St. Francis of Assisi among the Hydrangeas

I love this time of year when my gorgeous pink hydrangeas
put on a beautiful show!  These are the easiest bushes I have ever grown.

I purchased them at the end of August in 2011 and they have performed for me amazingly
ever single year since then. They have very tiny and delicate florets that make up each flower
so they are definitely different than most hydrangeas.
They are certainly a show stopper!

I paid $5 each for huge bushes at the end of the season and I wish I had purchased
every single one of them. I went on a hunt for more this year and haven't found
any yet.

Don't you just love them in my metal Basil basket? 

I also added a few in this cement piece and it added the perfect punch of color.

St. Francis of Assisi hanging out in the middle of the beauty. I also have another St. Francis statue
that is cement and I love them both.

My daughter gave me this statue as a birthday gift or Mothers Day several years ago.
I don't remember which. lol

I looked up St. Francis of Assisi and here is what I learned. He was the patron Saint of animals.
I am sure you knew that as did I, but I also found out more information some of which
 I didn't know.

"He was a poor little man who astounded and inspired the church by taking the gospel
literally-not in a narrow fundamentalist sense , but in actually following all that Jesus
said and did, joyfully, without limit and without a mite of self-importance"...

"From the cross in the neglected field-chapel of San Damiano , Christ told him,
"Francis , go out and build up my house , for it is nearly falling down".
Francis became the totally poor and humble workman."

He was never ordained into the Catholic priesthood, but he is one of the most venerated
religious figures in history.
His father was a prosperous silk merchant and Francis led the high-spirited life of  a
typical wealthy young man even fighting as a soldier for Assisi. While going off to war
in 1204 Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for
worldly life. On a pilgrimage to Rome he joined the poor in begging at St. Peter's
Basilica. The experience moved him to live in poverty.

Very interesting! I didn't type it all so if you want to read the whole story you can
click here and here or just google St Francis of Assisi.

Have a beautiful Thursday!

Our Independence Day!

I rarely do color in my house, but it just seemed appropriate for the upcoming
holiday. This is a vignette that I put together for our back porch entrance
into the house. I had another one made before this one with buttons strewn
about etc. but it looked too "busy" to me so I started over and am pleased
 how this turned out.

{just noticed the banner is a little wonky off to the left. It was "hung up"
on the string , but it is okay now. YOU just can't tell it! HA!}

{ I printed out my free USA banner here }

I added this vintage American Singer book that I picked up at a thrift store a year or two ago.

Don't you just love this print? I found it online also.

{ I printed it here }

Loving my white fabric with white stars...you know ME and white!

One nation UNDER GOD indivisible with liberty and justice for all!

{ I set the time to 4 o'clock in honor of the "4th" }

I have also had these vintage red, white and blue buttons for quite some time.
Very appropriate here don't you agree?

It would be nice if this candle had a "4" on it, but it didn't. And so it goes...:)

I pray that you all have a wonderful time celebrating our Independence Day
this year. What a great moment in history!

I love AMERICA and I am
 PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

A walk to remember...and Etsy sale

 I was chatting with my cousin via facebook yesterday and she mentioned that she just had taken
a walk. That motivated me to get off my butt and also head out for a walk

...camera in hand.

First, I walked across the road to the pumpkin patch and then I walked about 1/4 mile down our road
 to the west and then about 3/4 mile east and then back home.

I am so thankful that I took my camera along because it was nature at it's very best!

I found many different kinds of trees and leaves 

Remember me saying awhile ago how I went on the hunt for bittersweet and found the mother
lode a few miles away? Well, it sure pays to take a walk and look around on your own road!! I
 could not believe it when I saw this bittersweet!! Most of it is high in a tree, but there is
some that is actually reachable. 

Beautiful mums in my own yard

Here is my

HOME SWEET HOME.

taken from the other side of the road where the pumpkin patch is.

We own a little over three acres and we love living in the country.

I am just waiting for this tree to be all ablaze with color. It is a beautiful shaped tree.

A lone pumpkin in the patch...

...but not to worry because he is surrounded with pumpkins as far as the eye can see. 

This is the tree in our front yard and our pole barn.

Beautiful rose hips

Yep...more pumpkins.

These will soon be full and overflowing with pumpkins..I LOVE them! I would love to have one of these
sitting in my yard. 

We see trucks all hours of the day driving in the patch and then a few hours later driving back out with
massive amounts of pumpkins in the crates.

Fall color at it's best

One of our neighbors

More beautiful bittersweet

Does this post give you incentive to get out and take a walk?
Of course you have to take your camera with you and snap some photos! *smile* 

It was very nice to take you along with me on

a walk to remember.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my little country road.

Happy Thursday!!

( I am running an Etsy sale for a limited time. Just enter
fall2013
in the code space when checking out for 20% off your purchases.)

Are you ready??

I took a stroll outside yesterday and took a few snapshots of the last vestiges of summer.

 Does that make sense?

 I know "Vestige" means " a trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists".

Sounds like summer to me. :)

My gorgeous hollyhocks that have a very few flowers left on them. I really need to do some trimming today, but the weather here calls for HOT, HOT, and more HOT along with possible rain.
 That part of summer has NOT disappeared. 

I can't believe that I have beautiful flowers like this and also leaves falling from the trees. Just seems wrong somehow. 

 I found that the huge field directly across from our house is filled with big orange pumpkins.

 Definitely FALL coming!!  I am ready...

Are YOU ready??