Saturday, June 30, 2012

They Are A Couple

Ms Dove....

.....is in love with him.

And....Mr Mourning Dove
adores her....

I can tell they are a match
made in
Honeymoon Island heaven.

Have a wonderful week-end.  Dee Dee
click on photos to enlarge

Friday, June 29, 2012

The Lovely Plumeria

All winter long.....

the Plumeria appears as a
"stick figure"
in the garden.
Come spring,  leaves
appear on the sticks.

Slowly but surely a stem
develops buds
and then the "magic" happens.
Photos taken after a rain....
note tiny raindrops still
present on the pure white blooms.

Have a beautiful day!  Dee Dee

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Yummy Orange Berries

The  orange berries have
ripened on our neighbor's tree.....
and the  Mockingbirds, mostly, have
staked their claim to ownership.....


I'm not sure about these expressions....

but I'm thinking they wanted me to
"clear off" with the camera,
 and leave them to their
business of eating......yummy orange berries. 
I've become quite the "bird watcher"
this summer, thanks to Cornell University's
Ornithology program....study of birds.

Enjoying the moments......Dee Dee
click on photos to enlarge

Think On This

Hydrqangea....a sweet cottage image....sigh.....

You have to dream things out.
It keeps a kind of an ideal before you.
You see it first in your mind
and then....
you set about to try and make it like
the ideal.
If you want a garden....
Why, I guess
you've got to dream a garden.
~Bess Streeter Aldrich
( A Lantern in Her Hand)

Beautiful thoughts for the day ....Dee Dee

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

His Favorite Color


Found.......
one small orange VW car,
lying on my
 living room white sofa.
I'm quite sure who it belongs to.
He's four years old, and has
the prettiest hazel eyes you've
every seen in your life.
His favorite color is orange.

Have a beautiful day! Dee Dee

Monday, June 25, 2012

Color Resemblance In Nature

My favorite colored Coleus

and you can see why....

lovely to see in early morning sunlight....

I can see that the Creator
liked these colors together
so much........

that He splashed them on one
of  His many Lilies.....

I'm completely impressed
and totally in awe.  He does
amazingly good work!

Have a beautiful week, everyone.....Dee Dee

Sunday, June 24, 2012

"He's Done Enough"


Over a great cup of coffee,
I welcomed the morning with
good thoughts
while listening to
the Family Christian Radio.
I liked what I heard and
I've  pondered the
thoughts off and on all day long,
of  God's blessings and faithfulness.....

"He's done enough,
even if He
does nothing else for me."

This could be said by each and
everyone of us.

Have a blessed Lord's day......Dee Dee

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Bronte's Agnes Grey


On a coastal highway,
stands a beach cottage.
 I fell in love with the pale blue
color of it's clapboards,
the live oak trees and
palms that cozy up beside  it.
I thought of
Bronte's writing......

"And then, the unspeakable
purity...and freshness of the air!
There was just enough
heat to enhance the value
of the breeze."
~Anne Bronte, "Agnes Grey"

Have a sweet ole' summer day everyone.....Dee Dee

Friday, June 22, 2012

"This Book Is A Gem"

I spent the morning and much
of the afternoon  tidying up the
cottage. Linen changes, laundry
and dusting, food preparation......
all necessary chores
were completed by noon.
With rain in the forecast, my
efforts for rainy-day relaxation
included some serious reading,
in my treasured book.... found
in our  library bookstore.
While searching the bookshelves,
Heaven in the title and
South Carolina caught my
attention. Having lived in
South Carolina for a number of
years, I too consider it a
"little bit of heaven."

"Heaven Is A Beautiful Place"
A Memoir of
The South Carolina Coast
by Genevieve C. Peterkin
In this intimate and moving
and sorrowful and funny account
of the century just past, we have a
remarkable window on the way the
world used to work; with love and
tenacity and grit and patience and,
again and always again, love.
"The book is a gem."(review)
l3  rave reviews on Amazon....all 5 stars.

Written in conversation with
William P. Baldwin
"........this book is "about striving
to serve the common good and
about loving people and losing
the people you love."
This is a book about surviving, and
enduring, and finding the joy at
the center of creation, finding that,
indeed, heaven is a beautiful place.
Can't wait to get started!

Sweet blessings for all.....Dee Dee

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

"You Have No Idea"

When I hear all the grumbling
today, I just shake my head and
think to myself.....
"You have no idea"
how fortunate you are,
to have never
worked as a "secretary"
typed on an old manual
"Underwood" typewriter,
using carbon paper for
the three copies needed.

"You have no idea"
how fortunate you are that
you've never
made a typing error and
had to use
correction tape
on all three typed copies.

So when you feel like
complaining about how
bad things are these days.....
just remember
manual typewriters,
carbon paper and correction tape....
and you'll
 feel much much better.

Have a blessed day.....  Dee Dee

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Think On This

"Teach Them To Sew"

"I wish I could help you with your
needle work. I have two hands and
a new thimble that lead a very easy life."
~Jane Austen, in letter to her sister.
                                                       Cassatt
Thankfully,
sewing is not a lost art,
as I see it.
The fabric stores are filled with
women of all ages.
The"take-a-number" line at the
cutting counter is always
exceptionally long.
It is there, I see
shopping carts filled with
bolts of fabrics.
This is
a good thing, considering
the days we're living in,
for more reason, than one.

Teach them to sew and
they will have a sense of
accomplishment 
in creating
good things for themselves,
their family
 and their home.

Imagine it, and you can make it! Dee Dee

Thinking These Simple Pleasures

I suppose a womanly thing
when it comes to white
cotton lace.....
White cotton lace can be
sometimes more than a simple pleasure.......
when placed together
with a darling handmade
bracelet ..... momento
from the birth of my first
granddaughter......

I'm up to my "knees and elbows"
with yarns and baby fabrics.....
more "sweetness" on the way.

Have a beautiful day!....Dee Dee

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Peaches......A Summertime Tradition

Grown in the good ole'  USA....

That's what I look for on the tiny
stick-on labels found on fruit.
Some of the peaches seen here,
 are from California and some
are from east coast.  Seems the
South Carolina and Georgia
peaches are smaller this year,
yet still sweet and delicious. 
 We are anxiously awaiting the
best of the crop....
and my favorite,
South Carolina's state fruit
the Freestone peach.
These pretty peaches made a
mighty fine "peach cobbler"
enjoyed with a nice scoop of
vanilla bean ice cream.
Another favorite summertime
tradition.

Have a blessed Lord's day, everyone.  Dee Dee


Saturday, June 16, 2012

A Natural Sea Grape Arbor

 Another photo from the north
beach of Honeymoon island.....here are
lovely Sea Grapes growing on a
plant that is struggling to stay alive,
having grown dangerously close to
to the water's edge.
I cannot believe there is a
more lovelier place to walk and
ponder all that is life's
happenings.

Think on this.....
Above all else, know this;
Be prepared at all times for the
gifts of God and be ready always
for new ones.  For God is a
thousand times more ready to give
than we are to receive.~Eckhart

Sweet blessing for you all.....Dee Dee

Friday, June 15, 2012

Looking Up

While taking photos of
the garden this morning...
I pointed the camera
up toward the sky.
One of our Crape Myrtles
has grown to amazing
heights. The palm fronds
blending with the Myrtles,
made for a
nice composition in this
photo.
My view from our porch....
both the Crape Myrtle and the
White Bird of Paradise have
grown by leaps and bounds.
All that good rain, I'm thinking.
Have a beautiful day, everyone.  Dee Dee

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The "Island" Today....

Hanging out at the north beach
today, was a good thing in
every way.
Look closely out in the
Gulf waters and you will
 see the fin of a shark.....
.....beneath the bend in the
Sea Grape branch.
 The beach has been
experiencing corrosion
for quite a while now,
so I am very careful where
I walk.....here are beach
grasses, rocks and shells,
all lying together. 

 I think beautiful.....
and I actually like what nature's
done to this portion of the island.
The waves have always
been coming and
going and what will be
will be....
Here is
a "beach lizard"
that slithered  down a
dead tree limb,
and struck a pose.
Just as I took the photo
it puffed ....giving me
his best look.
My favorite thing to do on
the island....
"Cruise For Birds"
......and we know a few places
they hang out in the late
afternoon.
The rain has created shallow
pools of water in the willows
and there we found this fine
ole'  Egret socializing with
some of the
island's  Sea Gulls.
I stood watching for a while
as the Gulls came in groups,
splashed in the waters and
flew away. The Egret seemed
to enjoy their shinanigans.
I did too.....
Have a beautiful day, everyone......Dee Dee
click on photos to enlarge

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Morning

Morning.....in the garden

.....sitting at the bistro table
with favorite magazine and
a great cup of
Eight O'clock coffee.
Still, after all these years
I'm drinking the same coffee
my grandmother introduced
me to, as a child. 
Then, it came half and
half....half coffee and
half milk and sugar.
It was saucer cooled, sipped
and delicious!
Sitting outside.....
I found it hard to concentrate
on my magazine, with all
the bird commotion.
There was  a soft breeze
blowing,
but not enough to encourage
clanging of the
wind chimes.
Glorious June, when the
garden is flourishing,
and everything
is blooming.  We've  been
fortunate in having
plenty of  rain lately....key
ingredient needed for
healthy plants and flowers.
-
Our lives would be diminished
without a garden in which to work.
~Mary Lu Sinclair

Have a beautiful day! Dee Dee

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

A Lavender Myrtle Showing Off......

Just look at all the "Myrtle" buds.....
It happens each June
and I covet each and
every day we have gorgeous
lavender Crape Myrtle
blooms in our garden.
Prettiest things I've ever seen.

I took this shot leaning
over and peeking through
the Philodendron leaves....

Is it just me, or do you
find these colors the ultimate
in femininity?  The blooms are
so delicate and lacey.....I'm
thinking a few stems of these,
placed in a crystal vase,
might be real pretty
for  the cottage.
-
Think on this...
We complicate our lives when we
borrow trouble from the future....
We miss the precious gift of peace
that God has given us right here, right
now, in this tiny present moment
that touches eternity. Be like the
wildflowers....simply soaking up
today's sunshine. ~Ellyn Sanna

Have a beautiful day!.....Dee Dee
click on photos to enlarge

Monday, June 11, 2012

Mighty Pretty

I'm lovin' so many shades
of pink.....and their's
so much going on in this portion
of the garden.  Quite clearly seen
is the tall Crape Myrtle in the center
of the photo....a wonderfully  full Nandina
on the left, and to the right a rather apparent
Cordyline plant. Behind the Myrtle
grows a large Philadendron ....a large
leaf is seen at the bottom left of the
pink spiky Cordyline.
Look closely at the  top of the Cordyline
plant, and you'll see Banana Palm fronds.
That's the way things grow in Florida's
tropical climate,  with just a few days
of rain, sunshine and humidity.
I continue to be amazed and pleased
with our small productive garden.

Have a beautiful day, everyone! Dee Dee
click on photo to enlarge

Sunday, June 10, 2012

God's Special Offer

I walked in the garden just
moments after the rain
subsided and the sun
shined through the clouds
and onto the flowers....
I loved what you see here....
The birdbath filled with
water and petals from a
basket of Periwinkles
spread on the ground....so pretty.
A few days of rain, and
our garden is thriving.
My Geraniums all have
 shot out new stems,
 promising more
beautiful blooms....
the Snow bushes are
so beautiful...the pink color
becoming more apparent
as they produce new leaves.

Looks like we set this Mandevilla
out at the perfect time.  All those
nutrients in the rain will cause it
to grow much faster.  I want it
to cover a good area of the fence
by summer's end.
So...think of this.......
This bright new day, complete
with 24 hours of opportunities,
choices and attitudes comes with
a perfectly matched set of l,440
minutes.  This unique gift, this
one day, cannot be exchanged,
replaced, or refunded.  Handle with
care.  Make the most of it. There is
only one per customer!
~Whispers of Blessing

Have a beautiful Lord's Day! Dee Dee

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Coleus

When we left for vacation, recently,
I left my potted flowers at our
daughters home.  She volunteered
to water and care for them, and I
thankfully allowed her to do so. I
asked  if she minded my leaving the
Coleus I was rooting, in her kitchen
window. Her response had been
an eager and happy yes!  They've
remained there every since, her claiming
ownership. I will help her pot them soon.
Maybe in an old "Grandmother's tradition.

My Grandmother would be
pleased......with both of us.
I've written before of  her
kitchen windows, lined
with exceptionally beautiful Coleus. 
 She "pinched and rooted" them
in canning jars of water.
When heavily rooted, she
planted them in bright and shiny
 tin cans. The cans had once held
 Hunt's finest sweet  peaches.
Grandmother would tear the label off
the cans, punch
a couple of drainage holes, place a few
pebbles on the bottom and fill the
new "tin pots"
with plain ole' garden soil.
She must have given them a pinch of
fertilizer now and then, for
 Grandmothers Coleus's
could have easily been
county fair blue ribbon winners.
They were greatly
admired by all, and
the talk of our large family.

Count The Good Things
When we start to count flowers
we cease to count weeds;
When we start to count blessings,
we cease to count needs;
When we start to count laughter,
we cease to count tears;
When we start to count memories;
we cease to count years.~unknown

Have a beautiful day......Dee Dee