Princess Summerfall Winterspring

Our schizophrenic weather brought to mind a character from an old children's television show I watched as a child,  "The Howdy Doody Show." Princess Summerfall Winterspring was first played by actress Judy Tyler, then after her early death, by a marionette.  The character was one of Howdy's dear friends.

 

Summerfall Winterspring. That's what March is like in Michigan. When the temperature hits 60, drive by any fraternity house near the campus that has a sun roof and you'll see loads of young men in shorts. As for the women, on their way to the bar on a Friday night, tube tops and short skirts are in vogue -- often with no coat or a skimpy jacket. It is summer to them.

And then it will snow. Or we'll have freezing rain. The skies will be gray, gloomy and threatening. And if you venture to the north of the state, that snow might well be there till the end of April. Winter. (All these photos were taken in previous March years.)

 

And then, March brings us this. Shoots of daffodils, crocus and dwarf iris. Maybe even a bud on a tree toward the end of the month. 

  

And lots of rain.  Spring.

 

In fact, this is my neighbor's yard, taken this weekend. I would have taken a pic of my basement with two inches of water covering the entire floor (which is far worse than usual), but it was too depressing. Most went down the storm drain by morning -- after attempting bail, I went to bed. (Though I had to sweep some toward it) and drying out with fans. Ick.

There isn't much fall in this scenario, apart from the still-bare branches that take hold in November and remain until that beautiful, wispy chartreuse of early spring takes hold. Yes, that's Fall. (And yes, we've had snow like that in fall, too.)

 

This year the Ditch is just opening up, ice is almost out. On a warm, cloudy day, threatening more rain, I headed that way.

 I saw this cute little fellow swimming on my walk, along with a lot of ducks and geese. There was even a red-winged blackbird but he was too fast for me to photograph! 

 These two were especially decked out! 

This year, it seems like everyone has talked about the weather. It's either been terribly cold (most places in the north), very snowy (like the recent Nor'easter); or not (like in Colorado). Some of you are having loads of flowers (London), some are having summer (Australia). And some of us are lucky enough to have orchids in their house!

 

One thing that helps moves winter into spring is time with friends. Recently, my friend Barb, Hostest with the Mostest, invited Kate and me for lunch to celebrate Kate's birthday. 

 

If you want to see spring at its floral best, Barb is the person to visit. She made the basket for this wonderful spring floral arrangement! Which, of course, she designed with an array of blooms.

 

We started with mango mimosa. 

 

And then it was on to lunch. The first course was a wonderful veggie soup -- split peas, onion, carrot, and potato, ultimately blended to a rich, hearty soup and topped with a bit of balsamic glaze. Yum!

 

And, to accompany that, home made muffins. (And best of all, she gave us both soup and muffins to take home!)

 

Onward to the glorious Maurice Salad. The one-time major Detroit department store, Hudson's, used to feature this in their dining room. Barb rocked it!

 

So far, it had been a pretty healthy lunch -- veggies, soup, bran muffins. We were stuffed after this but it didn't stop us from enjoying dessert!

 

Let me just say, my friend Barb makes the best key lime pie ever. She'd win any contest around!

 

And of course, we were all very happy!

 

That should make for plenty of fun and festive times! But it wasn't enough for me! So, later in the week, I welcomed my friends Susie and Jane for our monthly lunch. 

 

I was a slacker, doing a Trader Joe stir fry (which was darned good!), while Jane brought cole slaw and Susie brought ice cream and cookies for dessert. But Jane  brought something else -- a sweet potato tightly wrapped in plastic. She was told to microwave it for four minutes, and when you cut it open it would explode into fluffiness. It didn't explode (maybe a good thing!) but it was delicious! 

 

Meanwhile, I received a lovely surprise package from a dear friend. But I think Lizzie was most surprised of all. 

 

It was good to see my girl play again! Maybe she has spring fever too!