Random Acts of Tulips

We've never planted tulips here.

For that matter, I've never planted tulips at all.

But in the past couple of springs, as we've loaded up the flower beds with compost,

and watered faithfully during the dry summer months,

the tulips have taken hold. 

Last spring we had a few small blooms, in red I think,

which appeared with no encouragement.

And this spring we have yellow and red blooms,

which appeared in the dry and warm early spring,

and which have continued to cheerfully proliferate through the late April blizzards.

A gentle sign of God's sense of humour, I think, 

and of the potential for life.

Butter Chicken and Self Image

While trying to find a butter chicken recipe for M I ran across this funny video on one of the recipe pages.  I think it is kinda fun.  It is worth watching right to the end.

Announcing

There are many ways that we mark the arrival of spring:

The first robin singing high in the tree tops

The prairie crocuses peaking their furry heads up

The first buds on the trees

The City of Calgary signs announcing when street cleaning will commence in our area. 

But one major sign, of which we were reminded by our friend over at Calgary Gardening Adventures, is the first signs of rhubarb growth. I had totally forgotten to look for our rhubarb's appearance--I guess I was caught up watching the tulips grow and bud in the front yard. But when I read Dan's blog about rhubarb, we rushed out to check the status of our own.

So, good news! Spring has officially arrived. Our rhubarb looks to be in fine form for the coming season. Too bad we'll be missing most of the harvesting. I hope the new residents enjoy rhubarb as much as we do!

Eggs and Dye and Such

At the instigation of a creative and organized friend of mine, our small group from church got together and decorated eggs to make "Easter trees." B and I felt a bit dorky about how much we enjoyed the project...we spent more time at it than did most of the kids in the group! We didn't get around to actually hanging our eggs on the tree until after Easter, but we thought we'd post a picture of the final product. It looks so neat and cheerfully spring-like.

Book Review

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book totally changed my perception of heaven and hell--for the better! C.S. Lewis is a classic writer who explains things very well through the use of metaphor, for adults and children.

View all my reviews >>

Birth Control

Interesting article on the birth control pill: check it out.

Classical Music

We've been anticipating tonight for weeks because we're going to see the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Calgary Philharmonic Chorus put on Bach's St. John's Passion. We know one of the tenors and one of the baritones and are somewhat familiar with the music and it's going to be GREAT.

...Just as great as the following performance by Beaker:

Spring has Sprung

While listening to one of my favorite Baroque radio stations I heard the following song, and thought it was quite fitting, as things are awakening for spring around here.  Have a listen to this classical piece by Bach, and the photos are of things dead from last fall, and things awakening.