I MUST HAVE FLOWERS

“I must have flowers, always, and always.”
― Claude Monet

“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

The lupines will soon be here. Each flower takes their turn. I love the quote from Monet. I was fortunate to experience his garden in Giverney, France. It was a day I will never forget. The pink house, the Japanese bridge, the rose arbors…it was breathtaking.

Spring Magic

Spring Magic

   

The World is very old;

     But year by year

It groweth new again

     When buds appear.

The World is very old,

     And sometimes sad;

But when the daisies come

     The World is glad.

The World is very old;

     But every Spring

It groweth young again,

     And fairies sing.  

Image blender

L

Lim trying a new app called image blender. I need a little more work with it but it's fun to put two images together. 

I had my endoscopy today the doctor was able to enlarge my esophagus spot by three centimeters.  I've been a little groggy and out of it most of the day. We are trying to solve my chocking problem. Every little bit helps. 

There is nothing more glorious than Springtime

When the camera comes out to take pictures of blooming flowers there just isn’t anything better.  Here are some shots of my springtime blooms.

View from the porch swing

Don got me some flowers for Mother's Day. I'm not sure yet where I want to plant them. Today it is almost eighty...yes, eighty. I am siting on my swing on the breezeway. This is the most wonderful spot since the breeze through the woods funnels right through here making it a cool spot to sit. I could almost be put to sleep by the ringing of the chimes and the chirping of the birds. Can you say heaven?

   I've been awake since five am. A big thunderstorm rolled through here and Sadie started to shake so bad she woke me up. I stayed awake to comfort her. I guess she's tired too. 

Top gun is so unhappy that he has to stay in. He doesn't understand that if he would eat a mouse it might spike his sugar and kill him. It's only for two weeks till we get him regulated. Poor baby. It's torture for an outdoor cat like him. 

A little adventure

When we were at Chris’ a weekend ago he and I went on a little photo walk just as the sun was going down. Children’s Lake in Boiling Springs, Pa is a lovely lake formed by a bubbling underground spring. It never fails to produce wonderful pictures.  These are unedited and not Photoshopped. 

Then he wanted to take me up to a place to see the sunset. On the way we saw these longhorns and stopped for picture taking.

When we got to the “Place” we just about missed the sunset.  But what we saw was glorious.

To all the moms

Being a mother has been the greatest gift of all. There is a moment after the pain of labor when that child is placed in your arms and you know that you will love him forever.  Looking back it seems there were so many moments throughout the years and so many stages in your children's lives..their first steps, starting school, losing that first tooth, learning to drive...the wedding...the grandchildren. And at each moment your heart would just burst with pride and happiness. No matter how old your child gets that bond will never be broken. On this day I can say thank you to my children for the privilege of being their mom. 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

The Osmonds

Yes, they are a little older but these three osmond brothers put on a fantastic show. Don and I went to the Seneca Allegany Casino to see them perform. They had me at their first song. Everything about the show was entertaining and professional. They enhanced the music occasionally with big screen video of their younger days. The music was top notch and the excellent musicians backed them up. Jay even did a wild drum solo. They mixed up the program with jokes, audience participation, and tribute songs. What a great night. 

   We began the evening with dinner at the Beef and Barrell in Olean.  I had to have the house speciality. Beef on weck .  They have beef carving stations and the succulent beef is place on a kümmel wick roll topped with salt. The traditional home baked beans and German potato salad accompanied it. We could only eat half our meal since we began with a flowering onion yummy! 

  All in all it was a great date night!

Girls and their mothers

I was born in Elberton, Georgia which was my mother's home town. We lived in Savannah and then DuBois, Pennsylvania. When I was five we moved to Bradford where I have lived most of my life. The picture above shows my mother and I in front of my grandmotherly house. I lost my mother in 2000. She was quite a lady. My mother was soft spoken, creative and generous. She knew how to throw a party. She was kind and a fabulous mother. I miss her every day. 

This is mom and I on top of Stone Mountain in Georgia. Looking at this picture I recall all the good times we had. My mother was an excellent cook. A few years ago my sisters and I ate at Paula Deen's restaurant in Savnnah and it was just like eating at our table growing up. 

I never had a daughter but I've been fortunate to have a sweet daughter in law and a darling granddaughter. 

HAPPY mother's DAY to all the mommies out there. 

Sadie was a bad little girl, what else is new?

Yes, that is Sadie under the towel. I just gave her a bath and Don is drying her. We told her that she was not allowed to take a swim in the pond yet. We haven't cleaned it out and it is full of tadpoles and yucky leaves. She listened...oh yes, she listened well. Until we went in the house. Them she took her dip.  

  Today went well with Top Gun. I only had to draw blood twice but already his readings are coming down. Hopefully these pills will work. It's easy to give. I just mix it in a little tuna fish juice. Maybe it's just my imagination but he already looks like he gained a tiny amount of weight. He had lost five pounds since Christmas. 

  Good health news too for me. I had an eye doctor appointment and good an excellent report. Some of you may not know the ordeal I went through with my eye in 2007. It involved a cyst, a macular hole and surgery where I had to keep my head down for a half an hour every hour for two weeks. I still have wonky vision in that eye. But it is doing as well as it can. I can't see well out of it and can't read with it. Anyway, everything was good and I was pleased. 

  It was another amazingly warm day. Don and I worked outside again.

The box woods we had planted on the bank barely survived. When Don dug them up their roots were in water. Our clay soil is very bad for plants and the hole we had dug was full of water. So we are putting them in planters instead. Don and I are not garden ears and didn't know about digging up and preparing the soil. We,ll know better next time. We are going to put river rock around Tatiana now. 

Yes, that,s my foot.

Aah,  sitting on the porch swing with Sadie at my feet.  A perfect day. I weeded some and put Roundup on the rest. It has been a little harrowing today.  We found put last week that our beloved Top Gun kitty is diabetic. The choice was to pursue a longtime treatment plan with major commitment or put him down. Of course we would never hurt TG. He is such a wonderful cat, so gentle and loving. So today we started pricking his ear every three hours for a blood reading and giving him pills. We will try the pills for two weeks and if they don't work it will be injections twice a day. I'm no nurse but I will do my best. 

Finally a flower

,

“If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for a moment.” 
― Georgia O'Keeffe

tags: flower

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The spring flower bed is coming out. The grape hyacinths abundant this year   I'll have to transfer a few to another spot.  

Who cannot love a daffodil?

You can see the leaves of the climbing hydrangea starting to grow. We put out our swing for the year and I bought some new party lights   Come on summer...I'm ready for you. 

At the flea market

My Movie from Peg Karrasch on Vimeo.

Lafayette, we are here.

I don't know what that saying means but my dad always said it when we arrived home. Linda has this saying on the door of her house. So I was curious and goggled it. Here is what I found. 

Lafayette was the French commander who came to the aid of the revolutionary forces during the War of Succession, called the War of Independence, from Great Britain. Washington and Congress promised him that they would return the assistance when it was needed. There was no US involvement during the French Revolution so when US troops finally arrived in France during WWI, this was their calling card. It was uttered by General Pershing's. Aide. 

We were happy to get home to Bradford after a four hour trip from Chris' house this morning. Don had stayed there while I went on to Fredericksburg. He helped Chris remove wallpaper from his kitchen and paint. They also did some electrical re wiring and installed some new lights. 

The sale went well considering the flea market that we went to was very small. I sold some crocks, a hat pin collection and an antique child's ironing board. We took some things that didn't sell to a consignment store so we will see how they do.  The rest went to Goodwill. A few select things I brought and left at Chris' house for a sale later. 

  I came back with a sunburn since it was in the low eighties both days. It was so nice to see that glorious sun and all that beautiful green. I didn't miss Bradford's 47 degrees this weekend. It did make me ready to put out our summer things. 

I had a great time with Linda  it's always fun to be together. 

Spring in the South

I arrived at Linda's around twelve o'clock today. After a little rest we went to downtown Fredericksburg to two of our favorite stores. legacy and Jan Williams Florist. I was a good girl and didn't buy a thing although I saw a lot of pretties. I did take some things to the antique coop and sold my 1940’s tin truck. 

Then we ate lunch at Foode's an organic restaurant. We split an orzo salad with vegetables and chicken. Delicious. You can't find that in Bradford. 

Now it's wine time on her deck. It's great to have nice weather to sit out in. You can't find that in Bradford either. 

The car and van are packed and we will be up early to set up for the flea market.  

Happy May Day

If you know what this is then you are showing your age. I have wonderful memories of growing up and dancing round the maypole is certainly one of the best. I was blessed to have attended a school run by a fabulous principal teacher, teacher, neighbor, and friend. Mr Ray Giering. 

    We attended elementary school until the seventh grade and Mr Giering made sure that our experiences were the best. One tradition was in May when we elected the May queen and her court. Each grade entertained parents and guests as well as the court with songs and dances. The third grade was always responsible for dancing around the May pole. 

  Another tradition happened every May first. We gathered wild flowers in the woods, rolled a paper cone and made a May basket. When we took it home we chose a house in the neighborhood and hung it on the doorknob. We rang the bell and ran away. What a great lesson to teach little children. The joy of giving with just the reward of a sense of delight at pleasing another ampnonomously 

  Wouldn't it be nice for my grandchildren to experience such simple pleasures?