February is such a fun month for kids and adults, alike. Here are 10 things I love about February.
The weather changes a lot. We almost always get snow or ice around Valentine’s Day. Snow is unique in Texas. With 1/2 inch of snow, you will see school’s out, and lots of snowmen.
I love Valentine’s Day!! It’s a day of love and showing someone else how much you like/love them. I like to put up my decorations and have fun with it.
Valentine’s Day is also my Anniversary. I married my sweetie 47 years ago. Sometimes though, he thinks I only need one gift, to serve both occasions.
Helping my Grandkids make and decorate Valentine’s cookies. Love those kids!
Giving lessons to my piano students. I had three new students this month…all brothers. They are so fun!
Planting pansies and preparing to plant other plants.
Planning my garden for Spring.
Going to Bunko, Ladies’ Poker and Mexican Bingo
Having a Super Bowl Party
Singing in my church choir, being a liturgist and teaching children’s church…things that make me happy.
Anniversary bouquet
Isaac frosting sugar cookies
What are your favorite things about February? Leave me a comment . That section is either on the side with the #words, or at the bottom , under the Other things you might like. If you liked this post, press Like. That helps me!
There’s nothing like Texas weather in February!!! Is it winter? Is it Spring? Is it Summer? Sheesh! Today, it feels like early Spring. The rest of the week is going to be in the 70’s.
If we ever get snow, it’s usually around Valentine’s Day. This year, the bad weather arrived two weeks early. It came in the form of a sleet storm, in Ft. Worth, with very frigid weather. My son, and sister-in-law , live in the Austin area. They had a severe ice storm that brought down trees and wires, all over Austin. My sister-in-law and hubby just had their electricity turned back on, this past week. They were without electricity for about 10 days, and ended up being at a hotel for five or six of those days. They are still cleaning up debris. All of the streets in their area are lined with piles of tree branches. Austin and Ft. Worth, and surrounding areas had multiple wrecks. It was all quite the mess.
And then……we had a beautiful sunset ! Don’t like the weather in Texas? Stick around!
A beautiful sunset.
Two years ago, we rented a condo for Valentine’s week. We were at a lake, southwest of Austin. Our anniversary is on Valentine’s Day, so we like to celebrate in some fashion. As were at the condo unit, we had a major ice storm. We were iced in, and there was hardly anyone at the resort. During the week, two gentlemen had had their unit flood from burst pipes. They asked if they could come in and get warm. They ended up staying with us for that week. It was an interesting experience, with no water, and roving electricity. We played a lot of cards.
Before
Old door mat
Pansies in the flower pots, and new door mat. My dad made the head.
So here we are in the middle of February. It’s starting to feel Springy. I decided to rip out the dead plants from my front porch planters…it’s about time!….and plant some pansies. I also bought a new door mat for the porch. So far, that’s all I have done, but oh, I feel so much better! Now, I need to get my back flower pots done, and get the garden areas cleaned out. Truthfully, I love Spring! That is one reason I’m glad we moved to Texas. Spring comes earlier here.
How is the weather in your part of the world? Are you still having winter, or is it Spring weather? Leave me a comment .
My husband’s banana plants grow to the top of the windows.
How are you doing with your gardening? Is it your thing, or are you not a gardener? I do a few herbs, but mainly flowers. This week we’ve been weeding the flower beds, and planting new things. It’s starting to get really hot, so we’re working in late mornings or early evenings.
In March, I was just starting to dream about things…OK…I’d been dreaming about my garden since January! I wasn’t even sure that half of my perennials had made it through the winter. I started thinking about what flowers I would plant. I use some seeds, such as zinnias, and some starter plants. In the fall, I had ordered some bulbs and plants from Gilbert and Son Nursery. I hadn’t planted most of them. (Story of my life! I get excited and buy lots and don’t get them all planted!)
Oh I have dreams of a beautiful garden!
In April, the nurseries were full of plants and I went a bit crazy. Oh, the prices of plants have gone WAY up! I decided to plant things in the front flower beds first. I planted petunias in the pots, on the front porch. Then I added a pot of petunias on one flower bed. The other side has shade. So I planted begonias in the bed, and more begonias around the tree. These photos are recently taken. We’ve decided to use black mulch this year. The last photo is how my mums look in the fall.
To the right of the petunia pot, in front, are my phlox. They are beautiful.
My mums in the fall.
The shady side of my flower garden.
On the west side of my house, I have some giant elephant ears. They get humongous. I used to have a couple of little girls who took piano lessons from me. They would go out and sit under the leaves of the elephant ears. Elephant ears remind me of my Daddy. He had some great ones.
My elephant ears on the west side of my house. They have come back every year for 18 years. They’ll get twice as big as this.
Here are some photos from April and now, on areas of my back yard. We just planted a day lily /iris/elephant ear garden. It’s new. Hope it all comes up and does well.
Before I weeded my perennials.
After adding some annuals.
The germ of an idea.
The new day lily bed
Ready to grow!
My hubby built my “casket” several years ago. I have two pepper plants and several herbs that need hair cuts.
I will update my garden , later in May. It should have filled out nicely by then. I also have a huge Rose of Sharon bush, that has a ton of buds on it. Can’t wait until it blooms!
So cheers to gardening! I get so excited in the Spring. But when it gets hot, I kind of poop out. I’m not a very patient gardener . I want quick results.
How many of you have a gardening folder, for ideas? I make a map of my garden. I also belong to a Facebook group, Addicted to Gardening. It shows a lot of gardens in progress, answers questions and is a great site. My favorite YouTube site, in relation to gardening, is Garden Answer. Check them out.
Happy Gardening! Leave me a comment about your Spring activities.
It’s SPRING!!! Halleluiah. I always feel happier when nature starts greening things up, and flowers start popping out. I’ve been doing some planting. After the coffin flower bed had the bottom collapse, last year, it has been redone. I’ve planted herbs and a few other things in it. I’m liking the looks of it. I’ve also planted flowers in several pots. Dick cleaned out a big, overgrown, dying vine from the patio. We’re trying out ideas for that corner. I always get excited in the Spring, and plant things. Then it gets incredibly hot, in the summer, and I fizzle out. I think we may have lost a couple of things during the Snowmageddon. We’ve already dug up my rosemary bush. Not sure if the Banana Plant survived. We’re playing a waiting game.
My new herb garden, in my coffin planter. Yes, I still need to weed some, but I like this pot of flowers. Can’t wait until they fill out.
Great news is that we’ve had both of our covid vaccines. That’s a relief and makes me feel safer. We actually went over to our friends’ house, the other night, for dessert and visiting. I hadn’t seen them in so long! That was after we joined them at a restaurant, sitting on the patio. Yes, we’re still using our masks, doing social distancing, and being very selective about where we’re going. Ummm…yes…we did go to Winstar. I won a lot of money but gave it back to the local schools and economy.
We have our vaccines! But we’re still being safe and responsible.
It’s about time to get our Poker groups back up and going. We are all seniors, and have all had our two vaccines. In April, we’ll start back. Maybe Bunco will be next.
Our son, Chris, recently had surgery for Colon Cancer. He’s only 41. Luckily, they got it all, and it hadn’t spread to the Lymph Nodes. He’s still dealing with a stent in his kidneys and some kidney stones, but he seems to be getting better. We thank all of our family and friends for their prayers.
I had the privilege of taking care of my two grandkids, during the surgery time. I stayed with them for two weeks, had a weekend off, and then picked them up and brought them to our house for Spring Break. They had a chance to play with their other cousin, while at our house. We had Nana School, went to a park, and they are masters of Minecraft. It’s actually hard to get them off of electronics. Electronics were my leverage for getting them to brush teeth and go to bed. I felt fortunate to beat my 8 yr. old grandson at Chess. And he’s a beginner.
Big news! We are about to come to the finish line with our bedroom. Yeah! We still need to buy a new bed. We’ve gone from a gold wall to a grey wall. So much calmer and serene. But….you’ll have to wait. Hope to have the big reveal in my next post.
Leave me a comment and let me know how you are enjoying your Spring time. Are you planting things? Have you had both of your vaccines? Are you going out more?
Something weird and mysterious has happened to my garden above-ground planter!
What in the world happened?
A couple of years ago, my dear hubby built me a wonderful, sturdy above ground planter. We called it our “coffin”, because it looked like one, when he made it. I was so proud of it, and proud of him for making it. I’ve enjoyed planting flowers and plants in it. This past summer, I planted one cucumber, and it kind of took over. A month ago, I cleaned that out and planted some pansies. So pretty!!
Dick Ruddell, my hubby, making the “coffin”.
At the middle of the first year.
The cucumber grew and grew!
Yesterday, I went out to make my daily circle around the back yard, and found a major surprise! The bottom had caved out of my planter. WHAT???? So we are trying to analyze what happened. Yes, we’ve had a little rain, but not that much. Had some of the bottom soil turned to clay? Were the holes not big enough for drainage? Had some animal gotten in there and messed around? Who knows? This will be my hubby’s new project, for the New Year.
It collapsed!
What a mess!!!
Have any of you ever had the bottom fall out of your planter? How did you solve this problem? What kind of plants do you have, right now? My pansies are pretty…some others WERE pretty.
Such is my world today. Guess it’s pretty minor, compared to many others and their problems. Sigh.
