With Rain Comes.....

How is it that it is June and I still have only two flower pots planted?  Its called RAIN!  It hasn't just sprinkled or been a refreshing shower - the kind that makes the air smell so wonderful - it has been down pour after down pour.  Parts of my lower yard is over grown with tall grass - and the hillside is well - needing attention.  I promise to try harder to brave the rain and get busy.  The river is incredibly swollen creating a flotilla of huge trees, beaver dams and debris which seem to be in a race for the finish line. The reflection of the trees in the river form a blurred vision of what is real and what is mirrored.  The water may soon be nipping at  the top of our first series of stairs from the dock.

Today was beautiful.  This white clouds leaving soft trails as they drifted eastward against a pale blue sky. The warm sun encouraged many to spend the day outside - taking walks and doing errands.  I could see them from inside my windows while I was working.  If I have to work on a sunlit Saturday at least I am still playing with flowers and getting my hands in the dirt!   I did work on several different arrangements and was honored to pull together corsages, boutonnieres and a small little posy for a 7 year old flower girl.  (The couple is getting married tomorrow - it is both their second marriage -but God's blessing - they are marrying each other again!)  Although they just came in today to request flowers, I was excited to have the chance to help with their simple requests.  It was also a day filled with sorrow for many.  We had done flower arrangements for  four different families and each had lost someone much too early in their life.  The love the community felt for these men and women was clearly evident - an abundance of sweet fragrances as tributes to their memories.

Yet, with all the cleansing rain, the flowers are still trying to bloom -  although they may not stand as tall or be as big - they are persevering.  During the past month I have had several days that filled me again with how much I miss being a wife to Alvis and our lives together and how alone I feel; and yet God has called me to be here and when I don't feel like standing tall, He will be here to help me persevere and He is my cleansing rain.

Glimpses of Memorial Weekend

Sunday morning, after planting my tomatoes and peppers which had been dutifully waiting to placed in the ground, I headed north to visit Forrest and Amy and the kiddos.

I stopped along the way at the Willamette National Cemetery to spend some time at Al's gravesite.  The stars and stripes were billowing over each grave and lining the roadways.  So many times in the news lately, we hear of those who are citizens of our great country but can only find words to condemn it.  Yet the flags still wave gently for a country created to defend our freedoms - 

Fun with Ephraim and Selah!

At the Children's Museum on Tuesday - the fireman and reading in Papa Bear's chair

Smiling at Mama

Christina's trick birthday!  (candles that is!)  We were able to share in Christina's 21st Birthday on Monday evening.

For Ryan and Emily

Yesterday I had a wonderful visit with Ryan and Emily and heard about their recent travels to Croatia.  I could still hear their enthusiasm even after being back for a few days!  They both have incredible pictures.  It makes me want to jump over the "pond" and see it first hand.

Ryan asked me if the lilacs were blooming in our yard - which of course they are (but are a little battered by several downpours and windy days) - these photos are mostly for them....


The front yard in bloom.....

Dogwood, lilac and weiglea

Columbine

Poppies and Iris

Nothing Better than Family

The past month has been really busy for me with wonderful trips to see my daughter, Colleen and her family in Wyoming, working a lot (Proms, graduations and Mother's Day) and a quick trip up to see Amy and her family for Mother's Day and Selah's dedication.

Michelle surprised me with flowers when I returned from Jackson (so I wouldn't be doing my own at work:) ) and Ryan sent me flowers this week on my day off.  How fun to still receive flowers from my wonderful family - especially when they made sure I wouldn't be working!

Some little memories from my travels....

Simple joy, simple toys......bubbles!

Selah's dedication... Praising God for His faithfulness.

Raina - getting more expressive all the time...

Sadie enjoying one of her favorite things....yogurt!

Can a little girl really have too many sunglasses?

Today

Left over flowers - Yeah!

Today I played around with flowers again - using the tulips that had been in the small vases and recombining them into two other vases. Using the same design idea but different containers gives the flowers different moods...well a little anyway and where I placed them in our home.

This one is on my kitchen table. The sun was shining for awhile yesterday and I love how it danced among the flowers.

A second grouping of tulips in the dining room. It would look better with out the table cloth on the table but that would have required more effort!

And then sometimes I just want to gather some flowers and just put them in the vase and let them figure it out! The carnations were from the previous evening combined with blue bell flowers that are now blooming outside my kitchen window.

It has been a fun couple of days playing around with flowers - choosing how to use them and not stressing a little if the customer is going to like them!

Realizing that it is still snowing in Wyoming and Idaho - Spring will come - but maybe a bunch of tulips from the store will help tie you over!

Yesterday

I have had the privilege of working along side several great people in a ministry called GriefShare. Last fall I was invited to be a part of the leadership team -which was really God telling both Bonnie and Anne (leaders who have been in this ministry for 17 and 8 years respectively) and me that I should invest myself in this ministry. Last night we concluded a 13 week series and wanting to do something special - so we orchestrated a pot luck dinner, the video, sharing memories, music and a message from one of the pastors.

I was asked to help decorate the tables with flowers - simple but Spring-like.

Six tables and a buffet table....At first I was going to use the daffodils in my yard but they were starting to fade so I chose tulips.

Last summer when my nephew was getting married we used little carafes filled with daisies as centerpieces at the rehearsal dinner. They would be great for this gathering, too. Using two tulips in each of the jars was just enough for the small tables. For the buffet table, using a clear round vase, I filled it with 20 plus tulips, a little bear grass and just let them fall gracefully to the sides. A trick I learned in one of my floral books (I love perusing these at book stores and even purchasing a few) is to gather all your tulips in one hand, cutting the bottoms so they are the same length and then with your other hand, twisting the lower part of the stems while holding the top of the stems stable - giving the stems interest in the vase and also providing stability for arrangement. Set them into your vase and let them decide where they land. You don't want to have your stems too long or they won't fill out the center of the arrangement. We presented Anne with this arrangement as she is taking some time away to help at a summer camp with her grandsons.

A single carnation with a loved one's name tied with ribbon.

It was an evening filled with emotions - of love and memories and pain - yet in remembering clinging to our God of hope - that someday with Him we will be joined together filled with His love and only joy!

Mixed Blessings

Yesterday, I actually was able to work outside a little. It had stopped raining (Saturday was nice too, but I was busy at the flower shoppe) and I had made a mental list of what I needed to accomplish....
mow the lawn, check
spray for moss in the lawn, check
cut back dead branches from winter,check minus (I found several dead bushes along with bushes with last years growth that needed to be pruned but I didn't get finished)
spray dormant spray on the nectarine tree, check
spray the walkways, check - because Michelle came out and helped me! There are literally thousands of little maple trees trying to take over everywhere.

Michelle and I were feeling like we had done pretty well on our list and finished about 5:30 - she headed off to youth group and I stayed out for a little longer. My right index finger appears to be stained permanently brown - because of course as I was finished mowing the lawn I reached down to pull a few weeds and not having my gloves on I soon was a muddy mess! Combine mud with mixing Roundup or dormant spray and I am really stained! Even clorox and the "orange" scrub didn't get it all off!

To top things off - after I showered it started raining outside - so who knows if all the spraying we did will even work!

Garden Score
Weeds 1 Me 1-1/2 (maybe!)

Saturday was a busy day for the flower shoppe! Well at least for me it was. Erma said she has been typically doing about 14 arrangements in a day the last week or so - now remember she also does all the ordering and book keeping and "paper work" during the day also, so 14 is certainly not the most she has done or could do in a day. Well on Saturday I did 12!!! which also included delivering half of those arrangements! It was busy for me but I loved it.

The last arrangement was for a wife in town who's husband is serving in Iraq! He called from Iraq! Normally by the late afternoon we don't accept orders for delivery the same day but how could I refuse him? Karen was out doing our last delivery at that time so I said I would deliver it on my way home. Their home wasn't too far away, anyway.

I started with pink snapdragons and peach roses and added pink alstromeria, white daisies, pink and white calla lilies and pale blue freesia and green viburnum topping it off with a little pink wax flower. It was such a great way to finish my day.

I remember fondly when Al sent me roses for my birthday when he was in Afghanistan and again in the summer when he was in Iraq. I was and still am so touched by his thoughtfulness when he was there supporting our troops, in a hot desert and living in a sandy tent that he would think of me and how I love flowers! My heart is full with memories of Al - the best part of me.

I am so thankful that I was able to do this for this soldier - to share in his love story for his wife.