Morning Glories!

These little beauties have been blooming for a couple of weeks. The colors are luscious and the bees are thrilled! Hope you enjoy the view!

My New Favorite Necklace!

My oh my! This one's staying right here with Momma!

Hope y'all like it!

Serenity...

I love serenity! The rays of sunshine filtering through the trees, gently touching the flowers in the gardens and the grassy lawns. The birds flitting from tree to tree to sing their melodies. Hummingbirds and bees working side by side at their tasks. This is my piece of Heaven on earth and I am grateful!

An oh so easy flowering plant!

About 30 years ago, my Maw Maw had a plant near her front porch, it bloomed only in the late afternoon and throughout the evening. The following morning the blooms either fell off or closed up. Maw Maw told me the plant name was 4 O'clocks because it only bloomed after 4 p.m.

Now 30 years later, I have these sweet plants through out my gardens. They can be intrusive, but baby plants are easily pulled up and transplanted wherever you'd like. When mine get "leggy" I've been know to cut 'em back...then I either immediately root them or scatter the cuttings where I want 'em to grow! Mine are in full sun, partial shade and full shade areas...all do equally well. They appear to be drought tolerant but they bloom and thrive with moderate watering. The flowers will become seeds...to self seed or harvest and scatter where you want them. Notice mine are pink...I've had yellow, red and white as well BUT they did not over winter...pink must be the hardy variety for my Zone 7 gardens.

This photo is from early this morning...notice the blooms are closed...




This photo is from this evening around 6 p.m...now the blooms are opening and oh how sweet they are!




You can go here for more information!

Ahhhhh Mornings!

I am a morning person! Today the sunrise was subtle and comforting. It covered the gamut of pastel colors as the sun's rays bounced off the few morning clouds that were just hangin' around.

UH-OH!

While browsing through the Internet this afternoon I found out that my cute little caterpillars are NOT...I REPEAT...NOT...simple cute caterpillars that will turn into lovely butterflies! You can go here to see the news video!

They are "ARMY WORMS"! They are very destructive! They will eat an entire lawn...they start out small and cute...and as their voracious appetite takes over they grow accordingly and they can destroy an entire farmer's field in a matter of days! It seems that this year's weather was perfect for an infestation...one farmer commented that he had not seen this many army worms in 20 years!

The advise is to exterminate immediately! So tomorrow I'll be out in my overalls and sorry to say...on a mission...not so pleasant for these army worms but for the salvation of my gardens and my 1/2 acre of St. Augustine!

Wish me luck!

God Bless America!

Each of us has had experiences in our lives that either add to or detract from the whole entity of who we are. I call these events "Life Markers", some fill us with anxiety...some with challenges to be overcome...some are a prelude to prayer...others end with prayer...we choose to face these events full on or stand back awaiting the first opportunity for a "safe" entrance into the dark realm of the unknown. All the while, we garner energy, strength and bravery towards an undefined outcome but with the belief that we must participate...we open our eyes and find ourselves witness to events that define humanity...good or bad.

September 11, 2001 I was preparing to go to work when the first plane hit I stood in front of the television stunned...a million thoughts and emotions tumbling through my mind...all the while I was attempting to assimilate the surreal images into some sort of definition of an accident. When the second plant hit...in my gut I knew...America was being attacked...then the news about the Pentagon...and the unspeakable was taking place in my country to my fellow citizens...

While attempting to focus on driving to work and juggling my emotions I came to a red light. Okay...time to breathe...then something caught my eye...I saw a very special pickup truck coming off the freeway. The young man driving it had anchored a HUGE American Flag to a flag pole on the bed of his truck and my country's flag waved full, bright and strong as a symbol of everything I believe in! I was as proud of this young man as if he were my own child and his public declaration of patriotism defined honor! My flag...my country...my countrymen...I am proud to be an American!

God bless America!

Callepitters!

This morning I went outside specifically to capture on film (well on the memory stick) some photos of the "goings on" in the gardens today....

I looked down on my back porch steps and saw a cute little caterpillar! Then as I was checking out him or her...I saw another and another...then upon investigating the grassy areas around the back porch I saw LOTS more!

Here's a few photos of them!






This is specifically dedicated to Julie in homage to her sweet comment about the "Flutterbye" post of yesterday! You can check out her blog "A Vintage Chic" here! I thought of you Julie and your darling Callepitter story!

Flutterbye!

When Miss M was 2 to 3 years old she sometimes got her letters mixed up when speaking...this was always true of "Butterflies"! To this day when I see a butterfly I hear her sweet voice all those years ago, announcing, "Mommy! It's a flutterbye!"


This morning I spied this little jewel of a butterfly samplin' some of the seed heads of my mint plants! As I attempted to get that "just right" photo...I saw one more...then another...and another! I have no idea what they are but they are TINY about the size of a dime!


I first started seeing this type of butterfly during the summer...I fully expected them to grow...not happening...they are about the size of a nickle and oh so pretty!! They only go to the Lantana blooms...luckily I have lots of those!

So for now...I'll watch these little beauties and remember those oh so sweet "Flutterbye" days!