" And So It Begins "

Spring has definitely sprung here in Southern Illinois. It was 82 degrees and sunny. Too warm for me! Yes you heard me right, I like temperatures in the 70's, and that's all I have to say on the subject!

This is the view looking up from my mother's chair in my yard. You can see the maple tree trying her best to fill out.

 I did way too much work the past three days and I'm paying for it now. No pity please. Arthritis is a terrible thing to have but there isn't much we can do other than shots or sitting and not doing a thing. I choose not to sit so it is my pain to bear.

Here is a picture of my "Good" hand, although it has been riddled with arthritis longer than the other...

And now a picture of the "Bad" hand. Notice the knuckles on the two middle fingers....

Yesterday as I was up on the ladder painting the trim around the ceiling, my knee locked up and I sort of got stuck! So I said "Please Lord help me get down off this ladder and I promise I will stay off of it for at least one whole day!".

I made it down with much pain and then I quit! Everything hurts, back,hips,knees,feet and hands. That is all of the places where I have Arthritis!

Sitting still is very difficult for me. So when I woke up this morning I decided to take a ride to Lowe's to see if they had any purple Petunia's yet. I want purple Petunia's for my hanging planters for the front porch. I do different plants every year. This year, purple petunia's!

And so it begins. The time of year when I spend every extra penny I have on flowers, dirt, mulch and seeds. My husband never says a word. And that surprises me every year!

This is my trunk. I bought 12 purple Petunia's and 2 white one's just to mix it up a bit. Then I remembered that I needed dirt and coconut shells for the planters.

Also a package of Sunflower seeds and Pumpkin seeds. I have grown pumpkins twice and had pretty good results. It's all about location,location,location!

So now I have this Forsythia dilemma. I have noticed that some people keep their Forsythia bushes trimmed neatly.....

W

While others go for the wild look....

These are photos I took while Katie was driving to her friends house today. I actually made her pull over and stop! Jackie would be so proud! Anyway I couldn't decide which way I was going to go with my little Forsythia bush which looks like this....

I know, I know, it does look sort of puny doesn't it? But it's only two years old and I am sure it will get much bigger. 

I asked Katie which way she thought we should let our little bush grow. She said that she liked the......

wild way as do I. Truthfully I don't think she really cared and was just trying to shut me up so that she could get to her friends house quicker! But that's alright as in my heart I really already knew how I wanted the little bush to grow.

And really it already does look pretty wild as I haven't trimmed it....

And now I don't have to. Dilemma settled! As it grows much bigger over the years, it will make my husband happy as there will be less to mow!

Hey now, could it possibly, no it couldn't be.... 

could it ?

maybe that's why he never complains when I plant so many plants. It's less for him to mow!!!