Friday March 4

Friday, not sure if my memory extends that far back but i'll do my best, when you get older, the brain cells get rusty and go a little wonky.  Friday morning, i went to my friend Melissa's house for coffee - it was GREAT to catch up again since it's been far too long and soon they will be moving away and it will be even harder to coordinate things so i was glad to have this chance. Coffee inevitably turns into lunch and that is always yummy there - i have so many friends who are great cooks! 
After lunch, i took off to find some gifts for my friend Helen and her brother Ed - who were having a shared birthday party that evening... what to get them?  I found some very interesting almost prehistoric-looking flowers which i thought they might like - Australian flowers are so exotic and these kinda looked like they might even grow there (and it turned out they did... so my guess was a good one!)  I also wanted a plant of some sort - so off i went to Sharples - one of my favorite places to be.  I love wandering around there and seeing what's new and smelling the freshness and sensing the growth in the air, avoiding puddles in the greenhouse and finding something new and exciting to grow.  They have lots of choice to be sure.  I often think that if i ever abandon my nursing career, that i would love to work in such a place - go from caring for people to caring for plants - that's not that far of a stretch is it?

Interesting succulents just waiting for me to take them home... and kill them.. i'm good at that!

Rows of orchids and all kinds of other neat plants...

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then it was off home, and i realized that i had my own little beautiful array of flowers to enjoy.  My orchids apparently have been whispering together that they were all going to bloom within a few days of each other to add some interest to my front window and i must say, i'm very grateful to them.  They look lovely despite their repeated neglect and abuse at my hands. 

And at Sharples, there was a really cheap little bunch of carnations that begged to be taken home - well, for $3.50, i couldn't resist and they have been ever so thankful - brightening up my kitchen and letting me putter with them - arranging a bit and making little flower arrangements through the house with their abundant blooms.

Finally, one last picture.  When i was cleaning the house on Friday.... i finally looked out on my deck and decided i was sick and tired of that huge pile of snow resting on my deck for the last number of months so off it had to go... i scraped and hauled that heavy snow, feeling all exhausted when i was done but happy to see the boards (or mostly) but i think the weather had the last laugh, because it warmed up greatly Friday evening and by Saturday, it was melted away in the rain... all that effort for nothing... aah, well, it was good to see some free space and to be able to walk on my deck again (for a day - until Sunday morning, but that's another story)