Join Me For A Cuppa: ENJOYING THIS YEAR'S FLOWERS

For years Mom always planted a simple garden – mostly begonias and impatiens along with some day lilies. About 10 years ago I added some hosta and daffodils to the mix and, after some expression of dissatisfaction with the change (and trust me – it was the fact that there was change) she got used to it.

Last year it was finally time to get a bit more daring and we got a lot of different annuals including hydrangea bushes. We removed some of the bushes from in front of the wall between the porch and the gate and this year it is a beautiful flower bed. Additionally over the last couple of years my friend Steve who used to have a landscaping business up here does a lot of the planting and figuring out what will look good. He also planted tulips last fall that were to come up this spring which they did.

The tulips and snow crocuses are now gone as are most of the daffodils thanks to local wild fauna and their dining preferences along with the severe rains we’ve been having on and off the last few weeks. The leaves of the day lilies are growing nicely although the flowers haven’t yet begun to show.

Last night we had a pretty bad thunderstorm. There was wind and the weather forecast predicted we might even get some hail. At one point they were even talking about a possible tornado.

Today I realized that if I did not get some photos now and we did get the bad weather then later on I might not have any photos of this year’s garden – something I would end up regretting. This is what occurred last year. Everything was planted and we had a very nasty hailstorm. So I have no pictures from last year.

This year's planting looks great. One can sit on the porch or in the sun and enjoy the flowers with their coffee or tea. Hopefully Mom will also decide to spend more time downstairs and enjoying all this.

At one point this summer the windchimes will be finished. This is a project that my friend Alan is doing. I had to have some trees removed before last winter. This one was extremely tall and very dead. The idea of the windchime came to Alan when he and his wife Rosemary came over one day. We were discussing which trees had to go and he said "You know - that one, if they don't cut it down all the way, would make an awesome windchime." And the project was on!

When the fellow came to take down the trees with his crew it turned out that he is really in to windchimes as well. I have photos of that day and will share that all at one point. Needless to say it turned into quite the "treechime fest!"

I do want to thank Steve for all his hard work on prepping and getting my "garden" ready for this year. I could not have done this without him.

Now it is time for the next step. So grab your cuppa, sit down, kick back and enjoy while I share these photos with all of you. (Note - clicking on the photos will enlarge them.)