Spring Has Sprung, the Grass Has Ris', I Know Where the Flowers Is...

Growing up my father always had little Southern colloquialisms he would toss at us. One of these was a little poem that said: Spring has sprung, The grass has ris', I wonder where the flowers is? Hence the title for this blog post.

Some others were: (When asked what time it was) Time all dogs were dead. Aren't you glad you're just a puppy? (When asked how he felt, he had two versions) Fine as frogs hair split three ways and combed backards OR Fine a frogs hair split three ways and sand papered. I'm sure if given time I could remember more but, suffice it to say, he still uses these little ditties today.

Yesterday I took a little bit of a walk near the house to get a few pictures of spring happening on our hill in Sadieville. It is a pure delight to watch what you planted that is perennial come back each year in the spring. So I stayed close to the house and took just a few photos of some of our spring. Note that the grass has "ris'" for sure. I might should have waited until later in the afternoon. Claude cut the grass for the 1st time then. But I think I like seeing that grass Claude has worked so hard to grow on this hill of ours.

We have PURPLE (I know the picture looks pink but it must be something between the camera and the sun) tulips in our hosta bed by the back porch. Those who know me know that purple has always been this chick maiden's favorite color. So I take particular delight in these flowers. I find myself strolling out to the deck to look down on them. The first picture is from the yard toward the patio. I have a little sign in my hosta bed that says 'turtle crossing'. I love the word turtle and have a collection of these little creatures all over the house and a couple in the yard. The round disk is a gift from the Marx family. There are little pictures of all of my family set in this stone. The second picture is taken from the patio looking down our hill to the creek. You can see the bench on the ledge that Claude built which we call 'make-out point'. Just below the bench and to the left is the HUGE mailbox that was Grampa Ducks (Papa's father). Mimi and Papa used it for their mailbox in Louisiana when they lived in the country. We brought it here and Claude knocked all the dents out, fixed the latch, painted it a nice green with a red flag, mounted it on a tree trunk he stuck in the ground. Before mounting it on the tree trunk we had all the grandmonsters put their hand prints on the outside. It is now by the sand box and we keep kleenex, bug spray, baby powder (to help get the sand off the kids after playing the sand box) and other things in there. I love this section of the hill.

Our little tree in the front yard is just loaded with pink blossoms (yes, these are really pink). This is the first year that we've had this many blossoms on it. When we first moved here we planted a Japanese maple. It lasted a couple of summers and then passed on to tree heaven. So Claude purchased this little beauty and last year it leafed out. But this year it has really blossomed. If you look closely behind, the flower bed under the guest room window had peonies out of the ground, and the one to the right has the lilac bushes that are really filling in again this year. They are under Claude's office window. He had lilac bushes growing up and really wanted them in our yard. The peonies are mostly from Bonnie's garden in Utah and supplimented with a few purchased a Lowe's.

So there you have it. My magnolia tree is beginning to leaf out. The deer have already eaten the little flowers that came up first in the back yard. The hydrangeas are coming up. The burning bushes on the side of the house are all leafed out and healthy. The weeping willows are leafing out. So Spring is officially 'busting out all over' on the hill in Sadieville.

Chiara...I am mindful of your post about missing your flowers because they have to repair your home from the hurricane. I hope these pictures bring you a little joy.