Coffee gets it's turn at a Thursday Thirteen

1. The aroma of coffee brewing in my kitchen is enough to pull me from the deepest sleep.
2. Coffee is the number one reason I drag my sorry butt out of bed most mornings.
3. Coffee doesn't talk back, argue or give me a hard time before I'm ready.
4. Coffee is warm, patient and always available.
5. You can sit and drink it or take it with.
6. Coffee travels well in the car without asking how long until you get there.
7. All the variety. There are hundreds of things one can do to a cup of coffee.
8. I like mine with milk, a little cream if I'm sinning.
9. If I'm really sinning, I add cinammon and just a dash of vanilla.
10. Coffee gives me something to do with my hands.
11. I have one mug that goes with me into the yard most mornings to check the flowers that bloomed overnight. The dog, the coffee and I make a good, early morning team.
12. I finish whatever the kids leave me in the pot. My favorite times are when there's not enough for a second cup, and I can make more.
13. And last, coffee is universal. I could wander the whole world and every country has coffee. Unlike Dr. Pepper, which gets harder to find as you leave the South!

Thirteen things about Valentine's Day

1) All that candy!

2) It's a great chance to tell your family, your kids and everyone around you that you love them.

3) Whether you have someone special or not, it's a great holiday.

4) Since I love flowers, I'm easy to shop for.

5) One of our family traditions is that I always got the kids a stuffed animal for Valentines. I only stopped when they told me they were too old.

6) It's a great excuse for a date night, dinner together, something. Especially for people like us who rarely make time for one another.

7) Valentines Day is one day I don't have any trouble sitting down to write.

8) Valentine's Day is a great excuse to buy lingerie for yourself.

9) Or even your significant other!

10) I always feel the need for Frank Sinatra music, love songs, Pavarotti, Domingo and all those great Italian songs! Yeah, baby! Sing to me!

11) Valentines Day is a great reason to bake sweets. Almost as good a reason as Christmas time. But I don't feel like I have to make more than one thing, so it can be special. Thinking about a chocolate torte this year.

12) Watching my kid leave for school with stuff for his girlfriend he'd purchased without my help made me happy. He's growing up.

13) Valentines Day is one of those days I think of the people I'm grateful for and celebrate those relationships.

And since it's the 14th, let's do one more!
14) No matter where you are, what your circumstances, whether you have a significant other or not, whether you and your S.O. celebrate or ignore it, take a moment and think about all the people you love. Send them a little lift, a little bit of your spirit!

It took me 41 years to have my own house with my very own yard. I spent another year learning what was good and bad in the yard before I began aggressively cutting away. This year, I started gardening in February to avoid my mistakes from last year. Look to your left, you'll see what happened to me last year. I stupidly let things grow until the green stuff took over.

So, our first warm weekend, to day, as a matter of fact, we headed out to the yard before the sun rose too high to provide a little shade here and there. Wearing gloves and long sleeves, armed with chain saws, pole saws, two new trash cans and several pairs of clippers, my husband and I ventured out the back door. Oh, and coffee. Yes, I took my coffee along, and the dog.

We are by no means professional gardeners. One glance and it's fairly obvious. We did much better in the front yard than the back. By the time the Vinca grew, we had a bed full of color.

My favorite reason for gardening is collecting gnomes. After only a couple of years, my collection is filling out nicely. These two gnomes guard my back flowerbeds. The hedge behind protects them from the wind and weather. They have been known to drink and carouse, we suspect.

So, the first warm weekend with the sun shining in the sky, brave the outdoors, greet your yard. Plant something or tend what you already have. Before moving here, I could never imagine myself spending hours in my yard, but I do. I don't do it so that others ooh and aah; I do it for me. To watch the things I've planted come back again, and to watch the things the previous owner planted long ago is more than satisfying. To all my fellow gardeners, I raise my rake in your honor.