Pure Bliss...

This time of year is my busiest time in my gardens... Spring is here... and everything is getting so green and lush... my days are pure Heaven watching new blooms appear here and there each morning...

So much to do... so many plans to make and trips to the garden centers... always coming home with my car full of plants... keeping track of everything in my garden journal... comparing notes with this time last year... plus, after not being able to do my full Nature walk each day for some time due to some strained tendons in my foot and a pinched nerve, I am now able to do the whole walk again with Jack... yippee!... can you tell I am excited???...

It's Springtime!... get outdoors and enjoy it!... xoxo...

Great~grandmother's Wedding Ring...

Today I needed to go renew my drivers license as it expires this year on my birthday in May... they have made it so hard to renew since the last time I did... nowadays, you must bring a copy of your social security card and your birth certificate to renew... I was born and raised here... been driving since I was 16... no speeding tickets (at least not since I was 16)... but each year seems like there are more and more changes to everything... you know me... I don't like change... maybe that's why my thoughts drift away so often... back to simpler, gentler times... anyway... I had to open our safe to get my birth certificate out... there, on a soft piece of velvet was my great~grandmothers wedding ring... that is my great~grandmother and great~grandfather Souders in the photo below... the gold pocket watch belonged to my great~grandfather and I inherited it... at some time long ago, my grandmother had it put on the little gold stand... my great~grandparents lived to be almost 100 years old each and I knew them well when I was a little girl... spending Summers with them in Santa Fe at my grandmother's home...

I gingerly took my great~grandmothers ring out of the safe and slipped it on my finger... pictures of this sweet little lady filled my mind... carefree Summer's days in New Mexico... sitting at her side as she rocked in her favorite chair in the living room... chatting with her... savoring her homemade cookies that always filled the cookie jar... I caressed the ring on my finger and wished that just once more I was sitting there beside her... great~grandmother had the softest snow~white hair... it cascaded all the way down her back... sometimes she wore it down long, but most often it was piled high upon her head... and she always smelled so sweet... that's what little great~grandmothers do, you know... because they ARE so sweet...

After my great~grandmother passed away, my grandmother Delphine (her daughter, my daddy's mama) inherited the ring... she wore it every day...

When my grandmother Delphine passed away, my mama inherited great~grandmother's ring... then, when my mama passed away... thirty years ago this May... much too young... I inherited great~grandmother's ring... I wore it every day too for many years... the band had worn so thin from all of those years... I took it to a jeweler to check the band and the prongs on the diamond... the first thing he told me was to take it out of that old setting and put it in something new and modern... sorry... no way... just like I would not want to change a thing about my great~grandmother... I would never change a thing about her wedding ring... he told me it was an old mine cut that they don't do anymore... I didn't like the other things he told me about changing it... but that delighted me that it was an old, old mine cut diamond... great~grandmother's ring is well over 100 years old... and has four generations of stories to tell...

I don't wear it anymore as fragile as it is... so soon it will go back into our safe... but for now... I shall wear it just a bit longer... as the smell of great~grandmother's cookies and her soft gentle voice fill my thoughts... unlike so many things in today's modern world that change or go away... precious memories never fade... xoxo...

The Fairytale Tree...

Down the lane and around the bend, just before I get to the thicket, a most breathtaking site awaits me each Spring... I call it the Fairytale tree... because that is what it reminds me of... a beautiful, most enchanted setting... soft green grass and delicate snowy~white blossoms with the slightest of scent... just enough to tease your senses and whisper to you "linger here a bit longer"... I am most happy to oblige... a more graceful tree you may not find... her beautiful arms outstretched in wild abandon... she is loving the long~awaited Spring as much as I do...

My Fairytale tree is actually a wild plum tree... well over one hundred years old... and each Spring, she comes to life in her Heavenly profusion of delicate blossoms...

A most enchanted place indeed... perhaps tomorrow I shall bring a blanket and some tea and cookies and sit beneath this Fairytale tree of mine... yes... I call it mine... I don't think anyone around here loves her as much as I do... unless it is Jack... I love how he appreciates the beauty of Nature as much as I do... most people just walk right past her... not giving her a second glance... oooh, they are missing sooo much!... but that's all right... for then she must surely belong to me and me alone... and perhaps a white spotted dog... who perchance may come with me... if she behaves...

Will you behave, Tessy my love???... xoxo...

I'd Invite You to Tea...

But...

Tonight's just for me...

A favorite magazine, Lady Grey steeping in the teapot... jammies on... house is quiet... time to indulge myself... we all deserve it... do you slip away for quiet times too?... I hope so... xoxo...

Sound Advice...

You've probably all seen the little signs that say "Keep Calm and Carry On"???... well, today I found the cutest journal at Barnes and Noble, I like this saying better... this is what the front of my new journal says...


Maybe I'll keep track of how many cupcakes I eat in it???... xoxo...

My Favorite Place to Be...

This time of year, if you are looking for me, most likely I am...

Last year, I asked my friend Rebecca of A Gathering Place if she would create a beautiful sign for me with that saying on it... she came up with exactly what I had in mind and I loved it!... I hang it out on my little potting bench when I am "in the garden"... I'm sure friends and family already know that is where I will be... but the sign is just so pretty!... while at the garden center today, I bought a beautiful new wildflower... it is a Geum, which I have grown before, but not this particular one... it's called "Prairie Smoke"...

I came right home and planted it... here's how it looks in the garden... the foliage on it is just so delicate and kind of fern like... I can hardly wait for the blooms which are "bell to cup shaped mauve flowers followed by showy feathery pink seedheads throughout summer".... sounds so beautiful!...

Has anyone grown this before?... or is it a native wildflower to your area?... I would love to know!... xoxo...

Spring... and a young girl's fancy turns to love...

Today is the day I call officially the First Day of Spring... and oh, what a beautifully glorious, warm, sunny, fall~in~love with it kinda day it was!... Tessy couldn't wait to come outside with me and soak up some sunshine and blue skies... and some sugary~sweet Springtime smooches from her mama... c'mon Tessy... give mama a little sugar...

Tessy and I spent the day doing all sorts of wonderful Springtime things together ... She pointed out our resident Blue Jay out back... his name is B.J. (for Blue Jay, what else??? he is actually a Scrub Jay out here in the west)... and he sits in one of our flowering crabapple trees (which is not flowering yet!) and squawks at me to put more peanuts out for him... then, if I am not fast enough, he gives me the old stink~eye and squawks some more!... I just love him and his family!... he loves to hide peanuts everywhere... and somehow, always remembers where he put them!...

We checked on our pots of pansies on the front porch... purple and pink, my favorites!... lookin' good!...

The local deer had a party in our yard during the night... they ate about half of our tulips that were just starting to come up... well... as long as they had a good time!... there are still plenty left... and our yard IS a designated wildlife habitat!... (tulips really aren't on the menu though dear deer)...

Then we put our pretty ceramic birdbath out front after being inside all winter so it would not freeze and break... (the metal ones stay out year round so the birdies can drink anytime)... the Robins love to drink and bathe in it this time of year as they prepare to build their nests... I have posted before about how my great~grandmother told me when I was a little girl that there will always be something white in a Robin's nest... and through the years, I have always found it to be true... a piece of white yarn, a white paper towel, perhaps a white feather... look closely the next time you see a Robin's nest... it will be there... that small, something white... always... after putting the birdbath out, I hung the yellow jacket traps... yes, I know I always post how much I love all of God's creatures... but, I made an exception to that... two years ago, as I was working in my gardens, a yellow jacket somehow went up my pantleg and stung me seven times on my thigh... after the first sting, I knew what was happening and tried to swat through my pantleg to kill him... (unlike a bee, yellow jackets can just keep on stinging and stinging)... all that did was make him madder and he stung me six more times as I tried to run inside... by the time I got to my back stairs to go up to my back porch to get inside I pulled my jeans down around my ankles trying to get him (hello neighbors!)... as I ran screaming inside... once inside he flew out and Jack swatted him... needless to say he did not live to see another day... at that point, I didn't even care if the neighbors saw me that way, it hurt so bad and I had 7 huge welts on my swollen thigh... (I now own my own Epi~pen)...

After that, Tessy and I checked the birdhouses in our yard... did you know the birds actually scout out their Spring nesting sites in the middle of winter?... they do... then, come Spring, they like to do some "Spring cleaning" just like we do... I put wood shavings in the bottoms of all the birdhouses... then, when they are "rented" the birds will toss out the shavings and begin "feathering their nest", making it their own home tweet home to raise their babies in...


Soon... this one...

Will look like this... my beautiful Jackmanii Clematis clamboring up the pole and trellis behind it last Spring...

So, that is how Tessy and I spent this beautiful "real" First Day of Spring outdoors today... hope you had a fall~in~love with Spring kind of day too... xoxo... Moi and Tessy...

Welcoming Spring!...

"And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the spirit of love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of it's wintry rest" ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

I have always known the first day of Spring to be the 21st day of March... now it is celebrated the 20th day of March... curious by nature, I googled to see why the change... tradition states it is actually the 21st day of March, but in recent years astronomers and calendar manufacturers state it is the 20th... so... being one to always carry on traditions, I shall continue to call the 21st the First Day of Spring... but welcome it's arrival anytime!... whichever day you choose... Happy Spring to You!... xoxo...

Got a Minute?... Let's Chat...

Good morning!... it's another beautiful Spring day here in Centerville... before I head out to run errands, then start going crazy in my gardens today, I wanted to take a minute to tell you all something... from me to you... straight from my heart...

It's going on three years since I started my little blog... many of you have been with me from the start and many of you have become new friends... my blog is kinda all over the place sometimes... I post about so many different things I love... family, my sweet Tessy, friends, vintage collections, animal causes I support, gardening, Nature, cooking, my French heritage, you name it... I have always been kind of a loner, a free~spirit who does things her own way... I don't follow fads or trends... not putting anyone down here... just sayin'... I don't do twitter or facebook... and I am sad to see alot of bloggers shutting down their blogs to only "tweet" or... what the heck do you call it when you facebook???..."book 'em Danno" is all that comes to my mind... (some of you are waayyy to young to remember that!)... I just wish they would keep their blogs open as well... I never, ever do depressing posts... there is enough sadness in the world, I don't want to add to that in any way... some of my posts are very nostalgic, some are informative, and some are just downright silly!... like me sometimes... (okay, alot of times)... bottom line is, I want to say a big "Merci"! to all of you, old friends and new... for taking time out of your days to see what is happening in my little corner of the world... and for always leaving me such heartfelt comments... and I love visiting all of you and seeing your different styles and inspiring blogs as well... now... I am off to the garden center... my home away from home this time of year... what are your plans for today?... I hope they are something most delightful!... xoxo...

Well... I had a post here....

I had a post here I did this morning... really, I did... with comments on it even... but when I looked just now, it was gone, comments and all!... what the heck is going on?... I am just too darn tired tonight to re~do it all, so I will just show you my sweet wild violets that are blooming all over in my gardens right now...


And now I am off to bed... I have hurt my feet really bad from all of the walking I do every day, something called Plantar Fasciitis that is really painful... so, nite, nite!... xoxo...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!...

It's St. Patrick's Day!... a time to celebrate... Jack is Irish so we do it up big...

The corned beef and red new potatoes are cooking in the crockpot and their heavenly aroma is filling our home... Tessy's nose is working overtime and she is wearing her green plaid collar and pretending she is an Irish Setter today... I promised her a wee bit o' corned beef tonight and she is doing her happy dance... I am wearing my lucky shamrock pin Jack gave me the year I met him... at dinner time I will add the cabbage to the pot just before we eat... after dinner, our traditional Irish coffee (yum!) in our little porcelain shamrock cups... I have been carrying on this tradition for 35 years now... I love keeping traditions!... hope your day is just as wonderful in every way... Happy St. Patrick's Day!... xoxo...

Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours
Wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours.

A Key to the Past.....

If you have followed my blog at all (merci!) then you know I love to photograph old structures... barns, outbuildings, homes, stores, signs... you name it... I stopped to take the following photos yesterday... they are of wonderful old, old buildings that still stand on Main Street in Bountiful, Utah, the little town I grew up in that borders my little town of Centerville that I live in now... I have such a love and respect for the past and I hate to see old structures torn down and vanish... along with the stories they tell... shhh... listen closely, perhaps we shall hear those stories...


At one time in days~gone~by, this was a welding shop in the photo below... I pass this old building almost every day and cannot go by it without glancing over at it...










A part of small town USA from yesteryear... shabby and worn, yet still stand proudly on Main Street... they tug at my heartstrings... do they yours?... xoxo...