A word from the lilac growers association

Every season I have a new favorite flower. It goes from poppies to peonies to iris to hellebore and on and on. Brandon never knows what to get me, but he can bet I'll like it.

Perhaps the strongest contender is lilacs. There are a million varieties available, but I really like plain, fragrant lavender lilacs. Call me old fashioned. They only bloom for a short time, but as silly as it sounds my mind keeps wandering to their beauty.

There is just something special about these charming flowers. When I was a florist I remember a neighborhood lady calling us screaming because someone stole lilacs from her yard and she was absolutely sure it was us. When I brought some to work today, my co-worker had a similar story about an old lady that staked out her lilac bush and came out yelling if someone as much as smelled one.

I remember my first florist boss describing lilacs to me (before I knew them by name). He said "You'll know when they're in because they will make the whole shop smell like a bit of heaven". I don't know if it is my subconscious or the smell of the vase of lilacs in my room, but I had a dream last night that I was in heaven- and of course it smelled of lilacs.

Relief

It reached 72 degrees today and I can't even describe how elated I was.  Everybody in the Northwest is on the same page.  The neighborhood dogs and cats seem to be smiling.  I spend the day in the yard shoveling compost, getting covered with mud and sweat, and I couldn't have been happier.  

Nesting

Spring is mating season for birds and they a notorious for being really moody for up to 6 weeks. We were terrified for the worst because Tucker is moody ANYWAY. So far, the only different behavior I've noticed is that he is especially needy. Maybe it's because he thinks I am his mate, but every time I leave the room he starts screaming and Brandon confirmed that he continues to scream all day until I come home from work. I read about this time of the year and how to discourage birds from any dark corners because birds will be encourages to make a nest (which I guess encourages the whole mating thing). I realized his cardboard house would be a perfect spot. Well, low and behold, in the corner of the cardboard box was a makeshift nest of chewed up cardboard, wood and plastic toys. I never dreamed he was so domestic! Now Brandon and I can't stop making fun of his ticking biological clock and his imaginary babies.

We also have a nest above our bedroom window from what I tell Tucker are the "homeless birdies that benefit from his wasted food". For the last week Brandon and I have woken up to a pair of house finches coming and going with branches and moss in their little beaks. They have sweet songs too. I can't wait for them to have babies!

The only ones not nesting in our house are me and Brandon. What we have been doing since the emergence of the beautiful new floors is called re-arranging.

Camping in my yard

We just exposed, sanded and re-finished our hard-wood floors.  It's been a little crazy moving all of our house into half of our house, dealing with the noise, moving the bird around, avoiding fumes and the like.  But the reward is so sweet.  It has been kinda fun hanging with Tucker in the shop, I just wonder what the neighbors think about me brushing my teeth and washing my 

face in the back yard.  I've held all other bathroom activities until dark, (or at the nearest Starbuck's) so I'm fairly sure nobody has witnessed that!