April Showers and Flowers

It rained today.
   For me, this is kind of a big deal. I love the rain so very much, and we haven't gotten a lot of it this spring. Which is unusual for my area.
   It sprinkled a bit in the morning, before I had gotten out of bed. And it remained dry and cool for a good part of the day.
   Then it was evening.
   I had just finished a spectacular book, the kind that left you with chills, and the sudden feeling of returning to earth when you put it down, even though you've been sitting in the same spot for a good long while.
   With that wonderful feeling inside of me, I impulsively raked the grass clippings in the front yard into piles, and went inside to get my sketching things.
   But the sky was getting stormy, and I felt the need to take some pictures. So I out the sketching things down and grabbed my camera instead.

Our tiny baby apple trees are blossoming right now. 

All of the flowers in our beds are bloomed as well. 

The bleeding heart is definitely my favorite in our flower beds. I actually wrote a short story about them a long time ago that I kind of want to dig up again. It was completely horrible, but hey, editing works miracles. 

Columbine is starting to bloom. 

I have five baby Easter lilies starting to come up! They're pretty close together and I should probably separate them, but I really have no idea how in the world to grow lilies. It's a miracle they've survived this long, to be honest. 

 And here come the clouds. And the thunder. And the lightning. I had put away my camera at this point and gotten my sketching things again. But then I switched them out once more and snapped a few more photos before the rain started pouring down in sheets.

 It was at this point that my brother and I went out into the rain and got thoroughly wet. And I mean thoroughly wet.

 After we had come inside and I had changed into something comfy and dry, I came back out onto our porch and took some more pictures. The storm was still going strong. 

 A friend of mine went to Ireland recently (I was and still am so jealous, I can't even tell you) and brought me back some shamrock seeds. This is the first one to poke its head up. 

And nothing ends a rainy day venture like a cup of warm coffee. :)

Enjoy your weekend, dear reader. 

MR