The Season of Flowers

Don't you just love Spring and then Summer when all the flowers just
come alive?! Our Heavenly Father sure knows how to put on a show!!

 I usually buy quite a few flowers, but this year I have cut
back because my old body just can't handle it all anymore.
I have been having pain in my arms and hands and that doesn't help either.
So it may become weed heaven around here this year. lol.


Isn't this color gorgeous!!??
This is one of the lilac trees that is growing in my yard. We purchased and planted this a
 few years ago and thank God it is still alive. We seem to have an issue with trees living that
we plant so I am counting my blessings. 

It seems to me that she blooms profusely about every other year and the years in between
it has a very few blooms. Do most lilacs do this or maybe just until they get established well?
I don't know, but I am thankful this is a good year.

This is one of my columbines. I also have one that is called:
Grandmothers Bonnet 
that looks exactly like a bonnet, but that one is not blooming yet.
I promise to share when it does.

We planted a small hydrangea plant in this spot that was sent by my sister and her family for Eden's
 funeral last year and now I have an angel and a stone to stand beside it. My daughter gifted the angel
stone to me and I think it is so pretty.  I hope the hydrangea lives! Sometimes I have plants
  that do wonderful for a couple years and for no reason they just don't come back.
 It is weird. Praying that this one survives!

Speaking of...please remember our family next Sunday. {May 21}. It will be one year on that date
since Eden went to heaven and it will be a hard day. I have some simple things planned such
as balloon release etc., but we miss her so very much and so wish she were here. In some ways
it seems like forever ago and others it seems like just yesterday.
She is our beautiful angel Eden Rain.

Isn't this handmade stump neat? I don't remember what the process is called, but I guess you
use rags to make it? Not sure, but I love it.

LOVE this container that my violas are planted in. I purchased this container with the plant in it
at a Spring Show and it is doing wonderful.

This is our second lilac tree/bush. Actually, I have two this color. Isn't it such a soft color?
 I just dug up "starts" from around another bush and replanted and they are doing every bit
as well as the large ones I purchase in a greenhouse.

Some pretty lilacs I brought inside a few weeks ago.
I just can't get enough of them!

What flowers are out at your house? Do you have a green thumb? I would
love to hear about it.
Until next time...Blessings!

Spring in Michigan

SPRING
has finally arrived in Michigan and I am so happy!

If you have ever lived here you know that one day it can be 75 degrees
and the next day we can have snow. ugh.
I hope and pray that the snow is over with for the year.

Lilacs are starting to bloom along with all the other spring flowers.

I just LOVE this time of year when everything is new.

My tiny grape hyacinth.

I love the tiny and delicate size of these beauties.

My pretty pink phlox!

Look at the center of them. So beautiful and perfect. Each and every one.

Isn't it amazing what our creator does?!!

Every spring I look out my kitchen window to see this flowering pear and I laugh.

The trunk is so small compared to the branches of the tree!

We have been told that these snap in high winds very easy because of this,
but so far we haven't lost ours.
If that day ever comes, I will literally sit down and cry!

Pretty violets. We used to find these in the woods whenever we would take walks years ago.
So perfect and delicate.

Lilacs are my favorite springtime flowers, but they wreak havoc
with my sinuses so I can't bring them inside. I can enjoy them out on my
front porch though.

I have dark purple lilacs and this pretty light lavender color. I dug up and planted a
couple starts of  this one maybe five years ago and they have thrived for me.

All I did was stick a shovel in the ground, push back the dirt and stick in the
tiny shoot! I have decided this is the way I must plant from now on because
we have bought trees that we have taken care to dig the hole the right size,
add all the stuff to make the soil right etc and they do not live for us.
Crazy!! 

The plants along the garden path are starting to wake up.
I will say it again:

I LOVE this time of year!

Our forsythia bush is putting on quite a show this year. It is gorgeous and huge.
We moved it several years ago because it was getting way too big in front of
our back porch. I told hubby it would never live since it was already several years old
and well established, but it proved me wrong! YAY for me being wrong. ha!

I hope you all are doing well and I hope to get back to more blogging this year.
Last year was a horrible one and I pray that this year brings many unexpected blessings
from heaven above. We are coming up on the year anniversary since we lost our
granddaughter Eden Rain and that will be a very hard day. Please keep our family
in your prayers if you think about it. God is helping us, but we sure miss her.

Miss Kim Korean Lilacs

I am playing with lilacs today and I just love this variety.

It is called : Miss Kim Korean Lilac.
She blooms later than other lilacs and is a lacey type that is just gorgeous.

I love this container with three metal pockets and chalkboard on the front.

I will be redoing the chalkboard paint soon becasue the bottom pocket is looking bad.

Do any of you grow these? I would love to hear about yours.
They smell fantastic and it is perfect when we step outside the back door.
The perfume from these just fills the air with a wonderful scent.

If you want to look them up here is a link and here is one.
You can also google it and find more sites. This is supposed to be a dwarf,
but it isn't dwarf here. We have good ole' black Michigan soil and it is
wonderful!

I wish you could smell these...happy Wednesday!!
Blessings~

Spring Flowers

“Is the spring coming?" he said.
"What is it like?"..."It is the sun shining on the rain and
the rain falling on the sunshine...” 

-Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden




I can't believe that it has been a month since I posted.

Time flies when we are having fun right??

I have been a busy little beaver as I am sure you have as well.

I have been planting flowers, celebrating Mothers Day and then this past Saturday
 I had a garage sale that coincides with the ones at the lake a quarter of a mile south of us.
 A few years ago I figured out that I don't have to pay for any advertising at all that way
 and it brings TONS of people out. It was a good day.

My lilacs are on their way out and I hardly got any photos of them. I decided to pick a few
today even though they look a little dreary. It is COLD here today in Michigan! We
went from 84 degrees and muggy yesterday to a high of about 51 today. BRRR!
This weather just can't decide on what season it is! I hope it makes up its mind soon!

Aren't these blossoms just gorgeous? We visited my daughter and her family over Mothers Day weekend
and these blooms were on her tree. GORGEOUS!

This is one of my lilac trees a week or two ago. This is a lighter colored one than the
one in the first couple of photos. The fragrance on this one is outstanding!

I still find it hard to believe that I dug up a few starts of this tree at my sons home when they lived
up here.  When I got home I just put the shovel in the ground and plopped in the lilac start and this
is what she has turned into! AMAZING!!

{we have GREAT black soil on our property}

I have heard of people that coddled these starts adding the right amounts of soil and other amendments
to start these and had no luck. Actually, I have two of them growing now so I am a pretty happy
camper. 

One day a few weeks ago I took a drive and ended up taking a few photos of this tree at the local
college.
They are just loaded with blossoms every year and I just can't resist.

I hope you are having a wonderful Spring so far and that the weather is warm wherever
you live. Do you have pretty flowers and trees? I would love to hear about them!!
Blessings~

Jeanne D' Arc Crocus and DON'T move the table!

My Jeanne D' Arc snowdrops are up!! Aren't they beautiful! I just love them and also love the name!!

{scroll to the bottom and you will see the corrected photo. Don't know why I called them Snowdrops}

I have been painting yesterday and today.


Let me tell you how all this started:

Yesterday I wanted to move the white table out and move the smaller
table in front of the window. When I moved the white table of course I had to sweep the floor,
which led to mopping the floor, which led to "OH MY the trim needs painting" , started
painting the trim, then realized "OH great time to paint the wall"...run to town
got paint and it snowballed from there.

Moral of my story: DON"T MOVE YOUR TABLE!
It starts a whole process that you just can't stop.


 I am so tired of climbing over things, but this is just the way I roll. There was more out here ,
 but I did move some into the kitchen. I don't mind painting...it is all the prep work that
 I despise. ha!

I had to straddle the washer, dryer and water heater to get it painted above the shelf. How fun. I sure
didn't think this through when we put it up. Maybe I thought I would never paint again. ha!

Also, my vanity here that I love...well that wasn't thought through either. How in the world am I going to
paint behind the window?? I bet I will figure it out if nothing more than and long handle on a paint
brush. Oh the crazy things I do!

{The paint color is "country fog" and the matching for the trim is "pinch of salt".}

I came in for a lunch break and remembered I had some of these in the cabinet so they were my
treat for all my hard work. *SMILE* Have you ever had them? SO yummy!!

I gotta get back to painting. Three walls still need a second coat! I hope that someday I also learn to
get paint that covers in ONE coat.

How is your day going? I am tired and probably won't be able to move tomorrow, but hey I got

something accomplished!

Blessings~

Tinkering

It has been a long time since I have been able to "tinker" {as Elyse calls it}

I like that word.

I had some extra time on my hands today so I hauled out my supplies and got started.
Easter is coming up pretty fast and I wanted to make some white crosses.

 I have always been enamored with pretty papers, and all the little tid bits that most people
just throw away. Not me.  I keep them ALL to make

something...anything.
...and once in awhile inspiration actually hits. ha!

{a little hoarding tendencies maybe? No, not me??}

This craft is so easy that even the kiddos can do it so get your little ones
at the table , gather up your supplies and let's begin!

I used some almost transparent white paper from my stash along with cheesecloth,
rubber stamps and flowers.

{I won these pretty flowers in a giveaway from Elyse several months ago}

I had several stamps to choose from and the one I chose says:

 "he has risen". 

I started folding the paper at one end and folded it over several times.

Then I cut off the excess and glued it down.

I also tore off the ends instead of cutting them off to make it more rustic looking.

Next , pick your rubber stamp of choice and stamp it right onto the cross.

I adore cheesecloth and use it for so many things. I took a piece of it and wound it
around the cross. You can wind it any way you choose. No right or wrong ways here.

I glued the cheesecloth down in a few places and then added some flowers.

{Now that I look at the three I finished, I should have used assorted stamps, but oh well}

Wouldn't these be cute to lay on each plate for Easter dinner?

As I said...SIMPLE and EASY PEASY...anyone can make these.

I am almost embarrassed to even put the instructions on here.

You could even add some thin silver string at the top to hang them up if you so desired.

Do you think you will make some? Please let me know if you do!

Are you ready for Easter??