Monday, April 4, 2016

April ~ 2016







~ A P R I L ~


April showers bring May flowers.

We had a wet beginning for April, and here in Texas

we welcome any rain that comes our way.

The drought conditions unfortunately continue to keep

 us on one day a week watering restrictions.





April 1st ~ April Fool's Day

The history of this holiday is vague,

but the tradition of playing practical jokes on April 1st

 is one that has continued through the centuries across the globe.

The above photo isn't really a prank, 

but I have a friend who likes to "photoshop" interesting touches

to create a "joke" photo of sorts.

Here I am in Paris with my strolling French roosters.

One of the funniest she has given me is moi as Frida Kahlo, 

complete with dark bushy eyebrows and a monkey on my shoulder.

Not sharing that one!

Do you have a favorite April Fool's Prank?





First Weekend in April 

Can't leave out the much anticipated famous 

Round Top Spring Antiques Week.


You can read about last spring's Round Top advernture here.





April 6th ~ National Tartan Day

National Tartan Day is a favorite holiday for me in April.

It's not because I'm Scottish, 

but because I adore tartans and plaids.

Click the links below to visit Tartan Day Posts from years past.

 ~ 2015 ~ 2013 ~  2012 ~ 2011 ~





April is the month that Texas wildflowers put on their show.

Roadsides are transformed into a carpet of vibrant color.

~ Bluebonnets ~ Indian Paintbrush ~ Evening Primrose ~ Poppies ~

~ Blackfoot Daisy ~ Indian Blanket ~ Wine Cup ~ Mexican Hat ~

~ Coreopois ~ Sun Flower ~ Rain Lily ~ Spider Lily ~

Just to name a few! 

Thank you, Lady Bird Johnson for your vision in

spearheading the Beatification Act of 1965.




Andrea ~  Beautiful Butterfly Lady
Guest @ Eeyore's Birthday Party A Few Years Ago

April 30th ~ Eeyore's Birthday Party 


To close out the month there must be a mention of

 Eeyore's Annual Birthday Party

a spring traditon here in Austin.  

If you plan to attend, you can read all the details here.

Joining




Sarah
Sarah

The summer we married, my husband was in graduate school, and I was employed as a teacher. We took a portion of our savings that summer and purchased a sailboat. We christened our Catalina 22, “Hyacinths For The Soul” after Saadi’s poem. Our "Hyacinths" provided years of pleasure.

51 comments:

  1. I knew about the bluebonnets but not the many other beautiful blooms along your highways! So pretty. And so many fun festivals and activities going on. One of these days I will get to Round Top...seems every blogger has been there! My niece took a job at The University of Texas at Tyler last year so I have a place to stay. Not sure where Tyler is though! lol!

    Eeyore...my favorite Pooh character!

    Happy April, Sarah!

    Jane

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  2. Always a pleasure to visit. Your friend sounds like a lot of fun. Blessings, Martha

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  3. There's lots of fun to read about in this post, Sarah.
    I remember driving from OKC to Austin in 1982 and being stunned at the profusion of wild flowers - fields of them and broad swathes of colour along the sides of the highway. It was something to see!

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  4. Beautiful flowers and I'm still lovin' those tartan Christmas balls:@)

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  5. Sarah, to me April is the beginning of spring and summer. I don't mind April showers for the flowers they bring. I see you've been very busy in your garden with the pink blooms, so pretty. Love the photoshop photo, how cute. I know you love Paris and I know you love roosters so taking your roos for a stroll in Paris is the perfect April's Fool prank!
    Happy tartan day my friend………………

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  6. I do enjoy these monthly subject posts, Sarah. And I love April.
    What a great photo of your TT at Round Top (he was a really good sport!). I didn't realize TX was on a 1X weekly water allowance - that sure changes a garden plan, doesn't it? From the looks of it, where you are is about 1 month ahead of my garden calendar insofar as blooms go. Love your April Fool's photoshop - cute.
    Rita

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  7. You have a wonderful month planned, Sarah...full of fun adventures! I loved seeing all the beautiful flowers...my hyacinths were topped with snow yesterday. I should have taken a picture but it was just too darn cold to go outside. Hurry up Spring!
    The photo with the cowboy holding your tote is funny, as are the chickens photoshopped over your France picture! I realize one is real & one is fake but they both made me smile.

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  8. Looks like April is plentiful :)

    Cute cute Montmartre pic:)

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  9. I love reading your monthly posts, Sarah! Seeing the cowboy holding your tote is too funny!!
    Yes, we need all the rain that we can get, don't we? We need more!
    Happy April to you! xo

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  10. Oh, how I would love to see a field of bluebonnets. Every year my niece, who lives outside of Dallas, posts a family photo taken in a a field of blue!! Just gorgeous! Our April has brought us 12" snow so far - - we call it SPRINTER TIME! Hoping the warmth is on its way soon!!

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  11. I love spring in your neck of the woods, Sarah! We are still covered in snow. It's not nearly as pretty!!

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  12. April is a busy month for our family, three birthdays!
    hugs,
    Linda

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  13. It's fascinating to me to imagine all those wild flowers blooming along the roadsides. I remember hearing about Lady Bird Johnson's promotion to do this and always thought it would be beautiful to see. I'm going to have to get down there!

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  14. Hi Sarah! Now you're not trying to make me miss Texas are you? I do miss seeing those pretty bluebonnets! :) Thanks for popping in to see me.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  15. Sarah, I am enjoying the monthly subject. Done day we will take a drive to see the blue bonnets. So much to look forward to once we retire. The tote is getting around :-)

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  16. Sarah, you are one fun gal. This post just brings a huge smile to my face!

    Hugs. ♥

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  17. Sarah, I loved hearing about all the celebrations going on in Texas this month. I would love to see the wildflowers. We took a drive this past weekend and saw they were having a tour of the wild flowers blooming around here, but we had the dog so couldn't go. Our's grow up in the higher elevations..Happy Wednesday..Judy

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  18. Sarah, Thanks for the round up of April events and holidays! I need a Tartan or plaid parade to give me a nudge and get in gear with the celebration. One day I MUST get to Round Top (after I rent a U-Haul :) it's on my bucket list! I'd love the see a glorious carpet of Bluebonnets in Texas. It's below freezing here this morning, a rude awakening after 70 and 80 degree temperatures!

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  19. I bet your wildflowers are spectacular Sarah! Happy April!

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  20. Sarah,
    This is neat to see all of the activities that are available to us for the month of April!
    Texas is sort of a nifty State, isn't it?
    I so enjoyed seeing Sadie in her Tartan today on FB!

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  21. Great post, Sarah! I adore tartan as well, off to see your posts!

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  22. What a fun post. When someone else posted about Tartan Day, I immediately thought of you.

    Thanks for sharing with SYC.

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  23. So many fun events in April Sarah! Wish I would have been home to celebrate Tartan day. We love our tartans! :) Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  24. Sarah,
    So great to have you join us today at Thoughts Of Home On Thursday.
    I sure wish you lived closer so you could join us for one of our blog get-together's.
    Next time you are in Dallas let us know in advance and we will all go out to lunch!
    Jemma

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  25. Dearest Sarah,
    Those strolling french roosters were HUGE ones! But such photos can be fun.
    No, we've never done any prank for April 1st.
    Just managed to salvage everything off my website as my webmaster just told me on Sunday that he's going out of business (his side business) probably this month... Holy Lord; what a bad news. Instead of focussing on some Mother's Day sales, I had to hurry and get all the info before it's gone! Would hate to calculate again all the mailing weights etc.
    So that kept me busy for a while. Also I'm one third through scanning all our photos. Would have loved to finish that before Pieter's 87th birthday on the 29th. Just want to finally catch up on things and start enjoying life more together; while we still can!
    We have had numerous summer guests over the years and they got wined and dined here and enjoyed it but nobody knows what you yourself put on hold, put off for later. Until it becomes almost overwhelming. So I had to tackle this huge project and I will complete it and that's why my blog visits etc. are a bit low... So happy that I finished Pieter's 3-week trip to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in 1987. We both had NOT had the time for finally seeing all his slides. When he got home (not really, as I was in The Netherlands and that's where he arrived from Taipei) he went next day to England with some colleagues from Campbell Soup and to Switzerland, Austria and The Netherlands. Than Mom & Dad flew back with us and I did the sight seeing with them for the biggest part as Pieter had to work. It was me who flew back to Amsterdam with Mom & Dad and on to consulting work in the Bremen/Germany area for 2 weeks while Pieter called me from New Zealand and Australia... For nine weeks we had no privacy. And the bad news was we had to move... so slowly packing up things and no time for viewing slides. Moved to Pennsylvania, to Italy and back to Georgia while living and working in Indonesia. We lost part of the slides during the move... and painstakingly I managed to put the puzzle together and Pieter is happy as he kind of relives the entire trip. It had such an impact on him about such poverty. People to People Ambassador Program no longer exists but that's what he was sent for to lecture at Chinese universities etc.
    But I was kind of in a hurry due to his age and his health went down last year around my Mom's death... But so far so good; we're both there!
    Love to visit blogs but sometimes things come in the way.
    Sending you hugs and blessings for good health and happy times together.
    Mariette

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  26. Sarah, that first photo is beautiful. Is that in your yard? Love the pic of you with your French roosters. How fun. Round Top has been on my bucket list for so long, I'm starting to doubt it will ever happen. What kind of calendar do you have that even informs you of Tartan Day? Or is your memory just that good? When you've posted about it in the past, I've thought I was going to remember it next year and do a tartan post, but I never remember.

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  27. Love it. Didn't know about Eeyore's birthday. I have seen the wildflowers in Texas. Our son lives in Leander.

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  28. Love your strolling with the roosters! What a fun friend to create that pix for you!

    I was in tx a few yrs ago during this time of year......and those flowers were wonderful!

    Happy pink Saturday ! Dana

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  29. This post was chock full of amazing things! Such a happy addition to Thoughts of Home on Thursday. Thank you SO much for sharing the joy.
    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  30. Sweet friend to do that. I love kilts. I hope they come back someday. I've seen a few teens where them, but they are short version, not the real thing. xoxo Su

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  31. You have a wicked sense of humor! We are lucky to have the beautiful bluebonnet so every spring. Roosters, tartans, and bluebonnets ~ who would have thought it made a great story. Thanks for sharing on Your Inspired Design Link Party #30.

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  32. Great post!! Loved all the info on April!! Thanks so much for stopping by!!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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  33. There seem to be many wonderful April festivals and tradition for April, Sarah! I would love to visit in April to see those prolific wildflowers! I don't play April 1st pranks, but I do get a chuckle from those are successful in doing one that is believable.

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  34. Sarah,
    Your monthly round ups of upcoming special days is such a treat to read each month. You always include some special days that I would have forgotten otherwise. Love your April Fool's photo and your traveling bag with the cowboy. Did you find some great things at Round Top?

    Judith

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  35. One of my most favorite places. Wish I could go back as I never saw things like you shared. This for the free journey.

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  36. What great info about April in Texas! I've always heard about those bluebonnets they are quite lovely! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm! xo Kathleen Charm Bracelet {At Home}

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  37. How wonderful you had rain...your wildflowers will rejoice too! Love those Texas wildflowers!

    Donna@GardensEyeView
    and LivingFromHappiness

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  38. Hi Sarah,

    I really enjoyed this post -- that first photo is lovely! Your friend is quite talented at photoshop, isn't she? ;-D I LOVE the wildflower mosaic and the tartan mosaic (you know I'm all about the tartan plaids). My in-laws visited Austin, Texas, several years ago and my MIL loved the Blue Bonnets. I'd like to see them sometime.

    I was in the midst of typing a comment on this post last week, and all of a sudden my comment just disappeared. At that point, I was too frustrated to start the whole process again. :) I hope you have a good week, Sarah!

    Hugs,

    Denise at Forest Manor

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  39. Through your pen and lens, you make Texas seem so cozy and fun. Roundtop, wildflowers, the wide open country. Thanks so much for this exquisite post.

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  40. The past couple of weeks have been hot and dry and very dusty and this morning we woke up to rain! Such a gift! I adore Eeyore.
    Amalia
    xo

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  41. Oh yes, the display of wildflowers in Texas is much admired and envied in Ontario. Several speakers that have been to Texas have gorgeous PowerPoint shows of the flowers.

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  42. Hi Sarah! I do not have any April Fool's Day pranks worth mentioning! Thought of you on National Tartan's Day this past weekend. One of these days I hope to get to Scotland and experience the land of plaid! Until then, so happy that Outlander is back on STARZ so I can get my fill of lovely Highland scenes and cute guys in KILTS! hehe
    Hope you are doing well! xoxoxox

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  43. I love all of your wonderful pictures!! The flowers have been beautiful this spring. We even have a patch of bluebonnets, wild verbena and primroses in our back lot. I have so enjoyed looking at them from the kitchen window!
    We will be in your fair city on Friday...making a trip down there to look at some Johannus organs for our church. Our old organ is trying to give up the ghost, so we are going "shopping". Too bad I will be with the preacher and the president of the congregation....both men, neither of whom have any patience for shopping! :^(
    Have a great week, and blessings to you,
    J

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  44. hat joke photo is adorable! And I am loving looking at your flowers. Things are just starting to poke up around here, so I cannot wait to see some flowers in my yard!

    Thanks so much for joining the Dishing It & Digging It Link Party.

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  45. We have drought restriction here in California too. We've been having the drought since last year and some people even took drastic steps to move out of California...

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  46. Yes, I remember your tartan posts and you have the most beautiful collection, Sarah. I am always envious of your gorgeous garden...Christine

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  47. Hi Sarah and thank you so much for popping in to see me and your kind words. Oh, I'll bet the bluebonnets and Indian paint brushes are so beautiful now around Austin! Hope all is well with you.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  48. Yes, April showers...I guess Texas is getting a lot of those this week! Stay safe!
    Shelley

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  49. hello my dear, just popped over to catch up and spotted that fab photo of you in Montmartre with those amazing roosters! Love them.
    Hope the April showers are helping your garden to grow, the trees here are starting to gladden my heart with beautiful blossom and I'm loving going out searching for treasures now that "vide grenier" time is here once more.
    Love
    M

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