~Sunset on the Prairie~

Happy Monday! I hope that you had a wonderful Independence Day--we did. We sat on our back porch and watched the fireworks in two different small town east of us. They were in the distance, but beautiful nonetheless. Peaceful, relaxing beauty. We couldn't hear the pops, and the doggy slept through the entire show! This is the first 4th of July that she wasn't scared to death! I took this photo just as the sun was going to sleep in our part of the country. I am in awe of the rainbow of color that comes when the day is done. Magnificent!

~Sweet English Lavender~

Good Morning! I planted some English Lavender yesterday in my garden yesterday. I just love lavender, and the plants at my other home were just getting big and spreading out. I don't know why I didn't take cuttings from the other plants....I took alot of cuttings, but no lavender! I love the lacey, twisting look of this most fragrant flower.
Also, we live across the road from a horse farm..and I have begun to notice flies in the yard on the warm days. I'm not fond of insecticides and am always trying natural ways of deterring the pests. I read on the internet that having sweet basil planted by the doorways will keep the flies away, well....let me tell you, I was on it! I have little pots of sweet basil at each threshold coming into the house, and it works!! What a blessing! It seemed that everytime I opened the door a fly would zoom in! Now, however, I haven't seen one in days!! Thank you Lord for sweet basil! I have several old metal chairs from the 50's that sit on the porch. It was time to paint again, and I thought I would wait until we were settled in at our new home before deciding on a color! Poor old things...probably the only thing holding them upright is the layers of paint! So that is my goal today... scrape and paint the chairs. It is cool today and there is a whisper of wind..Perfect! I'm off....Blessings Friends~

~What a Beautiful Day~A Gift from a Gracious Lady!

I received this lovely, lovely house warming gift in the mail today from a dear friend, Joni, who has a Darling shop on Etsy The Blue Plum Shop.
Even tho' Joni and I have never met in person, we have formed a wonderful friendship through crafting and sewing, our shops and our love for our Creator. I was so touched that she would send this beautiful gift to me, I can't wait to hang it! She is so talented! She even made that gorgeous tag with the cross at the bottom, and the sweet wishes on the back. Look at the details! And the chimes sound so pretty, it is quite windy up here so I will indeed be thinking of her often.

Thank you Sweet Joni! You are so very thoughtful!

~Waiting....Waiting....Waiting.....~

How do they know? Everyday this ol' gal will sit by the window from 5:00pm until my husband gets home. It's so funny...how does she know it's 5:00pm?? I don't always know it's 5 and I can tell time!! It's just uncanny how that doggy time clock works. If he doesn't get home by 8:30pm (he sometimes has to work late), she'll sadly drag herself into bed (my bed), and go to sleep. "Sorry Dad, you're on your own." Yesterday I was out watering my little plants and Freeway was hanging around doing what dogs do, and when I was through watering, I looked up and couldn't find her anywhere! I was worried, calling her, and clapping my hands, doing everything I usually do to get her to come running...nothing. Then....I smelled something cooking! Aha!! I walked over to my next door neighbors house, around the corner, behind their fence, and there's Freeway.....just sitting there, patiently....by their Smoker which was fired up and cooking the most wonderful smelling meat!! I think Freeway thought she'd finally found the Smorgasbord!!! That girl!! On the way back home she kept looking over her shoulder, with regret, no doubt...
Blessings~

~The Fragrant Hoya~

I promised you a few days ago to post a picture of the hoya in full bloom! I have ten different blossoms on this lovely plant, you are looking at only one blossom. The Hoya is very fragrant, it is difficult to describe: sweet yet a little pungent. My entire home is filled with this soft, subtle aroma. I must have this plant in a place that it enjoys very much, because it just keeps blooming and blossoming! I have several different varieties of the Hoya, as I find it the most interesting plant. If you scroll down a couple of posts, you will see the flowers before they are actually in full bloom. They are hard and waxy. What a Blessing!
I would like to thank you for your prayers for Kent. His health is improving after undergoing dialysis. A miracle no doubt! Bless you friends~~

~Please Pray~

Hello Friends, today is a special post, a post asking for prayer for an old friend of mine whose life long battle with drugs and alcohol has taken their tole on an aging body. At 54 years old Kent is in critical condition with kidney failure as a result of the abuse. Throughout his life he has come to the Lord, only to slip away...he would come back and then leave once again. He could have been, and once was a wonderful man, a good husband, and father. And now, he is critical. Please pray for this lost soul, that he will find Jesus before his days are done on this earth. Blessings~

~Clouds Over Iowa~

Okay....I understand that you are probably getting REALLY tired of my sky pictures, however, I just needed to post just one more cloud! (right, hmmmm) Look at this cloud that was over my house yesterday!! These are the colors of the cloud, for real!! Have you ever?? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. It reminds me of a volcano. Look at the dark clouds on the bottom of the page, don't they look like the jagged rim of an erupting volcano? Very majestic. I'll try to pull myself away from the windows in order to bring you the orchid photos. It'll be hard.......

Blessings Friends~

Hello Sheila!! I'm so happy that you decided to blog!!

A Rainbow...And A Hoya Flower!~

What a Blessing this day has been! Relaxing but still getting some things done in a non hurried way. I looked out the breakfast room window and behold!! A Beautiful rainbow that looked as though it ended in my new garden which was planted yesterday!! My hubby said that tomorrow we will look for the pot of gold!! (smiles) Also, big news (for me) my 10 year old Hoya has blooms! When we moved here, I placed the plant in the breakfast room which has big windows on one entire side of the room. And...obviously, this plant loves it there!! I can't even count the number of blooms on this Hoya. This is the first time in 10 years that it has bloomed!! The flowers that you see are not fully opened, but still lovely. Aren't they waxy looking? I will take more photos when they open. Also my orchids are still in bloom...remember those from December? They are still in bloom! More pics of those as well are on their way. Blessings friends~