The Jazz in Spring

Last month I showed you the first jasmine flowers on the vine in my front yard. (Former post) It is a month later now and the 8 foot strip that runs along my fence from entry gate to front door is in full bloom...but it's really just getting started!

Look at all the flowers above...and all of the plump pink buds below just waiting to explode!

I just love knowing that when I water and mist them each day that I'm part of this amazing burst of life.

Believe me, I don't NEED to water daily. These guys have found a water source that keeps them alive year round without my help. I just like to give them the extra water since they are working so hard to put on this pretty show. Don't they look wonderful shining white through the dappled sunlight?


I sat in this yard this morning with my coffee and newspaper and enjoyed breathing in their heavy scent. Ahhhh, spring.

What do you enjoy most in YOUR garden?

All that Jazz-mine

Here in northern California, we've had nearly a week of great weather after several weeks of mostly rain. We don't get snow where I live, so rain is as intense as it gets here, and we had more than usual, thank goodness. I didn't water my
jasmine for over a month, yet the roots found a source of nourishment which resulted in the first blossom on Monday.


One corner of the vine has the first cluster of blooms. The fragrance is wonderful and most intense at night for this Star Jasmine.



This little group of flowers is just on the other side of the fence so my neighbor can enjoy them too.


My bonus today as I was photographing the flowers was a fabulous spider web full of drops from a brief rain shower.
It's amazing that what looks like a delicate webbing could stretch like a hammock under the weight of the water and still keep itself together!


I also heard a couple of house finches chirping to one another in the beginning of their quest for the best nesting area of these vines. I have 2 sections of it and recently cut their favorite one waaaay back thinking it was early enough to grow back for their nesting dates, but they are scoping the area out early this year. Last year, 2 mating pairs fought over the same section of vines so one pair is smarter this time around.

Any hints of spring yet where you live considering 49 states in the union recently had snow at the same time???

The Background Fairy & Spring Flowers

My little annual harvest of daffodils from my back yard yielded enough for 2 of my blue glass vases...one for the kitchen & one at my desk. How pretty. My star jasmine just started blooming as well. Can you tell I live in California?


I'm having fun with The Background Fairy. The website offers free backgrounds and headers and today I was in a brown & cream colored mood and of course, she had just what I needed. It's an easy change to make and only takes minutes. I highly recommend "playing" there to keep your blog looking fresh. You can also click her "Graphics Fairy" box and gain access to amazing free vintage images to dress up your projects!

See you soon with new cupcake creations!

Fresh and Clean

What do you think of my new sweet bracelet? It's called Eggy Bunny and I just posted it at RockerJewlz. I love the soft pinks and periwinkles and that center rose colored chacon...wow! You've got to see the rest of the pics so you can experience the sweet pink blush of Bunny's cheeks and ears. Really nice work there.


These colors just make life feel fresh so I thought I'd stay on that tack for the rest of this entry.

My front yard jasmine is just packed with buds ready to burst into their white star shaped blossoms. It seems this year has produced more buds than ever before so it's clear the vines enjoy their home. No wonder the house finches are fighting over them!
Their heady night time fragrance hasn't reached its potential yet and I look forward to it. I won a contest last month. See my prizes at FiberNeed blog. Sanna crocheted me these fabulous prize socks...pink, what more could a girl ask for, and in my bigfoot size as well...a perfect fit, I couldn't believe it .

They provide just the right warmth too...not like some of my other socks that get too heated up. You can see my prizes here...the gingerbread pony shaped cookies were crisp and scrumptious. Thanks Sanna!

And lastly, as I perused the AllPosters.com catalog recently I had to crack into laughter when I saw this fabulous sign...what a great excuse that could work every time...as long as you use it on fresh victims.

The big Cupcake Giveaway is still going so be sure you have all your entries in so you have a stab at some luscious cupcake earrings, cupcake gloss, and/or terrific hand punched cupcake stickers! I sure am enjoying reading your comments and establishing new friendships with those of you who care to.

Good luck everybody!

Cupcakes & Nature

Okay everyone, the Cupcake Giveaway from the previous post is still going strong in it's first of 4 weeks! The next giveaway will be shorter I promise since I've now learned that the first couple of days are when most contestants sign up...lesson learned. Next one will be a week or less.

So today I'm showing you some fun stuff going on in my neighborhood starting with a question:

"Y" did my cucumber have no seeds in its center??? Look at that first picture: I peeled the cuke and sliced it and there was this "y" cutout inplace of seeds...how funny. I just had to take a photo it was so bizarre!

Speaking of bizarre, spring is SO out of whack this year. For heaven's sake, it started in January here in northern California! We barely had winter but plenty of rain so the

grassy hillsides are incredibly green. Never before have my husband's allergies kicked up in January...wow. My daffodils were in full bloom in February...okay whatEVER. I'm just takin' it as it comes 'cuz I never KNOW when it's coming.

And now our usual spring birdies are back as well. For nearly 10 years, the bright red chested male house finches


start scamming our front yard's jasmine vines for nesting possibilities. I started hearing him and the female last week along with the Mourning Doves that always visit in spring. The doves love our side fence for its protection and yesterday they were preening there. They are so soft and pretty and I am mesmerized by their sweet eyes soft cooing.

Something I've never experienced before are house finch nesting wars! There was great commotion going on yesterday and when I peeked out the window to hopefully snap some photos I saw 2 mating pairs fighting each other, I assume for nesting rights in the bushy jasmine. The females were slamming into each other and then the pairs would take off on a chase, but I could still hear them continuing their fight throughout the neighborhood before returning to our yard...and doing it all over again...quite violent but really funny.

The star jasmine just began blooming this week. I so look forward to their deep and heady fragrance that is only released at night.

I'd love to hear the strange and early nature twists are YOU experiencing in your neighborhood.