Still Have Spring Flowers

Lots of things are sprouting or throwing out buds around here. First I have to show you the daffodils and grape hyacinths that are still blooming and still beautiful out front. Who knew that yellow, purple, and green would look so good together? I look out every day and enjoy them. Turning into the driveway and seeing them makes me smile.

In front of the daffodils is this little bunch of wild violets. I think they're wood violets, the state flower of Wisconsin, and they're spread by birds. There are a few purple ones in the side yard but I was getting too chilled in the wind to go around the house to picture them.

I was happy to see that Dad's rose is starting to sprout. I love the burgundy color of the new growth and can't wait until the beautiful and fragrant red roses start to arrive.

The Pacific Sunset Maple tree in the front yard is budding out too. I tried to take a better picture of the buds, one where you can see the spring green and yellow of the buds but the camera kept focusing on the big tree across the street so you get this dull shot of the buds against the cloudy sky.

I only had three things to put on the Gratitude Journal page today but I really enjoyed them all. First I went out back and "chased" the weeds that were growing way faster than the grass. Dug them little suckers right out. Then I painted and after that I toured myself around town finding Little Free Libraries to stuff copies of my books with the old covers into. I found eleven of them. I knew where a few were and happened upon others on the way.

Speaking of watercolor painting, here's the peony I painted today. I really like the way it turned out even though I've never seen a peony with that much yellow in it. Well, come to think of it Lala and I saw an entirely yellow one the last time we went to the botanical garden. Anyway, I'm so happy that I decided to re-watch these lessons on Creativebug. I'm having a lot more success this time around.

And after supper I decided to do a little drawing. I'm so glad that I pulled out the 20 Ways To Draw... books again. I really enjoy the figures and try to challenge myself to draw a different one every time I go through the book. There are 20 examples of each figure in each book so there are lots to keep me occupied. I don't have a favorite today.

I got the second narrator's audition recordings today and she's willing to negotiate the price for doing two and she can do them back-to-back in June. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and go with her. I'll listen to the recordings again tomorrow and then make the decision. I think.

In one of the Little Free Libraries I found a pristine copy of Alex Trebek's biography and spent the afternoon reading it. It's a pretty good read.

Last month I ordered five copies of Better Than Mom's with the old cover. *sigh* I got the new cover files today and approved them so I should be able to change the cover sometime this week. I've still got eight copies with the old cover on them and I only know of one more Little Free Library I didn't hit today. Oh, but there's a LFL app so I can look them up on my phone. That should help me find them and I can ask my knitting friend MW where he drops his books. Maybe he knows ones that I didn't find today. I want to ditch the last few copies of BTM's before the next book signing event in May so I can go with all the right covers on my books.

--Barbara