Spring Is Just Around the Corner!

Nice bright smile!

The calendar…

OK, I know it’s actually been spring for a few days now, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it in my part of the world. We have had so much rain, and it’s been quite chilly. In fact, tonight, it’s supposed to be in the 20s (-6.67 C). I’m ready for it to be warmer and sunnier which is odd because I love fall and winter.

Daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, oh my…

It occurred to me one night (early morning, actually) that, just as I’ve gotten a really nice bulb garden going, we’ve moved. Nigel assures me we won’t be moving again…or, at least, he won’t! I can’t guarantee that. If, say, our house up north were to come up for sale…I don’t know…I’d be pretty tempted. Since I doubt that will happen anytime soon, I need to come up with a plan for planting.

But, I cheat…

One year, I planted over 250 tulip bulbs. This was many, many years ago. Guess how many came up? Two! I don’t know what happened to the others, but I’ve kinda steered clear of tulips ever since. Now, hyacinths are a completely different matter. Being the flowery person I am, I love the scent of hyacinths (you can read my post here about scent). Our church would sell hyacinth plants for Easter. I’d try to buy one or two each year and then plant them in the back yard. At our last house, I’d lucked out and found single hyacinth and daffodil flowering plants on clearance at Lowes. I bought several and had lots of luck with them coming up and blooming year after year. And, that’s my plan for this house.

Where to put them…

The problem with both daffodils and hyacinths (and maybe tulips) is you don’t cut down the leaves after they’re done flowering. So, you’re stuck with those yellowing leaves for weeks after. This is because those bulbs need the energy absorbed by the leaves to nurture them for the next year. Since we have so little “real estate” to plant, I want to make sure I’m taking all of that into account. And, of course, the daffodils do spread. I don’t think I’ve ever had hyacinths multiply. We only have three feet out from the house in which we can plant things. You’d better believe I’m going to take advantage of those three feet!

My outfit…

I’ve talked over and over again about how well J Jill does colors. I just bought this cardigan and was pleasantly surprised to find the blues in this tunic matched almost perfectly. What tunic, you say? That looks like a regular tee shirt. I used to enjoy wearing cardigans over longer tops but not as much recently. So, I tucked the hem of my tee into my bra band. I also was wearing my new favorite jeans with the wide leg silhouette and wanted a more streamlined look. I didn’t really want to wear a necklace to take away from the embroidery. I thought of the color wheel and went looking for a scarf in the orange colorway. This scarf is actually an infinity scarf. I knotted it around my neck and then floofed it out to fill the gap around my neck. A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have thought to do that! One note on this cardigan. It’s described as a crew neck sweater, but I’d definitely call it a modified vee neck.

The Lewk!

While I really love these jeans, I’m having a hard time with the length of them! I definitely need to wear higher shoes, or the hems will truly look like the hems of my jeans back in the 70s…all chewed up and ragtag. I pulled out this pair of Clarks wedges. As you can tell from the toe imprints (ewww), these are older and well loved. I’m pretty sure I bought them at some point after my first foot surgery which makes them in the neighborhood of 10-13 years old. The earrings and “wing” bracelet are from Stella & Dot. The remaining bracelets are from Kendra Scott. I went with rose gold because I do like matchy matchy things. Since I’d pulled out the shades of coral and pink in my scarf, I wore rose gold jewelry.

Wrap it up, Marsha!

My car got new shoes this week, but the tire pressure light kept coming on. Nigel went searching on YouTube and found the fix. The fix involved a ride which made me later than I liked in getting ready for a dentist appointment! So, unlike some of the outfits appearing on the blog, I actually wore it for the rest of the day. So, can we talk? How is the weather where you are? Do you plant bulbs, annuals, or perennials? Please leave me a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise I’ll respond within a few days!

10 on the 10th reminder!

I do hope you’ll participate in one way or another for April’s 10 on the 10th. There will be a link party as well.

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Thank you!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing, or emailing! I am truly grateful. If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.

Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion StyleMy Bijou LIfe, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez MireileThe Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping BagDoused in Pink, and I do deClaire and Mummabstylish. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend with Michelle every Thursday. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!

25 Comments

  1. Well today we have a high of 39… so still pretty chilly here as well with ice and frost on the deck and on the cars in the morning. I tend to have all perennials in our garden and then will put a few annuals in pots on our front steps and around the patio. I love flowers but I hate working in the garden so I try to make everything as low maintenance as possible.

    • We actually got pretty warm on Thursday with storms due on Friday. I like to plant perennials, too, but I do love annuals in my urns and pots. I love to work in my gardens, but I now have none so there’s that!

      Thanks, Joanne!

  2. It’s hard for me to believe how cold it is in other places because it is so hot here! I do wish it was cardigan and jacket weather though, I prefer it cooler but not freezing. And all the talk about flowers – oh, how I wish I could grow some. I have a black thumb,
    I really like your pretty cardigan – great color on you! The blouse looks great with it too!
    xo,
    Kellyann

    • Isn’t it crazy when you think about the weather that’s still in your country but so very different? I mean, you are thousands of miles away. Then, I think about the bloggers in Australia talking about fall coming, and that blows my mind!!!

      Thanks so much, Kellyann!

  3. I hate to say this but it is now in the 80s here in Tampa! So no jeans for me! lol. I do love your top! I have one similar and I just took it to the tailor the other day to cut off the long sleeves and make it three-quarters. Long sleeves only work here in Florida in January and February. Squirrels love to dig up and eat tulip bulbs! they must have loved you that year! They don’t like daffodil bulbs so you will always have plenty of them! show us a picture of them! Alas, cannot have them in Florida. I do buy tulips from the grocery but they die in 4 days!

    • Wow! 80s already? Oh, I don’t know that I would want temperatures that high already, but I’m ready for some 60s! We didn’t seem to have that many squirrels, but maybe they were just extra fat that year! I will show you photos when I get some!

      Thanks, Linda!!

  4. I love that shirt!!

    I am so bad with bulbs too. Every year I tell myself I am going to plant them and always forget.

    And I am with you. I am ready for warmer temps and sunny days, even though I am a fall winter person! It has just dragged on too long, I need color and birds and flowers.

    • Thanks, Erin! I just don’t like the digging in the clay we’ve got around here for a bulb! I don’t mind doing it for a plant, a bush, or a tree, though!

      Yes, Spring, we are waiting for you!

  5. Love the colors and print mixing in this outfit, Marsha! It’s still cool/cold in Minnesota, too. We had a single digit low temperature yesterday. But I’m hoping we’ve at least seen the end of significant snow fall for the season! That said, I like the cool spring better than the hot spring I’ve experienced in other places.

    • Thanks, Sally! I kept thinking about you as I was rummaging through my scarves…thinking Sally would be so upset to see these poor scarves so neglected! Wow! You do still have the cold weather. It’s supposed to gradually warm through next week here.

  6. I love how you got creative with the scarf this way and the color really adds so much to the overall look.
    I know what you mean about the length of jeans. That was the advantage of skinny jeans is you could cuff them so easily. But don’t forget that you can always just cut off the jeans because the raw hem is still going strong,
    XOXO
    Jodie
    http://www.jtouchofstyle.com

    • Thanks, Jodie! It just looked so naked there!!! See what you’ve done! Oh, I like these jeans this length…they have just the right amount of swish, and when they fray like they did in the 70s, I’ll be ok with that, too!

  7. I love your outfit! So chic and stylish and I’m so happy that spring is right around the corner 🙂

    https://www.mariannyc.com/postpartum-must-haves/

  8. This is such a great outfit Marsha! It’s casual and fun! I feel like this is the perfect run some errands and meet up with a friend for coffee kinda outfit. love! You are the fashion queen!
    Bulbs. Well usually about 70-80% of what I plant comes up. Not to bad. I have the room to plant but not the time. But I try to sneak some into the ground here and there when I can. This year I am focusing on butterfly and hummingbird wild flowers in my backyard.

    • Well, to be perfectly honest…you are more apt to see me like this than in my big splashy kimonos! They’re gorgeous, but they are always getting caught in the car doors!

      Good for you with the butterfly and hummingbird flowers! I hope we see a few this summer!

  9. I’m so ready for spring weather so I can plant! This is such a cute outfit! Love the color of your sweater!

    Jill – Doused in Pink

    • Thanks, Jill! I don’t usually buy this color, but I was sold as soon as I tried it on! I’m sure your weather is even worse than ours!

  10. When I read the title of this post, I asked out loud, “Whose corner, Marsha? Surely not mine!” Haha. Tomorrow we are flirting with 70 degrees and ending the weekend with snow on Sunday night. Arrrgh. This outfit is really pretty. I really like the brighter scarf with the paler shades of blue, too. Happy Spring!

    Shelbee

    • Hahaha!!! I had to come up with some kind of title! Oh, your weather is a lot like ours. High 60s today and 40s tomorrow…no snow though! Thanks, Shelbee! This outfit definitely needed a pop of color.

  11. The bunnies around us are awful at eating our tulips! I planted so many (not 250 though) and they get eaten every year. The daffodils must not taste good though because they keep coming up! I need to plant more hyacinths. I love them!

    • Someone else mentioned that squirrels eat tulip bulbs but don’t like the taste of daffodils. I do love hyacinths because the smell is heavenly.

      Thanks, Laura, for coming by!

  12. Hi Marsha, waiting with baited breath for Spring to arrive here! The weather has been horrible and today it’s raining and quite chilly. Roll on the Spring and warmer weather! With that being said, I’m off skiing at the weekend so still want some cooler weather so the snow stays! After that I want sun, sun, sun. Jacqui x

    • Hi, Jacqui! Spring appears to have arrived here with some very severe storms. Towns near us had tornadoes and lots of destruction. We will probably soon be in very hot weather as it seems we don’t have very long springs and falls anymore. I hope your skiing trip was lots of fun!

      Thanks for coming by!

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