bye bye summer

School is in session…. well, preschool for us anyways… and I am still trying to get over the fact that summer totally flew on by. We had one last weekend of beautiful weather, and now it is full on sweater weather…. well, technically sweater + raincoat weather up here in Vancouver. I'm crossing my fingers the sunshine comes back!

spring it on

Some spring blooms spotted outside our home. I think I can officially transition from winter coat to spring jacket now! Yay!... wait... maybe I shouldn't have just written that, in case I curse it, and a big snow storm decides to come...

a bucket of sunshine

A sweet surprise from Jasper the other day. After a fun afternoon in grandma and grandpa's yard, he came back to give me a pail full of yellow buttercups. A little bucket of sunshine from my little sunshine. :)

cherry cheer

The sun has been shining all weekend, so I thought I would share a cheery photo, well, a cheery cherry blossom photo to be precise. There have been many sightings around our neighbourhood, both up above and on the ground. Happy Monday!

touch of sun

This past weekend was full of sunshine here in Vancouver, and now it is gone.... forecast is rain and clouds all week... sigh. :( Well, at least some of the flowers are out. Here is a pic of some sunny blooms I saw over the weekend... ahhh, seems like a distant memory.

in to the woods we go

Last weekend we headed into the Cariboo region to stay with some friends at their cabin at Deka Lake. A wee bit of a drive... (ie. if baby Jasper could talk, I am sure he would be asking "Are we there yet?" over and over again). It was a scenic drive nevertheless, with lots of winding rapids and wildflowers along the highway. We even saw deer and wolves along our journey... but alas, being on a highway going 100 km/hr, my trigger finger for snapping wildlife photos is not that fast. Now it's back to city life and the daily routine and daydreaming of our next little road adventure!

tickled pink

Some more spring goodness to share today. Passed by these on one of our stroller walks and had to stop and take a picture as baby was trying to grab one of the buds and put it in his mouth. I am really snap happy lately with all these flowers blooming everywhere... so bear with me! It rains here a lot, so I am living up every dry moment we get this spring!

cheery cherry

Hooray for Friday! A bit of a cheery post today... well, technically a cheery cherry post... wow, try and say that five times fast... sigh, I've always been horrible with tongue twisters. Happy Weekend!

hello spring

Hello spring! Hooray for finally being here... it seemed like a really long wait this year! I have been noticing some blossoming trees and plants scattered around the neighbourhood here and there... a pleasant colourful surprise during this very grey and rainy month. Hopefully the sun will come and make its appearance soon too. I am in need of some Vitamin D.

ps. new giveaway this month starts Wednesday!

little buds

I noticed yesterday that some spring blooms have suddenly appeared in front of our building... hooray! That means spring is on its way! Every time I see these types of flowers, I have an urge to go buy some Easter chocolate... yah, I know... waaaaay too early, huh?.... I must resist... don't think of chocolate, don't think of chocolate, don't think of chocolate...

ps. don't forget to enter the giveaway here... the draw is this Wednesday!

pretty petals

Our patio garden is slowly perishing as the weather is getting colder, so we're having to enjoy our indoor plants now. Just got this pretty orchid from the parents, who are orchid obsessed... er, I mean orchid aficionados. I am glad they are really into orchids and not spider plants - not that there is anything wrong with those plants - they're just not as exciting, in my eyes, as these pretty petals.

puffy purples

Summer is pretty much coming to an end, so I thought I would post a summer-y photo of some of the last flowers that are still kicking around. Not sure what these are called... anyone? anyone?... I call them puffy purples (I know, not too original)... or how about purple styrofoam balls on a stick? Hmm... that is worse and a bit wordy... I will stick to puffy purples until I learn their true name.

just rosy

Some summer blooms to share today. I saw these pink roses on one of our walks the other day and couldn't resist snapping a shot. Sometimes it's just nice to stop and smell the roses. :)

a trip to the tropics - part 2

Ugh... rain and clouds again here today... so time for part 2 pics from our visit to the Bloedel Floral Conservatory the other week for a quick mini trip to the tropics (see part 1 here). They have the strangest plants there... oh, yes, and beautiful ones of course. I can't help snapping pics of the weird ones though. The first one reminds me of a muppet character... every time I look at it, I have an urge to go back and tape googly-eyes to it.... hmmm, but that might be considered a form of vandalism. Anyhoo, happy weekend everyone! We are still in the waiting game for little Bun... (I hear first time babies tend to be late.... hmmmm).

a trip to the tropics

How about a mini trip to the tropics today to escape the Vancouver rain? I thought I would share some photos we took of the per-tty flowers at the Bloedel Floral Conservatory on our last visit. A lot of strange and unusual shaped plants indeed (check out that pink pom pom plant!)... and no, unfortunately I don't remember what most of them are... I am so horrible at plant names... sorry! Will post some more soon (we took lots of pics that day).

ps. don't forget to enter my giveaway!

two times the tulips

I am loving all the spring blooms around me... I think I have very heavy garden envy this year, since the only plants on our balcony this year are left over from last year, and I have yet to plant anything new yet. Eeep... really got to get on that! So again, these pics of these pretty tulips are not from my garden... these were outside our local museum. Hmmmm.... don't the top ones remind you of fancy cut radishes? Or maybe that is just the garden envy in me coming out again.

tiptoe through the tulips

I am fighting a bit of a cold right now, so please excuse any typos or really bad grammar that might/will appear. To brighten up today and try to get my mind off this congestion and dripping faucet of a nose, I thought some bright spring pics would be appropriate. I really wish I could say this is my garden, but it isn't.... these shots are from a neighbouring garden down the street. Yes, I tiptoed through their tulips and it was great. Ok, off to make some tea with lemon now... sniff sniff...

ps. don't forget to enter my spring/earth day giveaway!

quaint quince

I feel like a fresh spring image today... so how about some quaint quince blossoms? I like these as much as cherry blossoms... ahhh... so fresh and pretty. I find I have to fight the urge even harder from taking a pair of shears to them though, since they grow lower down compared to the taller cherry trees (oh, they would look so fancy inside my house). But I will resist... I don't think all my neighbours would appreciate coming out to see a sad bare quince tree. Will continue my hunt around the neighbourhood for more fresh spring blossoms and blooms to share (and not to cut, of course).

easter monday

The morning after a restful long weekend is always the hardest... I am so envious, jealous and a little bit bitter of everyone who has today off... but I think that is just the Monday morning, pre-coffee blahs talking right now. So to try and turn the blahs around and start off on a brighter note, how about a nice spring image for this Easter Monday. Lots of sunshine yellow daffodils up and around our neighbourhood... looking at them should help brighten my morning. Hmmm... and maybe hitting the store later and stocking up on the freshly discounted Easter chocolates... that may just brighten my day too.

for me?!?

Roger came home yesterday after work and surprised me with a big bright bouquet of flowers! (I am blushing and gushing like a giddy school girl as I write this... tee-hee). Some purples and pinks to brighten my day and hopefully your day too! Happy Wednesday! :)