A Celebration for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth... and a Giveaway Coming Up in Her Honor...

I post often about my French heritage on my daddy's side of the family... today, I shall post about my English heritage from my mama's side of the family... celebrations are under way in London and all across the UK in honor of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee Celebration, honoring her 60 years as Queen... I am getting a very special post ready for later in the week, which will include a giveaway as well... being that I am half English, it shall of course include tea and pretty tea~time accoutrement's... below, is one of my most treasured vintage tea sets (not included in the giveaway however!)...


My niece Filly lives in London now, along with Dino pictured above... Dino is an Italian Greyhound who belonged to my daddy and when my daddy passed away, Filly inherited our precious pup... Dino enjoys a royal life in London as well!... Filly's emails to me describing all of the preparations for the celebration sound so exciting!... the official celebration starts Saturday, June 2nd and goes through Tuesday June 5th... on Sunday, the Queen will lead a flotilla of 1000 boats down the Thames River... doesn't it all sound simply smashing!... so, I must begin my own preparations... see you soon for tea and celebrations!... xoxo... (I am also celebrating my 3 year blog anniversary on June 5th... and 35 years with Jack, my love on June 4th)...

Don't Worry... BEE Happy...

I am so happy that some of my gorgeous Delphiniums were spared from our harsh winds the other night...

My special little garden visitor today seems quite happy as well... xoxo...

Decoration Day......

Growing up, Memorial Day was always known as "Decoration Day"... a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service...

Wishing you all a safe and happy Decoration Day~Memorial Day weekend... as you enjoy your barbeque's, picnics and such, please don't forget to honor those who have lost their lives serving our country, our wonderful veterans who have given us so much and the brave men and women who currently serve in our Armed Forces... I am also including all Law Enforcement and Firefighters and Paramedics... I salute you all... God Bless America... xoxo...

My Family Inheritance...

"When the world says "give up"
Hope whispers "try it one more time" ~ Author Unknown

All throughout the night, the winds howled here in my little town... I had taken my hanging baskets of flowers down before I went to bed... and brought in my new flowery pillows off of my garden chair... taken down my little solar butterfly lantern and secured everything the best I could... I am used to this routine... the winds come up often here... sometimes really severe... I have lived here in our little valley all of my life... it is a part of life here... last night was one of those nights... this morning, my gardens were a shambles... I was out in them at the first light of dawn... sooo many broken flowers and stems... branches and leaves... I spent the entire morning cleaning up and staking those plants that needed it... talking to them... watering them...loving them... and encouraging them to keep growing... to survive... at least three neighbors came by and asked "Julie Marie, why DO you keep on gardening like you do?"... I am asked this often... and my answer is always the same... "it's my inheritance"...

An inheritance is many things... money, property, material objects... all good things... but to me, my "inheritance" is the other gifts I was also given by my family... love, strength, honesty, manners, kindness, caring for the earth and all of God's precious creatures... taking care of the land and it's inhabitants... a will to go on when things are not going well... just like my quote at the top of my post says... "Hope whispers try it one more time"... for I am a gardener... by birth... the three beautiful ladies in the photo above are my inspiration... my Hope... my foundation... my mama (holding me as a baby)... my grandmother Delphine in the single photo and my great~grandmother Sarah in the photo with my great~grandfather... my "inheritance" came from them... all of the beautiful gifts in life I listed above, and my everlasting love of gardening beginning when I was just a little girl... tagging along at their sides in their own gardens...... three of the strongest influences in my life... always have been... always will be... I hear their gentle voices whispering to me to "try it one more time" as well...

"The love of gardening is a seed once sown
that never dies" ~ Gertrude Jekyll

So... I gathered some of my beautiful flowers the winds had broken off and made a pretty arrangement out of them... setting them in my bedroom... for the three beautiful ladies in the photographs... and now I am off to my gardens... filled with Hope... just the way they all would have been... and you know what... I think they will be right there with me... xoxo...

"Heaven is not merely over our heads
but under our feet" ~ Thoreau

Summer Is A Comin' In But Fast...

Springtime here in my little town has been absolutely beautiful this year... I have savored each and every precious moment of it... now... the Seasons are changing and as the lyrics in one of my favorite songs say "Summer was a comin' in but fast"...

I love Summer as much as I love Spring... growing up, my sister Jill and I could never get enough of Summer... leisurely spent days laying out in the sun... making beautiful necklaces out of sweet clover blossoms... and tiaras for our hair out of mama's marigolds... I was a tomboy growing up... but I also loved beautiful things... so I now call myself a "fufu tomboy"... Summer meant bare feet, Keds or sandals... a cute straw purse and hat... and sunglasses of course... naturally, I still love all of those same things today... (and I am STILL a fufu tomboy!)...

I love to shop, but I am a bargain shopper... okay... I sometimes splurge on purses... but even then they are usually on sale... I wanted to fufu up a cute straw hat... so, I found the perfect plain straw hat at Ross, $8.99, plus I got another 10% off since it was Tuesday and I am over 55... making it about $8.00... I used pretty lace from my stash... and a gorgeous silk flower I already had... and Voila!... the perfect Summer straw hat... oops!... same pic again!...

My cute espadrilles were from Coldwater Creek about 10 years ago... an end of Summer clearance that year for $5.00... and I just bought my ADORABLE PINK sunglasses yesterday at Dollar Tree for, you guessed it!... one dollar!...

New straw purse with cute beads on the handle... TJ Maxx $19.99...


Pretty pink roses scarf headband $3.99 Shopko, beaded bracelets $10.00 Shopko... "Island Fuschia" nail polish $2.49 at Classy Chassy (my favorite beauty supply shop in Bountiful)...

Total spent ... $50.47...

Feeling like a kid again... PRICELESS!... wishing you all a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend... Welcome Summer!... xoxo...

An "Udderly" Beautiful Day...

My day started out beautiful... as always this time of year... my cup of coffee in my favorite cup, a leisurely stroll through my gardens... a full Nature walk with Jack (my foot is all healed now!)... another walk... this time with Tessy down the trail... how could it get any better I thought... well... it did!... there was a knock on my front door early and the postman was standing there with a package for me... Tessy must have missed the class about chasing the postman... she darn near licks them to pieces... anyway... when I saw who the package was from, I was sooo excited!... Last week, I won a beautiful giveaway from one of my very favorite ladies ever, Sharon Lovejoy... this cute little antique quilt cow pillow ... have you honestly ever seen anything so "udderly" adorable!... she immediately wanted to graze out on my front lawn... I have named her "BlueBelle"...

Also, Sharon sent me a gorgeous little tin full of the most wonderful organic vegetable seeds to plant come Fall... peas, red cabbage, white icicle radishes... kale, broccoli and so much more... this was a bonus gift to me, as I am also a member of her "Grimy Hands Girls Club"...

Sharon is the President of the club, and here is her button, also on my sidebar with a link to her blog... I first met Sharon some years back through the pages of Country Living and Country Living Gardener... I could hardly wait to read her feature "Heart's Ease"... I still have all of my old copies... I have been a fan and admirer of hers ever since... I loved the name of her column which was also the name of her shop at the time... as my great~grandmother Sarah always called the delicate little violas "Heart's Ease"... I was smitten... Sharon is an author, illustrator, lecturer... and friend... her many talents truly amaze me!... her beautiful blog is called "Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island"... I have learned so very much from Sharon, about gardening and Nature... we are kindred spirits in so many ways... and we also share a very special bond that makes her even more loved by me... and how fun being a member of her club!... we really DO get down and dirty... literally... in our gardens... and it's so much fun!...

If you have not visited Sharon's blog, you are in for a real treat!... she makes you feel so welcome and at ease... just like you were sitting right there with her... sipping tea and chatting... please tell her Julie Marie sent you by... dear Sharon... thank you SO much for my giveaway prizes... I will treasure them always... before I met Jack, he used to work for two dairies as a milkman... one day out junkin', I found two little old cream bottles, each had the name of one of the dairies he worked for... Clover Leaf and Meadow Gold... I think BlueBelle will enjoy having them by her...

And the beautiful blue and white quilt in my photos... it was handmade by my great~grandmother Sarah in the 1800's and she left it to me... like Sharon, my grandmother, great~grandmother and my mama were all wonderful gardeners and besides inheriting my great~grandmother's quilt, I also inherited her love of gardening... my great~grandmother spun so many enchanting tales for me as I tagged alongside her in her cottage garden when I was a little girl... like why "Foxgloves" are named what they are... "why, because the little foxes would slip the glove~like blooms on their paws to quietly sneak into the chicken coop" she would tell me... and I would giggle... and say "tell me again, grandma"... so, Foxgloves in my garden...

For you... great~grandmother Sarah...

My grandmother Delphine...

For you grandma... Delphiniums of course...


And for my mama... roses... everywhere... these are my roses from the little cutting I took from my "secret spot"... I don't edit my photos at all, unless I fade the edges sometimes... so the color really is that brilliant red...

My beautiful mama... Phyllis Ann...


Hanging baskets of Lobelia, Million Bells and Pink Nemesia on both sides of my front porch...


All of God's creatures are welcome in my garden...

Dames Rocket, Gertrude Jekyll Rose... LaBelle Campanula...

Thank you for visiting me today... you are always welcome at my home...

...and my gardens... please do stop in and introduce yourself to Sharon... and once again Sharon... thank you so much!... we'll chat soon!... xoxo... Linking this post to Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage... also Share Your Cup Thursdays at Have a Daily Cup From Mrs. Olson... and Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground...

Once Upon a Time... A Fairy Tale by Julie Marie...

Once upon a time... (don't you just love stories that start out that way)... a beautiful Princess named Julie Marie (hey, it's my blog and my fairytale, I can be whoever I want to be!)... kissed a FROG... hoping it would turn into a handsome PRINCE...

But instead it turned Princess Julie Marie into a FROG...

So, since she always tries to make the best of things... she decided being a frog was not that bad after all...

And Princess Julie Marie and her Froggie Prince Jack lived happily~ever~after... rivet..rivet!... xoxo...

Little Green Apples...

If you follow my blog at all (Merci!)... then you know I post often about fairytales and daydreams... nursery rhymes and happy things... cherished memories, old friends and new... blissful days and starlit nights... once~upon~a~time stories and happily~ever~afters...

I read a darling post this morning by one of my blogger friends and a particular comment left by a woman I do not know on my friends blog just hit me the wrong way... my friends post was about a cute little song her grandmother and mother had sung to her as a child and she now sings to her own children and grandchildren... the woman who commented stated that "she didn't like it and it must be from the time when nursery rhymes were nothing but disguised political commentary"... so... being... well, ME... I felt the need to write this post... I wonder what this crazy world would be like for me had I not been raised with a loving mama who read me fairytales and taught me nursery rhymes... cherished my daydreams and encouraged me to let my imagination flourish... too much sadness in the world today... all once~upon~a~times do not have happily~ever~after~endings... I know this firsthand... I've had my share of life's up and downs like most everyone has... but that's life... and I deal with it... there is also nothing the matter with escaping to my fairytale world at times... letting my daydreams take flight and my imagination soar... just like when I was a little girl... to say that a nursery rhyme was actually a "disguised political commentary" is absurd... why can't we let children be children these days... let them play make~believe and don't rush them to grow up so fast nowadays... read them a fairytale bedtime story and rock them to sleep with a lullabye... life is much too short not to enjoy these things... and I am so thankful my mama gave these precious childhood gifts to me... and if that's not lovin' me... then all I've got to say... is...

"God didn't make little green apples
and it don't rain in Indianapolis
in the Summertime...
And there's no such thing as Doctor Seuss
or Disneyland and Mother Goose...
No nursery rhymes"...

Thank you God... for making little green apples... and mamas... my mama passed away 30 years ago this Wednesday...suddenly and unexpectedly... much too young... I miss you mama... and I love you... xoxo...

It's the Weekend...

Relax... daydream...


... and don't forget to take time to smell the flowers... (beautiful floral pillows for my favorite garden chair from my friends Jen and El's luscious boutique "Madeleine L'Amour")... xoxo...

Tessy Won a Giveaway!...

Today a big package came in the mail... and it was for me... Tessy!... I sniffed it out and could tell there were fun things inside...

Last week, I joined the Rockin' Pet Party at The House at Bluebird Lane and Charming Zebra in honor of National Pet Week... I think EVERY week should be National Pet Week... so does my mama... she says we all give so much unconditional love!... anyway, lucky me... I WON the giveaway at The House at Bluebird Lane!... here is what I saw when I first opened my package... PINK tissue!!!... PINK is my very favorite color of all!... and there was a cute card to ME from Hoss and the rest of the crew at The House at Bluebird Lane...

I jumped right up onto the big bed and asked my mama to bring my prizes to me...

Wow!... look at all the cool things I won!... a WHOLE pack of tenny balls... a portable travel bowl for my food and water... a booda squeaky bottle to play with... and a cool brush for my mama to brush me with...

I got sooo excited over all of this... and over meeting so many new furry friends at the party... I love all God's creatures just like my mama does...

I think I will rest now and dream about my new friends and all of my prizes... thank you everyone at Bluebird Lane!... sending you all BIG doggie kisses... xoxo... Tessy