Thursday Thoughts: Now with Web Wanderings~*

Thank you all so much for the sweet birthday wish emails-- you all are awesome & the best bloggie buddies a girl could ask for~*

And do forgive me again for not posting much yesterday.  I don't plan posts much in advance-- I generally write them the afternoon before they are published then touch them up over morning coffee the day they go live.  I didn't have the time to set up my usual Wednesday post because of birthday festivities.  I had intended to post more beyond the cinemagraphic cake, but I had an early morning meeting, then office hours & class & before I turned around it was already time to work on today's post.

We had a rainy day for my birthday, which was fine actually-- when we lived in California {I lived in the Bay Area until I was 22} it always rained on my birthday, so it felt oddly welcoming and homey to have it raining this year.  It did mean, however, that Thing 3 & I couldn't do a birthday photo shoot on my birthday like we did last year.

No matter, I have a whole year of being 43 to take pictures.  Its hard to believe I was wearing a sundress with bare legs & it was green out this time last year.  Sigh.

It seems the blogosphere has caught spring fever in the worst way, & now that we've had isolated snow showers yet again, I've caught it too.  As trivial as it sounds, what I long for is the ability to open our windows and let in the smells of springtime on our mountains.  I've never been a good gardener-- saying I have a brown or black thumb doesn't quite describe the heartbreak I experience every year as yet another batch of planted perennials pushes up the withered daisies.  I think my main issue is that I have the attention span of an immature flea and the observational skills of a blind sloth, and despite the best intentions I end up forgetting my little garden for days on end, only noticing when its tragically too late.

I love the idea of gardening, I just lack the stamina.

Pathway of Monet's Garden at Giverny, Claude Monet

My dream garden: Chelsea Pensioner's Garden

The little plants on my window shelf above the kitchen sink thrive only because there is literally no conceivable way I can miss or ignore them.  They are my vista as I wash the dishes, I can't avoid them or the sweet little silver tea pot that I use to water them which stands immediately at the ready.  If only I could get front yard plants to grow large enough to block my path, maybe then they'd have a shot.

3 Pots, by Addie Rementer

Still and all, every year at this time I get the gardening bug that follows the spring fever.  Last year we picked up a batch of red sage early in the summer, which I planted and managed to keep mostly alive until the fall set in.

I'm figuring we will hunt down the seller when the market reopens in May and hope he has some of the magic stalks for sale this year.  Of course, we can always buy them online.  But then we wouldn't know if it had the magic ju-ju needed to stay alive despite my neglect now would we?

How To Make Framed Living Succulent Art, from Apartment Therapy

Mmmm, and now I'm dreaming of beautiful tomatoes & crisp mornings, strolling the aisles with my husband & my doggie & the occasional Thing {when one is willing to wake up early, which isn't often, but sweet when it happens}.  Oh and breakfasts at our favorite diner & the odd jumble sale or craft fair...being able to work on my craft room/guest room, sweet tea & sleeping in & the lazy days of summer.  I will teach a summer class this year, but they only last a month & are generally much fun, and are casual and breezy & an excuse to trade in sweat pants for sundresses~*

A Convent Garden, Brittany, William John Leech

But now I'm wishing spring away, & I don't want to do that.  I need to catch the sweet breezes of spring before the heat of summer closes our windows and blasts our air conditioning and drives our power bill up, up & away...

No Green Thumb?  13 Healthy Hard-to-Kill Houseplants, WebEcoist

What is your favorite part about Spring?