Mosaic Monday ~Hello Spring!

First day of Spring and I couldn't be happier! For the past few months I've been having to make due when it comes to sunshine. My suns have been working overtime to make up for our weather deficiency.


We have been wet! But it was all smiles and happiness this weekend. Okay...maybe it wasn't so sunny today, the official start of spring. But Saturday was nice :-) And I took advantage. Spring is here! and I have a new camera!! This the first picture snapped...Me right after I got home Friday and Randy had the camera ready to greet me. Don't I look happy?


I dropped my last camera on the kitchen floor in the fall and have been sick about it since. We got a decent deal on a new Canon T2i and I'm thrilled with it. Keep your fingers crossed this one stays on the counter!


My little point and shoot Canon has been good to me during these past months, but I love taking photos in my garden and in the kitchen and once you've stepped up a level its hard going back mostly because the fine detail and contrast isn't the same. So I enjoyed some time on Saturday snapping a few shots with the new camera of what we've got blooming right now in the garden. But first...a peek at the blue skies!


Poor Mr. Jigs looks like he's in jail.


But never fear, he got to enjoy a little sunshine too! Here he is guarding the yard for us.


Due to the rain and cool weather the spring bulbs seemed to have stalled, but I'm sure they will be coming along soon. Store bought primroses and ranunculus are filling the void.


I do have a few bulbs blooming though...like these crocus


And the tiny Tete-a-Tete daffodils under the camellia


This 'Wanda' primrose is looking pretty too.



And the pulmonaria is starting to bloom


But what's really shining at the moment are the hellebores



Most of mine are unnamed seedlings I received at plant exchanges.



They are all beautiful to me though!


I love the daintiness and detail


And the various shades of pink and purple



Here's a for sure sign for us that spring is in the air...the lovey doveys are hanging around. They are usually very skittish and fly away when we go outside, but this time of the year they are a lot more calm and seem to do a lot of fluffing and nestling around on the ground. Here they are getting cozy on the fence.


We spent the day washing the car and grilling..other signs that spring is here. I did shish kabobs and Bacon wrapped jalapeno "thingies" from The Pioneer Woman's blog. Check them out here. She baked hers...I grilled mine. They were a hit with me and Randy.




I'm joining in for Mosaic Monday over at Little Red House.

Also I want to remind everyone about my Great Cooking Magazine Challenge. The linky is up and will be for a month, so go cook something and join in!

Before I close I'd like to share that I was recently contacted by Chris at HSN about their upcoming event, HSN's Cooks Spring Weekend Event presented by Bon Appetit. Check it out HERE. Looks like there will be some pretty cool products and chefs like Wolfgang Puck, Emerial, Jacques Torres, etc...and I'd imagine some good recipes shared. The dates are March 26-27. Here's a little video promoting it.