Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter!

I have spent my spare time this week in the garden.  I love digging and planting. It is my time to meditate and ponder. My thoughts have been on Easter. I am so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and the promise of Resurrection.
I always feel grateful and a little special when I have guests in my garden. I was out enjoying the cool and beauty of Easter morning. I found this bright Giant Swallowtail still sleeping on my climbing rose. There were three more in the backyard flitting around. 

A couple shots from the egg hunt. 

Our neighbor sent a treat for us. 

 They are from Romania and she makes the most beautiful pastries. They are very different from anything I have ever eaten. Not as sweet as American cookies. I especially liked the yellow and the round ones on this plate of goodies.



Friday, March 22, 2013

Amber comes to visit

Darren had training in Texas last week. It was doctor training in the field, as in wilderness. So we were lucky enough to get a visit from Amber. She drove from San Diego and then back again alone. It worried me but she was fine.  She is so independent that would have made me very nervous at her age, it still does.
She is so much fun to have around. This is how we show her a good time....
Nothing like ripping out carpet on your vacation.  Actually that is not the worst part. getting the tack strip (what Amber and Heather are doing in the photo) and    nails out of cement is the worst part. I am not a huge fan of millions of staples on the stairs either.

We also put her to work making Michael's boutonniere and his dates corsage for prom. So while I was busy knocking out his vest (because it had to be silver)  Ashley and Amber put the "flowers" together.
It was a bit frantic. We did it all in 3 1/2 hours!
Tyler started making corsages for prom a few years back. Customizing them to the girl. This year one of his former prom dates was at the house and she mentioned how much she had liked her corsage and that she still had hers. This is a girl who is VERY fashion conscience and they were never romantically involved just friends. Hers was made with guitar picks so maybe that helped.
So I volunteered to do it for Michael he had nothing planned and had track practice.
I loved how it turned out. The only things we had to buy were the peacock feathers and the silver material for Michael's vest.  All the aqua fabric was scraps from other events. Felt- poodle skirts for the girls worn to Ma'am and Papa's 50th wedding anniversary party. Satin- Amber's prom dress. Organza- chair ties for Amber's wedding reception. I am not sure how we thought of using peacock feathers.... we did a lot of giggling during the whole process. We decided it was a craft high. 




Wednesday, March 6, 2013

White Wednesday Spring

I am loving spring.  Truly appreciating the beautiful world God created for us. I have had a cloud of sadness  lurking since October. One sad event after the other. Just life. But today I feel the sad lifting. Spending the morning gardening does that for me. Even if it involved a power trimmer for a very frostbitten Cape Myrtle that looks like a mass of sticks now.
The peach trees are blooming. Yellow breasted finches and humming birds are flitting in the yard. I slapped together the wreath out of grapevines and rose hips from the front of the house. I think that is more of a fall thing other places. But fall and spring are pretty much the same  here and it takes all of our three weeks of "winter" to get the grapevines to go dormant and the roses to grow the hips nice and fat. The chair was a curbside find I painted white.

Blake left for the MTC this morning. So exciting  but bitter sweet. We sure will miss that sweet boy while he is gone.