So before all the sinus roto-rootering happened, I had what my family lovingly called the nose of a truffle pig. I could root out the source of any foul odor (instead of truffles, woe,) no matter how faint. It's gotten to the point where I get a look on my face, whip around in search of dirty socks, toots, dog breath, illegal stink bugs in jars squirreled away in bedrooms, and my husband would laugh and say that "Mama's got the Shine!" (Joke for people that have read The Shining.)

Now that everything is cleaned out upstairs in my sniff-boxer everything BUT the stink smells is intensifying. This is good, because I worried that maybe I was smelling a dilute version of ALL things, not just the foul. If you're wondering if this morning I stroked the side of my coffee cup, eyes closed, a smile on my face, you'd be right. <3 When my gardenia and ginger plants bloom later this year, I might just stroke out from the happiness of the Full Bodied Flavor of Flower.

Speaking of flowers, I took some pictures of the first blooms showing up in my garden. (Not too image heavy - six pics)

With quince all a'flower and peach blossoms a'bower'd
And mountain laurel all a'glow.


My bluebonnets grown from seed - they've almost been evergreen for me. I've had the leaves for months. One of my all-time faves, and not just because it's my state's flower. The blue is electric when it's all blossomed out.



Some Dutch iris a friend gave me that I just can't seem to get rid of. There's nothing wrong with it, I just need to add the blue/yellow variety alongside it so the faint blue in this variety pops a bit more. Hardy as hell. I'm a big fan of bulbs.



My flowering quince that came with me from our old house. I've since pulled off some babies and transplanted them - this is supposed to flower first, then leaf out, but it does it backwards every year. My guess is how quickly we warm up is the culprit. I loooooove the apricot color of the blossoms. There's a blue juniper behind it, and it looks so pretty in contrast.



My mountain laurel. This is a slow grower (it's grown two inches in two years) but it doesn't need anything. Plus, the blossoms smell like Grape Nehi, I swear. <3



Our weetiny peach tree in the back. The mockingbirds got to the peaches first last year, so this year I will fool them with netting. Fortunately the tree is still shorter than me, so that won't be a hassle to do. (I bought some cheap-o netting for 80s style dresses at a fabric shop for pennies on the dollar. Way cheaper than the landscape netting.) Next year this will be moved and espaliered against a new fence we plan on building.



And lastly, our saucer magnolia. It's a humdrum tree once it leafs out, but in spring? These huge fuchsia blossoms are so pretty. I moved this from an inconspicuous corner in the back yard to up front by my fountain (which also was moved.)

I see all the other plants budding or leafing out and I'm getting all aflutter for plants and blossoms because I am a dork.

Am I the only one aside from janedavitt that is watching Chuck? One little thing last night that I loved was Chuck tailing the scientist, then dropping to a knee to fake-tie his laces on his cast. Little things like that crack me up. The "will they/won't they" aspect of the show is getting weary, but I still like it.

I want some creamy soup for lunch today. Mmmm and crusty bread. Suggestions?