When Peonies Bloom

I am sharing my post from last June
as a loving tribute and a cherished remembrance
to my mother who passed away on June 7, 2013...
and who I am missing so very deeply this Mother's Day.

I still find myself struggling;
sadness cutting its way deep and hard into my soul;
grief still tying my emotions into an unwelcome knot;
tears spilling at unexpected moments;
memories so clear and sharp as if they happened yesterday.

If you are blessed to be with your mother today,
do me a favor.  
Hug her especially long.
Whisper in her ear how much you love her,
and then look into her eyes and tell her again...and again.

I wish I had one more chance to do just that...

I miss you, Mom.
And I love you with every portion of my heart.

June 9, 2013

God's timing is always perfect ~
even though our minds don't always understand it.
Even though it may be painful to us mere humans.
It stretches us.
Grows us.
Makes us stronger.

Snowflakes make the world slumber.
Rain provides a much needed drink.
Clouds cool the earth.
Sunshine brings the blooms.
All in God's perfect timing.

And every person's life is a story written by God's hand.

♥

As roses and peonies spill into the garden back at her farmhouse,
she sits by her mother's bedside in the nursing home.
Twelve days have passed since her father's entrance into heaven.
Still dazed.
Heavy hearted.
World still reeling.

 Remaining simply and humbly in the hands of God,
clinging to him and surrendering herself to his love,
she is still.
Hands clasped.
Words whispered...
"I love you, Mom."

Uncorking the bottle of memories carried deep in her heart,
floating like a sweet fragrance through her soul...

remembering.

Up on tiny tiptoes helping her mother hang laundry by the big old lilac bush in the backyard...

   standing shoulder to shoulder with her mother slicing apples for the pot of simmering homemade cinnamon applesauce on the stove...

walking hand in hand with her mother in the warm sand along the lake shore by the old cottage,
searching for ladybugs...

watching her mother help patrons select books at the library ~ her smile a constant jewel...


As the years passed, the moments changed.
She was the one assisting and lending a hand now.

Helping her aging mother apply her always present lipstick after lunch...

guiding her to the bedroom for an afternoon nap...

lifting her from her chair onto unsteady feet,
her smile ever present.

Threads of life woven into a quilt of forever love.

And now,
she bent her head in prayer over her mother's unresponsive, sleeping body.
Praying for release.
Relief.
Praying for God to take over.
Sitting in the silence of His Presence.
Breathing deep draughts of His Promise.
His peace guarding her heart and pressing close to her mother.

Her hope.
Her song.
 Angels present and hovering near.
Tears fell.
"I will miss you so much, Mom."


I believe in Jehovah God who created the whirling galaxies, the birds soaring in the sky overhead, the endless crashing waves and all that dances within them. I believe in Father of all who knits together life, made in His very own image, in the secret quiet of our beings.
I believe in Jesus Christ, the One with no earthly Father, with the dust of this earth between His toes, and with our names etched onto the palm of His hands, right beneath the nail scars…Who now sits at the Father’s right hand making endless intercession on our behalf. I believe in the stone rolled away, in the Body being raised, in the first fruits of the dead…and us all following soon, very soon.
I believe in the Cross as our only Hope, our only Claim, and our only Foundation. I believe that in the pounding surf of life we have only one thing to cling to: the feet of our Lord, hanging on that tree, His lifeblood flowing down, washing us whiter than snow.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, moving, whispering, indwelling our very skin. I believe in living by the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, and producing fruit in the Spirit…in the Spirit who helps us in our weakness with groanings that can’t be expressed in words.
I believe in the infallibility of the Bible, God’s Word – a sure Word, a pure Word, the only secure Word. I believe the words on those pages are breathed from the very throne room of heaven, are the love letter penned from the heart of the Lover of our souls; a beacon of light for stumbling feet to find sure footing on a dark path.
I believe there is more than believing. There is living what I believe.
~Ann Voskamp


Minutes ticked.
Hours passed.
Quiet.
Searching.
Waiting.

And when God's timing was perfect,
he swept her mother up in his strong arms and carried her tired body,
to be renewed and refreshed,
through the heavenly gates.
His loving embrace warm and healing.

She joined her beloved husband ~ both now made whole.
Healthy.
Happy.
Experiencing the incredible joy, beauty, and wonderment of heaven...

together.

“Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.”
Psalm 72:23-26


God's timing.
Always perfect.
Always beautiful.

She will always remember her mother....and her father....

when the roses and peonies bloom.

~  Eucharisteo  ~

Linking to the linky parties on the lower right of my sidebar.

Pouring Out Blessings

It's been a tough year.

A year of facing fears,

of grasping tightly to faith,

and a pouring out of many blessings.

When my parents made their journey to heaven four months ago,

cards arrived in my mailbox.

A lot of cards.

Cards full of words of love, prayers, and encouragement from loving friends and family members.

Cards that meant so much to my broken heart.

Each of them were like a comforting hug.

Two of those cards were sent to me from my sisters-in-law and their husbands.

Inside were gift certificates to a local nursery that I had driven past numerous times on the way to my parents' house, but had never taken the time to stop.

Written in the cards was their wish for me to purchase something special for my gardens

in remembrance of my parents.

During the next few months, I thought long and hard about what would be the perfect tribute.

A new rose bush, a statue, a tree...

but my wish for a small white arbor for our garage service door kept nudging my mind.

I envisioned it covered in roses and clematis.

So, when my husband and I took the trailer one last time to my parents' house last week to pick up the last of the things needed to be cleared out, we stopped at the nursery to look at their arbors.

Under bright blue skies and warm sunshine, we walked around the property.

The sound of trickling water immediately surrounded and entranced us.

When we turned the corner, there stood a beautiful fountain beckoning me to come closer.

It danced and splashed and totally enthralled me.

It was almost musical.

I loved it.

I knew immediately that this special fountain would be the perfect tribute to my loving parents

who had filled our house with music in one way or another.

As the clerk rang up the gift certificates, I scrounged through my wallet to pay her the rest of what was owed.

My husband suddenly, lovingly, tucked some money into my hand with a simple, 

"Here. I'll take care of the rest," he said, smiling.

I couldn't swallow the huge lump in my throat.

I choked out a weak, "Thank you so much, honey."

We hugged while the clerk looked on with soft questions in her eyes.

And do you want to know something?

That nursery didn't carry any arbors.

Not a one.

It dawned on me that God thought that this fountain was a much better choice.

A few days later on a perfect late summer day,

I dismantled my old flea market birdbath in the center of the catmint,

and assembled the new fountain.

It brought back fond memories of my times setting them up at the landscape company where I used to work.

The music trickled and danced and splashed through the garden...

and I could see my parents smiling down on me~

knowing the joy I was feeling.

I stood back and allowed a sob to escape.

My eyes welled with bittersweet tears

as garden music filled my soul...

...and the fountain poured out blessings...

quenching my thirsty soul.

~  Eucharisteo  ~

Linking to the linky parties on the lower right of my sidebar.

Music in the Gardens

Many of you have asked for photos of my garden.

With all the rain we've had lately,

everything seems to be happily bursting forth with color and fragrance!

Most plants are budding, pushing their color slowly into the garden ~

while others are dancing and swirling freely in their early summer attire.
There's music in the gardens!

So, grab that cup of coffee, 

slip on your flip flops,

and dance with me through the gardens

here at Heaven's Walk.

♥

The rose bush in my whiskey barrel next to the door

snuggles next to frilly ballerina pink verbena.

A look into the east gardens from the brick path next to the back porch.

Standing in the middle of the east gardens, 

the deep purple lilacs are finished performing

while the white lilacs are quickly fading.
The French lilacs on the right are still blooming beautifully ~
bowing their rain heavy heads toward the earth.

The shady north side gardens are filling in nicely.

My new-last-year arbor will eventually be covered with a cape of soft pink 'New Dawn' roses.

This is the second season in their new home.

The birdbath at the corner of the porch
is a popular pit-stop for a variety of feathered friends.
We've even watched squirrels jump up there for a slurp,
and many times during the winter it will be drained almost dry from the deer sipping from it.

French "Josie" lilacs ~

petite little blossoms that are so full and fragrant.

'Josphine' clematis ~ a large double bloomer that is winding her way up the small arch on the steps of the porch.
The long petals will eventually fall to the ground leaving the zinnia-like centers.

'Nelly Moser' loves her home on the old trellis in the north garden.
She is always a steadfast, happy bloomer towering above the elegant bleeding heart
and dainty sweet woodruff.

Standing in the north gardens.

The plants in my new north garden bed are growing by leaps and bounds.

Hydrangea, roses, hosta, bleeding heart, catmint, 

and a new fir tree.

A female bluebird visits her favorite bath
in the center of the east garden.
I brought the little pale pink cement birdbath home from the antique market a couple months ago
and set it in the middle of the large one.
It created additional space for birds to bath together.

Kind of like a community spa.  :)

Happy hostas pirouette with partying peonies.

Looking toward our barn.
We have plans of renovating it sometime this year before the wood ages too much more.
We don't want to lose this beautiful piece of history which was built long before our farmhouse was.

Sweet, stately foxglove
sprinkled with raindrops.

Crowds of peonies reach toward the sky.

Little Kermit waits for his buddies.
There are 20 of them who join him in the nightly waterfront chorus.

Standing on the outside perimeter of the east garden,

'Zephirine Drouhin' climbs happily over the arbor.
The first bloom made her appearance today.

Her deep pink flowers will soon blanket the arbor and send sweet fragrance throughout the gardens.

'Sarah Bernhardt' peonies tango with 'Walker's Low' catmint.

Dichondra and bacopa spill from a vintage wooden box

next to an old watering can on a wooden bench my husband built for me years ago.

Every time I walk through the gardens, I hear a whisper...

"Abide in Me".

A loving reminder from above
that blesses my soul.




Now....I'm off to prepare Heaven's Walk for a photo shoot with a beloved, nationally known editor.
I'll fill you in on the details later!  :)

Have a joyful week!

~  Be Blessed ~

Linking to the linky parties on the lower right of my sidebar!

The Old Garden Gate

Well, we knocked another task off the "honey-do" list this week.

[If the Husband is trying to impress me or something, 
he's doing a good job.]

When we moved out of our lake house, we took the vintage cow stanchion gate with us.

It was rescued from a barn that was being torn down and we installed it at the entrance to our garden lot.

We couldn't leave it behind.

It had so much character and history.

I loved the weathered wood,

the spot where cows chewed on it,

and the rusty strap hinges.

The screws were so old, they still had small squares of leather instead of washers.

For the last 6 years, the poor old gate sat behind the outhouse here at Heaven's Walk,

leaning against an old mulberry tree ~

waiting patiently for us to find a place to plant her.

I expanded the north garden bed last week.

[Which meant digging more sod ~ 

which of course is at the top of my "love to do" list. 

Not.]

The new bed is from the crab apple tree back to where I'm standing beneath the arbor.

A whole lot of sod was dug.
Square by square.
Wheel barrel by wheel barrel.

As I stood there leaning my tired, sweaty body on my shovel and gazing at the work I had yet to do,

I suddenly realized where that sweet old gate was going to find a home.

I couldn't wait to approach the Husband with my grand idea.

He was very receptive and willing to make another one of my visions happen.

[Ok...what's going on with him lately, anyway...?
Is he finally developing a shabby prairie chic heart....?]

Sunday afternoon,

under a warm sun filling an azure sky,

we lovingly nestled The Old Garden Gate between the lilacs and a dwarf crab apple tree

creating a sweet side entrance to the north garden.

We gave her a little face lift, too.

We moved one of her rusty strap hinges to a more solid spot, 

and added a couple of new ones to help hold her together.

She was then washed with some Behr's clear protective stain

to help her last another decade.

It brought out the rich color of the worn, vintage wood.

We stood back and grinned.

We practiced walking back and forth between her strong posts,

unlatching and latching the ancient, rusty hook;

hearing it click into place.

We could almost see her smiling...

There....

among the lavender 'Princess de Monaco" and pink Double 'Knock-Out' roses,
 the blush pink 'Sarah Bernhardt' peonies,
 the old fashioned purple and white lilacs
and the deep green pines;

standing proud and stately once again.

This is only a small portion of the 12 yards of mulch I've been shoveling over the past two weeks...  :)

Someday, this cool, shady area will be embraced by tall firs,
lush, fragrant peonies,

and colorful roses ~
creating a cozy, secret garden...

complete with a
sweet Old Garden Gate.

~  Blessings  ~

Linking to the linky parties on the lower right of my sidebar!