I love this time of year!

While we were cleaning up the yard this past weekend I found this little surprise. They are viola's (mini pansy like posies) that are growing in a pot from last summer that I had put out of the way in the fall. Viola is the name of my dear Aunt Vi, my father's sister. It has been quite a long time since she passed, but I still have the fondest memories of her. I plant little violas every year in honor of her memory. I guess it just struck me that maybe she watched over me and these ones appeared after the long winter to remind me of that.

My memories of Aunt Vi go as far back as I can remember, she loved to have her hair brushed. My cousin Amy and I would sleep over at her house and on the way there we would stop all along the road to pick flowers. Then she would let us have her sheer curtains and sheets and high heels to dress up to play brides with our fresh flower bouquets. I remember her hands, she had long fingers with flat fingernails. Of course you never knew if when you walked into her kitchen whether she would be just hanging out cooking at the stove with her shirt off in just her bra, don't ask, it is a strange family thing. I got my fear of pressure cookers from her, after hers exploded covering her entire kitchen in chicken bits! LOL! That woman could dance a mean POLKA too, in spite of her heart/health problems.

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As I got older she was one of my favorite people to visit with, she always had time to chat. I usually showed up at her house on Sunday morning for coffee, breakfast and the newspaper and of course lots of good conversation. She would tell the funniest stories about her, Aunt Shirl and my Dad when they were growing up. I sure do miss her.