Monday, January 25, 2010

Craving COLOR!!!!!!!

Winter doldrums....they're here! They are a MOST UNWELCOME visitor!

Now, I keep too busy for them to bother me much, but I can tell you that I would rather the snow was covering the ground this time of year for the brightness. I can accept cold. I can accept forced air heat for months at a time. I can take it when there's no sunshine for weeks...but give me snow!

And for those of you who live in states blessed with perpetual sunshine...well, you may not know what I'm talkin' about here...but those of us in the upper midwest and the midwest, this time of year can be trying. Especially when the snow melts.

You see, this weekend, we had our "January thaw" and oh, my. The snow's gone, and so is the brightness in our world. We now have dead grass and muddddd....

(And with two dogs of our own and two puppies of my son's...oh yuck!!!!)


So...I took off on a journey in my photo files and thought I would pull out some color to brighten our world today....I hope this helps some of us who are looking out our windows at rain, dead beaten down grass, mud, and piles of dirty snow! The sunshine in some of these pictures is most welcome and you can just tell it's spring in this particular one!



Won't be too long now and we can see this happening in our world again, hyacinths pushing their way up through the warming dirt, reaching to the sunshine!










Oh, excuse me, just a minute, I think I have to go find a hankie....sheets hanging on the line? I think I'm going to cry now.





June berries. Sigh.

It


will


be six months



before you see this in your back yards...(swallow that lump in your throat).

We CAN do this. We CAN go through the rest of January, February, March and April.

We can.




We can?


And, please hold on....for blue skies, freshly cut grass, and puffy, puffy clouds. Don't cry.


Thunderstorms and quenched, happy smelling earth, flowers almost vibrating with happiness after a good rainstorm....you can do it, you will make it. We WILL.



Lushness, greenness...oh.
(Hi, Junebug!)




You can wait to rock on the porch, and listen to the crickets and watch butterflies.




And it's only about seven months until it's time for the county fair....



And the smell of dewey grass on a warm summer night with the moon shining sweetly over your head. Only seven. Long. Months.



Until it's time for all things breezy like the flag flappin' crisply in the wind.
And for the simple, like flip flops and shorts, grilled meals and picnics.




And car shows.




Walking hand in hand just looking and dreaming....




But for now, I'll have to take what I can get from inside.








Yes, these days, I'll take it anywhere I can get it...COLOR!




16 comments:

Sue said...

I needed that! Thanks!

Carey's Farmhouse Kitchen said...

I needed that too!

Thanks!

Bloggin bout my Boys said...

I was just about to pour a lemonade and grab my sunscreen...then I took my eyes off your blog and saw the "lakes" of melted snow and yucky muck every where from our thaw and rain event that was just downright NASTY this past weekend!! We had a "free points night" to redeem at a nearby hotel so the kids had a little taste of summer with the pool and hottub...just don't look outside and it will be ok. I hear ya...muddy PAWS everywhere in this stuff! Thank you for the "pep talk" to make this sun exempt sentence a little more bearable with your great photos. Awwww June Bug was soooo little!! Blessins through the Blahs, Sue

Lauren said...

Oh man! This makes me want summer even more now!! I loved it though!

Kelly B said...

Oh how I love this post! I agree with you totally!! I am missing color so much, I was considering painting my kitchen lime green. Not kidding. ;) I may add shells to my guest bath and add some bright accents to make it look brighter. I was talking to my husband about repainting the kitchen and the living room, but I am sure that my lack of color is inspiring me to want to paint tropical colors, so I am going to have to wait. At least it is only paint. I could always repaint!! ;0) I love the pictures of the flowers around your house. Please make a tutorial of how you made the planters look so beautiful!! I am coveting them so bad right now!! ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh,what a way to start a Monday!Thanks..
Smiles from Southern Mi.Audrie

Donna said...

Love the photos!!! I'm SO ready for Spring as well! Have a great day!!
hughugs

Jackie said...

Well, that brightened my day! Thanks for posting so colorfully! We got snow today so that brightened up our landscape considerably...I can't wait to dig in the dirt though.

Have a great Monday.

Jackie

★Carol★ said...

Thank you for all the sunshiney pictures, because I really needed that! I was just asking a friend when the sun last shone here. We couldn't remember, but we're pretty sure it's been at least a week!

debylynne said...

oh my!!
i'm a longtime friend of farmgirlcyn's and i love strolling through these blogs via hers! i MUST tell you that i lived in new england for 21 years and grew so used to white winters....i miss them so much. being back in tennessee, where i grew up, is hard cause all we ever get is BROWN. brown and dead. it IS depressing. i sigh and then i remember that i'm here because this is where the LORD wanted us to be. ok, LORD - do you think there's any snow in heaven??????? (we were about 70 degrees here yesterday...sigh....)
dl

~from my front porch in the mountains~ said...

Our snow melted, we had a week of rain, and now our world is mud! 5 muddy horses, 3 dogs, who when they go out can't resist the mud!
ugh. I feel your pain, Joni!

Here is to rainbows full of color, in a beautiful blue sky!
xo, misha

p.s. I will be having a "Hurry up, Spring" give-a-way soon! Maybe this will brighten your day!

Julie Harward said...

OH MY...DIDN'T KNOW HOW MUCH I WAS MISSING IT ALL! IT'LL BE ABOUT THAT LONG FOR US TOO, SPRING DOESN'T GET HER UNTIL JUNE. BEAUTIFUL IMAGES AND LOVED THE COLOR..LOVED IT! COME SAY HI :D

Anonymous said...

I don't live on a farm but I am a farmer's daughter does that count? O how I dream of having farm house -- your's is dreamy--- land too! Today the sun came out and I rushed outside on top of our top deck at Bear Lake, Ut and made a Angle shape in the snow. I am also a lover of color and I miss flowers -- this post was needed glad I found you! Kristeen with a 'K' and two 'e'
I'll be back for more!

mary your sis said...

Yes, the rain is getting old, right along with the mud. Thanks for your colorful pictures, they really do help!

Gena said...

Wow! I loved your pictures! Here in the South this winter we have had rain, rain, rain and more rain, with a little bit of ice and snow and a LOT of cold thrown in. So, my backyard is a mudhole. And I have a big, sweet Golden Retriever that loves to splash around in the mud and then bring it all inside!

I finally did plant some pansies last week when our temps rose about 45. They have added some color, but I sure am ready for those Spring flowers.

I hope you have a great week.

Ali said...

Oooooooooh!! I want it to be spring NOW!!! Thanks so much for this post, I have actually had it open on my browser for a couple days now lol! I think I will be looking at your pics very often. I can get pretty down in the winter, so I have to do whatever I can to keep my spirits lifted! =)