator cooking.  Do you ever buy stuff for recipes you end up not making?  I made roasted vegetables, using carrots, fennel and the red onion that is in the bowl in the first photo.  (Yum.)  And yesterday, there was still a bunch of unused flat-leaf parsley, so I made pesto out of it.  That's it pictured above.  Parsley, olive oil, toasted walnuts and Parmesan cheese in the food processor.  I'm having some of it on penne pasta for lunch today.

And I enjoyed breakfast on the back porch yesterday.  There has been so much rain in Georgia, that the trees are nicely leafed out now.  It was cool and lovely.  And a hummingbird whizzed by a couple of times, probably to remind me about putting that feeder up.

I'll be playing a little blog catch up in the next few days.  Hope you have a good week!

Good Things Happened: Another good dog and friends

I love dogs like friend Carol's dog, Bailey.  He was chosen from a shelter years ago and has been just the best dog, she says.  He never commands attention, like his brethren at the park.  I like that.

This hosta gets a mention every year, just for being faithful. It hibernates in the winter and makes an appearance in early spring.  I had almost forgotten about it until I saw some little shoots coming up.  It has made this miraculous transformation in the last two weeks.  It will double in size from this - it's just getting started.

Neighbor Rhonda is laying in some bedding plants, which gave me a huge smile when I got home yesterday.  She didn't feel like it last year, so this is definitely a good thing.

Google presented me with this altered photo of the dogwood tree that presides over the trash compactor at the condos.  I had not planned to use it, but it's rather striking now.  :)

I know it's not pretty everywhere like it is in the south, but you'll get there, I promise.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Good Things Happened: Dog of the week, lilies and blessings

Friends Janice and Chip's dog Chili, at the park, after I asked him if he would like to be dog of the week.  I think the answer was clearly, "Yes!"

I was invited to Easter dinner at friends Laura and Bob's home.  The table was exquisitely set with pretty Easter themed china, crystal and napkins.  I loved the Lilies of the Valley from their yard - so perfect I thought they were artificial at first.

A wee present from Laura at each place setting - these beautiful little "Spring Blessings" packages.  Such a gracious hostess.

I hope you are having a good weekend.  I've finally gotten caught up on some sleep!

Smiles, blossoms and relaxation

Friend Laura's dog Mac - who clearly loves her very much.  And it was a special treat for him, to walk with us at the park without his very boisterous younger sis.  

The blooming Bradford Pear tree at the library.  I was parked underneath it and went home with little white blossoms on my car.

A water main line broke in my county a few days ago and we were under a boil water advisory, which affected local businesses.  My favorite neighborhood pub had to use plastic ware while that was going on.  I didn't mind and enjoyed the view of my village's main street while waiting for a friend.  The plastic cup reminded me of college days and Mardi Gras.  :)  

It's Friday!  Yay.  I hope you have a great weekend.

Good Things Happened - Saturday in the park

Friend Laura and I had just finished our walk at Mountain Park Park last Saturday, when her friend who fosters dogs stopped to chat.  I looked down and one of them was standing at attention on his hind legs, without moving.  "He wants to be petted." she said.  And so we did.

A little boy was hanging out with his father, waiting for the ball field to open.  I smiled at the wee one on my first pass by.  On our second pass, he approached and said he had picked this bloom for me. 

It's been gloomy here for days (and strangely warm), so that's why this photo from the drive thru at Starbucks isn't more bright than it is.  The cherry trees are blooming already!

Here's something not to be gloomy about - it's Friday!  Yay.  I hope your weekend is amazing, my friends.

Good Things Happened: Early morning, crisp and rare treat

Things have been quiet here, which I never mind.  So here are three random good things from the past few days:

 An early morning visit to the dry cleaners before work.  The sky was so gorgeous.  I love this time of morning, right before things get crazy.

The crisp beauty of the red and white flowers on these plants at my work place (not sure what they are.) 

When I was traveling with my family a few weeks ago, during one of the airport stops, niece Abby said, "I wish I had a fountain drink as big as my head."  We agreed there is just nothing like a Diet Coke from a fountain (a rare treat for me, since I don't think it's good for you.)  So this is the photo I texted her last Saturday, when I was out and about and especially thirsty, with the caption, "So I got a fountain drink as big as my head."  :)  

I hope your weekend is full of delight, my friends!

'Maters, summer beauty, and stumped

In the south, we jokingly refer to home-grown tomatoes as "'maters".  :)  These beauties came from coworker Bobby's garden.  He's been bringing in a small basket every couple of days.  Those of us without gardens pounce on them as if they are gold.  My favorite is a 'mater sandwich, but these are probably going into some ratatouille.  I'm going to try Alice Waters's recipe.  

I love the little purple petunia that popped out among the Dragon Wing Begonias next to my front door.  I am leaving for work way earlier than I used to in the morning, and find that I love the time on the front porch, in the 5am hour, watering everything so they'll be good for the day, since it's been so hot.

I've posted a pic of this guy before - the "chair" carved from a stump at Mountain Park Park.  Now it's sporting mushrooms - spotted on a gloomy sky walk last Saturday.

It's been a very busy couple of weeks work-wise, so I've been a little tired from it.  I'll be around for blog visits though.  I missed you guys!

Lovely day, enchanted and walk about

There was another visit to the river house last weekend, and this was the view on Friday afternoon when I drove in - the Friday Market in the town square.  I couldn't wait to get my stuff in the house so I could come back here and peacefully mingle.

My only real task was choosing a new hanging plant to take back home, and I found it at an enchanted plant nursery, which was completely off the beaten path.

The delightful lady who helped me pick this out said it is a dipladenia, here in it's temporary parking place by the river, until I took my leave on Monday.  In a true Good Things Happened moment, she tucked it away in the back seat of my car, and said to it, "Now you behave on your trip home."  I thought she was talking to me at first.  :)

The river was beautiful on Sunday morning, so I walked around the banks of the Hiwassee River a bit.  I flushed out a phantom egret that we see now and then.  We both startled each other and then it flapped away south.

My internet is down at home (since last week), so I am not able to visit blogs as much as usual.  Waiting for a technician to visit and things will be back to normal soon, I hope.

In bloom again, good things are going to happen, and smiles

The planted Easter lilies are blooming right now.  They came from my church a couple of years ago and neighbor Rhonda planted them in our building's communal flower bed at the condos.  They looked so beautiful yesterday morning covered in raindrops.  And my car managed to photo bomb once again!

Remember the garden flag I spotted in Brasstown, North Carolina?  I posted about it here.  It was a delightful surprise to get some happy mail last week from friend and blog friend Leonora, saying she "couldn't resist."  So nice!  I love to read Lee's blog, "A Journal of Days" - lately she's been writing about her late father's experiences in World War II - an amazing journey of discovery.  Thanks again, Lee!

I couldn't think what to do with the white corsage I was given on Mother's Day to honor my late mother, so I put it in the fridge, on top of the coffee canister.  It made me smile every time I opened the door.

Orphan, julep time, Flower Moon and commute

A late afternoon view of my front porch at the condos last Saturday.  I got several plants potted for the front and back porch and mixed them in with those I nurtured through the winter.  The yellow/green pot on the right was given to me by my neighbor, who spotted someone about to throw it away.  "Lynn might want that!"  And of course, I gladly took that pretty orphan in.  

Also on Saturday - I did something that had been on my to do list:  I polished my silver julep cup, just in time for the Kentucky Derby viewing.  I didn't make a mint julep to go in it, just opting for some pretty flowers instead.  You can click on the red link to see the julep recipe if you're interested in making one.  I do love them.

This grainy photo is a tribute to the Flower Moon from Wednesday.  It was totally full on Wednesday night, but was beautiful that morning, too.  I wasn't expecting it on my early drive to work and gasped the first time I saw it in the dark at 6am.  (I was stopped at a 4-minute red light here.)  I looked up its name when I got to work.  From the Farmer's Almanac:  "We use Full Moon names that were used during Native American and Colonial times to help track the seasons. Depending on the tribe, May’s Full Moon was called the Full Flower Moon as well as Mother’s Moon, Milk Moon, and Corn Planting Moon. The May Moon marked a time of increasing fertility, with temperatures warm enough for safely bearing young, a near end to late frosts, and plants in bloom."

 And this thing has quite a presence!  The photo, snapped during a stop on my afternoon commute, shows just a bit of the Mercedes Benz Stadium that the Atlanta Falcons will play in, beginning in the fall.  I'll probably never see the inside of it, since I'm not much of a fan of professional football, but my rambling afternoon commute home has taken me by here a few times and it's been fun watching it get nearer and nearer to completion.

Just when I had really gotten accustomed to this "new normal" of commuting through Atlanta, on my journey home to the suburbs, they have completed the repair of I-85 and it will be open on Monday.  I am so grateful they used that bonus money incentive and got it done so quickly.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends!

Batteries recharged, legacy, and Good Things Happened

I wanted to "recharge my batteries" last weekend, and did:

Two mallard ducks hung out in this section of the Hiwassee River all weekend.  There they go, on Saturday morning, sailing down the river.  (You can't really see them - they are blending in with the current up ahead.)  They would fly back and settle in on the rocks and then sail down the river again.

My sister's late mother-in-law, Grace, loved this place and left her mark on it.  I snapped a photo from my car window of the iris, blooming by the driveway, on my way out on Sunday.  It's a lovely legacy.

This shop in nearby Brasstown, North Carolina, was closed on Sunday (I pressed my nose against the windows and dreamed of going inside.)  I loved this banner out front, incorporated into a cacophony of rosemary and flowers.

Just being, being treated and no worries

This garden belongs to a shop near my sister's home in northern Florida.  It was so lovely to just sit and wait and watch bees buzzing and listen to the people to my left laughing, as they worked a car wash for charity.

Neighbor Mike decided to hand out this "treat" of an alcoholic cherry cola to his middle aged neighbor ladies, as we all stood talking one afternoon.  The label made me smile, so I had a little photo shoot in my kitchen, as I do sometimes.  And then I tried it.  Ugh!  :)

There is a lot to worry about in the world right now - I try not to worry, but do sometimes.  And then I spotted this poem that made me smile.

Annual treat, taking over and gazing

An annual treat to myself - a Lindt Gold Bunny  and I like to see it sitting around my kitchen at Easter time. :)

Lenten roses in the Greenway Park in Lilburn, Georgia.  Friend Alice was giving some of these away from her garden - they tend to spread out and take over. 

Gazing at a magnificently flowering tree at the book club host's home in the early evening last Sunday (the friend pictured above and I arrived at the same time and gasped at the glory of the tree.)  There was a long discussion about what sort of tree it is - the consensus:  some version of a cherry tree.  We think. 

I love Spring.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Hanging out, cloudy sky and reappearance

This lovely little tulip was hanging out all by itself at the park on Saturday morning, just waiting to pose for the camera.  It was a lovely respite, this walk, after a week of battling traffic during, what we're calling, The New Normal, in Atlanta, after the I-85 bridge collapse.

And back home at the condos - a glorious Saturday morning sky.  I was walking over to look at the dogwood tree, there on the right, but love the look of that cloud formation and a couple of puffs of cloud that had escaped, there at the top.

And the pink Dogwood tree in the condo driveway blooms again.  Someone did a wonderful job landscaping this complex when it was built 30 or so years ago.  It's lovely to see old friends like those pink blossoms reappear year after year.

Hope you have a good week, my friends!

Spring forward, lovely read and beauties

The sky never seems to disappoint at this little corner of the world in northwest Atlanta.  The week after daylight savings time sprang to be, I left for work in the darkness and arrived to work to these pink puffed beauties.

Leonora wrote about her latest good reads in a recent blog post.  I'm listening to this one during my commute.  I told a friend at work this morning that I'm smiling during the drive and not obsessing about traffic.  It's a  lovely story about a widower who finds a charm bracelet that belonged to his late wife and embarks on a journey to find out more about her past and even more about himself. 

It was a chilly morning last Saturday when friend Laura and I walked in the park and caught up with life.  She never questions why I stop to snap photos with my phone and encouraged me to get this close up of the buds of this flowering tree.  We dropped into the 20s (f) this week - so cold.  I hope these lovelies survived.

Spring is around the corner.  Sigh.