Our mountains'sputtering toward summer has given us an extended spring, complete with grateful plants and blossoms.  Green beans and corn rows are pushing along in the garden, along with a dozen or so tomato plants, some peppers, budding squash and zucchini, eggplants, cucumbers, and some already enjoyed swiss chard.  Well, yum!  My hydrangeas and lilies especially have been delighted with the weather and shown it..... 

Definitely this one is a smile-bringer and by maturity, the full blossom is that gorgeous blue rimming the new petals.  The bush came from a shoot in my sister's yard in Rustburg, Virginia, a small, quiet little town in the central southern part of our state.  Tucked in among the large oaks on that property, the bush was thriving along with several hostas, babes of which my sister was generous with to me as well.  There's an old adage that says the best hydrangea bush is one you've snitched, but I'm glad this one was a knowing-gift!  

The lily is one I bought and shared with another sister, and both of us have been delighted by the response of this gorgeous plant.  Mine was the smaller off-shoot, mainly because the plant was, after all, a present to her, but we share and I was tickled to find a small one sprouting for me to nip off and plant at home.  Each mature stem has had over a dozen blooms on each crown.....still going....wow.....



They will soon be gone, even with that number, and close by are a few others in apricot and yellow, but these definitely demand a special look!

So all of this outside beauty has tempted me away from knitting, but I'm trudging on, with more than I should have on the needles.......a tank top for my eldest, socks for me, socks for grandson, blanket for grandson, and a couple of surprises.  I think I just need to set a chair in the frontyard and take my knitting along......