Tulips!!

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!  I worked in the yard for hours yesterday, weeding, cleaning up mulch beds, trimming, etc.  Needless to say, the muscles are feeling it, but that's alright.  The Lord couldn't have given a more perfect day for that kind of work...not a cloud in the sky, cool and breezy -- it was glorious!  He and I had a great day together.  Don't you find times like that wonderful for thinking, praying, listening and reflecting?   

I had taken these photos last Saturday, as I knew the tulips wouldn't last much longer.  I have had so much fun with them...from the anticipation of watching for the first one to pop through the soil, to the excitement the day I noticed not one, but 20-something of them!  I began calling them "my babies."  Every day I walked down our sidewalk, or pulled the car into the garage, I'd look at them growing and it never failed to make me smile.  I'd often say, "grow babies, grow!"  My hubby even started saying..."Did you see your babies, today?"  How incredibly beautiful and perfect that they began blooming on Easter Sunday.  I have enjoyed their brilliant color and beauty every day since then. 

Flowers have always fascinated me.  Such a beautiful reward for the hopeful heart who plants a seed and shows some love.  That is to say nothing, of course, of their incredible display of God's creativity.  

April Gifts

Your dawn of sunshine does impart
The warmth of spring upon my heart. 
Forsythia sprays its radiant hue
Against your sky of cloudless blue.
Rows of tulips on the lawn
Sparkle as they stretch and yawn.

And as we mark the moving hours,

Clouds roll in with sudden showers. 
But not with sky too dark to be
Without some hope for all to see
At the very end of day
The sun peek through to leave its rays.

O April day, you seem to know

How to coax the flowers to grow.
Your sun and moisture in good measure
Give another spring to treasure. 

~ Elaine B. Porter

(from Ideals Magazine)

...and We're Walking

Let me tell you, if this post had a soundtrack, it would be "These Boots Were Made for Walking" by Nancy Sinatra or maybe "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash because this weekend, Tom and I did some walking! We love to walk anyway, but we doubled our usual weekend efforts. Why? First, because the weather in our part of the country was gorgeous! Hot for a spring day (yesterday 89 degrees) but windy, which helped keep us cool. Our secondary motive, however was to help me meet my weight loss goal. I'm 1.8 pounds away and our Weight Watchers session ends this Thursday! Only 1.8 pounds!!!

Saturday, we walked about 3 miles through a beautiful, very old local cemetery. We love walking through the cemeteries near our home, but hadn’t been to this one for a number of years. We both enjoyed it so very much.

After that, it was a pretty typical Saturday, went to the grocery, ran a couple of errands, worked in the yard. We fixed a huge salad with lots of great veggies for dinner.

After an awesome church service yesterday, we cooked up a quick lunch, changed into our comfy clothes headed outside again. This time, we walked a couple of miles on the track around a soccer field near our home. Surrounded almost entirely by woods, it’s beautiful…lots of wild flowers blooming along the edge of the track. Afterwards, we made our way back home and spent about an hour just relaxing in the back yard, listening to music and chatting (Glorious rest!) Then, we took about a 1/2 hour drive to visit a local arboretum (which happens to reside within a park.) What an incredible place! The walking trails are surrounded by a vast array of beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers. Truly God's creativity on display. We took a trail that was said to be 1 mile in length, but somehow managed to cross onto another trail along the way. Let me tell you, we walked ALOT further than 1 mile! Afterwards, with the help of their map, we concluded it was more like 3 and possibly more. It was positively gorgeous and we enjoyed it greatly, but we were two tired, sunburnt little cowboys by the time we finished! I carried my camera the entire time, in the hopes of capturing a few photos, but it was so windy yesterday (great for cooling you off when you walk, not so great for taking photos.) Maybe next time. = )

I typically walk 2 miles each night...I'll probably do 3 this week. I'm also being extra careful with my points, too. For some reason, this last 1.8 pounds has proven to be quite stubborn! I realize by sharing this I'll have to tell you how the weigh-in goes on Thursday. I'm hoping for a great report!

Hope it was beautiful where you live and that you, too had a great weekend!

Fighting off My-Boy-is-Back-to-College Blues

Hope you're doing well this Monday morning. I must admit to feeling just a little blue today. We enjoyed so much having Brennan home last week, but time together passes quickly these days, and all too soon it's time to say good-bye. (He'll be home on May 20th, which I know is just around the corner, but that good-bye gets me every time!)

Maybe you too could use a bit of cheer this Monday morning. If I haven't wearied you already with flower photos, let me share some from last Friday. Tom and I took a walk to Lytle Park on our lunch hour. It's a beautiful little spot that sits at the far end of downtown Cincinnati, directly in front of the Taft Museum. We visit at least once every spring. The tulip displays are breathtaking!

I love this statue of Abraham Lincoln near the entrance of the park.

That's the Taft Museum of Art in the background,
yet another wonderful place to visit.

Hope these brought a little joy to your morning. Have a great week, friends!

Happy Monday!

Hope you enjoyed a joyous Easter celebration yesterday. What an amazing reason to rejoice! Our family gathering this year was low-key but wonderful. We knew Brennan wouldn’t be arriving home until very late Saturday night. (He's been on a travelling team at school for the last few weeks so they had to return to South Carolina before he could begin making his way home.) Considering all those hours on the road, we planned a quiet lunch at home (more than anything so he could rest if he wanted). We knew he would be going to Brianna’s house to celebrate Easter with her family on Sunday evening. But as you might expect, he didn’t want to wait until then to see her and therefore had no interest whatsoever in resting! ; ) Instead, he picked her up and brought her over and the four of us enjoyed a wonderful lunch together. We really had a great time…so much so that I forgot about taking any photos until after they had left! As I was putting things away, I thought at the very least I could show you my beautiful flowers!

These were a surprise gift from my sweet boy. (Considering when he arrived home, this meant he was shopping for flowers at Kroger around 2:00 am Sunday morning!) They looked beautiful on the table. (He also bought flowers for Brianna, her Mom & Grandma.)


These beauties were a gift from Brianna and her Mom, Lisa. They are planted, so I'll get to enjoy them for several days and then save the bulbs! = ) The unusual pot is made from compressed coconut (like you see in wrought iron planters through the summer).
I had bought these pretty pink tulips to put on our table (not realizing I would be receiving others). I moved these to the family room where they look great on the coffee table. I love looking around the house seeing fresh flowers! What a treat. = )
Hope you have a wonderful week! (Tom and I are thrilled to have Brennan home for spring break!)

fPhoto Friday - More Spring Flowers!

Greetings & Happy fPhoto Friday!
Here are more beautiful spring flower photos from last year
(I couldn't resist!) They always bring to mind this verse...

"Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God." ~Job 37:14

This is our lovely cistena plum tree
dressed in her delicate spring finest!


I was thrilled to find this lovely little spot in downtown Cincinnati! Pink tulips against a black iron fence...Wow! After taking this photo, I walked closer and looked down upon the miniature tulips and caught this glimpse...one of my favorite photos...ever!!!



At Lytle Park, downtown Cincinnati. I love when this happens...
an unexpected surprise amidst a vast array of beautiful peach colored tulips. = )


I left work early one day last Spring for the sole purpose of taking flower photos and shortly thereafter found myself in an absolute torrential downpour! Fortunately, it didn't last long and left lovely water drops on all the flowers!
Finally, this pretty little white crocus was the first (and come to think of it...only) flower to bloom in our front yard last spring! ; )

Camera: Canon Powershot A610
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fPhoto Friday - Tulips!

Spring is finally arriving in our area and I couldn't be happier about that! Our trees have new buds, grass is turning green and the tulips and daffodils are just starting to bud and bloom. Flowers are some of my favorite photo subjects, especially tulips! While I wait for this year's blooms, I thought I'd share some of God's amazing artistry from last spring, taken at a nearby park...











Hope it's warming up wherever you are! For more fPhoto Friday, stop by and see Natalie of Married to the Preacher. Happy Weekend!

Opposite Extremes

Greetings on this Monday morning!

While I don't normally give a weekend recap on my Monday posts, this weekend provided such contrasting extremes, I just have to share!

I love taking photographs. I carry my camera in my purse at all times because you never want to miss a great photo opportunity! All summer, I've been trying get some good butterfly shots with no success...until Saturday. = ) I was running errands and had to make a stop at Home Depot. As I walked through the garden center, I saw the most beautiful butterfly! So what do you suppose I did? = ) I took a quick inventory to see how many people were about to see me make a fool of myself, then shamelessly began chasing this beauty with my camera. The result was well worth it. I got several good photos, but this was my favorite...

How I love these amazing creations! So gentle, carefree, beautiful and delicate...they are truly one of God's most creative gifts. They never fail to captivate me. (Perfect in beauty, God shines forth...Psalms 50:2)

Now, we move to the extreme...Yesterday afternoon, we were at the home of my in-law's (Bob & Millie) for dinner. There was quite a thunderstorm kicking up as we arrived, with lots of heavy rain, wind and lightning. After about 15 minutes, it was all over, the sun returned as we continued helping to prepare the meal. The clouds returned during dinner, and by the time we were cleaning up, it was obvious we were in for another storm. The men were watching golf on television and I heard my father-in-law say something about a tornado warning. That quickly got everyones attention. Then the electricity went off for just a moment and then came back on just as the tornado sirens began sounding. As a few family members headed for the basement, I noticed that several others had walked to the patio. I was starting to get concerned. I kept saying, "c'mon guys...we need to get to the basement!" No one seemed to be listening. I finally walked to the door of the patio to see why they were waiting. I immediately saw what had everyone so mesmerized. I quickly grabbed my camera and snapped this photo. (I only wish I would have thought to record a video so that you could see what we saw...the funnel cloud coming down was actually rotating!) This was literally just a couple of hundred yards away!

I have never seen (firsthand) such an amazing display of God's power! The local weather reports say that although there were many "wall clouds with rotation," and funnel cloud sightings, none officially touched down and became full fledged tornados. (Praise God!) There were about 10,000 who lost their electricity, a local home was struck by lightning, and some very large trees were uprooted about 45 miles away. Gratefully, no one was hurt. (Our local news network posted some other amazing photos from viewers, click here if you'd like to see them. )

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. ~ 1 Chronicles 29:11

Word-Filled Wednesday

Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.
Great are the works of the LORD;
They are studied by all who delight in them.
Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever.
~Psalms 111:1-3 (NASB)

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Word-Filled Wednesday

Therefore, as God's chosen people,
holy and dearly loved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience.

~ Colossians 3:12 (NIV)

To see other Word-Filled Wednesday posts,
join us at 160 Acre Woods!

Word-Filled Wednesday

...Stand still and consider
the wondrous works of God.

~Job 37:14

First Flower!!!

I love Spring. I love watching the process of everything around me slowly coming to life. The sight of tulips, daffodils, crocus and flowering trees is enough to make me downright giddy! This is especially true of the “first flower” each year. I anxiously begin watching around mid-February for the earliest hint of those first stems as they begin to appear. This year, Winter was relentless and continued bringing snow (and lots of it) well into March! You can perhaps imagine my excitement a couple of days ago when my sweet hubby announced the arrival of our first flower, a beautiful white crocus, in the front yard, under our birch tree. After doing a happy little dance (no kidding!) I grabbed my camera and rushed out to capture a photo of this little beauty. Did I mention I LOVE SPRING!?!

Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone.The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come… ~Song of Solomon 2: 11& 12 (NLT)