Thursday morning this & that

Did I mention that I'm off work this week?

It's February intercession and the schools in our district are closed. It's nice to have these extra breaks in February and October, not connected to any holiday. This will be the last time I have a whole week off to myself, because after next week my husband will be retired.

He's looking forward to it and I'm really happy for him. The dogs and Marco are going to love it! Nothing makes them happier than to have one or both of us at home with them. Poppy has followed me everywhere this week, even to the bathroom. She sleeps curled up tight against me every night. George isn't nearly so clingy, but he likes it when we're around, too. 

Poppy has this thing she does when we get home from work: she takes a running leap across the threshold of the back door, and lands on the sofa six feet or so away. It's her way of expressing joy and excitement at seeing us again! Pretty soon she'll only be doing it for me!

Some of my tomato seeds have sprouted! Before Gregg left for work this morning, he pulled out an 3ft aquarium light fixture that I'll set up somewhere in the house for the tiny sprouts. The peppers still haven't made their debut, but they usually take longer anyway. And if all goes well, I plan to do some work in the garden this afternoon and also sow some lettuce seed. In addition to my standard lettuce Merveille des Quatre Saisons I got a free pack of lettuce seed with my Baker Creek order this year that looks really interesting: Yedikule. I'm really looking forward to fresh greens.

Here's a photo I wanted to share before I sign off. Miss Luella's tree next door is in full, magnificent bloom, and I got a close up of some of the flowers. They're so beautiful.

I spoke to one of Luella's daughters the other day, and the family is selling the house to one of her grandsons! His name is Evan and he's a lovely young man. We're so pleased that the house (and the glorious tree) will stay in the same great family! Evan and his girlfriend Stacy plan to move in next week. They're going to be wonderful neighbors!

Friday morning pictures

 I just couldn't resist: here are two more photos of the beautiful magnolia tree next door. 

According to Luella, my 82 year old neighbor who lives here, the tree was already there when she and her late husband bought the house in 1972. That means this tree is well over fifty years old! Luella says that it's been a joy to her every spring for all these years and that her children and grandchildren grew up playing under it. How wonderful is that? 

Speaking of trees, I'm eagerly awaiting new leaf buds on the little fig tree I grew from cuttings and planted in the back yard last October. So far, not much seems to be happening. 

Nothing but bare sticks... 

Then again, the pomegranate tree is still completely bare and I know it's doing well. I planted it in the ground on March 10, 2019 (our first spring in this house) after keeping it in a pot for almost a decade. In the two years since it's grown really fast, maybe to make up for all that lost time it spent confined to a pot!  It's early yet; I think it typically starts to leaf out at the end of March. The Crepe Myrtle trees will be even later than that. So it's probably too soon to expect to see leaves and new growth on the fig--I'm just anxious know if it survived the winter! I think it probably did, but we'll see.

All of a sudden our seemingly never-ending rain and cloudy days have given way to bright blue skies and lots of sunshine. It's still chilly and gets down close to freezing some nights, but the air seems to have a mild edge to it. Spring has definitely begun in this part of South Carolina. Even George has been enjoying hanging out in the yard lately, and he's the most inside-loving dog I've ever had. Here he was a few minutes ago, just standing there soaking up some rays. Doggy bliss.

Have a good weekend, friends!