Anticipating Beauty and Growth...

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show

The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. ~George Bernard Shaw

My garden is one of the areas where I express my creativity the most. I have a real garden. Weeds. Plants that don't do well. Plants that shouldn't have been planted because they take over. Kids and dogs tromping on newly sprouted blooms. Like the first quote says though, the anticipation of what the garden is going to look like is the best part for me. I almost always buy very small shrubs and plants because the waiting and watching is what makes it fun. I'm not interested in instant gratification when it comes to gardening.

I need to remember this in the rest of my life too. Planting a seed or small seedling is an act of faith. I put it in the dirt and I expect and hope that it's going to grow and produce a beautiful bloom or a tasty vegetable. Hasn't God done the same thing with me? He gave me gifts and He is waiting for me...watching to see what I'll do with them. It's up to me to carry out the plan He has for me. Like my garden...I'm real...flaws and all. I wonder...when He is waiting and watching me...is the anticipation of what I will become the best part for Him too?

On my bookshelf this week...my interests seem to be all things English lately...I'm thoroughly enjoying every minute I spend with Jane Austen and the anticipation of beginning to work in my garden is increasing every day. Cottage gardening. Simple. Informal. Beautiful.

...and the simplifying and de-cluttering continues. The too-large country table in our dining room has been replaced by a small table with clean lines. Simple.



Have a great weekend!

Jackie

Supermarket Flowers Make Me Happy...

As complicated as life gets sometimes I'm really just a simple girl and simplicity in my life is what I strive for.

Simple Joys Like...

A good book that I don't want to put down...

Sitting with a a cup of coffee and a magazine on my deck...

Planting seeds or plants and taking pleasure in watching them grow...

A simple home-cooked meal like roasted chicken and potatoes...

and...

...Supermarket Flowers...

If you read my blog you know that I buy flowers for myself when I grocery shop. I usually do this all winter and even in the summer when my garden is depleted of cut flowers. I'm planning a cutting garden so hopefully I'll have flowers all summer long this year.

I wanted to show you what I do with a $10 Mixed bouquet of flowers and a $5.00 bouquet of Carnations. I look for flowers that are long lasting and Carnations and Mums are the best.

If I buy a mixed bouquet I will usually split it into 2 or 3 vases. A good sized mixed bouquet costs $10.00 in my town but I can sometimes find them for $5.00. I never spend more than $10!

This week I wanted a large bouquet for my dining room table so I left most of the flowers in the bouquet. The light-pink Lilly's turned out beautiful and I could have taken them out and they would have looked really pretty on their own.



Out of the same bouquet I removed all the carnations and some of the mums and cut them short to make a small display in a square votive cup. Perfect for my little butcher block island in my kitchen.




...and my favorite way to display flowers...in a large-mouth canning jar. This $5.00 bouquet of Carnations looks like spring to me and this bouquet will last approximately 10 days!! The flowers are just now opening up and will be spilling over the side of the jar in a day or two.

Flowers are my winter treat to myself. We have to do nice things for ourselves sometimes and Moms don't do that enough!

Jackie

Slowing Down To View The Small Signs...

I took a stroll through downtown last week. As I walked, I slowed down my pace. I'm always in a hurry. Always somewhere to go and something to do. I intentionally slowed down. Purposefully. I needed to take it in.

The Sunlight.

I needed to take in the sunlight's pure radiance soaking into my skin. I hadn't seen it for awhile. It had hidden itself away for what seemed like months but was really only weeks and sometimes only days. But it hadn't shown itself enough in the past few months.

There was still a chill in the air but there was something different that day. The scent in the air wasn't the same as it had been the day before. What is it? I thought. What is different today? The scent was an earthy one. Damp and Earthy and Fresh. Fresh! A hint of what is coming.

I continued to walk admiring the way the light was bouncing off the storefront glass and reflecting on the pools of melting snow in the crevices of the sidewalk. Many of the folks I met were also slowing down their pace and taking it in too. Smiles. Carefree Laughs. Light jackets instead of heavy winter gear. A promise of what is coming.

The storefronts were starting to fill with the colors of yellow, pink, lavender, white. The garish reds and fuchsias from the Holiday of Love were gone now. As I passed a shop, the owner was sweeping the walk in front of her store. I slowed down. Her storefront was filled with with gardening gloves, vintage seed boxes, old white ironstone pieces and yellow printed aprons on painted white wire dress forms. Another hint of what is to come.

As I was rounding the corner back to my office. It went away. The radiance. The sun was hiding under the clouds again. The chill was back and the rain started to lightly fall. As I buttoned up my coat and pulled out my hat, I noticed the scent. The scent of the rain. It too was different. Fresh. Almost like a spring rain...but not quite. The rain smelled of a promise of what is to come.

The promise that the warmth of Spring will soon arrive.


**Photo Credits
1. Spring in Lafayette Square, St. Louis MO taken by Eyefetch Photography. Lafayette Square is one of my favorite spots in St. Louis.

2. The Governor's garden. Show-Me Missouri Plants and Flowers