Monday, June 9, 2008

Summer Time Blessings


All of a sudden around the yard and in my gardens the flowers are popping open and bursting with color and fragrance. Even with the heat being almost unbearable, we do have a nice breeze blowing here on the mountain ridge. We don't have an air conditioner in our house. It really doesn't seem to be needed because we almost always have a breeze. In the 4 years that we have lived here I think at the most we may have a total of a week each year when there is a lack of breeze and intolerable heat. A nice cold drink and a seat in the shade usually takes care of that.



I thought I would share some of the color that is growing in our flower gardens. Pictured above is our Jacobs Ladder. When I bought this plant I had no idea what it would look like. I bought it mainly because I liked the name. It is a beautiful flower that when it starts to bloom, the flowers climb upward on the stalk. Once it got established, it has really flourished.



This beauty is the Cherokee Rose. It grows wild all around our property.

The Legend of the Cherokee Rose

When the Trail of Tears started in 1838, the mothers of the Cherokee were grieving and crying so much, they were unable to help their children survive the journey. The elders prayed for a sign that would lift the mother’s spirits to give them strength. The next day a beautiful rose began to grow where each of the mother’s tears fell. The rose is white for their tears; a gold center represents the gold taken from Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem for the seven Cherokee clans. The wild Cherokee Rose grows along the route of the Trail of Tears into eastern Oklahoma today.


Source: The Cherokee 1994 Heritage Calendar by Dorothy Sullivan, Memoray Circle Studio, Norman, Ok.
Copyright © 1996 The Cherokee Cultural Society of Houston

I would like to recommend the book "The Trail Of Tears" to those blog friends that are avid readers. It will bring a whole new understanding to the tragic story of the Native Americans and the price they paid to the earlier settlers of this country.




This Rose Bush was an anniversary gift from J.D. a couple of years ago. I love roses and these are long stemmed to boot. They bloom all summer.



Every year I buy a pot or two of Geraniums. They are a tough plant that can pretty much stand up to the brown thumb of any gardener. They have a beautiful full bloom and come in so many colors. I have always found it difficult to understand how a flower so beautiful can smell so bitter. I am sure there is a reason for it though.


These are roses on the rose bush that Chris, Melody and the children gave me for Mother's Day a couple of years ago. This bush blooms all summer too. Last year it had a nice show of roses, but this year it was so full of roses that you could hardly see the green leaves.



A little visitor that landed at my feet the other day.



Last year because of a late frost our pear tree didn't produce any fruit. This year one of the two trees are loaded with fruit. Hopefully I will be able to eat some of the pears without it affecting my blood sugar. I am going to try my hand at canning them because I know J.D. likes pears.


We had the boys here Saturday night so Melody and Chris could go to dinner with Greg (Chris' buddy since grade school) and his wife Shelly. It was Greg's Birthday so they planned on a few other activities after dinner like going dancing and going to throw darts. Riley and Seth both fell asleep before Mom and Dad got back. We are about a 30 minutes drive from where they live and it was another 30 minutes to where they were doing their celebrating. When they got here in the wee hours of the morning they came bearing donuts and a special request..... "Can we stay over?" It is always a treat when we have family here. So yes, they stayed over and the next morning I fixed them home made biscuits and omelets.



Seth ran the vacuum sweeper before he went home. He is so cute and there is no putting anything over on this boy. He knows this thing is supposed to make a noise when you use it and to do that he knows that the cord has something to do with it. Grandps plugged it in for a little while and then unplugged it. Well, it just wasn't mking the noise, so Seth carried the cord over by the wood stove and tried plugging it into the wood pile. I don't know why that didn't work....hehehe

Riley put in his time pushing the vacuum when he was Seth's age. So he got some computer time in while Seth was sweeping the floor. I think it is important that children start using the computer at an early age. When they do, they don't end up being intimidated by it when they are older and find themselves having to use a computer. Riley is getting to be pretty computer savvy.


Grandpa put Riley in the wagon on the lawn tractor and holding Seth on his lap gave them a ride up to the van when it was time to go. This was Seth's first ride, Riley has loved those rides since his first one about 4 years ago.


I want to draw your attention to the wall in the picture of Riley at the computer. T~Bear made the sign that says "Be Patient" for her Grandpa. We thought that would be the best place to put it, because like most of us that is where he most needs to be reminded to "Be Patient".

~*~*~*~


A special thank you to Aisha at "The Holley Herald" for this award. Ashia and Steven are newly weds and right now dealing with all of the red tape involved with getting a Visa so she can join Steven here in the USA. Blogging is her way of dealing with the long wait. Stop by and see her and be sure to leave her a comment.

Have Blessed week ~Jo

10 comments:

Betty said...

Your flowers are beautiful. A couple of those I have never heard of like Jacob's Ladder. The butterfly looks almost fake it is so perfect and such a pretty color. I had to smile when I saw Seth with the sweeper. The sweeper is almost bigger than he is. Both Seth and Riley are so handsome.

I still miss Hope, don't you?

Tracy said...

I just loved your flowers! Thank you for sharing the story of the Cherokee Rose. What an interesting legend. I will have to check out the book!


Sounds like you had a wonderful time with your family. Your grand babies are sooooo adorable.

Hugs and blessings.

Anonymous said...

The photos are great thanks for posting them.I hope that you are haveing a great day today! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Jeff B said...

Thanks for sharring those. It's been so rainy her that I haven't been able to be out in the yard as much as normal. This helps my gardening fix.

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Love the flower and butterfly pics. I'm an eighth Cherokee and a portion of some other tribes. Some of our family history gets pretty muddy when you go back more than a couple of generations. I know about the Trail of Tears and it goes across Northern Arkansas.

Your grandkids are growing! I just can't imagine why that sweeper wouldn't work when Seth plugged it into the woodpile, LOL. ;o)

We had thunderstorms and rain roll through this afternoon/evening, dropping our temp from 97 to 66, praise the Lord! We needed the rain desperately and it's a welcome relief from the heat even though it's temporary.

Hope your week is going well, Jo.

Love and hugs,

Diane

farmlady said...

Thanks for the lovely tour of your garden. Great photos.

It's turned hot here too. I know it's better than the tornados and floods we hear about, but I just don't look forward to the long hot summers here.One thing....; it's a dry heat and doesn't seem(from what people tell me)as hot.Your humidity looks like it's good for the garden though.

Aisha said...

Oh Jo, I love the pictures of flowers in your blog. Beautiful! I love the story of the Cherokee Rose. I want to read The Trail of Tears. I'm sure it's an amazing book. That's really sweet of JD to give you a rose bush as a gift. :) They're really beautiful!
I agree with you about kids learning the computer. I would want my kids to learn too.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful flowers.
The Jacob's Ladder will soon bloom in my garden. Your Pelargonium (granium) is beautiful.

Reva said...

Jo, You are a wonderful photographer of flowers and that is one of my passions also. Thank you for your comments and encouragement. I didn't know you had fibromialsia (sp?). My best friend Kimm also suffers from it and is in alot of pain most days. She too is so high spirited and busy that she works through it anyway. But some days it's just too much for her and she can hardly get out of bed in the morning. I am sorry you have to endure but a positive attitude goes along way in helping get through each day doesn't it?
Also, I liked your bit on the Trail of Tears. I have a little pinky bit of Cherokee in me and I have figured out that my ancestor would have to have been about the time of the trail of tears. My dad's family came from Alva Oklahoma so the timing and the area are right. I am hoping to someday follow up on that and find out for sure.
Great blog. Thanks again.

Carole Burant said...

Oh Jo, how beautiful your flowers are! I've never bought Jacob's Ladder although I've seen the plants at the nurseries...they sure are a pretty flower!! Loved the story of the Cherokee Rose, how very interesting. Your roses are gorgeous...I planted 5 rose bushes in my faerie garden and I was so thrilled to see that every one of them is full of buds that will be blooming soon!!!

Sounds like you had a fun time with the grandkids:-) I remember my boys using the vaccuum cleaner like that...once they got old enough and realized it was work, then they wouldn't touch it any more! lol xoxo