Here is a small taste of some things in bloom around my town right now.

This beautiful dogwood tree in front of the town hall.

A weeping cherry that is so large you can’t see the house behind it! I love this tree.

Can you see that someone tied lavender ribbons to its branches? Probably for Easter. The year we moved here it was Easter weekend and they had little eggs tied tied to its branches.

Not sure what this is, but it’s a miniature waterfall of white blooms. Maybe a mini weeping cherry in white?

I had to include this creepy sign for the florist. What do you think of it? I guess it’s been a landmark for years, only Kim tells me that it used to look even more like Michael Jackson than it does now!

I stopped by the local nursery to snap some pics of what they have out now. An explosion of color! (The daffodils in my header were taken here.)

I don’t know if it’s my over active imagination or what, but these daffodils look to me like they are trying to look around in every direction and saying ... hellloooo!

And last, but not least, this sleepy bee found a great napping spot. At first I thought he was dead but when I stroked him with my finger he moved his legs a little bit. Lazy spring bee!

They call us the Garden State for a reason!

A new category has been added to my blog. Since the addition to our family of our Miata, (more commonly known to us as Mia) I foresee new adventures in our future in which she plays a major role. Therefore she deserves her very own category: Driving Miss Mia. The blog posts will range from me snapping photos along the way, to photos once we reach our destination and who knows what else.

It was a beautiful weekend. Perfect “top-down” weather for sure. On Saturday morning we started our drive up to Monroe, New York and Warwick.

Our drive took us along the shore of Greenwood Lake.

A stop for ice cream at Bellvale Farms. They have the best view of the lovely Warwick valley.

A funny sign on the way back from the Warwick Winery. It says something completely different on the other side as you approach the Winery but we didn’t realize it until we were past it. Next time…

And no, we didn’t taste. We just drove there to find out where it was never having been there before.

An old barn along the way.

Look who’s driving!

Later on that day friends Bill and Carol called to see if we wanted to take a drive down to Lake Mohawk in the Sparta area. They have a convertible too, you see. On glorious days the “Convertible Club” (which also consists of neighbors Kim and Mark) get together and go for drives, usually ending up somewhere to eat.

It was a beautiful drive down and I can’t wait to do it again once the trees are out.

It’s a quaint little town with odd architecture here and there.

We walked along the boardwalk next to the lake.

We stopped into a local pub and had a beer, then a slice of pizza and headed home.

After watching this pretty hawk fly over us I had to wonder ... do people in convertibles get bird poop on their heads very often? Certainly something to ponder.

Happy Easter everyone! Here’s what is blooming in my yard today. I hope you have similar brightness in your day!

Front yard:

Back yard:

As I sit here this morning in the dark gloom listening to the rain coming down outside I am thinking of what to do on another rather boring day inside with the menagerie. How many pieces of paper can I print out on the printer to keep Sam occupied? He loves to watch the paper come out!

where does that paper come from?

The dogs are disgusted too. Just look at the expression on Bella’s face.

mom, make it stop raining!

My neighbor has invited me to go and see baby lambs this morning but right now I am thinking that isn’t such a great idea to stand in a wet mucky pen in the pouring rain not even being able to take photos. What a wimp I am! And, I do need to run out to the grocery store, yet another thing not to look forward to on a rainy day. But, it will give the dogs an outing and maybe it will help to relieve the boredom a bit.

So, I thought I’d see if anyone can guess what these images are. Hint—can probably be found in most households. I know, not much of a hint but I don’t want to give too much away! (Hubby Rick you are not allowed to guess because you might be able to figure it out!)

And yet another strange photo from the other night. This one is easy.

I know, I know. I’m strange. I see patterns and odd things and I grab the camera. I can’t seem to help myself!

I can put up with a few days of rain and gray gloom if my prize at the end of the week is temperatures in the mid 70’s with SUNSHINE. I think I feel a Mia weekend coming on! Oh yeah ...

Spring is definitely arriving in my front yard. The maple trees are the brave ones—they are always first. Their furry buds look so pretty lit golden by the late afternoon sun.

Up close and personal they look entirely different, like some exotic flower.

The forsythia hedge is not going to be left behind. Its buds are expectantly waiting to burst open in their full cheery yellow glory.

Small bushes are starting to unfurl their first new leaves.

And since I don’t have any crocus, I had to go outside of my own yard and into those of my neighbors. This pretty grouping is from Luke’s yard.

And these are from Luke’s next-door neighbor. He has a nice cheery row planted against his stone wall.

Even though our temperature is not anything to brag about this weekend (23 degrees right now, heading to low 40’s by midday) I know that warmer weather is on its way. At least today it’s sunny and not rainy like it has been this past week. We’ll be thankful for seat heaters when we take Mia out for a spin today!