Spirit Lifters

 Good Wednesday morning dear Friends ~ It is partly cloudy, there's a gentle breeze, it is 72 degrees F at 8:58 a.m. EST. 

Yesterday morning when I went outside for a morning walk around, I was blessed by the scents filling the air, seeing all of the different blooms and by the birdsong that filled the air. I was thanking God for it all when I came to the main garden, I saw that I had forgotten to turn off the sprinkler. Oh no! Thankfully, it wasn't full blast, but still, I have to pay for water, and hopefully this little mishap won't be that expensive. I turned off the faucet, continued to walk around enjoying the beauty and telling myself not to let that ruin my morning. 

Below are some of the blooms I enjoyed.

The first orchid is from dear friends Nanci and John.

These next orchids are Miss Joachim, a Vanda orchid I believe. They grow all over the property. Break a piece off with some hanging roots and they will grow anywhere.

I think this is another Vanda, although I'm not certain. This was a friend who moved to CA 32 years ago.

 

These next photos were taken this morning.

This little orchid is another prolific grower, spreads like crazy.

Here is a shot of it blooming along the fencing by the caravan/clothesline garden.

This little rose is a 'carpet rose'. Very sweet.

These next two shots are of 'International Herald Tribune'.  

Another view of orchid from Nanci & John.
Love the sunlight and shadows on the petals.  

  I believe this is 'Prosperity' rose. Really delightful with a delicate sweet rose scent.  

I got an email on Sunday from a dear sweet friend, Kris at 'Junk Chic Cottage', telling me I would be receiving an early birthday present. A lovely devotional she thought I'd enjoy. The author of this book has written several others you might want to check out on Amazon.  
It came in yesterday's mail and I love it. Thank you Kris.

It came in a lovely gift bag.

I read through the titles of 90 devotions and chose for my first reading 'Growing as God Intended'. It was inspired by Proverbs 31:16. "She inspects a field and buys it. With money she earned, she plants a vineyard." 
Below is what spoke to my heart.

Ok, that's it for now. I need some breakfast as it's 10:18 a.m. already. Time zips along when working on a post, editing photos, etc.
Enjoy every day you are blessed with and thank God for all that He has done, for what He is doing and for what He will do in the future. You are in His loving care. Trust Him.
FlowerLady

Joy and giving thanks

Good Friday morning dear Folks ~ Thank you all for your comments on last post. There is always something to deal with in our lives, and hopefully we can handle them, learn from and grow through them. 

The month of March is marching right along. This is my birth month. I will be 70 years young on the first day of spring. Where oh where has the time gone? I met my dear husband on my 17th birthday. We didn't start dating until months later, but meeting him was a best birthday gift to me from God. Little did I know that we would end up marrying and having 43 years together. 

I am thankful for this 70th year birth month. Yesterday I was blessed with having a new 'handyman' come here to Plum Cottage and take a look at my list of projects and doing some of them. I was told about him about 3 months ago, but didn't meet him until a week and a half ago at church. He can do LOTS, including crocheting. He told me that when he saw some crocheting that I am working on. He is going to be able to help me clear this property of 'junk' and needless to say, I am thrilled to bits. He is a curbside shopper, a dumpster diver, has a sense of humor and I thank God for him. He and my dear husband would have gotten along just fine. I've been praying for help for the past 6 years. We don't always have our prayers answered when we want them. We must have faith and be patient, trusting God that He will work all things out, for His honor and glory and for our good.

I 

 
I have

Yesterday Dale fixed outdoor faucets for me so that now I don't have to drag hoses around. I have the usage of all faucets again. YAY.

My living room ceiling fan light pull chain would no longer work, it was stuck, I tried several times and it still wouldn't budge. This happened right after I put new bulbs in it. Well, yesterday I pulled on the chain to show him my problem and lo and behold the chain worked!!! I looked over at him in shock and he said that happens a lot when he goes to work on something for someone. He suggested I make sure to pull the chain straight down.

He changed out light bulbs in two ceiling fixtures.

The fan for the 'power' part of my desk top computer was what was making the noise, so he took that out and home with him so that he can get the right size for me. He was going to see if he had any in his computer stuff.

He hung the architectural piece that has been sitting on my living room floor for months, and he cut and put up the mantle shelf for over the TV.

Two views of the mantle at two different times of the day, daylight and evening.

 I love the whole look!!! My DH would love this and I know he will thank Dale when they meet in eternity.

Now for some color and beauty from the gardens. I wish you could smell all of the wonderful scents that are happening here. Just heavenly. Jasmines, roses, lime and lemon blooms, other scented flowers also. 

                        The next two roses are 'Carnation Rose'. A nice scent. 

George Tabor Azaleas 

Louis Philippe rose with a wild flower that grows all over the place.

This is climbing 'Maman Cochet', with a wonderful scent.

The frog prince has laid his crown down on a mushroom.

    Peach hibiscus.

                                  

'Prosperity' Roses'

'Sandpaper vine' called this because of the texture of the leaves. Also called 'Queen's Wreath'.

 
There are more pictures but I'm waiting for them to be downloaded, so I will end this post now.

          Have a wonderful weekend and remember to set your clocks ahead one hour.
                                                              FlowerLady

Felt like such a dunce

 A dunce is "a person who is slow at learning; a stupid person". That is how I felt after realizing what my mistake had been. Sheesh!

Yesterday morning I sat down here at my desk to pay bills online. Got to my website and to verify I am who I am, they would send me a code # via email. Ok, I've done this before. I got the #, put it into the appropriate box on website, then they asked for my pin # for a certain account. I knew what it was and started typing it in, but wasn't getting anywhere. 

I decided to go to the bank, which fortunately for me, isn't far from home & I had to make a deposit anyway. I explained my situation at the bank, the nice young lady did her best to help me, told me something I should try, so I went back home. (On the way home, I stopped at the Salvation Army thrift store, will tell about that on down in this post.) 

On getting home I decided since it was a bit cooler and although it had rained a bit during the night, the grass was dry enough for me to mow. So that's what I did, then had lunch and got into my banks website again to try what she suggested. Still didn't do the trick. I called the help # was told it would take at least 30 minutes to be able to talk to a real person. Back to the bank I went. Saw another young woman, told her my tale, then the other young lady came up and they were perplexed. I was becoming very frustrated by this time as I'd never had this problem before.  The second young lady called the help #, went through all of the options like I had done, and left my ph # for them to call me. 

I came back home, got a drink of water and sat down at my computer, put on some soothing instrumental music on you-tube, said a prayer for help and patience and started coloring in a little book I had gotten at the SA thrift store. This little book I bought with two others, all three for 38 cents.

 After about an hour of waiting, I tried the support # again, still on list. I saw, that there were two calls from unkn #'s while I was at support #.  They didn't call back.

As I was sitting here 'calming down', it dawned on me what my problem was. I had even said at the bank that it was probably something simple, and it was, hence my feelings of 'feeling like a dunce'. For years, the only way I had been using my pin# was on the little touch pad at the bank, which had letters and numbers. The pin # has always been two letters and two numbers to me, when in fact, it is 4 #'s. Needless to say, I got back into my banking website, got another verification code #, used it and my 4 # digit pin #, and YAHOO, YIPPETY DOO DAH, I was in. I cried a few tears and did what I had wanted to do hours before. I was feeling so dumb, yet so thankful to God for having my problem dawn on me.

I was totally wound up from all of that you can be sure. It took awhile to calm down totally.

Now, when I stopped at the Salvation Army thrift store after first bank visit, I looked around at shirts and dresses first, nada, headed back to the linens to see what might be there. Saw two grayish blue pillow cases hanging, 99 cents each, then saw the top sheet, $4.99, didn't see the fitted sheet, until I looked down on the floor, it had slipped off the hanger. It also was $4.99. It was senior citizens day so it would be 25% off and the set was 100% cotton, and a full size, which is what I need. I then found 3 books, and headed for checkout. At checkout, I said I was a sr. citizen, she said that doesn't matter, everyone gets 50% off today. Wow, I paid $6.34 cents for it all. 

After my banking fiasco, I checked online for 300 thread count sheets by Sonoma. Found them and they are $44.95 for a sheet set. 

I wasn't even going to go to a thrift store yesterday, I 'was' going to go to Aldi's and Publix, until my banking sign in problem. But the thrift store is on my way home from bank so I stopped. God blessed me with goodness, not all that grand in the over all scheme of things, but a big deal blessing to this 'FlowerLady'.

You never know what is going to happen in a day, plans can change from one minute to the next. There's a scripture reference in the Bible found in James 4:12-15 that says the following: 

"Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Ever since my dear husband went to be with His Creator, I say 'God willing' with just about any plan I make, because we really don't know what is in His plan for us.

The other day a saying came up on a blog, and I don't remember where I read it, it said something like this:

Make your plan list in pencil, and carry an eraser.

So, with that, I am saying about today's plans, God willing I plan to, wash dishes (I'm the dishwasher), fold and put away 2 basket loads of clean laundry, vacuum up dust/cat and my hair/bunnies, wash another load of laundry including new sheet set, and who knows what else.

*************************

GREAT NEWS about Lavon. His wife Shana texted me that he walked to and from the door of his hospital room yesterday and color has returned to his foot and hopefully his toes will turn to normal coloring also. If all goes well, he'll be home tomorrow. Continue to pray for his healing, and for Shana as she lovingly cares for him and works her full time job.

Thank you all for your friendship, your love, prayers, encouragement, your kind comments, all a blessing to me.

FlowerLady

Summer here already?

Good morning Folks ~ It is a new day, a gift from our Creator. May we rejoice and be glad in it.

Yesterday morning I went out to work outside and it felt warm and humid. I worked for a couple of hours until I could no longer stand it with the sun beating down. I came inside into air-conditioning and it felt wonderful. I checked our weather it was 83 but with the humidity level, the real feel was 93!!! In February???

I worked yesterday on weeding and trimming overgrown paths. Am making forward progress a little at a time.

I'm working on getting potted plants grouped together more for easier watering and care and enjoyment for me during the summer months. This hibiscus below was a great price from a local veggie market. A wonderful addition to Plum Cottage gardens. One day I'll write up a post with the different hibsicus that I have.

Look at the size of this bloom. The color is deeper and more velvety looking in real life.

 

That's it for now. I'll show more photos later of this hibiscus and of the garden paths taking shape.

Have a great week ~ FlowerLady