What a gorgeous day!

Good late afternoon Folks ~ Hope you all had a nice weekend. 

This morning I ‘was’ thinking of going to the local botanical garden, but changed my mind because of cloudy weather with possible rain, so worked in my own gardens. It turned out to be a wonderful day, no rain, a nice breeze all day, cooler temps, no sweating. Perfect. This is the kind of weather we wait for each year, this is the time our gardens really do well down here in s.e. FL.

I worked outside around 2-3 hours. Am happy with what I did today working the patio area outside the window of my ‘creative & computer’ space.  The other morning there was a little hummingbird flitting right by the window at the blooms of ‘whirling butterflies’, Guara.  Mine has pink blossoms. I want to make this a happy space for butterflies and hummers.

Now that the weather is so much nicer and my feet are so much better, I have ‘energy’ and look forward to getting a lot done.  The other day I worked on clearing paths in the main garden. I am making forward progress, but there is still a LOT to be done.

Below is the main garden path, with the back section behind statuary, not done yet.

Before in Sept.

(it was much worse before I tackled it the other day.)

After

This is the garden path that I can see from my bedroom, looking west.

There are paths at the top of the photo below, going left & right, they just are weed filled. That’s what happens when you don’t take care of something for 5-6 months.

Here is a sunrise the other morning. The colors were beautiful, even with the wires.

Now for some flowers around the property.

The first is an unknown that I picked up last Wednesday at a lady’s house who sells plants she grows. I’ve bought from her quite a few times, when I had my job, because she was on my way to work. I happend onto her street the other day after having lunch with a friend. The lady who sells plants has a very think European accent, so I don’t really know what this plant is. It can be used as a ground cover also.

This is buddleia. I also have this in a pale yellow.

Plumbago

Ruddy Rose or X Ruttyruspolia
Family: Acanthaceae

Thryallis.  I love this happy little flower. It has a sweet scent too.

This is Spicy Jatropha.

Crusty bits and pieces of fossils, shells and rocks from the gravel driveway, plus an old silver plated fork.

More crusty bits, old coral and rocks.

A ‘carpet rose’, I think.

The other day after lunch and before buying the plant, I stopped at a shopping center across the street from where I’d had lunch with my friend. There was a book store in this plaza that my dear husband and I used to go to on occasion. This little shop is so cram-packed you can hardly turn around. It is unique, it is esoteric, books galore on all kinds of subjects, gardening, family, cooking, religions, rocks, crystals, incense, essential oils, CD’s, notecards, wind chimes, statuary, jewelry and much more.

The owner, Tomash, European, had called and left a message on the machine right after my dear husband left this planet, and I never called him back. He had wanted to know how we were doing as he’d not seen us in awhile. He and my husband used to get into some good discussions.  Anyway, when I saw him, I told him about my husband being gone almost 4 years now, and he gave me his condolences. I then started looking around and was overwhelmed with feelings and almost lost it, as in started bawling, but I didn’t. I didn’t know if I’d find something to buy or not, he is not cheap at all.  Things are not on sale. I then spied a box of audio ‘Narnia’ cassettes, and asked him if he had the books. He said he thought he did, and found it. It is unabridged, the whole set of books in one volume. The stories in sequence as to how C.S. Lewis wrote them. 776 pages. $19.95, so I bought it.  I’ve wanted to read this collection for years. The book is FAT and HEAVY. I’ve almost read 200 pages, and I love it. DH would have enjoyed this also.

As I was getting ready to leave, my eyes started filling with tears, just too emotional being in that little funky store. ‘Rainbow Bridge Books’. I did much better after I was out of there.

Now on to a happy note from this afternoon. I was out hand watering potted plants and was given a real wonderful treat.

The first photo you can see one of the old dead canes from my wonderful little rose ‘Kathleen’, that I lost this summer. I was bummed out as it was one of my favorites and I had had it for many, many years. I was thinking to myself that I’ve got to plant something else in this terra cotta pot, when lo and behold, what did I see but new growth.  I could hardly believe it. I’ve been watering this pot, even though I thought the plant dead. Obviously it wasn’t and I was blessed by God with a revived ‘Kathleen’.  The pot is full of weeds and some orchids that have spread to it and other stuff as well.

Here’s what I saw,

then, as I was moving aside weeds to see more, I spied two more shoots. I was thrilled and thanked God again for this gift to me.

I look forward to these new shoots blooming for me, and for the little cutting that rooted for me to bloom too. Here’s a photo from this old plant.

Ok, that’s it for now from Plum Cottage. Enjoy your week, count your blessings. Let others know you love them and care for them.  Encourage and pray for others.

FlowerLady