Friday, April 13, 2007

Spring Has Caught Cold! (Or something worse!)


And the "Thinking Blogger Award"

I'll tell you about that in a minute, but first I wanted to show you what we've been looking at outside for most of the week.


Our snowy front yard


There's a war going on here and Old Man Winter seems to be winning! I wish Spring would stop being a wimp and stand up and fight back!
While the snow hasn't been sticking around for long, we've woken up to a light covering most mornings this week. Yesterday we had heavy wet snow that stayed until early afternoon. These pictures were taken yesterday morning.
I'm feeling sorry for the school kids who've been on spring break all week. I hope they rugged up and got a little fresh air in spite of the cold temperatures and frigid winds. Our forecast is for another week of this same weather pattern. By the end of next week we'll probably be tearing out our hair!
I suppose because the cold weather didn't really begin until mid-January that "Old Man Winter" is determined to give us the full dose!



Old Man Winter go away!



A sad state of affairs - poor crocus!



Where's the sun?

These are the same purple and yellow crocus flowers I showed in the previous post. Sad to say, they're now looking a little worse for wear. Posted by Picasa
********************************

Two of my very dear blog friends have nominated me for a “Thinking Blogger Award”.

Horizon of Message in a Bottle, and Cris of Country Patch are two young mothers who are indeed great thinkers. I love to visit their blogs to read their thoughts and see the wonderful pictures they post of their pretty corners of the world.
Horizon and Cris, I greatly appreciate your kind words and the nomination. Thank you! I learn so much from both of you, and I’m grateful to know you both through this wonderful world of blogging.

Edit: I received a comment this morning from Inland Empire Girl in Washington state and she informed me that she'd also nominated me for the award in her April 10th post. I wanted to say thanks for the honor, and for her lovely comments. We've only recently discovered each other's blogs and I'm enjoying glimpses of her beautiful state, her daily life, and the lovely poetry and recipes she shares.


I now have the difficult task of choosing 5 others to pass the award along to.
I consider each and every one of my blog friends to be excellent thinkers, but many of you have already been given the award, so I’ll try to choose friends who haven’t already been nominated.
I’ve purposely avoided nominating friends who I know are too busy to do this meme at the moment, with the exception of "Jelly". I know she’s very busy but I’m nominating her anyway! She may very well choose to ignore it for this very reason, and that’s perfectly fine. I just wanted her to know that I consider her among the most excellent of thinkers.


Claire, of “Claire’s Garden” in Scotland.
Claire has a wonderful appreciation of nature and inspires me with her beautiful photos of flowers, her cats, the horses she trains and the lovely Scottish countryside. She raises some unusual plants in her small greenhouse, and grows delicious fresh vegetables in raised beds alongside her flower gardens. In the warmer months she loves to go kayaking with friends. Claire writes with that wry Scottish humor that I find so appealing.

Jellyhead, of “Jellyhead Rambles” in sunny Australia.
Jelly is the doctor that everyone would love to have! In fact, if she were my doctor I’d probably make up illnesses just so that I could go and visit with her :) She’s also a busy young wife and the mother of two sweet children.
Jelly is compassionately wise, jotting down her thoughts with great charm, and just the right mix of seriousness and a cheeky sense of humor. I imagine her thinking never stops, even while she’s sleeping!

Stuart of “Gardening Tips and Ideas in Western Australia.
I remember Stuart saying, “I’ve started another blog because I found I was getting way too much sleep”. Yes, he has a great sense of humor :) Stuart constantly and tirelessly strives to bring interesting information to his fellow gardeners, and has a keen desire to draw garden bloggers together. He has created a world map of garden bloggers, and is working on other innovative ideas to unveil in the future. You’ll find the link to his map in the top right corner of this blog.

Linda of "Dew on the Roses" in sunny Florida.
Linda finds beauty in everything around her, and shares her thoughts in a quiet and contemplative way. She has great affection for all God’s creatures, as well as a wonderful appreciation of flowers and plants. Linda is a sweet grandma who loves her family, and remembers fondly the house and barn in Maine that she and her husband spent many happy years in when their children were young. Visiting Linda always leaves me with a feeling of peacefulness.

Giddy of "The Giddy Garden Gnome" in Maine.
Giddy lives across the water from scenic Acadia National Park, which in my opinion is very close to Paradise. She posts breathtaking photos of some of the most glorious sunsets I’ve ever seen, and shares hiking trips in the park. She’s also a doting grandma and passionate gardener. She’s very creative and has just spent time this past winter learning to knit. I love her enthusiasm for life. Giddy always leaves me smiling :)

The procedure now is to copy the Award button to your post and side bar, link to the original source of the meme (the "Thinking Blogger Award" title is a link), and then pick 5 bloggers who you consider to be great thinkers (and whose blogs make you think) to pass the award along to.

Please know that I would pass the award to all my sidebar links if the rules allowed. Each and every one of you enrich my life in your own unique way, and I thank you for that.


Have a lovely weekend everyone, and those of you in warm places, please start huffing and puffing, and blow some of that warm air our way!!!

26 comments:

Alice said...[Reply]

Kerri - please send some of that snow quickly to far north Queensland. I don't think I've ever sweated so much in my life as I am in the wet Tropical north. Tanya keeps worrying that I will be cold - not a chance!!!

So if you send me some snow then I'll gladly send you some of this weather. It's obviously very good for growing things - just stand still for a few minutes and you'll be covered in vegetation.

Tomorrow we begin wending our way home, so maybe the snow won't be needed after all.

I hope you get a good dose of Spring weather soon.

Anonymous said...[Reply]

Congratulations on the Thinking Blogger Award. Well deserved and always a pleasure to visit.

Weather is just crazy here too! Poor birds and flowers are so confused.

Take care,
Connie

clairesgarden said...[Reply]

thankyou very much, totally flattered!

Anonymous said...[Reply]

Kerri, like Claire I am totally flattered not only for the award but also for the beautiful comments.

I shall choose my five next week but I can empathise with your dilemma of the limitation. Every blog in my blogroll and feed reader is a qualified "Thinking Blogger" - otherwise they wouldn't be there. Choosing 5 is going to be quite a task.

I feel for your crocuses having to fight so hard for their survival. I hope the snow finally dissipates and the sun settles in.

smilnsigh said...[Reply]

I love the title of this entry! How true. Same here. But without any blooms to show, among the snow flakes.

Oh well, I've given up fretting about it. :-)

Mari-Nanci

Jeanette said...[Reply]

Hi Kerri . So SAD to see your lovely colourful Crocus covered in snow, were still getting very warm weather here

Carole Burant said...[Reply]

Hello dear Kerri:-) Congratulations on winning the Thinking Blogger Award!! I know how hard it was for you to choose only 5 to pass it on to...I wanted to choose everyone on my list as well! lol Your weather has been the same thing as ours...we wake up to snow in the morning, it melts by afternoon and then it's snowing again the next morning! The trees haven't even started budding here and no Spring flowers have opened yet. Indeed...Old Man Winter Go Away!!! xoxo

Christy Woolum said...[Reply]

Actually, add another person that nominated you for the blog award. Somehow the comment got lost in blog world this week. Yes, I also nominated you and you can read what I said on April 10th on my blog. Congratulations and thanks for making me think.

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...[Reply]

Congratulations Kerri......U sure are deserving of an honor like that!and old man winter's really causing some serious damage...hope he decides to retire soon!!!:)

Betty said...[Reply]

Congratulations! It was also hard for me to select only 5 but I now have so many more blogs to visit just by following other nominees..

Blogging has brought me so many new friends, I am so blessed......

Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...[Reply]

Congratulations on the award!

It looks like we're both in for it tomorrow but looks like you'll be on the worse end :( I think my bulbs are going to wait for summer to bloom. I can't wait to put this rotten weather behind us!

Tammy said...[Reply]

Congratulations on the award...well deserved!
I'm thinking the old groundhog was wrong!!

Jellyhead said...[Reply]

Kerri, thank you for the honorable mention, and for your sweet compliments!

HUFF PUFF! (no this is not a crank call - I'm sending you warm air from across the ocean!)

Terri said...[Reply]

Dear Kerri,
Congratulations on your nomination!
We got a lot of slush, but no accumulation this week. The kids mostly stayed inside and played games and watched movies. We are being told to expect up to 9 inches of snow on Monday. How about where you are?
God bless.
Terri

Susie said...[Reply]

Hi Kerri,
Congrats on your award. I know how hard it is to narrow it down to just 5. I'll look forward to checking out some of your links :)
Weather is crazy here too. High winds and today pouring chilly rain!
I'm hoping my flowers understand that it really is still spring!!
xoxox

Midlife Mom said...[Reply]

CONGRATULATIONS on your award!!! You are well deserving with your thoughts and beautiful photography. I feel so badly for your flowers sitting there in the snow, at least here they haven't poked their little heads up yet to get cold. We are due to get a Nor'easter tomorrow or Monday. Here we go again!

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...[Reply]

Congratulations on your Thinking Blogger Award. Pea nominated me for it, but I haven't been able to choose my five, so I will probably leave it lying in the closet for a while.

It looks like you are in for another round with winter as he passes over you once again this week. So far we have been lucky and have only received heavy rains with moderate temps. I don't know why I said lucky because winter did a number on us with his last freeze and snow covering and my plants are still looking very sick along with the trees that had sprouted leaves...they must all start over and are looking pretty brown & black at the moment.

I hope you get lucky and this last bout with winter passes over you.

Giddy said...[Reply]

Kerri, thank you so much for your kind words and nomination. I will certainly be choosing 5 for the nomination as well, but with my slow dial up service it may take me a while. Are you getting hit by the big snow storm today? Looks like we may have a pass with only rain and wind. Sure hope it gets rid of the last of this snow!

Linda said...[Reply]

I remember very well those times when I longed for spring and it just never seemed to come. However...it really will get there. Poor little crocuses. I hope the sun comes out soon.
Congratulations on the award. You deserve it for that and for all the beautiful pictures you post. Your blog is just gorgeous and thoughtful.

LostRoses said...[Reply]

Your yellow crocus are such a blazing color they resemble little rays of sunshine poking up through the snow. Hope the real thing happens soon!

Bored Insomniac said...[Reply]

Congrats on your award. Let's hope that spring is around the corner.

kylieps said...[Reply]

Congratulations Mummy! Does Dad still hate me for introducing you to blogging now that you're an award winning Thinking Blogger?
love you

Sigrun said...[Reply]

Oh Kerri, it is not nice to see that you have snow! I wish you warm sunshine and a lot of fresh flowers! We are back and had a wonderful time. And here in Germany we had - to early - 28 ° C.

Sigrun

Annie in Austin said...[Reply]

Congratulations, Kerri - your writing is a pleasure to read, and your generous comments encourage and cheer on other bloggers. It will be fun to visit your nominees!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

LindaD said...[Reply]

Thank you Kerri - - As I read and planned to read others posts that I hadn't seen, it was one of those 'delightful surprises'

I, too, need to go back and look at each blog that I've gotten to love - and nominate five. First I have to find a way for my old blogger and new blogger to play nicely.

I love the hardiness and courage of crocus!! - so beautiful in the snow.. thanks for the pictures.

Cris said...[Reply]

Kerri, the comments on this post shows how dear you are dear to everyone. I am glad we met through blogging! I would send you some sunshine, but it is going away here... and it was dark at 6:00 pm already...