I am thankful for . . .

Good afternoon Friends,

It is almost time to fix supper and I’m happy to report that my first item to be thankful for is that DearHusband is going to be eating talapia, mashed potatoes and a veggie for supper instead of more soup.  Last night along with soup, he had a little meatloaf, which I was having, and then he had a couple of bites of pumpkin cookie. Hurray! The soups have been delicious, but soup gets old eating it two times a day, with smoothies for breakfast. He did tell me each night that the soups were good.  They were and I will be fixing them again especially now that cooler weather is coming.

The second thing I am thankful for is that on the 28th is the four year anniversary of this blog. I want to thank all of you who visit, who leave comments, who have become followers and friends, for those who have prayed and sent good wishes. From my heart, thank you. Here is a link to my very first post, Beginnings.

Next on my thankful list is our home and gardens here on 1/4 acre. It is paid for, and even though our cottage is tiny, it is our home sweet home. We have a workshop, a barn, a storage building, (that we built ourselves with permits) two storage sheds and our stationary ‘caravan’. These past six weeks of stress for both of us have made us appreciate so much. Our home is easy to heat and cool. It ‘should’ be easy to keep spic and span too, but I’m a procrastinator and would rather be out in the gardens, or needleworking,  or reading blogs or helping DH with projects. Although, there have been no projects being worked on lately due to unforeseen circumstances. We’re taking things slow and easy. I have gone into our little caravan to sit quietly, ponder and pray. It smells new, it is a sweet little work in progress and we’ll really enjoy finishing it up after this hiatus from it. 

Next, I am thankful for my job. I’ve been working there almost 16 years. The last 4 years I’ve seen my pay and time cut at work, but at least I still have the job and we are surviving.

Then my gardens give me much to be thankful for as you all know.

This first photo is of a rock bordered bed filled with ferns, aloe, begonias, one caladium that shows up every year, a couple of other things and no doubt some weeds and a rose called Maggie.

These are the blooms that these begonias have, this begonia is blooming in a pot elsewhere.

Pretty rain flower.

Yellow datura grown from seeds from Nell Jean, of Seed Scatterer.

Here I am standing just inside our driveway gates. I had mowed earlier and it always looks so nice after doing that. I noticed that the cereus cactus bloomed again. I don’t know how many times it has bloomed this year, several. You can see how high they are up in the pine tree.

Closer view.

Here they are, their night of glory being past. I really need to get my progression pictures up of one of these lovely blooms from bud to it’s closure.

From the driveway, this is looking east at our little cottage. This is our entry. The window to the left is the living room, you enter into the kitchen, and the scullery is to the right. The corner iron supports of the screened porch were found curbside. The people had taken these down and put up 4x4 posts. Their loss our gain.

You can barely see my shed these days, and if you look closely you can see the open gate where you enter into the secret garden behind our cottage.

You can see the driveway and gate to the left in the picture below. Where the worn patches of grass are on the bottom, is the driveway area that leads to parking area and out buildings. The secret garden is behind the greenery on backside of this little garden area and you can see my ‘solar dryer’ where I hang out the laundry. The picket fencing was found curbside in 2-3 ft. sections, unpainted.

Here’s a glimpse of the ‘caravan’, Rebecca and Karen. Also little back entry into the garden area. It needs weeding in there desperately. All in good time.

This is an azalea that I got for my birthday in March. It has bloomed several times since then and I am really happy with it and love the color.

This is a sweet Penelope rose bloom.  So different than how it looks when it has fully opened.

Here is a bloom on the wane from my climbing Maman Cochet, still has some beauty and scent.

None of us knows what any given day will bring us. Times are rough and may get rougher with the economy here in our own country and with the global economy. I try to keep a positive outlook but things have me apprehensive that’s for sure. Our country was #3 on the list of great countries to live in, now it’s down to #18. That is horrible. More rules and regulations are being laid down that we must follow or else. What happened to our ‘freedom filled’ country? What happened to being praised for being brave to start your own business and make it into something that will support you and/or others? There’s more that I could get going on, but I won’t.

I started this last night and am finishing it up this morning. We have more rain expected over the next few days. Thunder is rumbling as I type. The temps are in the mid 80’s feeling like the mid 90’s. At least we had a ‘glimpse’ of autumn the other day, so we know it’s coming.

I am thankful for all of our days, for each breath we take, each meal that we have, for fresh water, a roof over our heads, books to read, music to make our hearts soar.

I am thankful for my DH, for the love we share. For all the many things that he does around here to care for our home and creatively also. For all the love and encouragement he has given me through the years.

I am thankful to God for our many blessings. For giving us strength, for filling our hearts with peace, hope, love and joy.

FlowerLady Lorraine

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"Winter is an etching,

spring a watercolor,

summer an oil painting

and autumn a mosaic of them all."

Stanley Horowitz