Views of the Neighborhood – Searching for Signs of Spring

~ John W. Howell

Today we are going to hunt down signs of spring. Since this is the first day of spring, there must be signs, so we will find them. We are being catered by the Cherrywood Coffee House in Austin to fuel our adventure. Our entertainment is The Loving Spoonful.

Menu

BENEDICT 
poached eggs nestled on a toasted English muffin topped with homemade Hollandaise with choice of spinach and tomato or ham, plus one side dish

SHRIMP & GRITS 
shrimp sauteed in white wine, pico de Gallo, and applewood smoked bacon

BISCUITS & GRAVY 
homemade buttermilk biscuits smothered in creamy pepper gravy and sausage
add two eggs any style

STEEL-CUT OATMEAL (V) 
served with raisins, walnuts, and brown sugar
add two eggs any style

HUEVOS RANCHEROS (V) 
two over-easy eggs, black beans, salsa, cheese, and cilantro served on freshly fried tortillas

AMERICAN BREAKFAST 
two eggs any style, hash browns, choice of toast or English muffin, and choice of bacon, sausage, or grilled ham steak

BREAKFAST QUESADILLAS 
monster tortilla stuffed with bacon, egg, and cheese served with salsa and pico salad

TEXAS CHEESESTEAK SCRAMBLE 
egg scramble with thinly sliced steak, onions, peppers, mushrooms, jalapenos, and American Swiss cheese. Served with hash browns on the side

VEGAN SCRAMBLE (VE) 
soft tofu scramble, mushrooms, topped with avocado and served with hash browns (no butter)

CLASSIC BREAKFAST SANDWICH 
eggs and cheese topped with one choice of avocado, bacon, sausage, or grilled ham
served on a wheat bun, white bun, or multigrain bread

BREAKFAST BLT SANDWICH 
bacon, bibb lettuce, tomato, avocado, over medium egg, swiss cheese, light mayo on rye bread

Anything you want to drink.

Picture of an old time school bus

There’s the bus. Let’s go.

The first stop is the garden shop. Can’t spend a lot of time here, though. Impatiens anyone?

Next are the famous Texas bluebonnets. These are the first I’ve seen.

Good ole redbuds are in bloom.

The mountain laurels and popping out.

The verbena is making itself known.

The Carolina jasmine is just starting.

A spicebush swallowtail butterfly takes off from the hibiscus.

The strawberry plant is in bloom.

The roses are budding.

Talk about hibiscus? They are going crazy.

And finally, The Producer’s herb garden. (with tomato)

I hope you enjoyed the hunt for spring. I think we found signs that it is here in central Texas. I hope it is arriving in your neck of the woods too. Have a great week. Have some food and enjoy the music.

111 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Searching for Signs of Spring”

        2. Plus, while my kid had covid (was sick last Tuesday) and I tested negative on Friday, I have a sore throat with a nagging little cough. It needs not be anything as I have a job interview tomorrow afternoon!

          Liked by 1 person

  7. Spring is inching forward in our area as well. Trees and shrubs are budding, though there are no blossoms or leaves to be seen. Thank you for the tour, John. So lovely. 😊

    Liked by 2 people

  8. In your neighborhood, spring is busting out all over! Spring is extending tentative feelers in my area, very tentative. Speaking of the Loving Spoonful, I saw John Sebastian in concert once. He was wearing the most unfortunate pair of rainbow pants. I won’t describe them.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Texas is looking good! It’s warming up here, but nothing is even sprouting yet, let alone blooming. At least the snow is all gone (for now.)

    The American breakfast looks good to me. Thank Peabody and Sherman for the Loving Spoonful presentation. That does go way back! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  15. Nice capture on the butterfly next to the hibiscus. I think it is a while yet before we experience consistent spring temperatures but I am looking so forward to them!

    Liked by 2 people

  16. Happy signs of spring, for sure, John, and I love the spicebush swallowtail you caught so perfectly. I’m afraid spring is already over down here. It was last Thursday. 😁 Yesterday, the temps hit 88, and we have some 90+ degree days coming this week. Plumbago, Walter’s viburnum, spiny aloe, roses, and more in full bloom all over the place, though our backyard garden is still a mess. But we’re working on it, and one of these days, I’ll have a real garden out there again, if no more trees fall on it. Enjoy the spring beauty, and thanks for the tour! 😊

    Liked by 2 people

  17. Happy first day of Spring, John! Love that it’s arriving in your neck of the woods. We’re quite a bit behind you in seeing this much flowering, but we’re starting to see signs of greening. Won’t be long now!

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Lovely, lovely. We just went to the garden store and bought a load of pansies and a tomato plant. We’ll go back next week. One neighbor has tulips and daffodils (even though we aren’t allowed to plant perennials), Bradford pears and redbud are colorful and I’ve seen some lush forsythia!

    Liked by 2 people

  28. Thank you for the vegan choice.It sounds delicious, so I’ll go with that. A mug of strong, hot black coffee, please.
    Wish we had more signs of spring here. Not a robin in sight. I did see a green thing in some dirt. It looked suspiciously like a bulb plat.
    Soon!!
    Love the song!

    Liked by 2 people

  29. We’ve yet to see such colorful signs of spring in my area (not even the daffodils have sprouted beyond green shoots) but this gives me hope. I loved seeing all these blooms and the herb garden. And that photo of the swallowtail butterfly is stunning!

    Liked by 2 people

  33. STOP!!!!!!! I’m starving now. OK, I’ll take the shrimp and grits. And I’m putting in the suggestion box: PLEASE CARRY POTATO PANCAKES WITH SOUR CREAM.
    Pretty pix! Spring has sprung here in Arizona.

    Liked by 2 people

Comments are closed.