Quelles belles fleurs!

Our air conditioner has stopped working, but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying the beautiful flowers in my garden, peonies, irises, roses, and clematis, to name a few:

I love Spring and I love flowers!

Stop and enjoy one today.

Paix.

--J

Spring Has Sprung!

My favorite time of the year is upon us.  Here are a few pictures of Spring that I have recently taken:

At my polling place today:

In my parents' yard:

In my backyard:

And in my front yard:

And my all-time favorite lilacs haven't even bloomed yet!  I'll make sure to post again when they do!

Joyeux printemps!  Happy Spring!

J

National Crochet Month Post #13--Amigurumi Woodland Birds

Spring has sprung here in my part of the world.  How is the weather like where you are?  We still have cold nights and some chilly days, but you can tell that warmer weather is nearly here.

One of the best things about Spring is the plethora of birds that show up at the feeder on our deck and in our yard.  Of course, we have our fair share of winter birds too.

But soon we will have yellow finches and red finches too.  While we are waiting for those lovely creatures, here are a few birds I have crocheted myself.  I used Stacey Trock's pattern from her Craftsy class called Woodland Animals.  They are super easy to make and so darn cute too!

This one was made with baby-friendly eyes.  

I love my sweet little birds. Happy crocheting!

#NationalCrochetMonth

I'm in love with this SOAP!

I know it sounds slightly irrational, but I made this Apricot Freesia soap a couple of days ago and just cut it this evening.  I am in LOVE with it!  J'adore ce savon!

The apricot color is of course reminiscent of actual apricots.  And I used white and yellow to represent freesia.  It smells like a lovely late spring day!  Lovely!

Watch me cut the soap here:

and unveil it here:

And here are the crêpes that Sean made for school.  Elles sont délicieuses!

I hope you have a lovely week!

--J

Busy time of the year: lovely birds, Honor Society Induction, secret anniversary party, French rock star, and more!

I want to sing from the highest branch in my nascent cottonwood tree that I LOVE SPRINGTIME!!!  

"Le ciel est par-dessus le toit/si bleu, si calme/un arbre par-dessus le toit/berce sa palme/La cloche dans le ciel qu'on voit/doucement tinte/un oiseau sur l'arbre qu'on voit/chante sa plainte..."

As a high school world language teacher (I teach French and Spanish), this gorgeous time of the year comes at a price--the end of the school year madness.  It is almost time for seniors to leave so they will need to take the final early, then comes graduation, then comes finals for everyone else, then comes training for our new Apple products in my district.  I haven't even mentioned the fact that my two nieces are graduating from high school themselves and will have parties and ceremonies, as well as the children of friends who are graduating or getting married.

I want to go out, and with the help of Zyrtec and Flonase, enjoy this:

or this:

But this past week almost did me in with all the preparation I did for the induction of 34 students into the French National Honor Society, for the first time ever at my school.  I was the sole planner and organizer.  If you know me at all and have seen the area around my desk, you will know that planning and organizing are not traits I was born with and have yet to fully develop.  So I was stressed out beyond belief.  I didn't even get any photos of the ceremony but I hope to get some from my friend Connie whose son was inducted.  I must thank Connie and our friend Amy, who both did the shopping, layout, and clean up of the refreshments after the ceremony.  They are awesome ladies who will be duly rewarded with a Bordeaux soon!

And speaking of Bordeaux, a rock star from that lovely city on the Garonne visited my school this week.  Pierre, who has become sort of my French nephew (je m'appelle tatie d'Amérique--well, that's how I think of myself), raised a ruckus among the frenzied girls in my high school.  And all he had to do was walk through the halls, visit a couple of classrooms, and speak with a French accent.  He had no idea he would have such an effect on these youngsters.  I hope he doesn't get any ideas to start a cult because he would be a very successful leader.    :)

Voilà Pierre:

Très beau, non?  Et extrêmement gentil et patient avec les élèves.  Bravo, Pierre.  Tu es la nouvelle vedette rock and roll, et tu ne le savais même pas! 

And now I must leave soon to attend a meeting to plan for a secret anniversary party for a certain couple reaching a certain amazing achievement of 50 years together.  This couple is not online (it costs too much) so I am not worried about letting the cat out of the bag, but I'm pretty sure they know what is going on because it's hard for 100 people to keep a secret like this. 

So, have a lovely weekend and take time to smell the roses, or lilacs since roses haven't bloomed where I am yet.  And I hope someone as awesome as Pierre makes an appearance in your life soon!  If not a young Frenchman then maybe a pretty cardinal or a fragrant flower.  Because as far as I'm concerned, all these beautiful things are rock stars!  

Spring Glorious Spring!

Spring is my absolute favorite season; the trees are green, the flowers are blooming, the weather is fairly mild.  Am I worried that Spring arrived 3-4 weeks earlier than normal?  Sure, but I am not going to let myself think about it.  I am just going to admit the fact that we now have higher temperatures and figure out how to handle that during the hottest part of the summer.  I suppose going to the pool will help.  Amazingly, the pools open a mere seven weeks from now.  Wow, where does the time go?

We planted 19 lavender plants last week, mostly the Provence variety.  We did have some Grosso as well.  We amended the soil with sand and gravel since lavender plants don't like wet feet.  One plant looks a little weak, but it looks like most of them will probably survive.  We still need two more plants and we will add mulch next weekend.  And I need to find a fairly inexpensive bird bath or fountain for the front rose garden.  Then we will feel like our front garden will be pretty much finished. I can't wait to enjoy the lavender flowers in about two months' time.  However, if this warm spell continues, I guess I could have my first blooms later this month.  Wouldn't that be something? 

I will post more pics once we add mulch to our garden.  I hope you are having a sunny, wonderful spirng!