Dear Reader:

I love picket fences!  As you know I have a white moon gate and two white picket fences in the garden. Confederate jasmine grows on the fences and moon flowers grow on the gate. I am in heaven each year when all is blooming at the same time.

Still….there is a strong attraction in me for a weathered picket fence….instead of white-washing it….a simple decoration like a water can or floral board make me jump for joy!

I went back in Tuesday Morning (Monday morning) and all the other lounge chairs were gone! I am so glad I didn’t dilly-dally around and miss getting this chair because it is so comfortable.

My handyman, Ernie, came over Monday afternoon to cut some limbs and branches from the neighbor’s oak tree that hangs over my driveway….with the severe storms we have had this year the limbs have been falling like rain. I had so much fun watching the big branches fall and helping Ernie drag them to the street. We also attacked the wisteria that was taking over the magnolia bushes and some of the azaleas….another great feeling of victory

.

Now I can pull in without fear of a massive branch landing on the car and my azaleas are so happy…..I call the second driveway….”Azalea Lane.”

Now look how cleared “Azalea Lane” looks:

All the different colors of azaleas are making themselves known:

Every morning I jump out of bed to check on the blog and make sure it is up and running….but now it is, also, to watch the sun come up and see the rays hitting the azaleas… sending them sparkling in the morning dew.

Azaleas and Summerville are synonymous. In North Carolina where I grew up….spring time means dogwood trees and they are beautiful….but I am now officially a “lowcountry” girl because it is azaleas that touch my heart. (*My cousin Susan told me that we are so far ahead of Fayetteville, NC….no dogwoods or azaleas blooming there yet.)

Azalea Park and Sculptures, Azalea Magazine, Azalea Square and because the annual Flowertown Festival is held in Azalea Park….many tourists call it the Summerville Azalea Festival too.

So until tomorrow….Thank you Lord for allowing me to live in a paradise that is heaven to me on earth. I owe you a BIG ONE for bringing me to this piece of land which fills me with such joy!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• My cousins, Susan and Marcia arrived after an extended trip….somehow they got on Highway 17 instead of I-26 off I-95….a real mystery there and ended up right outside Savannah….as you can tell in the picture each one is letting me know where the “real” problem lay.
• 

The weather held out and we made the most of our time together taking a quick tour of Summerville and turning on the new lantern on the deck. Marcia loved the swing.