Flowers in Winter

When I saw some big, bright flower decals at the store, my heart bubbled over, imagining how they would brighten my walls. But when I got home, I realized that I had acrylic paint in the same colors as the plastic flowers, and if I painted my own, they wouldn't look all the same.

 So I painted, and painted, and painted.

 Now I have whimsical flowers in my house all the time.

What kind of flower do you like best?

Bees in Trees!

(I don't know why these videos aren't working properly! If anyone knows how I can fix them, then please let me know!)

When I went outside yesterday, I heard what sounded like a motor humming faintly overhead. When I got beneath our black willow tree and looked up, I saw BEES! (I like bees... they seem cheerful and busy.)

In this first short video, you should be able to hear the humming bee sound in between my crackly footsteps (sorry about that) and our chickens' squawks.

I'm including the second even shorter video because it shows the bees closeup, even though there's some kind of talk going on in a man's voice that must have been playing on my phone, but I don't remember it while filming! (Maybe it's a voice from above...translating bee talk? What do you think?)

 

Don't Kick a Box in Flops

by Shirley Bahlmann
It's nice to have a fresh start, clean laundry, clean sheets, and raking your yard after a winter pileup of late-dropping leaves.
That's what we did last Saturday, we went outside and cleaned our yard - as much as wasn't frozen in the snow piles that clung to the north side of our house. Part of my self-imposed cleaning was moving boxes back to the shed. When I set one down partially in the doorway, I gave it a kick to nudge it into place.
Owowowow!
I neglected to mention a favorite fresh spring fashion accessory. I love to wear flip flops, but they are not good for kicking boxes. It can really mess up your toenail polish, not to mention your toe.
If you don't believe me, I'll peel back the bandaid for you to see for yourself. So wear shoes when you do yard work, or you may be wearing a half size smaller.
Don't say I didn't warn you.