They just keep popping up

These little daisy-like flowers are called pâquerettes in French. They're very tiny and they bloom from spring through summer. In the height of spring, they carpet the lawns all around because they're too short to be cut by most lawnmowers.

This newly opened blossom's petals are still tinged with pink. Click to daisyfy.

These are growing in the vineyard under the vines. There are many unopened flower heads which look red and pink, but they all turn white when they open fully. This one flower is covered with tiny dew droplets.

I'm surprised this picture came out as well as it did since the morning was overcast and I wasn't using a tripod. Sometimes luck wins out.

The muscari are blooming

The thing about this time of year is that stuff is growing. Nearly every day there's something new going on in the garden. It's a nice change from winter when things slowed way down. This week we've seen the muscari (grape hyacinth) bloom at its peak. It's also spreading nicely where I transplanted some many years ago.

A close-up of the muscari outside the front door. Click to hyacinthisize.

I have a lot more that I've dug up to transplant. It's actually blooming in pots right now and will have to go into the ground as soon as it stops blooming. The question is: where?

Windows seven

I'm in the process of migrating my computer to Windows 7. It's a long and nerve-wracking process since my computer is about seven years old now. The installation has required me to reinstall most of my programs and that's time consuming. There are some issues with my graphics card (I may need a new one) but most things are going smoothly. Except that I forgot to back up my internet bookmarks (d'oh!) and had to use a year-old backup. Not the end of the world.

Windows... hehehe... get it? I washed these last week; glad I didn't have to re-install them.

I've also updated to Office 2010. It's taking some getting used to. I am very habit-oriented and when my buttons are not where I'm used to them being, or the colors are different, I get frustrated easily. The frustration won't last long as I can adapt. It's just the abrupt change to something unfamiliar that jars me.

I'll also be upgrading to a new version of Photoshop. This one's in English (the one I've been using was in French), so I'll have to learn all the English commands that I've spent years working with in French.

I was awake at about four this morning, just lying there thinking about all of this. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up around 4:30 and turned on the computer. But I did get Money installed and actually balanced my checkbook, so it's been a productive morning. And the sun's not even up yet.

Change is my friend.

The wisteria is budding

Spring is working its wonders. La glycine (wisteria) that I planted in 2006 gets bigger every year and has more and more flower buds on it. My hope is that it will eventually span the width of the house; it's about a third of the way there already. At that point I'll start pruning and shaping it.

Buds forming on a section of the wisteria.

We're a while from flowers, but these buds are promising. The plant breaks up the monotony of the house's western wall and in spring the blue flowers are beautiful. And don't worry, I'll be sure to share photos of the flowers when they bloom.

In the meantime, here's a link to what it looked like last spring.

Sunday snapshot

The vineyard. What else? I like the way these pruned vines look on the hillside. It won't be long before they start to leaf out.

This is probably the vineyard parcel I photograph most.

The birches around the house are covered in catkins and the big red maples in front are in full flower. The leaves will follow quickly now.

I barbecued for the first time on Saturday. Steaks on the grill. They were delicious! We ate them with French fries. Then I made crêpes for dessert. Yum! Didn't take a single photo, though. Ken wants to make burritos for lunch today.

Springtime primroses

It's an annual ritual now: posting photos of the springtime primevères (primroses) that pop up all around the garden. Over the years I've noticed that they are spreading to other parts of the yard. These are in a location where there weren't any just a few years ago.

Some of our back yard color right now. There are also yellow, blue, and red primroses out there.

The colors are amazing. The yard is carpeted with all of these colors and the deep purples of little violets and other small flowering plants. One day very soon the grass will need cutting, then all these little flowers will be gone.

But they'll be back again next year.

If you want to see the photos from years past, type "primroses" (be sure it's plural) in the search box on the top left of the Blogger screen and press "enter." Then scroll down through the years!

The cheese course

Or at least, the cheese course I had on Wednesday. There's only one cheese. It's a local chevre (goat's cheese), and a rather young one at that. The cheese, not the goat. They get stronger as they age and dry out (again, the cheese, not the goat). I served mine with a green salad. Tasty.

Salad and goat's cheese with some bread and red wine. Perfect way to finish a meal.

Our week has been very pleasant and spring-like. The weekend looks like it'll be less pleasant, but still spring-like. That means some showers. We haven't had any significant rainfall this month. It's nice that it's dry out there, but the trees and plants are going to need some water before too long.

Of course, I know I don't really need to worry about that at this time of year. There will be rain.