More Springtime Warmth in February

I know that it's a warm sunny day when I catch a kitty laying around like this in the garden. This is where I found little Oreo, the feral garden kitty--lounging under the Breath of Heaven bush in the front garden. Today was such a beautiful day, with a high of around 67°F (19.44°C) according to Hubby (my personal weatherman).

Oh no... I can almost hear the groans from my friends in colder climes. I'm really not doing this to gloat. I'm hoping to somehow spread the sunshine in some way to all of my blogging friends with cold toes and noses right now.

So many of my blogging friends are fellow rose lovers. And many of those fellow rose lovers are missing their blooms right now. So let me share with you the few lovely roses that are in bloom at Rosehaven Cottage. The Joseph's Coat rose (above left) has one solitary blossom reaching toward the sky amid leafless lilac branches with buds on them. The Tahitian Sunset rose (above center) also has one stalwart solitary blossom that I couldn't bare to cut when I was doing all the rest of the rosebush cleanup in preparation for the new foliage. And the pink "mystery" rose (above right) has a few brave tight little buds spearing toward the sky like cupid's arrows--perfect for Valentine's Day.

I can't think of a better way to warm some of you up than to share this gorgeous lemon with you! It is one of many on this lemon tree that is only a few years old. This is the first good crop we've had, and I'm so happy about that. Hubby picked a couple lemons today to bring in and cook with. He is amazing in the kitchen and can do wonders skinless chicken breasts, spices, and a fresh lemon or with a lemon, vinegar, and some spices over some fresh greens. Yum!

Speaking of greens... we have some of those too! The broccoli (above left) is looking almost too pretty to harvest. And the perennial brussels sprouts in the front garden (above right), although not tight enough to really harvest for eating, are filling in nicely to serve as a great aphid decoy when the roses send out their new foliage soon.

And finally, the lovely soothing blue of a vinca major blossom that I only get to see during this time of year. During the summer months, it gets too hot and dry for the vinca to be happy enough to flower. So I enjoy it in the spring before it goes away by the time June rolls around. That will be about the time when I will be enjoying the wonderful blogs of all of you in cooler climates that will have amazingly lush summer gardens when mine is past its prime and I'm camping out inside in front of the A/C to somehow get cool. It all evens out somehow, doesn't it?