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?

Great Giver of All Good ~ Hymn

Great Giver of All Good

Great Giver of all good,
To Thee our thanks we yield
For all the beauties of the wood,
Of hill, and dale, and field.

Ten thousand various flowers
To Thee sweet offerings bear,
And joyous birds in woodlands bowers
Sing forth Thy tender care.

The fields on every side
The trees on every hill,
The glorious sun, the rolling tide,
Proclaim Thy wonders still.

But trees, and fields, and skies
Still praise a God unknown;
For gratitude and love can rise
From living hearts alone.

These living hearts of ours
Thy holy name would bless;
The blossoms of the thousand flowers
Would please the Savior less.

While earth itself decays,
Our souls can never die;
O tune them all to sing Thy praise
In better songs on high.

Words: Ann T. Gilbert, 1827.

Catching Up…

After being gone so long from my home I’ve been spending lots of time catching up and getting things around this old house back to normal.

We don’t have a gardening service so the first thing I addressed was our lawn and some beds and shrubs. I spent four and a half hours last Thursday and my body is still recovering from being taxed like that.

I came home to blooms that were spent and blooms that were thriving. These are the sweet rosebud azaleas I bought with a gift card from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook to purchase something to plant in memory of my mom who passed away last September 13th.

This next collage is of my older azalea plants.

Most of my rhoddys are on their way out but I’ve been able to enjoy a few blooms.

While I was gone my pink dogwood bloomed and Dear took some photos for me. This is the fullest it’s bloomed since we planted it a couple years ago. The green leafed shot is the stage it is at now.

I’m so excited that my young peony bush has over 6 buds this year. Last year we only had one.

After I mowed and watered I took this before photo of our patio. Yesterday Dear put the covers on. I’ll take more photos of the after shots when a couple more projects get done like pressure washing.

When we went to barbecue steaks yesterday our barbecue would not cooperate so Dear has some extensive cleaning and de-clogging of the poor old thing before it lights up. Plan B went into effect and we broiled the steaks inside and microwaved the corn. It all tasted good and sharing the meal with our kids was wonderful.

It’s so so good to be home again. It’s so nice that Dear gets a long weekend at home before he has to travel again next Friday to Chicago. I can’t stop thanking God for the fact that our son-in-law is home from Afghanistan. We continue throughout this Memorial weekend and beyond to be thankful for those who have served and are serving our country.

What have you been up to this weekend?

FFF ~ Lilacs and Peonies and Dogwood Oh My!

Last year we planted a lilac bush, a peony, and a Dogwood. We enjoyed one branch that bloomed this year on the lilac. The dogwood did bloom some pretty bright pink blooms. We are still waiting for the peony to bloom again this year. In the meantime I bought a bunch of peonies at Costco to enjoy.

Here are my 5 favorites from this past week.

1. My lilacs and the wonderful scent we enjoyed for a few days.

2. Seeing my dogwood blooms out my kitchen window.

3. Knowing we have finally found a church home and it’s only 3 miles away from our home. The closest we’ve ever been to our home church. It’s taken us a full year to find the right spot for us. We will go to a membership class in September.

4. I’m reading my third book in the last couple weeks. I read Shades of Earl Grey by Laura Childs. I read the first book in The Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall. Both of these books were very enjoyable. Now I’m reading the latest In the Company of Others by Jan Karon. I really enjoy Jan Karon’s writing…

5. I sent our new cookbook, Mennonite Girls Can Cook, to 3 of Dear’s aunts and to a dear old friend of mine that befriended me in college through a Baptist scholarship that I received from her church. What a dear she’s been to me over the years. She wrote to me and sent care packages while I was away from home in college. We’ve kept track of each other over these last 40 years. She is in her 80’s now, widowed and still a Sunday School teacher at her church. She called me this week after receiving the cookbook to thank me and to chat. Sweet times.

I got notes from Dear’s aunts also thanking me for their books and letting me know what recipes they would be trying first. His aunts are in their 70’s and 80’s.

This weekend I get to go on a walk with a dear friend and we are going to celebrate Father’s day this Sunday instead of next.

Thank you Susanne for hosting Friday’s Fave Five, a time to reflect on good things in our lives.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

June Blooms…

It’s time for Outdoor Wednesday with Susan at The Southern Daydreamer. I’ve been enjoying my June blooms in the yard.

The lavender is blooming which makes weeding in the beds an olfactory delight!

Lovely splashes of crimson are welcome in the planter. This rose is so prolific and I cut it back aggressively wondering if it will bloom again…and it does.

Last but not least my new addition this year a Sarah Bernhardt Peony which has stolen my heart. I will be planting more Peonies next year!

What’s blooming in your yard? We are so happy here in Western Washington to be enjoying some nice sunny days. We still have promises of more rain coming but we’ll enjoy the sun while it lingers and entertains us!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

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