The Volunteers are Here!

Sunflowers that is!




Under each bird feeder the dropped seeds germinated and now I have these wonderful volunteer sunflower plants growing and starting to bloom! In the next few days they will begin to open up even more and the butterflies, bees and dragonflies will begin to visit.
I was able to catch this dragonfly sunning himself on our porch rail. He was there for a good 15 mins before fluttering off.
Finally found the tag to the mystery plant that I bought last year from Aaron -- Tickseed Coreopsis.

It's soo nice to see color popping out here and there! Happy Summer!

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♪♪♪♪Beans, Beans.....♪♪♪♪

No they aren't that kind...lol!

My pole beans are looking pretty good, although something is occasionally eating the leaves. So excited and ready for them do a little climbing!

The cukes in my raised flower bed are also doing pretty good along with all my flower seeds coming up! The last couple of days have been on the cool side so I'm hoping it doesn't have to much effect on the garden.

I planted Cosmos, Zinnia and African Daisy over several days so I have varying degrees of plant development but again, I don't think it will hurt anything. This bed should be very colorful once they all start to bloom. If you notice behind the raised bed the lantana mounds are getting huge. I imagine they are going to get 5 ft tall at the very least!

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Pretty Purses

These are the cutest little paper purses that I made for some of the girls at work for Mother's day. Each one had bluebird nuggets, a pkg of flower seeds and either an Altoid's peppermint tin or hand lotion. I didn't take a pic of the Altoid's or lotion but I should have. They were covered with paper and ribbon as well and looked really cute. As you can see I was even able to color coordinate my seeds to each of the purse colors. Now how clever was that?

They loved them!

These would be soo cute for other occasions as well. I could see using them for baby shower gifts with a gift card tucked inside along with hair bows if it was a girl. Boy version could be a gift card with booties, etc. How about bridal shower favors? Filled with bath and body travel size items?

Possibilities are only limited by your imagination with all the different scrapbook paper prints out there..Be creative! Certainly another way to use some of that paper you've been stashing!

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The Big Day!

Happy Anniversary to us!!! 27 yrs. No small feat into today's world where divorce is more the norm.

Happy Work Anniversary for me too. 31 yrs. Now as a young nurse starting out in 1978, I never thought about being there for long. My, how the years have rolled by!

Finished my 1st week on the new job, can't say I love it yet. It is all about the money, so on to next week!

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It's Over

My azalea's have finished blooming. :( This year was especially pretty with the dogwoods and azaleas blooming. This one azalea bush, growing in a landscape tree pot as it has been for the last 3 years actually bloomed the longest. This last bloom was beautiful and I sure hated to see it go. Now I have to wait another whole year for it to bloom again. I do have some of the Encore azalea's in the front, which are supposed to bloom in spring and again in summer/fall. But to say the least, they just aren't as showy as the Formosa azaleas.

There just seems to be something about magical about spring and too bad we don't get to enjoy more of it. Around here it turns from spring to summer overnight, from cool nights to hot days in a blink of an eye. Unfortunately summer is here, if even the calendar doesn't say it yet.

Bloom, bloom, bloom didn't realize I said it so many times( I guess that's where you are supposed to go back and reread what you wrote...opps!)

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My Day

Today is my day, Mother's Day. As I look back over the years, I know it was my true calling to be a mother because I loved motherhood from the moment I became one.

February 12, 1983. As I held my first born and looked down at my sweet little daughter Laurie, I was overwhelmed with love. Four years later, I wondered if I had enough love to give another child.

April 13, 1987. When Aaron was placed in my arms, I need not have wondered as my heart burst with love for my first born son. Five years later with the impending birth of my third child, I wasn't worried.

January 23, 1992. Gazing down at Trevor, I took in the sweet smell of a newborn for my last time. Bittersweet, as I knew he would be my last child. I loved my littlest boy!

I have loved taking walks in the rain, reading books curled up on the couch, playing man-shop and barbies, working puzzles, making costumes, going to the movies, looking for turtles, chasing away scary dreams, healing hurts, going to horse shows, watching videos, playing lego's, helping with last minute school projects(and arguing), going to school functions, listening to band concerts, attending sports events, watching dirt bike tricks, going shopping, getting hugs and kisses and...most of all...just being a Mom!

Yes, it's a good day to be a Mom♥♥♥♥

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Runaway Train

That's what I feel I am on. The new job is fast approaching, Monday is the big day. While I have some ambivalence and fear of starting something new, I am nonetheless looking forward to finding out exactly what will be involved. I do know this, my new department sends out a lot of emails. So, I now have to remember to check my email several times a day to stay in the loop.

I ran into a nurse last week who had actually done this same job last year. She left the position to go to PPD for a research position and she soon found out she hated all the paperwork and returned to the hospital in a part-time position she really likes in post-op now. She did however say the new manager I will be working with is very nice and easy to work for. I will be working 5 days a week for the first time in my life. Now, I did work full time prior to Laurie's birth, but that was back when I worked weekends so I always had day's off during the week.

Days off during the week are exactly what I think I am going to miss. However, on the flip side I do plan on working early hours, getting off between 2-3pm. I think I'll like that, with time still to stop and shop,or play in the dirt.

So, instead of working a 30 day transfer notice in my current unit, my new department pulled some strings and I'll be released earlier than I thought.

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Bloomers

Just a few pics of what's bloomed and getting ready to bloom! Soon I hope to have Day Lillies blooming and the Dahlia's are coming up!

This first pic is Lantana, mega to say the least, it will be become very large, maybe even larger than last year, and it will be wonderful for the butterflies and hummers.



This 2ND pic is an unknown perennial flower I purchased from Aaron when he worked at Ingles last summer. It is getting ready to bust forth with blooms!



This last pic is a rose blooming amongst the poison ivy and briar's. I only noticed it yesterday, a bit of pink caught my eye as I parked. Imagine my surprise to see it was a rose, and how it came to live there is any body's guess. Slightly out of focus, it's bloom is now spent, and there is not a another bloom on the vine. I plan to dig it up and place it in a more sunny location. Roses do love the sun!

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News FLash

Yesterday, out of the blue(no pun intended) we saw a male Blue Grosbeak in the birch tree in the front yard. He flew down to the sunflower feeder, paused a moment and then took flight across the yard where we lost site of him.

This is what the Cornell Bird website has to say about this sharp looking bird:

"A beautiful blue bird with silvery bill and chestnut wingbars, the Blue Grosbeak is an uncommon bird of shrubby habitats across the southern United States."

I have no idea why he stopped by, but I sure hope he will be back to visit!

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The Le jardin is growing!

Look at the difference in the size of the peppers...from just 10 days ago!



Tomatoes



pole bean bed



Oh, what a difference a week makes! My little peppers have been moved to the straw bales. I decided to plant Kentucky Blue Wonder Pole beans in last years mulched bales. The tomatoes are in and looking great. I have potted up the sage, thyme and basil.

Today has been mostly overcast, but in the last couple of hours the sun has started to shine and what a nice sunny spring day it has turned into!

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