A Stylish Award For Someone Who Wears Baggy Pants

Recently I was awarded the Stylish Blogger Award by both Casa Mariposa and Gardens Eye View. A hearty thanks to both, though I think if they had seen me in my gardening duds they would have thought twice about awarding me anything with the word stylish in it! (What do you wear when you garden? I tend to wear stuff that is well worn. Loose-fitting cotton pants, baggy shirt, and a sun visor is standard wear.)

The award comes with strings attached: I must link back to the person giving the award; share seven random things about myself; pass the award on to fifteen additional bloggers and drop them a note about it.

 So here goes! First are seven random facts about myself:

1. I am a neonatal intensive care nurse. That means I have the cutest patients in the hospital and I can pick most of them up with one hand.

2. I love all kinds of music. I write to music. I clean house to music. I drive my car to music. I do not garden to music, however, as I like to listen to the bird song. (But that's music, too!)

3. I can not sing or play any musical instrument. I am hoping that will be remedied in Heaven. I can definitely see myself playing a harp, though drums would be OK, too.

4. I have double-jointed thumbs.

5. I enjoy white water rafting.

6. I met my husband in July, 1973, at 7AM in a hospital cafeteria. I had a glass of grapefruit juice in my hand. I went home and told my roommate I had met my future husband.

7. I bought a fig tree yesterday. The variety is White Marseilles, which was Thomas Jefferson's favorite.

Choosing fifteen blogs was hard! So many garden bloggers are a source of information and inspiration to me. I started my blog about sixteen months ago, and I can truthfully say it has made a difference in my garden practices and in what I plant. This award is passing around like weeds in the wind, so a lot of bloggers already have it. Nevertheless, here is my list of fifteen great garden blogs, among the many that deserve recognition:

Carolyn's Shade Gardens

Curbstone Valley

Dakota Garden

Flower Hill Farm

Fold, Fallow, and Plow

Gardening Asylum

Garden Sense

Garden Walk Garden Talk

Island Threads

Ledge and Gardens

My Dry Tropics Garden

My Weeds Are Very Sorry

Signature Gardens

Sunny Side Up

The Bunnies Buffet

You may also enjoy my previous post, An Award No Lizard Can Give, especially if you are relatively new to blogging.

A Snowy Monster and Other Things in My Garden

When I woke up yesterday morning, this is the scene that greeted me outside the front windows:

It was a perfect snow for several reasons:

1. I was off work, so I could stay home to enjoy it.

2. There was enough snow to be beautiful but not enough to block roads; so those who had to get about could do so safely, as long as they drove carefully.

3. It will all be gone soon, as spring-like weather is forecast for this weekend.

I quickly pulled on warm clothes and got my camera. I spent the next hour or so wandering around, snapping photos. I was euphoric over the snow which outlined the tree branches:

The old oak tree behind our house is a survivor. It was once a magnificent, perfectly formed tree, but its top was ripped away by the tornado that came through, exactly twenty-one years ago. I thought it would die, but it has surprised me!

I headed for the front garden, and for a moment a snowy monster gave me pause. Then I recognized an old rubber lizard, who has lived in my garden for about fifteen years. He's rather large, and the older he grows, the more life-like he becomes! Below the lizard are various garden ornaments.

Here's a scene from the lady garden. The snow brings out the lady's true nature: rampant and unruly!

And some views of the woodland garden:The tree with the birdhouse is a trident maple. Winter highlights its lovely peeling bark.

I was feeling artsy with my new camera, so I enjoyed taking shots featuring snowy patterns:

Despite the snow, I saw signs of spring, as well as the last remnants of last year's dried seeds and blossoms:After traipsing around in the snow taking all these photos, my hands were freezing! But no problem. Another nice thing about the snow is that it inspired Lou to build a fire, so this is what was waiting for me when I finally went inside:

Stay warm, and may all your monsters be made of rubber!