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

Happy Birthday Tersie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERSIE

June 6, 1970

What I would like to give my daughter is freedom. And this is something that must be given by example, not by exhortation. Freedom is a loose leash, a license to be different from your mother and still be loved. . . . Freedom is . . . not insisting that your daughter share your limitations. Freedom also means letting your daughter reject you when she needs to and come back when she needs to. Freedom is unconditional love.
~Erica Jong (20th century)

And thou shalt in thy daughter see, This picture, once, resembled thee. ~Ambrose Philips (1675-1749)

I just want you to know my sweet Tersie, that I couldn't have asked for a better daughter than what you have been. Over the years we have traveled many roads together on this journey that we call life. We have laughed together, as well as cried together. I have tried to be there when ever you needed me and tried to stand back and let you be independant and take your chances at succeeding or not. In either case I tried to always be there to cheer for your successes and help you back to your feet when you slipped and fell. More times than not, you have given me reason to be proud of you. Like a flower........through the years you have blossomed into the beautiful person that you are. In all cases my love for you has been and always will be unconditional and always with you.

Birthdays and Cake

Saturday was Seth's 1st Birthday. I can hardly believe that this past year has gone by so fast. Poor little guy had a rough go of it the first few weeks that he was home from the hospital. They sent him home with jaundice and that meant that he had to go almost daily for blood work for about 2 weeks. There was more than once during this time that I wanted to give a couple of lab techs a piece of my mind for being so inept, but I bit my tongue and didn't say anything.



Melody made Seth's birthday cake, as well as a baseball cake just for Seth to dig into. Well, I am here to tell you that just didn't happen. We coaxed and pleaded with him to dig into that cake. We even gave him a spoon, but the best he would give us was one finger in the icing. Mama did a good job with this one, teaching him not to get dirty. I am thinking he needs a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a day of playing in the dirt.


Now big brother Riley was a different story when he had his first birthday cake. As you can see, Riley didn't need any coaxing to get into his cake and devour it.

Alley Oop didn't have her own cake to make a mess with when she had her first birthday. She made up for it though by digging into Seth's cake when he was finished with it. Good work Sis.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to our

SWEET BABY BOY!

Wordless Wednesday

Meaningful Monday

Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, 'Who would like this $20 bill?'

Hands started going up.

He said, 'I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this. He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.

He then asked, 'Who still wants it?'

Still the hands were up in the air.

Well, he replied, 'What if I do this?'

And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. 'Now, who still wants it?'

Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.

The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE.

'You are special
Don't EVER forget it.'