Dear Reader:

Friday and last night the temperatures dropped into the mid-thirties…it is time to start a fire. Happiness is….watching a fire burning in my happy room! It is at the top of my ‘happy’ list! It is something so cozy and comforting about relaxing and watching embers burn down low.

Ya’s… I got to try out my new blue jacket yesterday…especially at Hollow Tree Nursery. Anne asked me to go to Dukes to eat barbecue in Ridgeville and since we were so close to Hollow Tree we decided to visit Lisa and take her a plate of barbecue too.

Even after the cold snap…blooms were everywhere…especially the Encore azaleas were out-doing themselves…they were more numerous and diverse in colors than the camellias.

Eloise’s Japanese Maple didn’t make it last spring so Lisa found me a larger gorgeous Japanese Maple…I am now trying to decide where to put it and which grandchild should have the new one. Rutledge’s red ornamental Japanese Maple is just struggling to stay alive…it is located in too much sun and has white spots on all its leaves…but still so potentially pretty too…decisions decisions decisions. It will all shake out in the end.

Before I show you more ‘pretties’ from Hollow Tree and then some more in my own garden…let me share some ideas about life with you from the author Emilie Barnes and her book Everything I Know I Learned in My Garden.

It’s Never Too Early to Start…or Too Late

If it doesn’t work, try something else

Life is fragile. Protect it. 

Life is enduring. Trust it. 

Life is daily. Water it. Weed it.

Life is indescribably beautiful. Enjoy it and say thank you. Growth takes time. While you are waiting, pull a weed.

There’s something for everyone-different blooms for different rooms.

Pruning hurts. Pruning helps you grow. 

Sometimes the tiniest flowers smell the sweetest. 

Everything does have a season but the secret is…know what season you are in. (That is getting harder and harder isn’t it? 🙂

Dream big. But try not to let ambition turn your joy into drudgery.

Grow what you love. The love will keep it growing. 

You reap what you sow. But there will be surprises.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jo and Colby…when we got home one stem on your rose bush had reached towards the sun laterally outward….with two beautiful roses on it.

I am so thankful for my garden…what a difference since 2013…six years ago…when it was just a bare patch of ground with an orange circle surrounding where the garden would go…and hopefully grow. And now…it continues to grow.

So until tomorrow…”More than anything I must have flowers, always, always”– Claude Monet

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*** Wonderful news! Kaitlyn’s beloved grandmother, Judy, has taken on cancer for a second time (breast cancer) and beat it back! The bells (actually one) rang for Judy, her husband Bill, her daughters, Becky and Susan, and niece Sara plus all the rest of her loving family and friends! Way to get “little c” and put it in its place. The bell rings for YOU Judy and deservedly so! 🙂  🙂  🙂

From left to right: Sara, Becky, *Judy, and Susan! What a beautiful support group and warrior…a cancer thriver…no doubt! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I was showing Anne my Christmas moose ornaments from Sherry…Anne sent me a photo of a puffin (Anne adores puffins) Christmas tree ornament that Sherry sent her too. *What a gal you are Sherry…we will all have memories of Maine at Christmas…thanks to you!