Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Aaa-choo!

One of the joys of living in Hotlanta is how beautiful it is in the spring.  Really, it's spectacular.  But then there is the pollen.

I read about pollen counts and people sneezing in New York City and other parts of the country, and I laugh.  Because they are griping when the pollen count is 300.  Now, 300 is high, I'll give you that.  But folks, you ain't seen nothing.

This is today's pollen count.  It is 2,967, and I think it will go higher - I've seen pollen counts as high as 6,000 here.  One year when the pollen was at this level, I was stuck at a dead stop in downtown traffic and had a major asthma attack.  (I carry an inhaler at all times now - I'm not repeating that horror.)

We are living on Claritin here.  And using lots of tissues.  Even the cats are sneezing, poor things.  And this is part of the reason.

Here's the little dogwood in our front yard.  The white dogwoods are blooming, and the pink ones are not far behind.

This is in my side yard.  I'll be durned if I know what it is, but I see these blooming everywhere.  Such a gorgeous purple color.

The azaleas are starting to bloom.

Phlox is out in force.

And one of my all-time favorite spring flowers is now blooming - wisteria.  It grows wild along the road (it's a vine).

And sometimes people train it.  Isn't the wisteria pretty on this garden gate?

I've been cleaning and relaxing on my time off.  I've tried to organize my HDT - more on that another time - and I'm getting Curly's old room ready to paint a soothing blue.  And I've been working on the Kittie blankie.

See?  It's getting big.  It's 30 inches long and 17 wide - getting wider by the day.  (I've folded it under so you don't see the unfinished edges that look icky.)

I think it's soft and nice.  Should be good for a sweet baby.

Cisco, my big kitty, brought us a present this morning.  I found it on the doorstep of the front door, beheaded.  Yes, Cisco killed the Easter Bunny. The head was next to it, leaving us ALL the good parts.  Um, thanks?

I will be kind and not show you the picture.  Cisco has no remorse about this.  In fact, he can sleep peacefully.  Sophie doesn't seem perturbed either.

ttfn

11 comments:

  1. My sister's cat Bill catches rabbits too. I guess your baby was just getting into the Easter spirit...sorta! At least when you sneeze you're enjoying the view, I don't think NYC is that pretty.

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  2. All those flowering trees at one time really put out the pollen.

    I like your blanket.

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  3. My mother looked out of the window at the nursing home today and said it looked like it was snowing. It was white stuff falling off the trees. It's really bad here too. Your blanket is great. We had a cat that used to bring us bunny parts too. I remember one Sunday after church finding just the ears on our porch. My little girls were devastated!

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  4. All that flowering going on! I live in Minneapolis and the trees are JUST beginning to bud!

    Pearl

    p.s. I had to laugh when I landed here. Why? Your comment on top about smothering your husband. :-) My blog first thing Wednesday morning is about that very subject!

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  5. Oh, heck. I think I'd take the sneezing, watery eyes and what not to the SNOW we had yesterday and today. We do have Chinodoxia and crocus peeking out, but everything else is still frozen.
    The blanket is certainly progressing nicely! I like doing hairpin lace stuff, too -- but it's been years. have to see if I've still got my fork!

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  6. As for Easter bunny parts on your doorstep, bleh! But you've gotta give your kitties credit for pullin' their weight around, instead of throwin' their weight around, or just loungin' around. LOL!

    Your kitty blanket is coming along so nicely!

    And pollen, pollen everywhere, and not a clean car in sight! Your photos are beautiful.

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  7. OMG. This explains why I am allergic to northern Florida. I had thought it was psychosomatic.

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  8. OMG. This explains why I am allergic to northern Florida. I had thought it was psychosomatic.

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  9. The blanket is so pretty.

    The worst kitty present we ever got was a chipmunk. What's up with the decapitation before they give us the giftie?

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  10. The tree in your side yard is red bud (Cercis canadensis). It grows all over the place here in the Carolinas, almost like a weed (or like wisteria along the roads. haha).
    .

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