In Memory

We all have people come and go in our lives. We have childhood friends, old friends and new friends. We meet people at work, church, community events or clubs. 

I met Katie in 2017 during my Master Gardner Training, she was already a Master Gardner, she helped with our class. She and I hit it off right away. We had many things in common, not just gardening, but how we lived our life. 

She taught me some of her own tips and tricks in floral design. She was downsizing and gave me several floral design books, vases and more. She liked to collect unique seed pods and dried flowers for me to use in my bouquets.

 She was a person who did little things to brighten your day.

An out of the blue text message.

Opening your mailbox to find a card from Katie.

And always giving her smile away.

 Katie gave me this article in May. 

We both ended up at the same Greenhouse one day. We got a good chuckle out of that.

And we helped plant at our Display Garden for the Master Gardner Club the same day.

My last text message from her was " Hey Garden Extraordinaire,  I am so blessed our paths have crossed. You are a blessing to me, keep on smiling."

This past week, Katie passed away unexpected.

♥

Love you Katie.. I will miss you.

 

Strawberries and Chocolate Mint .. Oh My!

 What I love about having a herb garden is the convenience of walking out on my deck and picking herbs to make infused water. We enjoy a refreshing drink in the summer and you can not beat a great combo of fruit and herbs.

 Blueberry and Lemon Verbena

Cucumber and Peppermint

Orange and Basil

and our new favorite..

Strawberry and Chocolate Mint!

Do you have a favorite infused water combo?

Making infused water is easy.. add your fruit and herb and let sit for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. If you want more flavor squeeze your fruit and press the leaves of your herbs.

Add ice and enjoy!

Happy Summer

 

Spring Garden Tour ~ Joy List Monday

Hello Friends,

One of my favorite times to take a tour of the garden is after a gentle rain.

 The Peony Patch

 Radish and Garlic

 Onion Chives

 Joy List Monday

♥ a weekly ritual ♥

a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties and graces that 

make life magical and to set aside time for 

gratitude each day

 ♥ a perfect weather day

♥ fresh clean sheets on the bed

 ♥ bluebirds are nesting in our birdhouse

 ♥ muffins for breakfast

 ♥ rain drops on flowers

 

 

The Flower Shack is Open

 The road is open! The Flower Shack is Open!

Plants are available for sale. Hosta, Evening Primrose, Lemon Basil and more.

 Succulent Log Planters

Perfect for Dad for Father's Day

Spring Bouquets

 

 My dad built some butterfly houses and bat houses, I have them for sale at the Flower Shack.

 The landscaping is all done. The road is open!

Have a fantastic weekend my friends.

♥

 Carla

Can you tell I am happy the road construction is all done.

 

Thoughts...

When things don't go as planned ....

I had planned to open the Flower Shack long ago. I planted rows and rows of tulips. They all were getting ready to pop open.

I got all my new products ready.

Photo Cards

Succulent Log Planters

and

More!

  A few weeks before my tulips opened. I heard the rumble of the road construction start. 

We did know Arlington Avenue was going to be under construction.

We were told it was a simple project. It will take a few days. 

Mail service and garbage service will not be interrupted.

"No worries" I thought. 

The leaders of our Village said, "it is a simple re-pave job."

"Mom, I think the neighbors trees are being cut down." my son yelled out.

  

"Mom, I think the neighbors rock wall is being torn out." yelled my son.

Then all machines packed up and went away.

They did not come back.

Week 1.

Week 2.

Week 3.

We had a major rain storm.

 They had to haul more gravel in to the low spots.

 And once again.. silence. Nothing.. where are they? What are they doing?

You can tell by looking at the leaves of the trees how much time has passed.

 Then one day, I heard machinery again. They began to pave the road.

In the mean time they closed our road completely. Without telling anyone. Including the Post Office. We did not have mail delivery for five days!!

The best part of the story..

Friday they stopped working at 1:30 - 2:00 .. leaving huge gaps in front of our driveway. No low setting car was going any place.

Saturday we heard the sound of machines. They finished the driveways on Saturday.

Monday they came back and did the landscaping.

A six week project... does that seem short to you?

No communication... our neighbor has a low setting car. Her muffler would have been ripped off. 

NO ONE told us to move our cars before they started Friday. And none of us neighbors thought they would leave the driveways with the gaps into Saturday afternoon.

 No mail service for 5 days! When our neighbor called the Post Office, the Postmaster shared they were never told about Arlington construction!!

So what happened?

Grant Money v.s. Tax Payer Money

The project was held up because the project was divided up into several different contractors doing the work. Sadly, some did not work well together and the quality of work differed between the contractors as well.

To make a long story short.. I will finally open the Flower Shack on Thursday with Spring bouquets, plants, succulent log planters and photo cards.

I missed selling my tulip bouquets for this season.  I will try again next year.

Do you have a road construction story?

Hello June

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

 Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful;

they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul.

Luther Burbank

" Just living is not enough." said the butterfly

 "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."

Hans Christian Anderson

I think this bag would be perfect for me.

All photos are from Como Park Zoo and Conservatory.. including the bag. It is available in the gift shop. My sweet dear said "you already have so many bags."   

This could be true, but don't tell sweet dear.

 Click here to learn more about Como Park Zoo and Conservatory

 ♥

Carla