Online Garden Tours All Week

An online garden tour benefiting breast cancer research is being held all week. You can find a listing of all the participating bloggers by visiting http://deenasstory.blogspot.com/2008/05/garden-tour-event.html.

Please enjoy some of the garden scenes we enjoyed on a recent trip to coastal Georgia and as you take the tour, I hope you will consider making a donation to help support the cause. You can access the contribution form by clicking here.








I love the passion flower and while I say that about every flower, this really is MY FAVORITE FLOWER!



You have to click on the tree photos to be able to see the moss-draped oak trees. The grand allee was so beautiful and amazingly cool on the day we were visiting Savannah when temperatures were hovering at 100 degrees.


And of course no garden is complete without a lizard.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day. I hope if you are a Father that today you take a moment to give thanks for the special gift that you have been given. You have been given the gift of precious ones, trusted in your care as you love and lead a family. At least that is what I learned from my Dad. I am a bit melancholy as I write this because I lost my Dad a couple of years ago. At the same time I am so thankful that I was blessed with such a wonderful father as "Pap." Now that he is gone, it is so easy to think of him as a saint and in many ways he was. His ability to overlook adversity and hardship was amazing. Even greater was his ability to love. His love of the earth and growing things, simple living, mankind, community were all evident in his day-to-day living. But his greatest gift was the example he set by remaining strong in his faith and loving and caring for his family. As I celebrate Father's Day I can't help but be a bit sad but at the same time I give thanks for my Dad. If you have a Dad in your life I hope you help make his day a very special day of celebration.

Pictured on the left is my "little brother" and my Dad. The photo on the right is my Dad (L) as a little boy with his sister and brother. My granddad is in the background near the barn.

Online Garden Tour Coming Soon!

Nestle in the Garden, Tour for the Cure, an online garden tour, will be taking place on June 15th. I hope you will stop by and see some of my garden photos taken while visiting coastal Georgia.

So Hard to Go Back to Work

I love vacations but it is so hard to get motivated when the vacation is over, your mailbox is running over, your voice mailbox is full and it is Monday. Lesson learned, next time take Monday off too! We had such a terrific time at the beach. Normally when we go to the beach we go to the Gulf coast of Florida. My mom grew up in the area so we always went back to visit family. This time we went down to coastal Georgia and it was wonderful. While there we (my family and the little crab pictured) took a boat ride over to an area of protected land and there were no humans on the beach, just hundreds of pelicans. We spent the morning dolphin watching, bird watching, cast net fishing and shelling. I came home with a canvas tote full of shells! I can't think of the last time I had so much fun just relaxing and enjoying my family. I love the picture of my grand girls just watching the water.

Photos coming

We took a few days off and went to the beach. It was only four days but what a wonderful vacation.
In the next few days I will be sharing some memories and photos of our trip. Have a wonderful week.

The Hydrangeas Are Blooming

I get so happy when I see flowers blooming and the hydrangeas right now are gorgeous. We moved in our house in 2005 and I moved many plants with me from our old house. Most of the hydrangeas I brought along were cuttings so it makes me especially proud that these cuttings are now good sized plants with plenty of blooms.

I just had to share a few photos from my garden.

Footnote: We are praying for rain! Between the high temperatures and the drought, the hydrangeas are looking sad.

One Thing Finished

I am still working away on the bedroom but today I finished the redo of a chair that I have had since childhood. Originally the chair was painted black with gold trim and was covered with red corduroy upholstery. The chair has taken on a lighter look and displays an antique quilt my sister gave me for my 50th birthday.