Simple Blessings

I am  grateful for the simple things.

  I could go on forever about the simple blessings that enrich my life. 

 I just have to sit out in my garden for a few moments as the sun goes down,
 feeling the autumn air as it turns my leaves from green to dark yellow and red.

I just have to snip the last flower from my
 garden to brighten up a spot on my table.

I just have to look at the changing seasons, knowing with a surety that spring will come again, as it always does.
And while I wait I will enjoy the fall colors and the winter snow. 

Simple blessings surround me.
My husband's love, a call from a son or daughter, feeling small arms around my neck from a little one, soup from a dear friend, my lovely home, the beauties of nature.
 Simple is what my life is made up of.
 I count these blessings each day.

Relaxing in the Garden- Glorious Summer

Can't believe we're almost halfway through glorious summer. 

 I love warm summer nights. 

 My upper garden has been a mess of vines for the last few years.  

This year we cleaned it out and added quite a bit more space. 

 So nice to go up my steps and hideout while reading a book or just star gazing.

  Perfect spot to relax in the evening.

I've always enjoyed the concept of "rooms" in my garden.  

Another lovely place to enjoy warm evenings is my back patio.  

Sometimes I just sit and listen to those wonderful summer sounds.

Something fun going on in the gardens around my neighborhood is our weekly lemonade gathering.

  Once a week we gather and enjoy a cool glass of lemonade, visit and just enjoy each others flowers. 

 It's nice to stop once in awhile and relax with good friends.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on

 a summer's day,

 listening to the murmur of the water,

 or watching the clouds float across the sky,

 is by no means a waste of time."

~John Lubbock

Life Is Measured...

My friend gave me a frame with this saying on it. 
I thought this picture of Jim with Whitney on her wedding day was the perfect image for these beautiful words. 

Jim's face says it all as he hugs his beautiful daughter. 

 

 

 

Lately, as my days go by,

 it seems that I am just taking breaths til I go to bed at night.
 

I forget how many blessings...

 

 

 

 

Take my breath away.

Fall Colors, Pumpkins and Crafts!

"I step outside and the chilly air tightens the skin on my bare arms.  Summer has ended all too quickly and some of the leaves on the trees have already started to burn with the colors of fall.  Fall colors..so bright and intense and beautiful.. It's like nature is trying to fill you up with color..."

~Siobhan Vivian

This is how I felt as I walked outside this morning and looked around my garden. 

Beautiful colors everywhere.

  I love the colors that autumn brings.

We've gathered the last of our tomatoes. 

 Never have we had so many as we did this year. 

We also picked our pumpkins!

It's fun to use my own pumpkins to decorate my front porch. 

 Love the white one.

I especially love the color of this pumpkin.  It is really an orangy red. 

 So pretty!

I got a little crafty this year. 

After my friend gave me one of these cute crows, I decided to make a few as well. 

 They only took a few minutes and actually turned out better than I expected. 

 I'm planning to give one away to who ever stops by for a visit!

I've loved growing these ornamental cabbages and kale this summer. 

Now that it's fall they are the perfect home for this little spider. 

I love this beautiful season.  After working so hard in my garden all summer, I can sit back, relax and let nature do its glorious job. 

 (Mother Nature does a much better job than I)  Her color palette is perfect, and each year I wonder..."why didn't I think of that?" 

 There's always next year.

"Of all the seasons, autumn offers the most to man and requires the least of him."

~Hal Borland

Reflections on Summer

I love summer. 

Warm nights, blue skies, beautiful flowers

And most of all, the family gets together. 

 Nick comes home for a few weeks,  the  DeSpain Gang flies out from the East to spend time with us.

  I love when the cousins all get together to play and have fun.

  They've been swimming at the Latimer's, played in our back yard. 

We've been to a Bee's game, a Real game, Draper Days, to Pinedale and back, we've ridden horses, fed a pig. 

 We've been together.

I've seen my flowers grow, sung with my cousins once more,

seen a beautiful rainbow, watched the sunset. 

 Held my little Wren, watched Jim take walks with Dylan,

 see the big boys fish with their Dad. 

 Spent days with Jake, Sam and Dylan, hugging, playing and laughing. 

I've spent time with my family in my lovely home. 

I love summer.

Won't you join me in my Garden?

I love August in my garden.  Everything is growing. 

The colors are beautiful. 

This year I mixed perennials in my vegetable garden. 

I love the mixture. 

 I have tomatoes, a lot of mint, and some pumpkins,

 which I am excited about growing along with some lovely flowers for color.

We've all ready had  a bacon and tomato sandwich this year. 

 And our tomatoes have made our salads extra tasty. 

There is nothing better than eating a fresh tomato,

 just picked with a little salt and pepper. 

We've got a lot more on the vine!

I'm really excited about our pumpkin patch. 

Jim took out a huge pine tree this year which gave me a big space to plant pumpkins. 

 It looks like we'll have quite a crop! 

 Can't wait to see the grandkids pick out their own pumpkin to carve when Halloween comes.

These four o'clocks were transplanted from my friend, Pat's garden. 

 I love these flowers which are suppose to pop out at 4:00! 

 But for some reason, whenever I go and check them, whatever the time of day,

 they greet me with their lovely blossoms. 

The steps to my upper garden look lovely,

 although upper garden itself didn't do too well this year. 

 That's the joy of gardening.  It's ongoing. 

 If something doesn't work well one year, you plan for the next. 

 I'm all ready planning on what will take place next year to revamp my little hide away.

I plant morning glory vines here and there in my garden. 

 I love the little purple flower that shows up in the morning and evening hours. 

This is an annual black eyed susan vine. 

 It is the first time I've tried this particular plant, and I love them.

  I only have two, but I am a fan and will definitely have more in my garden next year.

I have also loved the flowering kale and ornamental cabbage I planted. 

 They have done really well.  I was told they wouldn't do well in the heat, but they've made it through this hot summer.

  I'm told their colors will come out even more as it cools down, so I am looking forward to that as we go into September and October.

Now that I've given you a tour,

won't you join me in my garden?

Summer Evenings

 I talked to my Uncle Mel on the phone this afternoon. 

 I love it when he calls. 

It's as if my dad is calling..their voices are so similar. 

 We are looking forward to a family gathering in July. 

As I talked to him about his plans for the reunion my mind is flooded with memories of those summer days when I was young.

  I loved being at my grandma's house sitting in that screened  front porch when it was really hot outside. 

There was an enclosed back porch off the kitchen where she dried her fruit and had bushels of apples. 

Down the steep, old stairs and out the screen door and into the huge backyard you could run down into the orchard. 

 Grandma had beautiful flowers in her yard and Grandpa's corn and cherries were the best. 

 There was a big brick fireplace where we always barbequed and of course, the fishpond! 

 

Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed their lives. 

 They were happy people. 

 Grandma loved the simple things in life..clean sheets hanging on the clothes line,

 freshly baked bread, flowers in her garden, freshly picked raspberries,

 or birds singing in the trees. 

She loved having her family around her. 

 

As I sit in my garden on these hot summer evenings, 

I remember those days. 

 I remember my heritage,

 I remember how valiant my grandparents were..how they loved the gospel,

 how well they faced their challenges and lived their lives. 

 What an example they are to me. 

 By remembering them,

I am encouraged to live a better life.

Welcome to My Garden

I am enjoying my garden this year more than I have in a long time. 

 My plants and flowers seem to being doing well earlier. 

 I love going out in the evening after I've watered,

 weeded, done a little dead heading and sit and read. 

The roses are starting to bloom as I walk up the stairs to my upper garden. 

I am loving these ornamental cabbages. 

 I've got them planted in different places throughout my garden.

I've planted swiss chard and some peppers among the flowers. 

 I like to mix things up a little.

Still love walking down my memory path. 

 Seeing the names and handprints of my loved ones always makes me smile.

There is nothing better than hearing the sound of water while working or relaxing outside.  

 

After a long day I just have to walk outside and wander around in my backyard.

 I find peace and a total sense of well being when I'm taking care of my plants. 

 I love summer!

A Lovely Day

I woke up yesterday to a beautiful sunrise..

and the sight of lilacs and snowballs.

Amazing!

 

 

      Then a visit from Wren and Whitney. 

 A laughing baby, lots of sunshine

 

and  some time in the garden.

What a lovely day.

Lilacs

"I listened by the doorstep as the evening shadows fell,

While from the distance floated the faint tinklings of a bell,

The night hawk circled overhead then dropped straight down below,

The same as when I first lived there, in childhood, long ago.

 

The trees have grown much taller in the yard where once I played,

And now looked so majestic in their summer robes arrayed;

And near the walk the lilacs flung their fragrance to the air

The lilacs that my mother planted for us there.

 

"...Oh, sweet and fragrant lilac, the one she loved so well,

Thy fragrance brings to memory sad thoughts I cannot tell;

Sweet lullabies of childhood sung at the evening rest,

By mother clasping closely the one she loved the best.

A voice that gently whispered sweet words of love to me,

a face so kind and gentle, a heart with love so free;

Still yet my heart throbs feel them, still yet I see them there,

When lilacs that she planted with fragrance fill the air."

 

~Ed Blair

"It is your Reaction to Adversity..."

These last couple of months we have had our share of adversity. 

When it rains it pours. 

After Jim lost his job we have had many rainy days. 

 But as cheesy as it sounds...the sun always comes out after the rain. 

 For as many down days as we have had..there have been days full of blessings. 

 In February Jim got called to the Bishopbric, which has been a great blessing in our lives. 

 We also had time in February to visit the PA gang which we usually don't do in the winter months.  Each time I go through a difficult time it makes me aware of those around me who have it worse and my compassion for them deepens. 

 Going through adversity continues to strengthen my faith. 

I love this quote. 

 I remember telling my son when he was going through difficult times that when things get really tough, give yourself a day or so to be sad, but then pick yourself up.. start thinking of what you have to be grateful for and get on with life. 

 Have faith that things will work out. 

 Things do work out one way or another. 

 

This last week another bump in the road. 

 My back has gotten to the point where the nerves have made it so I am limping. 

 My left leg is getting more numb and dragging quite a bit. 

 The doctor is worried that some of the damage to my nerves is beyond repair. 

 So I have been a bit down this past week,

 wondering again why..

why is it pouring rain yet again?

And then I go outside

I look at the signs of spring.

I see my lilac blooming

 (the very lilac that Maude gave me for my birthday so many  years ago) 

It thrives and blooms each year reminding me of that sweet lady who taught me to love trees and flowers and nature. 

 I hear the sound of my fountain, so soothing as I fix our evening meal.

I see these beautiful plants waiting to be put in the ground. 

 They will make my garden lovely.

I look out from my front porch and see this view and am uplifted. 

 

So with any adversity that goes on in my life,

 I don't even have to leave my home to find many wonderful things

 to make me grateful that I am alive. 

Things that strengthen my faith, and help me know that all will be well.

Welcome Spring!

As the days get warmer and the spring showers green up the garden,

 I  look forward to being outside once more. 

To start planting, to see the flowers grow, to see their colors.

Each plant is so unique. 

Each adds beauty to the garden in its own way. 

"I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become,

I will always plant a large garden in the spring. 

Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy

 that one gets from participating in nature's rebirth?"

 

~Edward Giobbi

 

 

"I love spring anywhere,

but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden."

 

~Ruth Stout

 

(my sentiments exactly)

"Love is the solution.."

Peonies and Foxgloves

I've always wanted to have foxgloves and peonies in my garden and never been too successful.  I do have a peony that used to bloom but since has been covered up by a vine, so it my goal to move it this year into my perennial garden and see if I can get it to bloom.

 

Peonies grow best in the full sun, so mine will never be a success as long as it's hiding behind the vine that has grown so big.  To encourage flowering, they need to be planted on a northern exposure, (which mine is).  It's a good idea to plant in a raised bed because the roots will quickly rot in poorly drained soil. 

 

Both of these beautiful blooms make lovely cut flowers.  Peonies come back each year in the spring, while foxgloves are bienneial, only making it two growing seasons.  But what beautiful spring flowers they are to look forward to!