Last day of July

Good morning Friends, Wow, tomorrow is the first of August and that hardly seems possible. Days come and days go.

I was just outside weeding and pulling vines, it’s 86 and with the humidity factor feels like it is 93.  I was sweating buckets, then I tripped and almost fell and said that’s it, time to quit. It’s almost 10 a.m. I was out there maybe and hour to an hour and a half. I wanted to bag up what I did the other day, then ended up doing more since the area was in the shade.

Tropical storm Dorian is going to be bringing us LOTS of rain starting tomorrow. At least it isn’t a hurricane. The sky is partly cloudy now with rain expected today also. That’s one reason I wanted to get some more weeding and vine pulling done.

This is at the end of the driveway. You can now see the border material under the fish.  That fish is 11 feet long.  We found him curbside on the street just east of us.

This is the pathway into my potting area.  There was only about a foot wide path before I tackled it this morning. Still a lot more to do.  The brightness in the back is the sunlight, as this area I was working in was in the shade. Even then it was still miserable.  The wrought iron piece is another curbside shopped piece.  It has hearts in it which I plan to paint.

Here’s one of my lady statues, this one is at the back of the main garden.  Sunlit plumbago in the foreground.

Vinca periwinkle.  I also have this in white.  Many consider this a weed.

This is the hibiscus, Hugs-n-kisses, bub not opened yet. I love this hibiscus.

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I finally reopened my little Etsy shop, you can click on the picture above to take you there if you wish to visit. I had closed it up in December when my dear husband passed away, I just couldn’t deal with the shop then.  Thank you to those who have encouraged me to reopen, and to those who have purchased my little creations.  I do appreciate it.

Creating isn’t quite the same without my love here to share latest pieces with, and no longer having his encouragement and input.  But, I love working with thread and have since I was a girl.  I can’t stop now and there is more to learn and create. I am thankful for my husbands’ love and encouragement through our 43 years together, for making the little frames and so much more. I feel his love and encouragement backing me as I continue on.  I am thankful to God for my gift of loving to do this and for being my strength when I feel so weak and alone. He fills me with His love and peace so that I can keep on going.

I heard some words of wisdom on a video and will share it here.

Celebrate what's right with your life,
Don’t wallow in what's wrong with it.

With that I will close.  I might not be posting as much during the month of August. I need some time away from blogging to get more into my groove here.  To take care of things that I can and to not worry so much about the rest. I need to see more forward progress, not just talk about things that need doing. 

Thanks to all of you for being here for me.

FlowerLady

More sleeping zebras, etc.

 

Good morning Folks ~ Here it is another Saturday morning already.  Time is zipping right along.

I did go out the other evening, later than the evening before, so it was darker, and used the flash on the zebra longwings sleeping, as they cling to the Virginia Creeper vines.

Click on this photo for a larger view.

Spider lilies

Three latest journals.  The one on the right has encouraging and uplifting Bible verses, along with photos from my gardens.  There are also some empty pages at the end to write your own thoughts, prayers or special verses.

The other two are awaiting me to paste in the verses and flower photos. The verses are ones that help me on a daily basis. After losing my dear husband I wanted to make these little journals filled with scripture that will be of help to others going through grief.

I hope to have them in my Etsy shop this week.  I am a ‘procrastinator’.These take several hours, some more than others, depending on how detailed I make the cover.

Love grows on ~ this is ‘Maggie’.

Have a great weekend and count your blessings.

FlowerLady

Evening surprises

 

Good morning folks,

Just a quick post with surprises from last evening. I had looked out the scullery window and saw that a spider lily bloom had opened, so grabbed the camera and headed outdoors.

As I walked out the door and looked to the right I saw a fantastic sight.  There was a slight breeze which kept the vines that the zebras were on swaying, so I’m sorry for the blurriness of pictures. This is the Virginia Creeper vine hanging from the ficus tree.  Some of the butterflies were also in motion as they had not settled down yet.  I will try to get more of these pictures now that I know the zebras sleep here.

This is the spiderlily I went out to photograph, as seen zoomed in on from inside.

Here it is from outside.

I was awed at the beauty and the wonderful scent that filled the evening air.

This is the clock vine with a visitor.

What a treat it all was. A gift from God and a wonderful way to end the day.

Now it’s time for breakfast, and to get ready to head out back to work on the overgrowth once again.

Later ~ FlowerLady

Forward Progress :-)

Good afternoon Friends,

Here it is Tuesday, it’s been very warm and humid today, with clear blue skies. Hurray for that, as I was able to wash, hang out to dry and bring back in two loads of laundry.

I think part of my depression over everything was because we were having one gray day after another, with lots of rain.  Light dispels gloom.

Thank you all for your encouraging support, it helps a lot.  Help is coming soon to help me with the taking iron to the scrap yard, and with getting rid of the junk. Getting that bit of news is an answer to prayer, and lets me know that God does care about even the most mundane things in our lives and will take care of them too.

This morning I went out around 8 to get going on weeding and getting rid of overgrowth.  It’s going to take time, but at least I am making forward progress. I felt good, but I had to quit as it was around 11 and too hot to do anymore.  My dear husband was always telling me to not work so hard, for so long, especially when it’s hot.  I took a couple of breaks and drank water too. I was satisfied with what I had done.  Tomorrow weather and God allowing, I’ll do some more.

Before:

After

Before

After

Knowing that help is on the way, really boosted my spirits. I am so thankful to God for working all things out.  I’ll be happy to have a cleaned up piece of property and more at peace, only keeping what is artistic or as some materials, but for the most part the stuff will be gone.  DH will be glad too, as it was one of his last wishes to me, to get rid of the junk. We were working on it but got stopped with the project. He knew I would feel better and could get along nicer in my journey without the junk and stash of iron, so gave me his blessing. He just hated to see stuff go to the landfill.  We’ve used iron and junk with different projects, plus he knew that there was a cash value.  To us, it was like finding money on the side of the road.  I know many can’t live like we have done, and that’s ok, to each his own.  We are all different.

Anyway, clearing away the overgrowth will help me see what there is underneath, and let me see what to keep and what to get rid of. This is a nice, but hard work project.  Skeeter left this comment which was just right this afternoon, “Take it one vine at a time and you will see the light at the end of the tunnel...”  That’s what I am doing. A gardening crew could make shorter work of it all, but that would no doubt be expensive.

A new friend was over yesterday, who hadn’t been here before and she called the place ‘quaint’.  I looked it up online to see what the definition is and this is what I found,

1.
having an old-fashioned attractiveness or charm; oddly picturesque: a quaint old house.
2.
strange, peculiar, or unusual in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way:

I would say that that is a good description of Plum Cottage. DH would most definitely get a kick out of #2, strange, peculiar or unusual.

My friend loved the butterflies, she wasn’t crazy about spiderwebs. She certainly didn’t see the place at the best of times that’s for sure.

I love this place. We moved in here 40 years ago this summer.  There was just the little 50’s cottage here back then, white with mustard yellow shutters, no gardens, no fencing, no outbuildings, just grass and pine trees and other people using our property as their own. Through the years we created a little haven here and I am so very thankful for it.

I love all of the colors of foliage and flowers, the coolness (temperature-wise) created by all of the green overgrowth, the butterflies and birds, and the peace.

This is part of my view as I was dishes.

Zoomed in to see a zebra longwing. I just love seeing them and other butterflies enjoying the various blooms. Plus birds use the huge bird bath.

Sunset colors the other night.

In the mail today I received something I’d forgotten about. Another widow had posted on her blog about this free offer, so I submitted my name and address and the pkg. came today. I had read Miriam’s book early on in my journey and it was a great source of help to me.  I look forward to the CD and using the journal along with it.

Well, it’s time to think about supper.

Talk to you later. Love, peace and hugs ~ FlowerLady

A Prayer for All Widows

 

Thank you all for you loving support and encouragement with my last post.  I prayed and cried on the way home from work yesterday and started thinking about this project and just doing it as much as I can, when I can, unless something else comes my way.  I even woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep and tossed and turned for quite awhile, praying and trusting God to work out even this mundane part of my life.

I’m still able to do things, I’m slower and not as strong as I once was, but I can still do quite a lot, so I’m not going to give up. I’ve just hit a discouraging snag, but God is my strength and with Him by my side I can do quite a lot yet.

This is all still pretty new and raw for me.  Some may think ‘oh you should be getting on with it’, well I am, but a widow’s life gets turned topsy-turvy and she just has to go with what is dealt her each and every day.  We are not all created the same, we are different personalities and deal with things uniquely to ourselves.

I visit different widows websites, by widows. They all inspire and encourage me on my journey. Earlier this week I got notification of this post A Prayer for All Widows by Ferree Hardy. I asked her permission to post it here, as it touched my heart and she kindly gave it. May it help you who as you pray for widows you know or come in contact with in the future.

Besides her blog, she has also written a book for widows that was a blessing in my life.  The book is:  “Postcards from the Widows’ Path—gleaning hope and purpose from the Book of Ruth”.

Here is the prayer.

A Prayer for All Widows

Dear God,

When I bring widows to you in prayer, I know that you hold them close to your heart and are intimately acquainted with all their ways. Would you please help them to know and experience that truth, too? Help each widow to know that you have numbered her days. Death comes as no surprise to you. You knew she would be widowed---and you also know this is not the end of her story. Help her to see that too.

Fill her with hope and help her look forward to the day when she will once again see the good work you began in her. Help her believe that you will faithfully complete her and the work you are doing in her life. It's not over yet.

I pray that her love will rise from the ashes of loss and begin to abound more and more in knowledge, spiritual depth and insight. That she'll be able to discern what is best. In the midst of this sad and confusing time keep her pure and blameless. Fill her with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ her Lord and Savior. May she grow in you to the glory and praise of God. May she truly live with passion and purpose, showing the world that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Show her your kindness and rest, Lord. Open fields of opportunity for her. Surprise her with your joy, peace, mercy, generous provision and lavish grace.

May she stand on tiptoe to watch for your work in her life and eagerly look forward to the day of your return. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

In Your name, for Your sake, and by Your Word,

Amen

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Love and hugs to all of you ~ FlowerLady

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly–Photo Heavy :-)

 

Now for some ‘humor’. I miss my dear husband’s wonderful and quirky sense of humor. He made me laugh from the beginning of our life together.

As a boy he would do the Tarzan yell, even as a young man in the Navy he and another young man did the Tarzan yell while working in the scullery to relieve some of the monotony.

I’ve been reading his ‘Sugar Creek Gang’ books from when he was a boy and things in there I can see influenced him and they crack me up to realize this now.  It’s like gifts from God, to see some of what went into the making of my husband’s personality. (I also read his Tarzan books as a newlywed  and loved them.)

A favorite movie of ours from way, way back is ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly’. The music was great!  We loved Clint Eastwood, ever since we saw him as kids watching Rawhide.

Since I’ve been talking about the ‘back 40’, I thought I would title the post ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, and post the music so that you can, if you wish, listen to the music as you view pictures. I’m a tad embarrassed to share the bad and the ugly, but ‘it is what it is’. A work in progress. One day I will look back on these and laugh because it will look so much better, well, I ‘hope’ it will.  All in time. At least the property is surrounded by privacy fencing. I know DH is cheering me on, and know he felt bad before the left this planet that we didn’t clear the junk completely before he became ill. We did make a start and did take some out to the scrap yard. We did use a lot of ‘curb-side’ shopped materials through the years, saving us a lot of $$ on projects, or giving us neat items to use inside and out.

So, for better or worse, here goes.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

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Looking into the ‘back 40’. Shovel bird is our guard bird.

Some beauty from the vines.

Some iron, etc. on the ground that we had stacked up to take out to the scrap yard for $$. We’ve been having LOTS of rain so that I’ve not been able to weed wack in a couple of weeks and the weeds and vines are really taking over wherever they feel like.

I moved these plants here last Sunday but I don’t like them there. More junk to be discarded and/or used.

Overgrown back garden. My potting area is back there, the path to it is between the pine trees at the back of the photo, near the fish.

Path is here somewhere. The big bad pitbull used to live back behind us, on the backside of the ixora hedge on the right of photo below. He and his owner have not been there for months, but my heart just hasn’t been into tackling this area again.  I did it once, but with all of the rain I haven’t kept up with it.

Now we have my own overgrown gardens. I need to buy more rolls of roofing when I can to cover the paths again. The path material now is about 6 years old, brittle and cracking up so that stuff grows up and I have to use the weed wacker again.

My dear husband suggested I not plant any more gardens in the last couple of years. At first I was disappointed, but now I see the wisdom.  He could see that I already had plenty to handle before he became ill, and now that he’s gone, it is all definitely ‘enough’.  Our property is 1/4 of an acre.

You can see a dying palm frond hanging in picture below, it’s brown.

Here it is yesterday evening after it crashed onto the porch roof, making me jump inside the house from the noise. That’s one bad thing about this palm.  It is self-pruning, but being close to the house, it lands occasionally on the porch roof freaking out the occupants.

One of our natives.

More beauty.

My sweet caravan. I keep thinking about this little space, approximately 6’x8’. It is unfinished, as this was the project we were working on when DH became ill. I really love how cute it is and that it was made using mostly recycled materials.

Lots to do here at Plum Cottage between creating for my little Etsy shop, working part-time, taking care of home and unfinished projects we started.

Thanks for visiting my weird little haven from the hectic world that we live in.

Thank you for being my friends and all of your cyber hugs.

(((((((Hugs to all of you)))))))

FlowerLady