It looks as if Spring has finally sprung!

After such a long and brutal winter, watching the spring flowers bloom is all the more sweet.





On Thursday, this little guy appeared to be mustering all of his strength to bloom.





Well he did it! Look at him standing so regal on Friday.






This is today. It won't be long now, before this garden is a sea of tulip loveliness.



Have a great weekend,
Angela

Free eBook for July

Oh. My. Gosh. I am so stinkin' behind this month. I completely forgot to post the free ebook for July. I have about a billion "notes to self" on interesting items I wanted to share with you all, but somehow none of them got done. I blame the heat. The God-forsaken heat.

And beetles. I just took a peek at my garden, and some nasty little beetles decided that they would take up residence in the green beans. UGH! A garden has not been easy this year. We are smack-dab in the middle of a drought here in Southeast Wisconsin, so it's been quite a struggle to keep the gardens hydrated, but not over-watered. Apparently the damn beetles are happy with my work :(

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of them? Preferably with handy household solutions, not pesticides. I'm all ears, and would sincerely appreciate a solution before my beans are destroyed.

Anyway, back to the free ebook from the University of Chicago Press. This month (what's left of it) the freebie is the travel notes of Philip Graham in his book The Moon Come to Earth: Dispatches from Lisbon.

The travel notes collected in The Moon, Come to Earth (originally published on McSweeney’s) form Graham’s exuberant yet introspective account of a year’s sojourn in Lisbon. His lyrical accounts reveal his struggles with (and love of) the Portuguese language, an awkward meeting with Nobel laureate José Saramago, and being trapped in a budding soccer riot—but he also waxes loving about Portugal’s saudade-drenched music, its inventive cuisine, and its vibrant literary culture.

Get your free e-book edition of The Moon, Come to Earth during the month of July.

Have a terrific week and happy reading.
Talk to you soon,
Angela
 
 
 
 

A Quick Hello and Weekend Update

This past weekend was terrifically-crazy-busy. It was a weekend chock full of family, eating, fun, more eating, more fun....And card-playing.

My parents and Grandma came down from Up North. ("Up North" here in Wisconsin can pretty much mean anything from an hour to 8 hours North of where you are). Anyway my Man-child was here, my Brother and his family, Baby Girl of course...It was a full house, a VERY full house. I wish I had gotten some photos, but I don't think I could have raised my arms with a camera in my hands. It was that packed. (hee, hee) And completely fantastic!

The fun actually started Thursday when I took Baby Girl to take her driver's test. It seems like only yesterday I was strapping her into a car seat for crying out loud! Where has the time gone?
She passed! Good for her, a new level of anxiety for me...My heart races every time I hear a siren when she's out. UGH! Hubby says he just feels OLD. I told him that's because he is. Is that insensitive? Nah, I thought not.

Real nice. She gets that behavior from her Father.

On cloud nine after passing and waiting for her number to be called

My new chauffeur

The weather has changed to spring-y. And well, my tulips I planted in the fall here at the new place (The Move chronicled here and here) have begun to poke their little baby heads up. And my chives. And its 64 degrees here today, so I really want to get back outside. I mentioned last week in my Top Ten Tuesday post my love for gardening. I don't know how long it's going to take to get the crud from under my fingernails, but who cares?!

Baby Tulip. The photos were taken before they were watered.

Baby chives.

I have a ton more bookish things to write about. But it'll have to wait until a little later. I have a date with some dirt.

Love you guys. Thanks for stopping by,
Angela