Saturday, May 25, 2019

Life at Home



I don't wish any of you to think all we do is travel.  There is plenty of life that goes on here at home.  Some of you know that our eldest grandson lives with us while he is attending college.  We are proud to say he was accepted at our local university and will continue his education in our town.  That makes us happy and he seems to be as well.  He will be fulfilling his associate degree requirements this summer and begin the university in the fall.  Samuel has worked hard through many challenges and we are so proud that he will be continuing his education here. 



His parents will be visiting this coming weekend to celebrate his birthday as well.  Time seems to be passing quickly for this grandmother. 

We have been busy enjoying a lovely Spring time in our garden.  Chores that make the garden happy have been done and will continue as time and bodies allow.  


Our Pinkie Climbing rose has delighted us as we thought for sure she would not return.  Our garden certainly teaches us many lessons.  Patience is one virtue that continues to test me.  


The many shades of pink that this climber goes through is enjoyable to watch.  Soon she will wait for cooler temperatures to bloom hopefully again.

Grayden power washed the patio.  It gets quite dirty with all the trees and needs doing yearly.  We do enjoy our patio so much on the cooler days and often eat our dinner there.  I often sit there and read or write.  It's a great spot to contemplate.  The birds always give us a show that we love.



We don't often see a Northern flicker here, but this young one stopped by for a visit recently. 


Often a bunny will scamper across the lawn.




Or not too often, we see this bandit in our garden trying to raid a bird's nest!  He was quite large and we've only seen him once this year.  I'm sure he must be the rascal that is scratching around the garden.


My little angel statue wished to have a better view.  So we turned an old bird bath upside down for her to see better.


The Sarah Bernhardt peonies were so lovely this year.  Unfortunately the storm that barreled through this past week left her blossoms on the ground.  I'm so glad I was able to have many bouquets before that happened.


The red Knock Out roses have continued to supply us with blossoms in our home.  I love cutting them and putting them in tiny old vases and bottles.  They are so welcoming to enjoy inside. 





I've mentioned before that we often go down to the river and enjoy a small picnic.  It's a lovely way to end the day. 

"Reflect upon your present blessings--of which every man has many--not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. "
Charles Dickens 




31 comments:

  1. Congratulations Samuel! He looks utterly thrilled.

    Such beautiful flowers all, but again tinged with the upset of storms that ruin our hard work and labour. I am glad you managed to enjoy your peonies before they were ruined. I am sure your sweet angel is happy with her new and creative vantage point.

    ~~~Waving~~~From Across the Pond~~~Deb in Wales xoxo

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    1. Thank you, Deb. Samuel is thrilled and he should be as it's not easy to get into the college of his choice. Our wicked weather continues to try a gardener's soul. xoxo ♥

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  2. Martha Ellen, I enjoyed your post very much, as home is one of my favorite places to be. The red roses are so pretty, and the perfect red color...not too orange or too dark. That is a clever thing to do - turn your bird bath upside down for your sweet angel to sit. The Peonies are beautiful, and I am thinking of my favorite cousin who passed away, as this was her favorite flower. Oh my gosh, it fascinates me when I see the red cardinal right in your back yard. Nel just had one in her back yard in Georgia, and she said it was too far away to take a picture of it. It must make your heart glad that Samuel lives with you while attending college. That power washing sure makes everything cleaner and nicer, doesn't it? The river is so lovely to have a picnic at. There's just something about rivers, streams, and brooks that relax and calm us. Thank you for showing the happenings in your life right now and a little bit of your home, Martha Ellen. And I love seeing all the critters in your back yard that stop by to say hello. : )

    ~Sheri

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    1. Sheri, I do hope Nel is able to get a nice photo of a cardinal for you. If she feeds them, I'm positive she'll get one! I'm sorry to hear about your favorite cousin, but she must have a been a lovely one to love peonies. They remind me of my mother in law. She had the most gorgeous bed of them. We just returned from a little picnic by the river again as I always find peace there. Have a lovely weekend. ♥

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  3. Congratulations to Samuel on his accomplishment! It's great that you can offer him a place to stay. Your garden looks lovely. I'm glad the storms have not done a lot of damage to your garden. Peonies are so fragile. Mine are just coming into bloom. I will try to remember to cut some if a storm is forecasted. Most of the storms lately have gone either east or west of us.

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    1. Thank you, Cathy. Samuel is an easy kid to have around. He's always ready to give us a hand with anything we may need. I hope your peonies will give you many bouquets. We just had another storm march through. So many violent storms lately.

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  4. Congrats to Sam! Love that smile. Wishing him all the best at University and glad I am that he can hang out with you folks for a while longer

    Oh those raccoons are rascally. Your garden is doing well. Glad that the roses came back. I am always excited when things that appear to be goners make a comeback.

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    1. Vee, I will pass on your good wishes to Samuel. We so enjoy having him here with us. We really didn't expect to see our Pinkie climbing rose bloom this year, much less thrive with many blossoms.

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  5. You must be so proud of your grandson to be excelling in his academic career. What does he want to do as a career? Such beautiful Peonies! I need to get some pink ones like yours. We have raccoons around here and they like to kill and eat chickens! Our chicken pen is like Fort Knox to keep them safe. Enjoy your lovely weather! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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    1. Teresa, Samuel is on the path to major in English. He loves to write and draw. Those rascal raccoons are not a favorite of mine and I'm sure wouldn't be for you and your chickens! I enjoy seeing wildlife most of the time and realize they all have a place on our planet. Have a great day. ♥

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  6. Dear ME - oh it is so nice to be visiting blogdom again and seeing wonderful friends such as yourself. Love this post - I feel as though we've taken a turn in your gardens together - so exquisitely beautiful.

    Congrats to your grandson! You must love having him around to get to know as he becomes adult - that's got to be neat. My nephew just graduated college (Arizona State) and found his dream job close to home. He's been gone so far away (we are in mid Ohio) so it will be awesome having him back closer to us again. He would've never left his beloved AZ if it weren't for the dream job, that I know for sure, haha.

    Big hugs!

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    1. It's lovely to hear from you, Michele! We do so love having our grandson here with us. I'm sure you will enjoy seeing your nephew more often now that he is close to home.
      Have a lovely, day. ♥

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  7. Well congratulations to Samuel! How lucky you are for him to attend college/university locally. Your climbing rose looks fabulous. Too bad about the peony but at least you got to enjoy their blooms! I like your angel statue and the fun wildlife you’ve enjoyed! Wishing you a nice holiday weekend!

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    1. Liz, I'll pass your congratulations to Samuel. Thank you. He has worked hard. Every flower has its day in the garden if we are lucky. The peonies were so pretty this year. We've really had a lot of violent storms that seem to blow blossoms away a little too early for me. Sending good wishes to you for a lovely weekend in your garden. ♥

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  8. Congratulations to your grandson! Spring looks luscious in your garden. Oh those pesky bandits. We had some in the winter but haven't seen any this spring. Actually we didn't see them in the winter either, just their pawprints in the snow. We must be behind you climate wise because our peonies are still tight and just loosening up to burst forth. I like the quote to finished with! Happy day to you.

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    1. Thank you, Ellen. We are so glad our grandson will be with us. We don't often see raccoons. One year I couldn't sleep and came into our Florida room and reclined in my Lazy Boy. I looked up and a couple of eyes were looking back at me! It was a raccoon! Scared me. My husband and grandson took care to remove the limb that the rascal used to climb onto our roof. I hope your weekend is going well.

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  9. Congratulations to Samuel, his beautiful smile says it all, well done. Very pretty blooms, so sorry to read that the storm destroyed some of them.

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  10. Many congratulations to Samuel, he looks very happy in the photograph - and so he should :)
    Spring in your garden looks so lovely and I do like your little angel statue.

    Enjoy these last May days …

    All the best Jan

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    1. Jan, I appreciate your congratulations to Samuel. I will pass them on to Samuel. I also appreciate your visits to many of my past posts. That is so kind of you. I find it hard to believe that May is coming to a close. The year is really racing by! I hope you enjoy these days as well.

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  11. I love seeing this slice of your real life! Loads of congratulations to your grandson. How lucky you are to be able to share this part of his life with him. And I love your wildlife!

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    1. Jeanie, you know how it is when we want to relive our trips! I will pass on your congrats to Samuel. Thank you! ♥

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  12. Lovely views of your gardens...it's a nice time of year so far with rain to keep everything green. Congratulations to your grandson for being able to continue his education and make his home with you. What a privilege for you!

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    1. Dotsie, you are right, it is a privilege to have Samuel live with us. These are precious times for us, indeed.

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  13. Love seeing your garden pisc and the cute critters. Congrats to your grandson, Samuel.
    I am sure everyone is thrilled. Thank you for your well wishes on recent diagnosis. i am always happy to pass on any info which will help others.

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    1. Thank you, Linda. I'm so sorry you are dealing with another issue. It's good you give information on the damage sun can give us. Praying for good results, my friend. xo

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  14. How lovely to have your grandson living with you, a delightful photo and please wish Samuel a happy birthday from me. Your garden photos and birds are lovely, beautiful flowers, the rascal climbing up to the birdhouse, all a wonderful series of photos again. Thank you Martha Ellen and have a great weekend.

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    1. Thank you, Denise for the birthday wishes to Samuel. He just finished opening gifts as we celebrated with his parents. I hope your weekend is full of joy as well. ♥

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  15. Happy Birthday to Samuel. A happy photo and good he lives with you. Why cant I get a knock out rose to look as good as yours do? They are beautiful. Pretty little birds to visit. I am not happy with raccoons. They are pretty and they are quite the bandits they look to be with that mask. They will tear up a metal bird feeder.
    I think it's good you travel and see the world. I wish we could do more of it.
    Always home to come back to and work always to be done.
    Have a wonderful week end
    betsy

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    1. Betsy, we've haven't seen the raccoon again, but I'm sure he's around. We've seen several places that have been dug. I hope your weekend is going well. Our daughter and son in law are here for the weekend visiting Samuel. The visit always seems to go by too quickly.

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  16. Best wishes to Samuel as he continues his education, and a very happy birthday to him as well. I too enjoy flowers from my garden, especially roses. Most of our roses are Knock Out , as it is so humid hear that other roses don't do that well, at least in my garden. ~smile~
    Your little critters seem to enjoy your garden as well, we rarely see raccoons, they are around but seem to hide from us.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Blessings,
    Sue

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