Tag Archives: Flowers

ABC Wednesday ~ V is for…

V is for Ventura, California

 

On Father’s Day (June 15th) Dear and I took an early morning walk in Ventura, California. We walked along San Buenaventura State Beach to the Ventura Pier and back again. We are having the typical June morning marine layer along the coast in Southern California so the pictures are a bit gloomy.

 

We saw some fun creatures on our walk. A ground squirrel, A Pyrenees Mountain Dog, A Seal, and A Godwit.

 

We also saw some interesting vegetation.

 

This big bush with these interesting flowers caught our eye. The petals look crepe like. I just did a google search and found out this is a Crinkled White Peony…

For more ABC Wednesday posts click over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Ruby Tuesday

 

These photos are from a couple of my walks in search of red. Not exactly sure why I put the snail in the middle. When Willow and I walk she steps on these garden nibblers and there’s a disturbing crunch!

For more Ruby Tuesday posts or to join in visit Maryt at Work of the Poet.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

To the Daisy ~ William Wordsworth

 

In youth from rock to rock I went,
From hill to hill in discontent
Of pleasure high and turbulent,
Most pleased when most uneasy;
But now my own delights I make, –
My thirst at every rill can slake,
And gladly Nature’s love partake
Of Thee, sweet Daisy!  ….

~ William Wordsworth

To read the whole poem you can click here.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Saint Barnabas Day ~ June 11th

Some June Mottoes

“A dripping June keeps all in tune.”

“June damp and warm
Does the farmer no harm”

“St. Barnabas, mow your first grass.”

…the cloudless sky

JUNE

“A cloudless sky; a world of heather,
Purple of foxglove, yellow of broom;
We two among it, wading together;
Shaking out honey, treading perfume.
Crowds of bees are giddy with clover,
Crowds of grasshoppers skip at our feet,
Crowds of larks at their matins hang over,
Thanking the Lord for a life so sweet.”
~ Jean Ingelow

Now for my poetic license with these photos to go with this fun poem. Not the exact plants but mostly the right color….

 

…a world of heather

 

…purple of foxglove

 

…yellow of broom

 

…crowds of bees are giddy with clover

 

…crowds of grasshoppers skip at our feet

 

…Thanking the Lord for a life so sweet!

Have a wonderful St. Barney Day and don’t forget to mow your lawn…

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

The Bridal Shower

My extended family came together to host a bridal shower for our future niece, cousin, granddaughter. June 28th is the wedding day. I put together some photos from the event. Good food, Fellowship, and blessings all around. A lovely colorful afternoon.

 

Can you guess the color scheme we chose for the shower? Yep, lavender, green, and cream.

 

I’m happy to say the fondant cake turned out and if the fondant had been fresher (confession time: I had this box of fondant in my cupboard for over a year) it would have been easier to work with and a lot more pliable. I will try fondant again, fresh fondant.

 

We had savory blintzes filled with chicken and broccoli, tabbouleh, fruit salad, Italian Wedding cookies, and Kefili cookies filled with apricot and plum jam. My mom made the cookies. The Kefili are one of her russian recipes. Growing up we had a great Italian friend living across the street, Lucille. She always made these Italian wedding cookies for showers and weddings. My mom hunted down her recipe to make them for this shower.

 

Jessica ~ Jessica and her mom, Connie ~ Jessica with Kelly (my Sil) and Kelly’s mom, Lynn ~ Jessica with my mother.

 

My niece Michelle getting the Mojito Punch ready. We love details, so my niece Melissa made ice-cubes with mint in them. That’s my niece Debbee in the kitchen. Sadly the Mojito Punch was virgin (no rum), but it was very good and refreshing.

Speaking of nieces, here they are ~ Jessica, Michelle, Debbee, and Melissa.

 

Details, details, we placed sprigs of lavender on each of the blintzes.

 

My sister Kathy had these great vintage snack trays that we used for the food.

 

 

 

 

 

I love this photo of my mom.

The shower was wonderful. We ended up making each other cry (a good cry). Don’t you think that sometimes if there are tears that are shed we are being real with each other? We thanked God and prayed for Jessica and Tim and prayed for all of us. We wanted to give God the honor for all He has done for our family and friends.

I was exhausted but happy that everything came together well. I had left my condo at 9:30 am and returned at 8:30 pm. 181 miles round-trip. Today I’m a little brain dead. I hope to get around and see what you are all up to sometime today after I empty my trunk and put everything away…

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Our Quick Trip Home

I’m back at the Condo in Southern California after a quick weekend to my home in Seattle. I’m sharing some photos of my walks around the yard while I was there and a couple from my typical outings when I’m home in Washington.

 

The Planters are filling in. The Azaleas are at the end of their pretty blooms. The Camellias are at an in-between stage. I chopped off their tops so I hope I didn’t kill them. We’ll see. My two lavender plants are getting ready to show off. They sure smelled good when I was weeding around them.

 

Azaleas, Lavender, I can’t tell you what the center plant is *but two of my lovely commenters say Corral Bells, yippee, and my Lenten Rose that has gotten quite hardy!

 

Rosemary, pears, ferns, hydrangea, little blueberry buds, wild rose, stuff in pots, my pear tree, and another photo of my blueberry bush.

 

The wonderful Washington State Flower the Rhododendron. I have 4 bushes that are in the need of some serious pruning to make them even hardier than they are. Just so you all know, everything I’ve shown you grows by the Grace of God. I do not want to pretend that I’m a gardener. I truly appreciate gardeners and praise God each year when these plants bloom again despite my neglect.

 

While I was home I had a quick walk with my Washington Walking buddies, Jody and Jan. The Burke Gilman trail is amazing in the Springtime.

 

Lilac bush/tree along the trail. Lilacs bloom everywhere here. I’d love a lilac tree in my yard.

 

Before we headed to the airport to fly back to California on Monday, I made a quick trip to my favorite thrift store in Washington State, Goodwill, not to be mistaken for California Goodwill’s. I found this pretty hand painted tea pot and creamer from Japan. (no sugar bowl to match)

 

But I picked up this cute little glass sugar bowl to compensate!

Greeting and Farewell ~ Quote from Anne of the Island  by L.M. Montgomery

“Anne dressed in the cheerless grey dawn, for an early start was necessary to catch the boat train; she struggled against the tears that would well up in her eyes in spite of herself. She was leaving the home that was so dear to her, and something told her that she was leaving it for ever, save as a holiday refuge. Things would never be the same again; coming back for vacations would not be living there. And oh, how dear and beloved everything was – that little white porch room, sacred to the dreams of girlhood, the old Snow Queen at the window, the brook in the hollow, the Dryad’s Bubble, the Haunted Wood, and Lovers’ Lane – all the thousand and one dear spots where memories of the old years bided. Could she ever be really happy anywhere else?”

Well just so y’all know I’m not quite as sentimental as Anne is. I can be happy somewhere else and I do think that I will return to this home sometime in the future but there’s always a little sadness when I arrive home and then when I have to leave again. And until I can return “my heart will keep on singing” and I will choose to find joy each day I’m away.

I’ll be posting more photos from the Japanese Gardens we visited tomorrow. In the meantime I hope you find joy today.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

Give Me Your Flowers ~

Give me Flowers

I would rather have one little rose
From the garden of a friend,
Than to have the choicest flowers
When my stay on earth must end.

I would rather have a pleasant word
In kindness said to me,
Then flattery when my heart is still
And this life has ceased to be.

I would rather have a loving smile
From friends I know are true,
Then tears shed around my casket
When this world I bid adieu.

Bring me all the flowers today,
Whether pink, or white, or red;
I’d rather have one blossom now
Than a truckload when I’m dead.

-Author Unknown

Dallas Arboretum ~ The Star of Texas

 

It was a beautiful day at the Dallas Arboretum last Saturday.

 

Just in case there’s any confusion as to what state you are in here’s the Star of Texas, a Longhorn, an Armadillo and a cowboy hat to set you right.

 

It was so lush with pinks, purples and many shades of green.

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of beautiful trees. The crape myrtle had such smooth interesting bark.

 

We were a little late for the wisteria but I can imagine how lush this was about a month ago. On our way out I bought a souvenir here that I will share in a future post. The afternoon was so lovely, sunny but not hot.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!