The Tranquil Days of Spring

My patio is the perfect place to sit and read.

This is the time of year I love the most, these tranquil days of spring, when the temp hovers in the 70s and only occasionally tops out the low 80s. My yard is an assortment of greens, from the palest celery shade to a deep forest green and everything in between.

These days I spend most of my time sitting on the patio, my feet up, listening to the songbirds singing their varied songs and reading or oftentimes just daydreaming.

The latticed patio is covered by a huge canopy of wisteria and the leaves shimmer in the gentle breeze.

It's hard to believe that hurricane season here on the Florida Gulf Coast is a mere two and a half weeks away.

Potted miniature Roses on the patio table.

As I'm writing this I hear the cooing of doves and the caw of a crow. Directly overhead another bird is chirping while a bright red Cardinal is perched on the wooden fence. The scent of Jasmine and Lilies sweeten the air around me.

I can't find the energy to do much of anything today. My dog, Dude, and I spent an hour at the dog park this morning where he ran around with an assortment of dogs, big and small. I read for a while when we got back home. Today I'm reading Luanne Rice's Secrets of Paris. It seemed like a perfect read for a day like today.

My Lilies that only just started blooming.

I should be writing today, working on one of my works in progress, but I'd rather just sit here and watch the squirrels play and the birds fly from tree to tree. It's one of those days when daydreaming is high on my list of things to do.

I swear that tomorrow I'll get back to my writing. If I could just get those voices in my head to stop daydreaming and get back to work. Honest, I need the cooperation of those voices to help me write and they're enjoying these tranquil spring days too.

Mandevilla on my patio.

I hope you all have a chance to just sit back and enjoy some beautiful spring days. The hot days of summer are just around the corner. In the meantime, stop and smell the Roses, Jasmine, Lilies and any other flowers now in bloom.

Happy Mother's Day to Y'all

Mama and baby at the Gulf Breeze Zoo.

Mothers come in all shapes and sizes. Lately I've enjoyed watching the baby birds learning to fly and the baby squirrels venturing from their nests and crazily chasing each other up and down the trees. The proud mamas are usually nearby, sometimes encouraging and often scolding their young. Sound familiar?

I think my favorite mama and baby these days are Rwanda and Kigali, Western Lowland Gorillas at the Gulf Breeze Zoo. Kigali is over a year old now and it's obvious that mama Rwanda is so very proud of him.

If you want to know more about our local zoo, check out this link: Gulf Breeze Zoo

For those who might be interested, I'm the Mother of one awesome daughter and the Nana/Grandma to three gorgeous, bright, incredibly energetic young grandkids. I'm looking forward to my Mother's Day breakfast with them.

My own mother is 350 miles away in the Atlanta area. I'll be on the phone with her on Mother's Day talking about all the things mothers and daughters universally discuss. It would be nice if we could all live in houses side by side in the same neighborhood, but these days families are often spread from one end of the country to another. As the saying goes, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." So maybe that is true?

As many of you already know, I'm also the "Mama" to two big dogs, Shani and Dude. I have several photos of the two at the bottom of my blog.

I'm hoping this Mother's Day brings joy and happy memories to all. This is a time to think of the good days and let the not-so-good ones fade into the background. On the whole, our mothers mean well even if we don't agree with them all the time.

Here's wishing a Happy Mother's Day to y'all.

May Day Flowers

A floral assortment in one of my many flowerpots.

For me, May Day has always meant flowers. As a kid, I used to pick flowers from my neighbors' yards all the way home from school. Then I'd give the bright colored bouquet to my mom. She never said, "You shouldn't pick the neighbors' flowers." And the neighbors never stopped me from doing just that. I guess because I only did it once a year that little harm was done?

I have lots of pretty potted flowers.

Well, this morning, in honor of May Day, I took a bunch of photos of the flowers blooming in our yard. So here are some of those photos.

I have flowerpots everywhere filled with an assortment of flowers, but I've long since forgotten the names of many of those flowers.









Dude wanting to be included in my photos.

My dog, Dude, wanted to get in the pictures and so he plopped down in the middle of a flower bed. No, he doesn't have a missing paw. He just likes to tuck one paw under him when he's laying down. My other dog, Shani, followed us around the yard, but she didn't want to be in any of the photos.

The blue flowers are on a huge bush full of blooms.

It rained all last night. Torrential rains and lots of wind. The yard is covered with leaves fallen from all the oak trees: Naval Live Oaks, Pin Oaks, White Oaks, and others I can't even name.

Oak trees here lose their leaves in the spring instead of the fall. So it's Leaves-R-Us in our yard at this time of year.






Mandevilla growing next to the backyard patio.

There were still raindrops on some of the flower petals and occasional drops/plops of rain falling from the trees overhead. Guess I don't need to point out that I love flowers, trees and anything green and growing.

I love the heady smell of Jasmine.

My grandson told some of his school friends, "My Nana lives in the woods." Considering all the trees in our yard, it kind of looks like the woods. Plus, our yard has bunches of flowers scattered here, there and everywhere.

Florida is, after all, the land of flowers. Just take a drive through any Florida neighborhood and you'll see a rainbow assortment of flowers.

As a kid, Lantana was one of my favorites.

Before I forget, we have lots of wildflowers blooming in our yard. Some are a pretty lavender/blue that look like some kind of Iris. There are some white ones that look like miniature daisies. The yellow ones are so small I didn't even try to take photos of those.





Some of the wildflowers in our yard.

I hope you stop by now and then to see my latest posts and photos. I'll be doing several Texas posts over the next week or two due to our mini-vacation to East Texas last month. I took so many cool photos on our trip that I have to share them with you.

If you love wildflowers, be sure to check out my previous post, "Wild About Texas Wildflowers," which includes lots of photos of gorgeous Texas wildflowers.

Daisy-like wildflowers in our yard.

I hope you love flowers as much as I do.

A Happy May Day to y'all.


Wild About Texas Wildflowers

These gorgeous wildflowers were everywhere.

Last week my husband, our two dogs, Shani and Dude, and I took a whirlwind five-day, mini-vacation road trip to East Texas and back. This was our first vacation in four years and, I must say, it was much too short. I could have spent weeks there instead of just days.

My husband and dogs aren't all that crazy about wildflowers, but I happen to wild about them.







These beautiful wildflowers were all along the roadside.

In all, we traveled 1,585 miles from the Florida Panhandle to East Texas, with stops in Beaumont, Temple, Waco, back to Beaumont and home.

Whew! I'm tired just thinking about all those miles. Thank goodness I was just the passenger and didn't have to do all that driving.






There were huge displays of Texas Bluebonnets.

Several hundred miles of that trip was through East Texas back roads so I could take photos of the wildflowers, farmlands, rolling hills, old buildings, rivers, Longhorns and anything else that caught my fancy. Of course, the wildflowers were the highlight of this short Spring trip.








Such a beautiful shade of yellow.

I love flowers and I'm particularly wild about wildflowers. Other than the Texas Bluebonnets, I don't know the names of any of these beautiful wildflowers. So when you look at my photos in this post, if you can identify the flowers I'd surely appreciate it if you'd let me know what they are in the comments below.







A wildflower along the Brazos River.

My camera is a relatively new one and I haven't learned all the ins and outs of the thing. So when I got back home I found that several of my "great photos" were actually blurred.

Hmm! Obviously I should have snapped a lot more photos and then I would have more to chose from. You would think that after all these years (more years than I care to count) I would have learned that lesson. Oh well. At least I did get a few wildflower photos worth adding to this post.

There were fields of these exquisite red wildflowers.

Our East Texas road trip was much too short. I could have spent days/weeks slowly meandering along the back roads, taking photos of everything that caught my eye. Rest assured, next time it'll be a much longer trip.

I you have some time on your hands, and you happen to be wild about wildflowers, then I'd suggest a Spring road trip through the back roads of East Texas. I'm sure you'll love every minute of the drive.



Over the next few days I'll be doing more East Texas posts. So please stop by for an assortment of Texas photos. Y'all come back now!

After-Easter Lilies and more April Showers

After-Easter Lilies in my backyard this morning.

This week my backyard Easter Lilies started blooming. Obviously they didn't make it in time for Easter. My front yard Easter Lilies are still a week or two away from blooming. Hmm! Apparently there's something different about my front and backyards. My After-Easter Lilies looked so pretty in the rain this morning.

Rain? Yesiree! The latest round of April Showers began in the wee hours with an accompaniment of lightning and thunder. My dog, Dude, who is usually a bit stressed over lightning and thunder, slept through the whole wild night. I suppose Dude was worn out from yesterday afternoon's romp at the dog park.

April Showers on our patio.

This morning it's still raining, drizzling. According to the TV, another line of thunder showers is heading our way.

This morning, while the rain was at the drizzle stage, my dog Shani and I went outside to take photos. Wildflowers are blooming all over our backyard. Beautiful purples, lavender, yellow and white. The Wisteria growing on our patio trellis is blooming too. The Wisteria has delicate white blooms.

Here on the Florida Panhandle, close to the Gulf Coast, it's definitely a day of April Showers. The air smells so fresh and clean. Windows are open and I'm listening to the musical sound of rain. This is a perfect day to sip coffee and read.

Wisteria that bloomed in this morning's rain.

I'm always reading an assortment of books at any given time, depending on my mood at the moment. So here's a list of my current reads:

The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory (from the library)
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley (on my Kindle)
The Abilene Trail a Ralph Compton Novel by Dusty Richards (paperback)
The Chisholm Trail by Wayne Gard (a history book from my bookshelves)

A perfect morning to sip coffee and read.

I'm researching Texas history for a western romance series I'll be writing, which is why I'm reading the last two books listed above. My husband and I are planning a Texas vacation soon so I can further my research. Hey, that's a good excuse for some much needed time off to sight-see.

I can't wait to walk along the Brazos River, which was a crossing point for the Chisholm Trail (also known as the Abilene Trail) and the Shawnee Trail. So please check back for upcoming Texas posts with lots of photos. I happen to love Longhorn cattle, so rest assured I'll have photos of Longhorns too.

Shani checking out this morning's April Showers.

As I'm writing this, Dude and my husband are off on a car ride in the rain. Shani, on the other hand, is curled up next to my recliner. She doesn't care for car rides.

Today I'll be enjoying the lovely April Showers and reading one book or another. Thanks again for stopping by.

April Showers Bring May Flowers?

This morning's April Showers in our backyard.

I woke up this morning to the drip-drop, plip-plop, split-splat of April Showers. Hours later the sky is darker and the rain is still coming down. Off in the distance is rolling thunder with the occasional bright flash of lightning and booming thunder almost overhead.

My dog, Dude, is curled up in one of his favorite "safe spots" next to the couch and my bookshelves. Dude, as a pup, eagerly jumped into a neighbor's pool, but now as a two year old "mature dog" he avoids water in most every form, including rain.




Dude waiting for the April Showers to end.

My other dog, Shani, is older and wiser and doesn't mind the rain all that much. She's already ventured outside and then came back inside to shake off all that rain. Ahh, the smell of wet dog.

Dude, on the other hand, will wait all day before he risks the onslaught of those chilly raindrops. He doesn't seem to mind the lightning or thunder today, but the rain, well, that's just not his thing.





Some of my potted flowers soaking up the rain.



My potted flowers are happily soaking up all that nourishing rain. The grass, under a blanket of fallen oak leaves, should be happy too. And then there are all those giant oak trees that need lots and lots of rain.

Now the tourists on the beach, those Spring Breakers who came here for all that Florida sunshine, well, they won't find any sun today. A few hardy souls will venture out in rain gear to walk along the beach, but the rest will sit in hotel rooms and condos watching their vacation time drip away.

Shani showing little concern for the April Showers.

I thought about going over the bridge to take a few photos of the rain-drenched beach, but then decided Dude has the right idea about staying warm and dry inside. This is a perfect day to curl up with a good book and listen to the rain.

Hmm! So what am I going to read today? I'll probably alternate between Bernard Cornwell's 1356 that I checked out from my local library and Susanna Kearsley's The Shadowy Horses which I'm reading on my Kindle Fire. I'm almost always reading more than one book.


If you want to see the books I've been reading lately, mostly historical fiction these past few months, check out my Goodreads page: Teri Heyer on Goodreads

I checked Amazon/Kindle this morning to see if there were any April Showers books and found the three listed below. All three are romances (in no particular order):

April Showers by Ann LeValley
April Showers (HQ, A Valley Ridge Wedding) by Holly Jacobs
April Showers (Twelve Months of Romance - April) by Margaret Lake *

*Just added to my Kindle

Well, the rain has been going on for hours and hours with no end in sight. I guess it's time to settle into my recliner and read for a while. Here in Florida, these April Showers are sure to bring a riot of May Flowers.