I love spring in TN.  When we lived in Indiana there was still a good little nip in the air up till May--not so in Tennessee.  Already the redbuds have burst out in their beautiful odd lilac-like color, the forsythias are in full bloom, the daffodils are standing in patches nodding their little heads, and the birds sound like they're going to explode with the joy of spring.
I start digging out lemon recipes, strawberry recipes, carrot cake recipe (for Easter Sunday), I find myself digging out my tea books and thinking possibly I could sneak an outdoor tea into our very busy spring schedule.  If it doesn't happen it sure was fun to dream about!

   I also get seriously bit by the sewing bug in spring.  I walked into Cracker Barrel and all those darling little dresses are just begging me to go home and sew something just like them, but handmade and even prettier! 

I begin dragging out pattern boxes (I have three boxes, a cabinet and two drawers of patterns, so there's a lot to go through!) and then digging out my spring fabric and seeing what I might just come up with.

  So far I made a little toddler who had a birthday at our church a dress (from scraps) that I thought turned out so cute.  I put yo-yo's on the front and around the pockets and it just set it off.  Also did the bias out of a companion print to the dress print.  Now that was fun!  I also took some scraps and made my granddaughter Macey a comfy little moo-moo type gown that is out of bright springy colors that she can only wear when she's having one of her fever episodes.  If I'd had time she probably would have got a stuffed animal to match!

 This is a little smocked dress I made last spring....

This is the little dress with the yo-yo's out of scraps!

When I'm not playing in the fabric or patterns then I start going through flower catalogs and wondering what I can put in the little flowerbed we have here that will have color and love shade at the same time.  Last year I planted three big hostas which seem to have disappeared.  My sweetheart fears that the "husband bug" might have chopped them to bits when he helped me winterize the flower beds.  I thought I really did a good job getting something perennial that also loved shade.  (They have yet to stick their heads up and report for duty! :)
  Which reminds me of the story of my spring "cutworm."  We had invested in a clematis which I thought would be beautiful climbing up one of the metal poles of our carport. (And hide the thing since I thought metal poles were ugly!)  I talked to the gardener about how to plant it and which side of the house to plant it on and everything seemed fine.  The odd thing was that it would get about 6 inches tall and then it was cut off!  I dug through the soil looking for a cutworm.  I dusted it with Seven dust, I fertilized it and even more I can't remember.  I was convinced there was a cutworm that I wasn't finding or killing.
   This went on for a good while till one day at Sunday dinner I brought up my dilemna.  My father-in-law asked where it was planted and when I told him he said, "Oh, I thought that was a weed that kept coming up and I've been weed-eating it!  So!  My cutworm had a name and it was a person I loved very much!
   Once Charles the Cutworm ceased his activities it grew rapidly and ended up going clear up onto the roof of the carport!
   I married in the spring and had three babies born in the spring.  Spring makes me think of rebirth and how it seems all is dead but a little warm sunshine and rain and it all bursts out for us to be awed by again.

   Spring is strawberry jam sitting on the counters waiting to be put on warm bread, sitting on the porch with my family as the sun goes down just enjoying the sights and sounds, planting flower beds with cheerful flowers and standing back to admire God's handiwork when He made them, lying in bed in the morning and listening to the pouring rain from a heavy spring thunderstorm, making lemon cake, lemon bars, lemon torte, making a many layered carrot cake, making cookies and decorating them with little violets on white icing, switching from thick winter soups and stews to wonderful sandwiches with salads.  Spring is when you enjoy bathing a brand new baby and holding them warm against you snuggled in a towel.  Spring is when you hang your sheets on the clothesline and wash up all your antique linens and antique aprons and hang them out on the line to soak up the sun so they smell fresh and clean.

  I am without apology a very, very happy homemaker.  I love every season of it, I love every aspect of it.  I don't think it came naturally--I believe it's a gift God gave me when I took His word and began diligently seeking my role in life as a biblical woman.  When I accepted the role and position He had designed me for, He graciously let my fall deeply in love with being the keeper at my home.  

  How thankful I am for the seasons, but especially for spring with its birdsongs, honeysuckle, anniversary day, special birthdays and its open windows with warm breezes,  Happy Spring, dear daughters!  Throw yourself into it with all your heart!

Love,

Mom