A turn around the yard today was really pleasant. Things are beginning to bud in the quietest of ways. The forsythia branches are changing color, and the lilacs tips are swelling ever so slightly. This will be their first spring in this setting, as we bought them upstate last April. I have been wanting lilacs forever- and last June was that much nicer that they were here, and that they bloomed. I shopped around and found a fair price of $125.00 for each- and we wanted four. That was out of my price point during our economic downturn so I looked on Craigslist for lilac shrubs for sale. James and I drove 60 miles north to the small nursery that ran the listing. Turned out to be a 2 acre site of shrubs and plants gathered and propagated by a gardener who tended nearby estates and the like. He had numerous lilacs, all colors and varieties and bi-colors, but we knew we wanted white and lavender. After the strolling the property and picking out 4 very respectable 5 ft. lilacs w asked him how much they cost, holding our breathe for his response. "$35.00 each" he told me. That was a happy day.