Something the Flower Lady composed recently. Some Easter-y colors.

Meanwhile outdoors:

The hellebores, full-bore. I checked over the state of the estate this morning. We have some nice tete-a-tetes or however you spell them, but no daffodils. It's been a rough winter. Our grass is kind of gray-looking and the garden is a pile of muck. In fact, as a responsible steward of the land, I have to say, "Boy, what a mess!" Our work is cut out for us. Wish us luck! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

"Shamrock" made from a salal leaf. A good idea from Florists' Review.

Storm's A-Comin'

Well, here we go again. Storm's coming and we're stocking up on 18th-century heating technology, just in case. And that's not half of what I hauled back to the homestead. Wood is heavy.

 

The Flower Lady's been busy, too. Classes have begun!

If you think this looks Monet-ish, you're right! The FL and her class were inspired by the Philadelphia Flower Show theme, "Articulture." As you know, Monet said he owed being an artist to his love of flowers.

 

A little something for a co-worker expecting a baby boy.

 

The Flower Lady's been cooking up a storm, too, practicing "Recipe Fusion," as she calls it. Normally I don't like pictures of food on the Internet, because you never get to eat it. But I got to eat this, so I'm putting it in. The Flower Lady calls it "Cosmic Pie," because of the nine cookie planets ("We still love you, Pluto!") circling the sun.

Okay, there's ten planets there in the picture, so I ate one to make it come out right. Yum!

 

 

 

A Flurry of Creativity

 

Something contemplative.

Cheery yellow for the dining room table.

Requiem for a friend's dead cat.

Perfect, the Flower Lady says, for an evening reception.

Happy Valentine's Day! And....

Happy Valentine's Night!!

The Winter Woods

The Flower Lady made this woodsy arrangement two years ago for an elegant wintertime soiree. Brings to mind wildlife scenes like this one:

A fox pup out in the midwinter sun.

The Flower Lady found a sunny window and started some wildlife of her own.

 

And she made this woodland bulb bowl to remind us all that spring will come!

Bird Blogging

Hey, how do you work this thing?

The Flower Lady added some cracked corn to our little bird feeder, and this is what we got-- a flicker decided to drop in and have at it.

Maybe it's the snowy backdrop, or maybe the lack of leafy cover, but the birds' plumage often seems more intense in winter. It's not bad doing bird-watching from the comfort of a cozy kitchen, either. I was inspired to look through the photo archives, and found our feathered friends figure quite prominently therein.

Our usual patrons at the feeder are the snowbirds. They start to appear here in the fall. Down by the creek:

Purple martins at Longwood.

And the Flower Lady snapped these in Cape May:

This is a relatively rare species in NJ. I've forgotten what it is, but an excited, knowledgeable-looking nature lover intimated we were privileged to see it, so we had to get a picture. 

I feel more confident in identifying this one as an Eastern Red-headed Woodpecker. Or is it a downy woodpecker? I forget.

Red wings and red buds.

Red in tooth and claw.

And another entry in the Large Winged Creature Category:

Enjoy the winged world around you!