and yes, more flowers

 The top photo is from yesterday's neighborhood walk and the bottom two are from my very own garden. I have no idea what these flowers are but they have NEVER bloomed like this. The gift of rain and now gorgeous sunshine.

street art

 Hmmmmm, a little technical glitch on Blogspot this morning. Is this scene going to show up ok?  I snapped it on a walk last week. The plant growth locally is ferocious after all the rain and if this doesn't show I will just re-work it later. 

city sidewalks

 Did you say Spring? All the most welcome rain has helped everything and we are enjoying unusual color and floral beauty. I admire the ones who plant bulbs back in Winter and then share the results with their neighbors. Walking this time of year is such a pleasure.

the flower of the season

 Our neighborhood is, as you know by now, heavily Latino. In Mexico the orange marigold is an essential element of the Day of the Dead celebrations. The strong aroma and bright/bright color will guide the spirit of the deceased back to their loved ones. Yes, I have them on our front porch and they are working.

birds and roses

 One of my errands yesterday was to fill the bird feeders over at Doug and Barb's as they are in England currently. I "borrowed" about twenty lemons but left these beautiful yellow roses. I did send them a photo just in case they are gone when my friends return home. 

the glory that is Spring

 This Spring especially ~ the ground was saturated during the Great Rains and these poppies and friends are about two blocks from Annabelle's home. Really very few flowers in Sav'h, maybe we were too early or late? But SF is resplendent! Not easy to drive because there are explosions of floral color everywhere.

carrots and tulips

 Sister Jane sent me this photo yesterday ~ quite clever, don't you think? Spring rocks!

busy Thursday

 Sorry I'm late. Sometimes there are surprise complications in this life. Perhaps you have noticed? My wonderful step daughter sent me these flowers for a belated Mother's Day gift and Annabelle was, as usual, intrigued. May is zipping by, yeeee gads!

another early Spring

 We are well aware that many have to wait another month or two for tulips and daffodils and blooming cherry trees, but here I am in mid-February bringing our bulbs out from under the dark temporary (we hope) under-stair deck cemetery. These lovelies were happy to emerge into the sunshine last week.

red and yellow

 I couldn't resist. This was the front seat of my car last night as I drove over to Gini and Philipp's for an excellent pot roast dinner. Tulips were gorgeous, especially next to the bright red poncho that I inherited from dear Marsha when she died. Today I go to San Leandro on BART. Sigh.

out of the graveyard

 Step daughter Nancy sent me an Amaryllis bulb for Christmas and it did nothing for months and I tucked it under the stairs on the back deck and forgot about it. Suddenly, about a month ago, way out of season, it started growing quickly and wowza, here we have this glorious winter-blooming beauty. 

flowers, despite the drought

 This outrageous Bougainvillea is in the patio of a seedy little coffee shop in the Mission. I am usually out there alone with what Picture This identifies as a Great Brazillian Bougainvillea. The photo does not do it justice, but trust me, it is huge. Then the Lavender Cotton grows wild in a little patch close to home where I often notice a kind woman weeding and tending to these happy surprises. 

not a fan

 Step daughter Nancy sent me this beautiful bouquet for Mother's Day. Women without children don't get too excited about this Hallmark Holiday, but I do appreciate the gesture and the flowers. To see Facebook or Instagram this weekend, which I avoided this year, one wonders if there are no bad mothers anywhere.

no groundhogs in SF

 And soon I will bore you with the bloomng cherry trees and magnolias. Spring is on the way. Trust me.

fall feels almost normal

 A nice walk in the sunshine, a latte with some reading time and of course these bright orange not-sunflowers to cheer this city woman recluse. Lovely indeed. 

don't tell a soul

The top photo is dear Tom, Linda's husband. When she sent me this photo I was forced to admit that I really dislike sunflowers and she found this to be funny (and odd, I'm sure). I think I started hating these prickly show-offy flowers on my first cross country trip ~ they are just so Kansas/Nebraska and now here they appear in Albuquerque. Linda also kindly sent me the Charlotte Mendelson clip, which I love.

a blooming surprise

How long have I lived here? I had never been to the Dahlia Grove until
last Tuesday with Pat, who insisted we go there. It's behind the Conservatory
of Flowers and yes, it is overwhelming and impressive.

behold...

...the Pincushion. It seems like ever since I learned the quite obvious name
of this plant I see it everywhere. Sometimes mother nature outdoes herself.

flowers, sunshine, Passover!

Oh, and BASEBALL ~ the Giants won their first game yesterday.
It must be Spring and most welcome to all of us. Thanks to the
Blogmaid for these lovely tulips pictured above. Oh, and guess what
else I learned at the March last Saturday...scrunchies are back
in style. Who knew? My march mates, that's who. Such good news.
Not that I ever stopped worshipping the scrunchy.

everyday is V Day

Husbando was rather clueless yesterday when I put these flowers in
our Costco shopping cart. Then this morning he apologized for forgetting
Valentine's Day again and I pointed out his gift here on the dining room
table. When I was young I would get all pissy if he forgot this day,
but now I accept that he is perfect on all other days. Ahem.