two weeks

...and over walls and earth and trees and swinging sprays and tendrils the fair green veil of tender little leaves had crept, and in the grass under the trees and the gray urns in the alcoves and here and there everywhere were touches or splashes of gold and purple and white and the trees were showing pink and snow above his head and there were fluttering of wings and faint sweet pipes and humming and scents and scents.  and the sun fell warm upon his face like a hand with a lovely touch. 
-the secret garden

i've never read "the secret garden" before, can you believe it?  what kind of an education did i suffer through?  what was i reading when i should have had this book in my hand, under the covers with a flashlight at night?  sweet valley high i bet.  wanting to be elizabeth but secretly admiring the bad jessica.  are those really their names?  what the heck is wrong with me!  how can i remember fictional twins from more than twenty years ago, (eek!) and not the woman i met last week?!  i still remember elizabeth's first kiss (was it Todd?  i want to seriously punch myself).  i remember reading that she tasted the salt and vinegar on his lips from the fries they had just eaten.  that seemed so romantic to me at the time.  it's still my favourite flavour.  salt and vinegar.

anyways, i digress.  the secret garden.  this week i've planted some flowers in my little backyard bed, and an herb garden where the "vegetables" were last year - i don't know if you remember the harvest of last fall, but i thought i'd try my luck with leaves alone this year.  so, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme - i've got them all!  and my little trees are bursting with blossoms, i've got irises and lilies pushing their leafiness up through the soil, pansies a plenty and green grass!  it's heaven.  today i lay on the hammock and soaked in the sunshine and smelt the blossoms and read my book.  there are fat robins hopping around the house, worms wriggling in my soil, and, as the book states so well, "scents and scents".  have i mentioned i love spring?  i think i have.

it's been two really good weeks. 
i had the immense pleasure of saying goodbye to my in-laws who had come for a quick visit, and not wanting them to leave.  who can say that about their in-laws?  me, that's who!  i spent a day painting with friends.  i've watched my children frolicking in the sunshine, not wanting to leave the backyard. 

and now my mom is here.  we've been staying up until midnight watching downton abbey episodes.  i call out "i love you mr. bates!" in my finest yorkshire accent (i don't really know if it's yorkshire, but that sounded smart of me didn't it?) before i make my way upstairs to bed.  i realized tonight that i don't find mr. bates attractive in the least, and yet i don't know when i've ever rooted for a romance's success more.  now that's a good script.  if you haven't seen downton abbey do so immediately.  call in sick, get a sitter, leave the laundry - watch the show.

and i've been painting lots.  for those of you in the area, my show starts in July at the Station in Rosthern - opening night is the 7th if you want to come! 

so, yes, two weeks filled with a few of  my favourite things.  flowers, digging in soil, reading a good book, sunshine, family, painting, and tea and scones with my mom.  i hope life has been good for you as well.