Daffodils & Tulips & Our Red Umbrella…oh, My!

Ok…this blog will be a bit brief as I am taking advantage of the scrumptious sunshine that has finally arrived by spending a great deal of time relaxing beneath the red umbrella that graces our front patio…yep, I love to just sit and think or write letters to friends or read the next books for book group or chat with passers-by or listen to the birds or drink a glass of wine or...well, you get the picture, right? :-)  

OK…here’s the "daffodil and tulip" scoop.  

The rose flowerbed at the front of our home is truly a legacy to the Ross family (the only other family to have lived in our home since it was built in 1934).  It was in either 1935 or 1936 that the late Mrs. Ross planted the hardy bushes with their aromatic pink roses (I have yet to find out the name for the rose).  

In that brick-lined flowerbed those roses have bloomed for over 70 years!  At one point last year, Jack and I considered removing the rose bushes because of how large and somewhat unruly they become, but then our hearts won over and a late fall “haircut” (well, actually a crew-cut is more like it) was the course we chose.  However, since we cut the bushes back so drastically, our little flowerbed looked empty and lonely.  So as if I were staring at a blank canvas…

I began to imagine…. 

You see, one of the many things I love about this region is the abundance of all kinds of flowering bulbs that burst into bloom in the spring—so I decided it was time to try my “Texas-gardener-turned-Tonawanda-gardener” hand with them! 

Just as the frigid temperatures of winter began to take hold last year, I grabbed my newly acquired “bulb shovel” along with the bags of Narcissi King Alfred daffodils and Apeldoorn tulips I had purchased. 

I was on a “maiden” journey for me—to create a “sea of yellow daffodils and red tulips” that would bless us with their beauty in the spring. 

By the time I finished planting the one hundred or so bulbs, my fingers—despite the thick gloves I wore—and my nose were frozen…but my hopes and expectations were warmed as I imagined each bulb nestled in the ground, merely resting through the long winter months in preparation for their emergence in the spring. 

Well…those cold, dreary months of winter are slipping away (or at least we’re crossing our fingers that they are)…and the “blooms” of my labor are bringing us (and our neighbors) an awful lot of joy.  I will have to get back to you with pics of the tulips…they are still teasing us with their “yet-to-open” buds.

I can’t wait for fall (yikes….did I really just say that???) so that I can plant even more bulbs all about our yard and flower beds.  Guess that is one way to get through the winter, eh, knowing that come springtime, nature will grace us with her flowers.

 

                                                                       

 Life is good!   Yowza! 

Yowza Elves Gone Wild: Holiday Goodies, 2009

SNAPSHOT:  Yowza Elves Gone Wild…

for the support staff at the Salvation Army Emergency Shelter

(downtown Buffalo, NY)

It has been a while since I last sat down at the computer to write…but such is life!  This past month and a half has been a veritable blur of life activities, but little windows of time for catching up on my blogging are finally opening up.

Ironically, though, as these blocks of time for writing are occurring, the warm weather and blue skies over Western New York have returned on a regular basis.  Needless to say, I find myself wanting to be outside enjoying the lure of spring rather than inside sitting in front of the computer. 

To honor this lure of being outside and enjoying this fabulous spring weather, I will use a series of SNAPSHOT BLOGS rather than longer pieces to record some life snippets.

I began my volunteer connection with the Salvation Army Emergency Shelter late last year, and that partnership has brought a great sense of personal joy and fulfillment.  Most of the work I am doing for the shelter involves room makeovers (from painting to re-designing to re-decorating to whatever the need that I can handlew).  However, it dawned on me that some "Yowza Elves" work I began back in Austin, TX. could continue right here in the Buffalo region.  With that thought in mind, I was excited to invite some of my WNY “Elf-Spirited” friends to help honor the shelter’s support staff--a staff of beautiful women and men who are the heart and soul of this agency and who work tirelessly to keep things running smoothly and successfully! 

So, at Christmas time (’09) I sent out the call to a handful of gal-pals to “come & play & give a bit of themselves”...they didn’t hesitate to answer the call with a collective YES!   Yes ma’am…this small circle of elves with good hearts gathered at my home and we iced cookies, decorated brownies, filled hot chocolate bags, collected books for reading...and more.  

There was Elf Beth.  

                                                                      And Elves Trisha & Pat.  

    

And Elves Anne & Judy.  

   

                                             And even our honorary elf…

                                my precious cat of 16 years, Galaia!

Our first Yowza Elves “gift” of giving was to surprise the shelter’s support staff—all 17 of them—with individual plates and bags of holiday goodies in thanks for all they do to help others. 

  

One of the key ideas behind being a Yowza Elf is to remain in the wings, so to speak, as unnoticed and invisible as possible.  You know, kind of like the tooth fairy!   

How fun that we were basically able to pull off the surprise…which filled us with the joy of knowing that we, a small circle of Yowza Elves, could put smiles on the faces and feelings of importance in the hearts of the staff!