"Stay"

What's the best blog comment you've ever received?  I've been blessed to have some really nice people follow (or stumble upon) my blog and leave kind words.  My friend Karianne has a special folder in her e-mail reserved for just such comments.  She opens that folder, and reads the comments when she needs a little pick-me-up.  Not a bad idea really.  Kind words are like balm to the soul.

The other day, some of Vee's friends stopped by to see my most recent note card collection.  Many of them left comments.  One in particular struck me:

"I felt like I was just invited over for a visit, seeing little glimpses inside your home and outside in your garden."

What a lovely thing to say!

Truth be told, I don't have a lot of lofty goals for this blog.  It began because I love to write and take pictures -- and I love to share both.  I just want my blog to be a reflection of who I am, and what I believe.  Of the people I love and the things I like.  I love sharing the daily details -- you know, the stuff we would talk about if you stopped by for tea -- okay, or coffee.  Because I would totally make coffee for you while I drank tea -- you know, if that was your preference.

So, stop by any time!

"Stay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary."

~ Louisa May Alcott

What's Up? 6.20

I haven't done a "What's Up?" post in couple of weeks, so let's get caught up.  I believe these are called Vanilla Butterfly Daisies.  I never dreamed that these would return this year.  I think I have a lot to learn about daisies!  We just bought this plant last year, and it didn't really thrive.  As blooms died, I dead-headed the plant.  Right?  Wrong?  You tell me.  All of a sudden, I was left with NOTHING.  It was a sad state of affairs.

I was looking for a daisy that would be as prolific around the yard as Black-Eyed Susans seem to be around here.  [The birds have transplanted them, and I find them growing everywhere.  Lucky I love them!]  I thought how nice it would be to have bright "splashes" of white around the yard -- as much as the Black-Eyed Susan's golden yellow.  It's only been one year -- so it's hard to tell if this Daisy will eventually become so at home here that we will have to "divide" to conquer.  Here's hopin'.

In the meantime, here it comes, and the question remains.
Daisies -- Deadhead?  or no?  [I'll try to remember to take a picture for you when it's actually OPEN.]

I can't wait to see these Torch Lilies open.  It's always fun to see the transformation they go through!

I'm not sure what these yellow flowers are.  Anyone know?  I'm pretty sure they snuck in the back door with other plants that were gifted to us.  It's always a nice surprise to have things like this pop up in the yard!

And Hydrangeas!  How I love them.  Several years back, my dad shared a few plants with us.  They grew, and we soon had lots of shoots to transplant around the yard.  For some reason, they like our yard.

One time, a friend from church stopped by to drop off his daughter.  He wondered aloud at our secret to having nice hydrangeas.  I was embarrassed to tell him that we basically ignore them.  I've mentioned before that our garden philosophy is "survival of the fittest."  We don't baby anything too much.  Initially, we put "grow through" plant support circles around each plant.  That has been a tremendous help in supporting the plant.  In the fall, we trim the plants back to 12-18 inches.  That's it for the TLC around here.

This guy.... should have throat issues by now.  He sang ALL. DAY. LONG. yesterday!  And then, when I went out to take pictures, he perched on the neighbor's roof as if to say, "Yep.  It was me.  What're you going to do about it?"  Have I ever mentioned that I have a "Birds" ringtone for my incoming texts?  Yeah.  It was a confusing day.

But back to the garden... Look at all of the apples!  Again, we do nothing to baby these trees.  There are no pesticides used.  Mostly the trees are a fruity screen between us and our backyard neighbors.  We've had a few apples here and there.  Nothing wonderful.  No bumper crop.  But hello?  Look at all of those apples!  When you stand under the trees and look up, it's apples, apples, apples!

So, what's up at your house?  Don't you love an ever-changing yard?

Note Card Party 6.19

It's a beautiful, sunny, CHILLY morning here in NEOhio.  A lovely day for Vee's friends to visit!  Welcome.  I look forward to following along and seeing what you have to share for Vee's Note Card Party.  Here are my submissions.  True to form (it's freakish the way this happens every time!), I have one vertical shot in with three horizontals.  Two of the shots are taken around the house, another out in the garden, and one in Mom & Dad's garden.  As always, each photo is linked to it's original post in case you'd like to click back to do some reading.

I'm headed to Mom's to have some scrapbooking time together, but I'll be back later to visit, and always enjoy hearing what you have to say about the photos I share.  Thanks for stopping by!

Tie a String Around Your Finger...

Did you ever do that to help you remember something?  I can't say that I ever remember actually doing it, but sometimes even the mental imagery of tying that string around your finger can help you remember something... I think.  Or not.  I forget.

Anyways... I just wanted you to REMEMBER that [from all reports] Google Reader will be going away at the end of this month.  If you're like me, you've already figured out a new place to receive all your blog subscriptions for reading!

You can see all the ways to follow my blog over there --> in the right sidebar.

So, it's like the end of a school year... Please don't forget about me over the summer!!! {Will you sign my yearbook?}

Not My Mama's Blue

This is a story about a girl who lived in a blue house.  Well, no.  The outside wasn't painted blue, but inside... the predominant color was blue.  I was that girl, and blue wasn't my favorite color. 

When I had children of my own, they often asked, "Gramma, what's your favorite color?"  Of course, her answer was "BLUE,"  -- naturally, the color that showed most in her decorating choices!

But my favorite color was green, and I swore (to myself) that my home would never be blue.  And then... we moved into a home with blue carpeting  -- in the KITCHEN no less.  First of all, really?  In the kitchen?  and then... really?  BLUE?  I was doomed, because nowhere was it written into our budget that we would be replacing kitchen flooring any time soon.

I fought it.  Really I did.  It has always been my style to have sort of a multi-colored kitchen.  I loved neutral floors and walls, and curtains with many colors to compliment my multi-colored kitchen accessories.  All of this made it easy to change out accessories on a whim.  My plan didn't include anything blue.  Really.  For the longest time.

You know how sometimes, the fight just goes out of you and you decide to embrace something?  Yeah.  Well... I bought some blue towels.  Then some blue pot-holders.  Then I found a pretty melamine plate at Target.  It had a beautiful shade of blue[did I just say that?] for background and included GREEN leaves and YELLOW lemons (really the reason I bought it).  You know what?  All of a sudden there seemed to be a little more of a cohesive feeling in the room.

Then there was the day I discovered blue canning jars. {Read HERE.}  The color struck a chord in me.  For the longest time, I wasn't sure what it was about that color.  Just lately, I happened to think it's because it reminds me of the beautiful shades of seaglass that we used to find on the shores of Lake Erie when our family attended Family Camp in Dunkirk, New York.

Whatever the reason, I'm hooked.  And if you read THIS POST, you know I'm particular about the jars, and don't just buy every one I see.  I don't know that my eye (or brain) is all that discerning.  Truthfully, I don't have a clue.  It's usually my heart that makes the decision.

Just the other day, my daughter said, "Mom, I think you are actually giving in to the BLUE!"

And, it's possible that she might be right.

All I know is this: This is not my mama's blue.
{There's a bit more of a turquoise about it, I think.}

One thing I like to put in canning jars of any color?  Seed packets.  Empty ones, or ones your still dreaming of planting.  Either kind work!  *wink