My Irises

 I have several different kinds of Irises, and each one is my favorite!  

Which is your favorite?

March is the New April

Since early March, it has seemed like April around here.  We hardly had Winter!  The spring flowering is at least three weeks early, and the deciduous trees are leafing out much earlier than usual.  But, hey, I'm not complaining, unless of course that means we are going to have an earlier and a longer summer.  Our pink azalea out front has been in full bloom for over two weeks now.

The snowball bush began flowering in January.  It is full of blossoms now.  Some of them are still immature (greenish), but it won't be long until it will be completely full of white blossoms.

The dogwoods are almost in full bloom, and the redbuds are past their peak of flowering and are beginning to form fruit.  See the little green pod (legume) of the redbud on the left in the photo below.

Flowers and fruit (on left) of redbud tree.

And notice the leaves of the tulip poplar. So big already.

Leaves of the tulip poplar.

Our Japanese maple tree leaves are almost fully formed.

Japanese maple tree.

I am truly enjoying this early Spring here in North Carolina.

Welcome Spring with Supper-time Eggs

Supper-time Eggs.

Dan and I like scrambled eggs, but we more often have them for supper than for breakfast--I call them our Supper-Time Eggs.  I thought this would make for a spring-like meal to officially usher in Spring. 

I used two whole eggs and two egg yolks.  The extra yolks make for creamier and more flavorful scrambled eggs and give the eggs a brighter yellow color. (Maggie gets the left over egg whites).  I usually add just a bit of milk or cream to the eggs before beating, and  I cook them slowly in the skillet with just a bit of olive oil.  A drizzle of basil pesto is just the right garnish, and a few spears of steamed fresh asparagus on the side suggest that indeed Spring has arrived.  I toasted some whole grain bread in the oven with the broiler setting and topped the toast with cream cheese with chives before serving.  We enjoyed our Supper-time Eggs!