The Season of Flowers

Don't you just love Spring and then Summer when all the flowers just
come alive?! Our Heavenly Father sure knows how to put on a show!!

 I usually buy quite a few flowers, but this year I have cut
back because my old body just can't handle it all anymore.
I have been having pain in my arms and hands and that doesn't help either.
So it may become weed heaven around here this year. lol.


Isn't this color gorgeous!!??
This is one of the lilac trees that is growing in my yard. We purchased and planted this a
 few years ago and thank God it is still alive. We seem to have an issue with trees living that
we plant so I am counting my blessings. 

It seems to me that she blooms profusely about every other year and the years in between
it has a very few blooms. Do most lilacs do this or maybe just until they get established well?
I don't know, but I am thankful this is a good year.

This is one of my columbines. I also have one that is called:
Grandmothers Bonnet 
that looks exactly like a bonnet, but that one is not blooming yet.
I promise to share when it does.

We planted a small hydrangea plant in this spot that was sent by my sister and her family for Eden's
 funeral last year and now I have an angel and a stone to stand beside it. My daughter gifted the angel
stone to me and I think it is so pretty.  I hope the hydrangea lives! Sometimes I have plants
  that do wonderful for a couple years and for no reason they just don't come back.
 It is weird. Praying that this one survives!

Speaking of...please remember our family next Sunday. {May 21}. It will be one year on that date
since Eden went to heaven and it will be a hard day. I have some simple things planned such
as balloon release etc., but we miss her so very much and so wish she were here. In some ways
it seems like forever ago and others it seems like just yesterday.
She is our beautiful angel Eden Rain.

Isn't this handmade stump neat? I don't remember what the process is called, but I guess you
use rags to make it? Not sure, but I love it.

LOVE this container that my violas are planted in. I purchased this container with the plant in it
at a Spring Show and it is doing wonderful.

This is our second lilac tree/bush. Actually, I have two this color. Isn't it such a soft color?
 I just dug up "starts" from around another bush and replanted and they are doing every bit
as well as the large ones I purchase in a greenhouse.

Some pretty lilacs I brought inside a few weeks ago.
I just can't get enough of them!

What flowers are out at your house? Do you have a green thumb? I would
love to hear about it.
Until next time...Blessings!

A Masquerade Birthday Party

My daughter planned a 16th birthday masquerade party for my granddaughter this past Saturday
and we had so much fun! I went up on Thursday to help out with the preparations and stayed
until Sunday. She put a lot of time and effort into this and it was an all around hit!

Allysha has always been so photogenic and I took the opportunity to snap several pics of her. My
 daughter ordered our masks off of Amazon and purchased matching ones for Allysha, herself and
yours truly.

Mother and daughter ..."hey Mandi...I'm over here!!"  hehe

We threw Grandma Sandi in the mix for this photo. First off,  I had matching clothes to wear. I really did!!
A dark pink top with a short sleeved black sweater and black and rhinestone necklace, but in typical fashion
for ME,  I slopped balsamic vinegar on the pink top as we were preparing for the party, so I went into panic
 mode and changed my clothes. Totally forgot to put the necklace on and it just bums me that I had to
 do a quick change to this outfit...story of my life. Can't take me anywhere!  *SMILE*

Me and my girl Allysha...a beauty at 16, but then she has always been!

As most of you probably know, black does not photograph well ...at least not for me, but it could be
because I don't know what I am doing. ha!! I had to include the next few pictures anyway so you could
get a feel for the decor.

Masks and feathers...purple and black.

Even sparkly purple crows.

My daughter set up a photo booth inside the house and it was a hit!! We took all kinds
of photos with all kinds of masks and people really had fun with it.

While wearing my mask, I had to stumble around to see where I was going. Seriously!

I took it off about halfway through the party and put my glasses back on and it was
a whole new world! HAHA!

This was the mantle in her house filled with candles and a touch of feathers.
She had TWO parties that day. The first one was for family and friends from 12:30 -3:30
and the second one was just for Allysha and her friends. It started at 7 pm and went until
midnight. I was down for the count about 10 pm...so tired, but they survived without
me. lol.

All in all a wonderful day for a beautiful granddaughter. I am just wondering where all those
years went!! HOW did she get this old already? I pray every day that God will direct her
path and be her guide through life. She is a very smart girl...sometimes too smart. HA! She has
 had some issues to deal with in her life also, but God is working and He is GOOD!!

Blessings~

I picked them just for you!

I went outside this morning to do some not so glamorous things {take out the trash, dump the garbage etc.} and picked a few of my remaining flowers that are fast fading away into oblivion.

Pink hollyhocks, fairy rose and a purple weed/flower that is found all along the roadsides here in Michigan. I did notice that the stems of this weed/flower are covered with little tiny bugs so I only brought three stems inside to use.

I try to squeeze out every last ounce of pink flower love that I can before fall hits. *smile* 

What about you? Are your flowers fast fading away ?

The nights are turning cooler , but the days are still HOT and HUMID here. I think we are getting the summer now that we didn't get in July and the beginning of August. I am so over any hot and humid weather, even though we really didn't get as much as we usually get this year. I am one happy camper! 

Yep, this is one girl who is not crazy at all for hot weather. I am not a beach or sun girl either. I never did like to lay in the sun. My sister and I are polar opposites. She LOVES the sun , sand and water and I would rather stay away from it. Don't get me wrong, I like to dip my feel in the ocean or sit on a pier dangling my legs over the edge, but it rarely happens and I am okay with that.   Gods beauty is all around me no matter where my eyes happen to wander in my little corner of the world. 

The prairie weeds/flower. I know these have a name , but I just can't think of it right now.

Praying you all have a lovely Wednesday and rest of the week!

Via Pinterest today:

It's Wednesday.
I'm breathing.
I'm alive.
I'm blessed.
God is good! 

Wisteria ~

I found these pictures on my computer today that I took a couple years ago of some gorgeous Wisteria blooming in Hillsdale, Michigan which is about a half hour away from us. I could not believe how beautiful this is and I had never noticed it before. I was there for quite some time and took several pictures. Enjoy ~

I love this old building that the Wisteria is attached to. Gorgeous architecture ~