I LOVE Spring!

We are badly in need of rain right now, but I have to admit that I’ve really enjoyed the warm, dry Spring we’ve had.

Everything that makes plants flourish and bloom must have happened at just the right times this year, because all the flowers and bushes are beautiful.

Here are some pictures I took out across the lake last month.  It always intrigues me when the beauty of the colors is doubled by their reflection in the water.

I love …

Love …

LOVE … Spring!

A Fond Memory of Spring: A Clever Old Porch

In Spring I always think of this beautiful climbing rose we had at the farm.  So, I’m sharing this post that I wrote about it two years ago again.

When we moved to the farm, we did alot of renovating.  And one of the things that really needed renovating was this little porch that had a door into the dining room.  We never used that door, in fact, we put the Christmas tree in that corner of the dining room each year.  The door was treated as just another window inside the house.

But, from the outside, it was obvious that this porch was in very bad repair, and really should be replaced.

But, apparently, you don’t get to the age of this old porch, without having developed some survival skills.  So, the porch had very cleverly cloaked itself in this beautiful climbing rose.  So, whenever we talked about tearing off the porch and building a new, prettier version of it, the debate would always eventually turn to the climbing rose that we enjoyed so much.  And, each time, we would come to the conclusion that there was no way that the rose would survive the upheaval of having its buddy the porch torn down.

So, each spring we looked forward to seeing the beautiful climbing rose, and we put up with its friend, the old porch, the rest of the year.

Triumph Over the Elements

 

A lone hydrangea bloom that dried naturally on the plant.  I have enjoyed watching and photographing it as it has withstood the elements.

And finally …

I can’t believe that I left out my very favorite picture of Betty’s red lilies.

May you have an especially blessed Thursday, my friends.

Beauty and Wit

We’ve just returned from a wonderful long weekend with family in Georgia.

While I was there, I took some pictures of these pretty red lilies in my sister, Betty’s yard:

In order to take some of these, I stood on a stool that Betty helpfully brought from the house.  Then while I stood on it, Betty who is 80 years old and her daughter Carol who is old enough that she has gray in her hair, stood on either side of me holding on to me “in case I fell”.  But I told them that realistically if I fell I would probably just fall on them and all three of us would be hurt.  Ahhh, but Carol, ever the quick wit, had an answer for that.  She said (in her sweet southern drawl), “We aren’t really holding on to you to keep you from falling.  We are holding on to you so that if we think you’re going to fall, we can push you away from us so that we won’t be hurt!”

Beautiful flowers, witty relatives.  Both were enjoyed, in their own way.

A Silk Purse from a Sow’s Ear

This little house sets on a corner that we passed frequently when our kids were in high school because it was between our house and the school.  But, at that time, over 20 years ago, it was vacant, run-down and looked like it was going to fall down.

Then someone bought it … and it was transformed.  Yes, they fixed up the house, but that isn’t what I notice.  When I go by there now, as I did yesterday, I never fail to notice all the flowers everywhere.

What a gift this homeowner gives to everyone who drives past this formerly neglected house, that is now a thing of beauty because of all the flowers!

A Bike to Nowhere

 

I was wandering through Kohl’s the other day and noticed this little bike planter, and it was half off!  It was love at first sight.

So I bought it, after lugging it through the store (it wouldn’t fit in their small cart), put it in the back seat of my car and came home.  I did notice that I could hear it rattling alot, and when I got home and took it out of the car, I understood why … it kind of fell apart.

Sooo, when Hubby came home from golfing I presented him with the cute little bike I’d purchased … in pieces.  But I had faith in him that he could “make it better”.  And, he did.

Its summer home will be on the deck, but I couldn’t resist enjoying it in the entryway for a couple days first.  I thought we deserved to enjoy it “up close” for a little while, after the time and energy we had both invested in it.  I had gone to the Amish garden store where the owner helped me pick out these pretty red flowers to go in its baskets.  And, it’s no surprise that I had to make three trips to Marshall’s to get pots that fit and looked good in its baskets.  But, when Hubby planted the flowers in its pots, it looked even better than I had hoped.  I love it and thoroughly enjoyed having it in the house for a while.

The final result is that I love this little bike, that now lives on the deck, even though it’s never going to take us anywhere and isn’t even going to save us one dollar on gas.  It’ll just have to earn its keep on its “looks”.

A Clever Old Porch

 

When we moved to the farm, we did alot of renovating.  And one of the things that really needed renovating was this little porch that had a door into the dining room.  We never used that door, in fact, we put the Christmas tree in that corner of the dining room each year.  The door was treated as just another window inside the house. 

But, from the outside, it was obvious that this porch was in very bad repair, and really should be replaced.

But, apparently, you don’t get to the age of this old porch, without having developed some survival skills.  So, the porch had very cleverly cloaked itself in this beautiful climbing rose.  So, whenever we talked about tearing off the porch and building a new, prettier version of it, the debate would always eventually turn to the climbing rose that we enjoyed so much.  And, each time, we would come to the conclusion that there was no way that the rose would survive the upheaval of having its buddy the porch torn down. 

So, each spring we looked forward to seeing the beautiful climbing rose, and we put up with its friend, the old porch, the rest of the year.

Spring Memories of Lilacs

 

When we lived at the farm, we had a huge lilac bush (at least 7 ft. tall) in the yard.  And every year at this time, I would cut branches from it and put them in vases in the house.  What wonderful memories I have of our big old farm house in the spring, with windows open, a light breeze blowing through, and the scent of those lilacs permeating the house.

So, a few years ago we put in a miniature lilac bush at this house, but until now it had always been sort of scrawny and only had a few very small blooms on it.  But this year, (maybe because we have had lots of rain) it has finally come into its own!

This year it has produced large enough blooms and enough of them, that I could actually cut some and bring them in the house!

   I love Spring and I will always associate it with the scent of lilacs.

A Fun Christmas Outing

 

Candy, Belinda, Kelly and I went to the Botannical Gardens Friday morning to take part in a workshop to make a Christmas centerpiece.  Here is my centerpiece. 

It turned out okay, but I wasn’t thrilled with it.  Because it was my first time, I didn’t know how to make it “interesting.”  But, when I got home I replaced the tall glass chimney that was supplied, with this ornament-looking dish that has a candle inside.   Because it was so plain, I think the colorful candleholder gives it a little “bling.”

Just as a side note, Belinda has participated in  this centerpiece workshop for six years, and her centerpiece shows that experience (totally discounting talent!) really makes a difference.

  She had a tea party at her house yesterday for a few of the neighbors, and when I sat down at her table and had a chance to really look at her centerpiece, it struck me how beautiful it is!  It’s unfortunate that all that beautiful food got in the way of getting a really good picture of it.  As you can see, she just threw some lunch meat and bread on the table for this little “do” (tongue firmly planted in cheek!).

You know, there are people who entertain, and then there are people who ENTERTAIN!  Belinda is definitely one of the latter.

  Belinda’s dog, Bailey, was even into the Christmas spirit in his festive little sweater.  He is sitting on the back of the sofa.  We were standing around talking near-by, and I think he just wanted to make it easy for anyone who got a sudden urge  to pet or hold a cute little dog.

But I digress, so at the Botannical Gardens, after scrubbing the black gunk off our hands, from handling the greens while making our centerpieces, we did a little walk-through of the gardens and I took a few pictures.

  The poinsettas were really beautiful with the backdrop of all the lush green plants.  And they are all raised there.  I found that out from talking to a woman in the gift shop.  She said she is one of many volunteers who come in August and cut the poinsetta plants all back so that they will bloom for Christmas.  What a fun volunteer job — to see the “fruits of your (August) labors” in such glorious bloom in December!

  I have no idea what the curlique plant is.  But it was all around.

  These reminded me of peonies.  Candy called them ruffled poinsettas.

 I don’t think there is any Christmas-related significance to gardenias, but I had to take some pictures of them, because I have always loved their scent.  I loved their scent even more before I was a high school girl who received a gardenia corsage for a formal dance.  While the scent is charming as you walk past the flowers in the Botannical Gardens, take it from a girl who knows — if you wear one on your shoulder for several hours, it can be pretty overwhelming.

 I loved this picture because of the red poinsettas behind the gardenia.

 The “desert” area was interesting.  I’m not used to seeing cacti decorated for Christmas!

 With lights that look like peppers — how appropriate! 

 In case you can’t tell, these are blue lights wrapped around this palm.  Very exotic!

This cactus wasn’t decorated but I thought it was interesting because it looked like it had been sewn together with black thread!

A nice day at the Botannical Gardens.