Changing

Started out the day with a nice brisk 1.5 mile walk with a friend.  After doing some computer stuff, I vegged out reading and napping outside for about 45 minutes.  Then it was time to get some errands run before visiting Mom.  She was in a pretty good mood and we had a good visit.  Days like this are definitely priceless.


I did take a picture of one of the roses beginning to bloom before I headed out, and then again after I'd gotten back.  I was surprised how different the bloom looked after a few hours.

Morning (around 11:30 a.m.) above.  Evening (around 6:30 p.m.) below.

Just a few days ago, many of these branches were bare.  Love seeing all of the blooms on the mock orange!

My peonies are still holding back their blooms!  My backyard neighbor's peonies are blooming as nicely as Mr. B's are.  Mine are still waiting to open up.  I'm getting impatient.  Okay, I admit, I AM impatient.

One of my daisies has it's bud!!!  Trying to be patient to see these sunny flowers (and will have to talk about Mrs. B for those pics).

Grapevines, above and below.  Love the super tiny beady things (that's my technical term for it).  I'm hoping I remember where this was so I can figure out what they end up being (I would assume grapes, but I try not to assume too often)!

I liked all of the curves in the shot above, especially the two intertwining vines.  

I love and hate this plant (above and below).  It really doesn't look like much for most of the summer, but this plant came from my grandfather's garden, so it will stay.  It's a yucca plant, and the blooms are pretty, but those stalks are pretty darn tall, and when they fall over, a royal pain!

When I got home, I was VERY happy to see my packages had been delivered from Spring Hill Nursery.  Some more plants for the front yard where the rain doesn't hit the plants (Mother Hen and Chicks in two different colors), and another butterfly plant for the back yard (hummingbirds like them too!). 

And, finally (until fall when they will ship another Lilac plant!!), Keys of Heaven for the back yard to help attract hummingbirds.


So excited to be adding to the plants already established, and replacing a couple that didn't make it through the winter.  Having an idea of what I'd like the back yard to look like certainly helps!  I won't be sharing that until it's starting to take shape.


But, as excited as I was about the plants (both the new and the already established plants), I also had a bit of a reality check.


My favorite pre-15 year old niece has been having a lot of stomach problems for several months now.  Sharp pains in the abdomen, and frequently throwing up.  Yesterday she couldn't keep any solid food down, so the GI doc put her on a liquid diet; she still threw up.  They decided today to admit her to Children's Hospital to get her pumped up on liquids, and run some tests.  I'm praying that the doctors figure it out this time and she can get past it all.


I keep thinking back to those first two pictures today.  Just a couple of hours in between the photographs and such a difference in the bloom.  All during the spring and summer, the plants go through a series of changes, including losing their blooms and shutting down for the winter.  They need that down time to come back in the spring and share their beauty with us again.  

I'd forgotten this picture until I wrote the paragraph above it.  Don't know why I didn't include it before, but glad I had it to include now.

Why do we think we can do it all for as long as possible without losing our beauty?  We NEED to take time to recoup and recover so we can come back blooming again.  And, like some plants, with the proper care, we CAN bloom almost year round.  


God's creations are amazing; let's take care of all of them, including ourselves.