First Poppy for Mama

I have to be the luckiest mother on the planet, I'm convinced. Last Sunday my kids took a walk with Kosta to visit neighbors. I have to admit, I almost pushed them out the door, I couldn't wait for some time alone, if only for an hour. I spent a whole hour by myself basking in silence while enjoying a coffee outside and checking my email without little people asking me how long it would be before they could have their turn at my laptop. When they wait for their turn, they hover and count the minutes.

 "Mom, you said five minutes." 

"Mom, you said five minutes ten hours ago!" 

"Mom, you're not being fair, you'll never finish!"

As the hour of my temporary freedom came to a close I could hear the giggles and squeals of my kids running home. The little voices drew near and by the time they reached our gate all I could hear was "Mama, Mama...come here!" My first thought was that they must have found another animal along the way. 

I opened the door, walked down the steps and Izabella was running up the walkway with a small bunch of flowers in her grip. She said, "Mama look! The first red poppy, we found our first red poppy of spring and picked it for you, I know you love poppies mom."  She's right, I do love poppies. 

I immediately put the flowers into a vase and on the coffee table. I looked at the sweet little bunch of flowers and naturally, had to take a picture. Foti watched carefully as I snapped the pictures and then tapped me on the shoulder. "Mama, can I hold the vase? I want to hold it so you can take a picture of me with the flowers...so you can remember that we picked them for you." You know what this does to a mother's heart, don't you? It melts it. My heart just melted. Of course my little monkey can hold the flowers. 

He was so proud to have helped gather flowers for me. After I took a few pictures he wanted to  have a look ( digital photography is the best thing that's happened to me and children's college funds!)  and the one above is the one he has approved for posting. Izabella & Alexandra had already taken the two laptops available while I was busy so they weren't interested in the flowers anymore. It's the little moments like these that remind me of just how lucky I am and also how wonderful my kids are. I am definitely the luckiest mother on the planet. 

Related Post:

 Looking for a Poppy

Tractor Traffic

μία από τα ίδια...

I'm always running late and I'm ALWAYS behind a tractor!

I know, my traffic problems could be worse so I won't complain too much. Tractors, city buses and trucks(or tractors) hauling boats seem to be the source of my stress when I'm driving. They're slow and I can't ever get around them. I won't even mention having to wait for sheep to clear the road. I'll take it any day over gridlock though. 

Spring...My Favorite Season

Spring is my absolute favorite season. It means that my birthday is near, days will be longer, the weather is getting warmer, I spend more time outside and I can start planting my garden. Most of all,  I love how colors- greens, yellows, purples and pinks emerge from beneath the brown and grey hues of winter. 

Even flowers that some may consider weeds are beautiful and vibrant. 

Our property turns into a spring wonderland that our children love exploring. Butterflies, hawk-moths and tadpoles keep them intrigued as they spend hours outside looking for them. 

Even cold, cloud covered days offer rich green views. 

The children love their independence- free of the cold, damp winter and not having to bundle up every day. 

As I look up through the blossoming trees the sky seems much brighter and  a bit more blue. 

Purple is my favorite color...

especially when it blankets the fields near our home. 

Wishing everyone in the northern hemisphere a beautiful Spring! 

Almond Blossoms II

Almond blossom, sent to teach us

  That the spring days soon will reach us.

      ~ Sir Edwin Arnold~

Have a nice weekend...

Wintry Monday

 I had another almond blossom photo lined up for this morning but we woke up to cold wind and a mix of snow and rain. I took these photos on our big snow day and decided to post them in honor of our wintry weather today. However, this much snow hasn't fallen, thankfully.

And WINTER by Tori Amos is one of my favorite songs...

Have a nice week! 

~~~

Καλή εβδομάδα!

Almond Blossoms I

Blossom of the almond trees, 

April's gift to April's bees. 

~ Sir Edwin Arnold~

Have a nice weekend...

Early Morning Walk at the Marina

One thing I haven't done  in a while is post photos that I've taken on the same day as the actual post. I started this morning and I'm motivated to have this up before I go to bed only because today's weather is so spectacular and I want to share just how beautiful of a morning we had. 

Shortly after dropping Izabella off at school I was ready to turn the car around, go to the bakery and then head home. Given the fact that we've been stuck in the house for two days with another nasty virus and that the weather was so beautiful, I decided to take a ride instead. Foti and Alexandra were with me. Foti's school was closed for conferences today and Alexandra doesn't go to school yet.

So, we drove to a local marina to take a walk. It was around 8:30 am and the sea was calm... 

The sky was so blue. 

The kids loved to look at the geese & ducks that live at the marina. 

Fishermen cleaning their nets. As they tossed the fish & other creatures from their nets the seagulls were there waiting to collect. 

Alexandra  posing on a rock, squinting in the bright sunlight. 

A look off of the pier, the water was is so clear. 

I almost missed this as we walked along the pier...

I had to go back to look at it. Someone's boat has sunk!  I feel bad for the owner. We've had a boat sink once and it's difficult to recover and repair a sunken boat. 

Naturally, we were approached by a stray dog. This one was absolutely adorable and luckily I had some doggy treats in the car. This pup worked hard for a treat. It was so sweet and playful. 

The dog loved the attention from the kids. 

Beautiful purple flowers against the natural blue backdrop of the sea. 

And here's a very pleased Foti. He was so happy that he was able to see boats, fishermen, ducks, geese  and so much more this morning. He thought  we were only going to drop his sister off at school and return home, hence his outfit! I told him to get dressed and it's what her threw together for the car ride and I didn't have time to find him anything else.  Besides, it just doesn't matter. 

I hope that you've enjoyed  the photos from our walk. It was so beautiful and quiet. I plan on taking more morning walks now that spring is here.

Puppies at the Supermarket

Last week we as were leaving a supermarket, we spotted these two adorable puppies sitting near our car. They seemed apprehensive about our presence as they ran to hide as we approached. I could see their heads peeking from the other side of another parked car. Since we just bought dog food and treats I decided to share some with these sweet little faces. They were very hungry, so much so that they were shaking as I put the food down. Fed and happy I earned their trust and was able to get a few great photos of them. 

How can anyone not love this face? 

Hoping for more food.

 As I look at these photos I sense sadness in their expressions. Maybe it's just me, but that's what I see. 

After the food, we also gave them treats. Foti enjoyed treating these puppies and asked if we could take them home. I wish that we could as I do really hate seeing so many stray dogs here but we can't. I do hope someone takes these puppies in. 

Have a nice week and since it's already March...a great month!

~καλό μήνα kai καλή εβδομάδα~

Related Posts:

Scruffy Puppies