Flowery Bits

Hello, and happy Easter! It has been one busy, but super fun, long weekend. There's been egg dying, shopping, a birthday celebration, Easter mass, Easter brunch, and Easter dinner is on the horizon. The food is cooking, I feel like I got some things accomplished on this long weekend, and as soon as I click 'publish' I'm making tea and doing some knitting until company arrives. I have some sewing I could be working on, but while I feel like making a mess I don't feel like cleaning it up right now, so I'll work on that during the week (I wish I could show you what I'm working on right now but I can't).

Anyway, this has been a flowery sort of week, as one would expect from Easter, I suppose. I'm starting off with a few doodles from my drawing book, just so there's proof that I still make things in some fashion.

This is a simple, repetitive design made with a hot pink Papermate Flair pen. The first few rounds are a bit haphazard, but the petals look a little more uniform towards the outer bits. I eyeballed where to draw the center circle, which is why it's not in the center, bwahaha. This was actually relaxing to make, even though it's a bit manic and dizzying to look at directly.

This one came about because I wanted to try and draw dandelions, and I've always loved this quote. I find the seed-to-flower transition of dandelions quite interesting. Lawn mowing folks hate the former, but moms everywhere love the latter (according to my mother, they're the first flowers your children give you and can go nowhere but a juice glass on the windowsill, in full and plain site).

But now for some real ones. One week ago, this was the hydrangea bush out front:

And now look at all the green things growing!

Last week we had a birthday party for my mom. She was *29* years old. Again. We decorated with lots of yellow and white, her favorite color combination. The flowers are still going quite strong:

Every year around this time my neighbor's white pear tree starts to bloom, and every year I take pictures of it. I'm always afraid they're going to come out and ask why I take pictures of their house at various times of the year, and I'll have to tell them it's because they have a flowering tree and I don't, and they have a holly tree, and ours isn't grand enough for photos yet. I don't know how that would go over since they're not the kind of neighbors that are friendly--they're not rude or nasty, they're just ambivalent. They don't seem like the type of people who would understand taking pictures of a flower for the sake of it. But look at this--how can I not?

And on Friday, someone gave me an Eastery present that they thought was so me there was no hesitation in deciding that I must have it. I really couldn't argue. It couldn't be more me unless that flower had polka dots (but it has a little glitter sprinkled on it so that's like the same thing).

It's an Easter mum (which I didn't know was a thing). The little bunny ears are pipe cleaners on a green floral stick. And the face is googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and pom-poms glued to a green floral stick. How cute is that for a little craft project??? Upon giving it to me, and watching me twist and turn and pull at it, he said "Are you mad you didn't think of it?" And I told him "No, I'm just figuring out how I'm making these in the future."

Well, chickens, the tea kettle is whistling and I've got a scone with my name on it to go with it (or half of it, anyway), so I hope you have a lovely day and a lovely week to go with it.