About Me

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West Virginia
When I started my retirement travels in 2009, I wanted a way to share it with family and friends as it was happening. Hence, "My Travel Journal". However I realized I wouldn't always be on a trip and wondered what to do with the blog in between times. My daughter pointed out, wisely, that travels can also include trips to the kitchen to try a new recipe, trips to visit family, trips to my neighborhood Starbucks, or a fun day trip with a friend. You're welcome to join me on any of these journeys! I've set up individual pages for each of my major trips (see tabs above).

Also, I have an Etsy shop where my current needlework resides. The last pieces I posted here were in 2013! So if you'd like to see what I have accomplished recently, go to (and I apologize for having to copy and paste):

www.etsy.com/shop/thedollhouseneedle

I recently added an "Italian Word a Day" thingie which shows up at the bottom of every page. You see the word and can click to hear it pronounced. I've been enjoying it and I think my accent is improving as time goes by.

March 15, 2012

Spring has Sprung in Huntington

And I didn't even know it until I walked down to the river on my way to the post office yesterday.  And since this morning I awoke to lots and lots of lightning and thunder and grey, rainy skies, I figured it's a good time to post some pictures I took on my walk yesterday.  I had seen the standard jonquils and crocuses here and there, but was really amazed at yesterdays burst if Spring.  All these pictures were taken with my phone so...

Had to get a picture of robin redbreast.  When I was a kid, sighting the first robin was a really exciting event.  I can actually remember running into the house to announce that it was spring. :)  But here in Huntington, I've never decided for sure whether they actually ever leave!


These two pictures are close-ups of a tree that was in full bloom right inside the flood wall.  You could smell the sweetness walking up to the tree.  I don't know my trees well enough to know what kind this is and I don't remember seeing fruit on it during the summer.  I guess there are flowering trees without fruit -dogwood, American redbud - but I don't know this one.  And the fuzziness isn't the camera's fault - I was playing with my photo editing features. :)


The gorgeous tree on the left is in front of the post office and as you can see it was another one of those beautiful blue sky days.  This is a different type of tree from the one above and I don't know what it is either!  And the floppy flower on the right is some type of bush that grows in front of an apartment building.  From a distance, the flowers almost look wilted and ready to lose their petals, but up close, they're really lovely.



And, last but not least, the dreaded harbinger of spring for anyone with a lawn which doesn't include me so I can just delight in their giddy blast of yellow. You have to admit that it's a delightful little flower, don't you? :)







And, totally off the subject of spring, I forgot to post in my last post that I had finished a little cross stitch picture.  It's full of flowers, so maybe it isn't too far off the subject after all!

I've had this pattern for a long time - I found it in the magazine "New Stitches" and there are several patterns all featuring the black cat and flowers.  I had stitched a smaller one and I guess had to build up the gumption to stitch this one!  It uses 21 colors and I stitched it on 32 count fabric. (That's a dollhouse chair, by the way)

2 comments:

Christopher said...

Spring has sprung here, too... particularly signaled by onset of allergies! :( I like the blur/soft treatment on those two that look like cherry blossoms.

Mary Lynne said...

So I guess cherry blossoms can be white, in addition to pink? Cause you're right - they do look like the pink cherry blossoms.

Jamie showed me her new point and shoot today and a couple of pictures on it. It's pretty big and bulky but it has a 35X zoom lens!! She was real up close and personal with a squirrel who was up in a tree and viewing her with some suspicion.

Jamie - if you get around to reading this, you should send me the picture and I could post it.

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