In Memorium and In Appreciation

These flowers, which were on our church altar yesterday, were taken to the residents of the Arkansas Veterans Home this afternoon by Gardening Daughter, her husband and myself.  The flowers were given by one of our church members to the Glory of God and in memory of our country’s patriots; those who gave their lives to defend it and those who lived their lives to promote and support national values and unity.

The men and women who live in the facility seem always glad to have visits from folk in the community, even those they don't know, and they, and the staff, seem to genuinely appreciate flowers. These had an extra added attraction in that they smelled wonderful.  Some of the white flowers are Stock, which has a distinct fragrance of sweet cloves; I love their perfume.

The Veterans Home is as pleasant as a place like it can be, I suppose. It's clean and well maintained and with a very friendly and, I trust, helpful staff. It was my son-in-law's first visit, but I suspect it will not be his last. 

I hope you had an enjoyable Memorial Day holiday, and whatever else you did, I hope you took a minute or two to remember why this day is set apart.  

Tomorrow is also a day. 



More Blooms

In one of my earliest posts, I wrote about the Mophead Hydrangea pictured above. It was planted in the spring of 1965. At the time, it was just a florist's potted hydrangea that had been sent to our family at the time of my father's death in January of that year.  It has grown quite large over the years and is one of my pride and joy plants.  Yesterday morning, it was covered with blooms in various stages, as shown below.

 Just opened; still greenish white.

 Beginning to show a bit of blue.

 Getting there. Green gone; now pale blue and white.

 All blue, and about 6" or 7" across.

Other plants now in bloom in my front garden are:

 Heuchera Southern Comfort (coral bells)

I love those huge, bronze leaves!

 Variegated Hosta



Calibrachoa (million bells)

a gift from Gardening Daughter.

I do love this time of year!  

I suppose I could have used these photos for several posts, but other plants will be blooming tomorrow and in the following weeks.  I'll have "Springy" blog fodder for a while before the interminable summer heat arrives.

Tomorrow is also a day.

What's Blooming

 Oakleaf Hydrangea

"H-14" (still doesn't have a name)

 Hybrid Day Lily 7" across. I sure do have a gnarly hand!

Asiatic Lily

It's not quite June but, if I were I singer, I'd be singing "June is busting out all over."

Tomorrow is also a day.  I wonder what will be blooming then?

Bits and Pieces - Dancing Between the Raindrops

 

Friday night of last week, a heavy rainstorm blessed this area, leaving a bit over three inches of liquid sunshine.  Saturday morning's skies were overcast, with more thunderstorms and potentially heavy rain in the forecast for most parts of the state.

Not so good.  

Saturday, May 21, was the date scheduled for the formal exchange of wedding vows for my son's youngest daughter and her husband.  They were legally married over a year ago by a Justice of the Peace and live in a very small town in northwest Arkansas; she drives almost daily into Fayetteville where she attends the University of Arkansas.  It had been her dream to get married at Thorncrown Chapel, just outside Eureka Springs, AR, and Saturday was the date set for this event. 

I had long ago made plans to attend this event, but it didn't look like the weather was going to cooperate.  Eureka Springs is 190 miles northwest of my home, a three and a half-hour drive over good roads that wind up and down and all around the hills that make northwest Arkansas so beautiful.  Although the roads are good, if they are wet, I'd just as soon be driving somewhere else.  What to do?  Go, of course, wet roads or no wet roads; she's my granddaughter.

Eldest daughter, her mother-in-law and I left here at 10:00 a.m. under heavily overcast skies to make the drive for the 4:30 wedding.  By the time we were 40 miles away, the sun was shining with hardly a cloud in the sky.  The countryside was beautiful, with nary a trace of dust on the trees and grasses, their having been washed thoroughly by the previous evening's rain.  The wildflowers along the side of the road were blooming in profusion. I was driving, or I would have had some photos.

We arrived at Thorncrown Chapel about an hour before the wedding was to begin, so we had time to wander around a bit in the still wonderful sunshine.  Those three umbrellas and a raincoat in my car stayed unused.

Exterior, Thorncrown Chapel

 Interior, Thorncrown Chapel

The ceremony was well attended by family and close friends and followed by a reception at their church in their hometown, a bit over a 30 minute drive southeast of Eureka Springs.  Those folk who didn't make the wedding were there for the reception; an almost full house.

We left the reception just after 6:30, headed east on U.S. Highway 412 (not my favorite road number for this reason) across the top of Arkansas, through some more beautiful country to intersect with U.S. Highway 65 which would lead us back into central Arkansas and home.

We got home just before 11 p.m., just ahead of another batch of thunderstorms which left another half-inch of rain. 

Life is good!

Tomorrow is also a day.

Consider the lilies of the field...

"... how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Matthew 6:28b - 29 (KJV)


I ventured into the back yard this morning, thinking that I would mow before the thunderstorms anticipated for later today.  Sorry to say, I didn't have enough "oomph" in my muscles to start the mower.  I think it's about time to invest in one that will start at the push of a button. The lawn will go un-mowed for a few days until I can make the purchase or (more cost-effective) get someone with more muscle power to get it started for me.

Just under my bedroom window, this day lily had opened this morning, the first to bloom in the long row next to house.  How do I know it opened this morning?  Because that's what day lilies do; open for a day, then wither and die.

This particular lily, whose name I no longer recall, was gifted to me by my youngest sister.  I always think of her when it blooms.

Tomorrow is also a day (and there are many lily buds waiting to open.)

Post-publication P.S. Happy Birthday, Baba.  My father would have been 125 years old today. My granddaughter observes her 30th birthday today.



Books Read - May, 1999

Dover Clip Art

As I promised (threatened), here is yet another list of books I read in 1999, this particular list being for the month of May of that year, and except for one (I'll let you guess), all 'light' reading.

Lethal Practice - Peter Clement

The Prophetess -  Barbara Wood

Murder on the Silk Road - Stephanie Matteson

Murder at the Falls - Stephanie Matteson

Delilah Doolittle and the Purloined Pooch -  Patricia Guiver

Blind Descent- Nevada Barr

The Club Dumas -  Arturo Perez-Reverte

Days of Drums - Philip Shelby

The Monkey's Raincoat -  Robert Crais

No Use Dying over Spilled Milk - Tamar Myers

Just Plain Pickled to Death -  Tamar Myers

All links are to Amazon.com, a company with which I have no association whatsoever beyond an occasional purchase for my personal library.

Tomorrow is also a day.

By the Sea - South Padre Island

click to enlarge

A few photographic glimpses of our recent trip to South Padre Island, Texas.  Granddaughter (and Grandma) really likes the water.  I know that seagulls are pests, for the most part, but I enjoyed watching them.

Tomorrow is also a day.

Mother's Day - 2011

My 'local' children, Elder Daughter, Fantastic Son, Gardening Daughter and their respective spouses/families gathered today in Elder Daughter's home to treat me to a Mother's Day lunch. Delicious! All the good, home-made sorts of stuff that I really like, including strawberry shortcake.

Youngest Daughter, who lives in Nebraska, sent flowers yesterday (photo above -- I wish there were smell-a-vision, they have a wonderful, house-filling fragrance) and I had a good, long telephone conversation with her.

Having missed church on Easter Sunday and the following Sunday due to illness, it was good to be back in church this morning.  Spending the afternoon with most of my children was also a blessing.

I hope you had a wonderful day, also.

Tomorrow is also a day.

I'm Back

Image - Internet

The bloodhounds have been sent to track me down, so I'd better crawl out from under my rock and report for duty.  Where have I been?   I'll try to keep it brief.
 
In mid-April, I traveled with Gardening Daughter and my six year old granddaughter, Sweetie, to visit Gardening Daughter's son, currently stationed with the U.S. Coast Guard on South Padre Island, Texas. April 18 was grandson's birthday and, except for one year since the day he was born in 1991, I have been with him on each of his birthdays.
 
Although we didn't get to spend as much time with him as we would have liked because of his work schedule, we had a grand time.  His apartment is only two blocks from the Gulf side of the island, and we girls visited the sea-side several times a day.
 
So... why the long absence from this blog?  A major bronchial infection reared its ugly head the day after our return, laid me out flat for over a week and robbed me of any semblance of energy.  The medications I was prescribed played funny games with my brain and not only was I gasping for air and coughing my head off, I couldn't find two brain cells to rub together, much less construct an understandable sentence.  You should thank me that I didn't try to compose any posts.
 
The torrential rain and tornados came and went while I was semi-comatose. The general area in which I live was damaged by both (even the air force base 3 miles away had extensive damage) but not anywhere near that of our neighbors to the east of us. We are very fortunate.
 
I'm happy to say that I'm greatly improved. I still get winded upon any physical exertion, but I'm feeling better every day and hope to be back to normal soon.
 
Tomorrow is also a day.