Category Archives: Flowers

Trumpets of Jesus…

“Trumpets of Jesus, heralding spring” is how my mom refers to her favorite flower…

This was a comment from one of my Facebook friends on a post showing some daffodils that popped up in my yard. I’m going to embrace that description of daffodils from this old friend of my youth. She, Vera Kushnerov, and her husband Paul worked with the youth in our Russian Baptist Church. Their son Paul shared this story about his mom. Thank you Paul.

When I was in elementary school Vera asked me to write letters to her fiance Paul who was serving in the military. I embraced the idea and was so excited when a letter came to me in the mail from Paul. This experience sparked the habit of writing letters and sending cards to people in my life. I even enjoyed a pen pal for a time. In high school/college the youth pastor and his wife set up a sunshine committee to send notes and birthday cards to others in our group and gave the job to me. I’m sad to say that after the whole internet, email, facebook, instagram forms of communication have overtaken the world my habit of sending a hard copy greeting has gone by the wayside.

Vera is the lovely lady on the left, my dear cousin Valia is on the right and that’s my sister Lana the flower girl. This was the wedding of one of the Menn girls, Manya maybe? Vera is my Aunt Nina’s youngest sister. Vera is my cousin Valia’s aunt and Manya’s aunt, too. Are you all following me? This Russian community stayed real close starting in Iran and continuing in the Los Angeles area.

Last Tuesday Katie and I went to Bonhoeffer Gardens hoping the daffodils would be showing off their color.

Only about half of the daffodils were showing off.

The photo at the top of this post was from the daffodil fields in Mt. Vernon last March when my sisters were visiting. Flowers are a bit behind this year.

Awake and hail with heart and voice
The message of these hours!
With all the wakening earth rejoice;
Be glad with birds and flowers.
Behold the joyous Easter day
That brings the news to earth
Of Easter morning far away,
When life from death had birth.

After Katie and I walked about Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens we headed back to Seattle and to the University of Washington to walk along the Quad to enjoy the Cherry blossoms. That post is coming soon.

Do you have plans for Easter? What is your favorite flower?

A Garden Party!

Looks like there are several link ups for this party. Hope I didn’t miss anyone!

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

At Home With Jemma

Poofing the Pillows

Decor to Adore

White Spray Paint

This has been a banner Spring in the Seattle area with many things blooming early because of the weather this year. Here are a series of lovelies from our yard. Calling it a garden is a bit of a stretch.

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Pink Dogwood is one of my very favorites. We planted this tree just a few years ago.

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Our lilac bush was planted the same time as the Dogwood. This is the first year it is full of blooms. Last year we only had 3 blooms!

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I love these sweet Violas.

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Our Camellia was at it’s fullest a week ago. It is waning now but the azalea bush you see next to it is now in it’s glory in the photo below.

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Next to this vibrant azalea is our Rosebud Azalea that will bloom next.

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This next photo shows what the sweet little rosebud azaleas look like when they open up. As of this morning this is the first one to open.

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We have a few established rhododendrons in our yard. This yellow rhoddy is the youngest and we had some beautiful blooms this year.

13062421_10209416118108177_8720609380336203899_nThese last photos are of our very old and established Rhododendrons that were here when we purchased this old house. The Rhododendron is the Washington State Flower. These next photos were taken this morning in the rain.

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One lighter pink and the other one deeper. The third bush always blooms later than these two.

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Our patio covers are not up yet so on the next couple of photos you can see the frames without the covers. We usually put the covers up on Mother’s Day weekend.

rhoddies 012Here you see a little view of our deck patio and the Dogwood, little yellow rhoddy, and the side of our barbecue.

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This is a view of the french doors from our family room that are the most used doors at this old house. You step out on the deck from them and this path takes you to our detached garage/shop. I’ll leave you with some shots that show our deck with the covers up. This one shows the deck looking out from our family room.

Another view with our new privacy fence. Whew…you made it through. Wish I could have strolled through with you and a cup of coffee!

We just got home from a trip across the mountains to visit our son and his new bride of 10 months. It’s a 5-1/2 hour drive to get to their home. Now we are rushing about getting things ready for a trip to San Antonio, Texas for Dear to work at a conference there. I will be on my own and will explore this city that I’ve never been to and also drive to Austin to meet up with my brother and his family who will drive down from Dallas. Woohoo. Better get the laundry going. Hope you all have a good week!

 

Out of Doors!

We spent a lot of time outdoors with a string of good weather we’ve been having. Here are some photos of what is blooming outside in our yard.

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Our pink Dogwood.

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Some sweet pansies.

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Our lilac and bleeding hearts.

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Dogwood with Lilac in the background.

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Our azaleas and rhododendrons are getting ready to show us all they have to offer soon.

Yesterday I brought some of our outside beauties in to enjoy their fragrance.

13006688_10209388302972816_6663315460268447190_nWe had a record breaker heat day yesterday at 90 degrees. They expect another record breaker for today at 86. Unheard of in April.

Linking up with ABC Wednesday originated by Mrs. Nesbitt and carried on by Roger and and team. O is for out of doors, outdoors, outside.

Cheerful!

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Daffodils can help spread sunshine on a cloudy day. So if it’s dark and gloomy in your neck of the woods I hope these add a little light to your world and make you smile. Daffodils pop up and are such a nice surprise every year as they remind us that Spring is coming.

Hope you have a cheerful week.

What Makes you Smile?

Sunflowers make me smile.

Birds flitting around the yard make me smile.

Wild bunnies eating my clover make me smile.

Seeing my children blessing their friends and each other makes me smile.

Seeing good times that my nieces and nephews are having on Facebook makes me smile.

Completing my to-do lists makes me smile.

Enjoying a good meal with friends makes me smile.

Seeing someone smile at me makes me smile right back!

Seeing God’s mercy and grace in my life and in other lives makes me smile.

Hearing about answered prayers makes me smile.

What makes you smile?

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! Philippians 4: 4-5 (The Message)

Rosebud Azaleas

I wanted to show you my sweet Rosebud Azaleas and give you an update about what’s going on around this old house. If you are here for the giveaway you will need to scroll down a few posts.

This variety of Azalea is my very favorite.

I finally cleaned out this area of the front planter that rounds the corner of the house and planted a hydrangea in the space. Time will tell if the blooms will stay purple.

My cement block plantings are mostly doing real well. The wild rabbits that roam around here have eaten all the pansy blooms, though.

Things are going well with my extraction recovery. I never really experienced any pain to speak of which is nice. I’ll be getting the stitches out on Wednesday if they haven’t dissolved on their own. I’m still on a relatively soft diet so I don’t hurt the area that is healing. Although I still have a few days of antibiotics left I am off the Ibuprofen. Thank you for your kind thoughts. My de-fluffing progress was hindered by being on medication and being off my regular meal regiment but I’m happy to report things are still going well.

Happy Victoria Day weekend to our friends in Canada!

Peonies and Purple Blooms

Time for ABC Wednesday and the letter P! Thank you Mrs. Nesbitt, Roger and the whole ABC Team!

I love all the shades of purple that are growing in my yard right now. My lilac blooms are almost full.

Pansies and the ground cover have purple blooms.

I have the promise of more peonies this year than last.

More perennials that are purple.

And here’s my Bible Verse Card for the Letter P!

And on the subject of peace here are some words from the Prince of Peace, Jesus;

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27

I’m continuing to enjoy a peaceful week at this old house. We had some very warm weather here on Monday. It reached 76 degrees in our town. Tuesday is another story. Hopefully I’ll be able to mow the lawn before the rain comes in.

Do you have promises of more blooms in your yard?

Springing Up Already!

Some of my favorite things in my yard this week! I count all of these as blessings from above.

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Things that are springing up around here are among my favorites for

Friday’s Fave Five hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

The Lenten Rose is my favorite plant that ushers in the Lenten Season.

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These primroses appear every year and I didn’t plant them. I’m always happy to see them.

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What fun to see these miniature daffodils springing up, too.

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We managed to prune both our apple tree and pear tree this week and that was a huge accomplishment at this old house.

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My bonus fave is my verse of the week from my abc Scripture Memory Cards…

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The fact that we have been called and redeemed by God is pure love…

Have a wonderful Valentines Day and President’s Day Weekend.

Do you get Monday off? What were some of your favorites this week?

In the Pink!

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 I’ve got one more post from our trip to the tulip festival this year.

Meanwhile at this old house we are busy busy getting ready for Easter.

 

 Today is Maundy Thursday—the Thursday before Easter. Christians around the world and across many denominations take time on this day to remember the Last Supper, when Jesus and his disciples dined together for the last time before his death.

The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin word for commandment (mandatum), which Jesus talked about when he told his disciples that he was leaving them “a new commandment,” that they “love one another.”

As a reminder of this commandment, some churches hold foot washing ceremonies on the Thursday of Holy Week. If you’ve never been a part of a foot washing ceremony, it’s an incredibly humbling activity—one can imagine how difficult it would have been for the disciples to allow Jesus to humble himself in this way.

 

ht: Bible Gateway