Oklahoma!

"Oh what a beautiful morning!  Oh what a beautiful day!" My grandmother used to sing.  That applies double to today.  Sunny, breezy, and 75, and oh, the azaleas.  Some have popped, others are getting ready to pop, and the late bloomers are just budding out.  I am in azalea love.

I have *just* started gathering them up...

...and putting them in vases. 

Big vases, tiny bud vases, old mason jars...all are pressed into use in this season.  Every bookshelf, every table, every free surface is positively overflowing.

Meanwhile, I'm also enjoying the green I'm seeing everywhere outside.  I get great pleasure from seeing new shoots coming out of dry, dead piles.

The dogwoods, with their very short-lived flowers, are showing off.

They make a great display indoors too!

Of course, there's the ugly side.  I'm prepping for a big work convention in April and just haven't had time to do the necessary yard work.  The driveway is littered with fallen branches.  The stone walls are overgrown with ivy.  Leaves are choking the path edges.

Well, I'll get to it when I get to it.  That's what I tell myself when I'm out filling bird feeders or picking flowers and ignoring the work piling up inside.  But it's so beautiful outside, with the birds singing and busily building nests, squirrels chattering, chipmunks dashing, trees budding out all around...

Always finding some new small delight, like clematis buds that weren't there yesterday...

Or discovering that one of the many peony bushes I planted 2 years ago is finally going to bloom...

Well, it's just hard to stay indoors.  Working from home takes a certain amount of discipline, and for me that's sadly lacking in the springtime!  I don't let it bother me too much.  :)  

Have a great week!