Golden Cottage Spring Happenings

 

Spring Greetings Gail-Friends!

While the official beginning date of spring is March 20, she has already arrived in all her glory here in central Florida!  My azalea bush is showing off as usual.  Full of blooms that continue almost all year, she has brought us so much JOY!  

And around the neighborhood, the pink trees are competing with her glory.  I don't know this pretty lady's name, but isn't she beautiful?

 

Jem and I visited a new business near us.  It's a very fun combination of lovely plants, art, unique gifts, wine, tea,  a snack menu, and a large,  courtyard for enjoying our gorgeous Florida weather.  They even have "mocktails" for those of us who don't drink alcohol.  Sometimes, they have live entertainment and book clubs.  While there, we saw a blooming mimosa.  We don't usually see them in our area, but we see them when go to north Florida in late spring.  

When I was a child, my girlfriends would use these for powder puffs,  and play like we were  putting on makeup.  They are sooooo soft!

There is a small pond in the courtyard that I thought was nice:

 

 

 

love these toadstools!

In the gift shop, I found these pretty luna moth earrings that I loved, loved, loved...so Jem bought them for me. 

 

We went to a Mexican restaurant on Valentines Day and I fell in love with the mural paintings there.  

 

 

Aren't they breathtaking?  The artist is local and has many other murals around the downtown area.

While we ate dinner, he told me what he adores about me, and I did the same for him.  Here's my list:

• he's romantic (bought me flowers, which I forgot to take a photo of)
• he's a southern gentleman 
• he loves and obeys God in all areas of his life
• he helps his friends and neighbors
• he is a wonderful gardener (I call him Mr. Green Jeans)
• he can fix anything (so I call him my handyman)
• he has my best interest at heart in everything -  always 
• he is kind, loving, and, forgiving 
• every Sunday, he makes me breakfast - he calls it Pampered Princess Day

Honestly, Gail-Friends, I could go on and on.  I say he is the best husband in the whole, wide world, and I know I am the most blessed woman in the whole USA. 

I have more to share, but I'm going to do that later.  We celebrated Purim yesterday with our synagogue family and had a great time!  I'll post photos of that in my next post.

Today, I'm joining in the Pink Sunday link up with my friend Sarah Coller.  Give her a visit by clicking the link.  I know you'll  enjoy her blog.

Thankful Thursday - Flower Friends

Flowers always make people better,

 happier, and more helpful; 

they are sunshine, 

food and medicine for the soul.

                                                       ~ Luther Burbank.

Welcome to Golden Cottage.  I'm so thankful for my beautiful flowers. . . and for my wonderful gardener (Rabbi Jem aka Mr. Green Jeans).  This photo is of the front door and I think you can see how talented he is at keeping the green things growing.

Here are a few shots of the flowers currently blooming in Golden Garden:

New Zealand impatiens

The peace lilies love living here

Mexican petunias reflected in a birdbath near Golden Pond in the backyard.

The regular impatiens are flourishing as always.  Abundant blooms in white, coral, and red last all year if the weather  stays warm.

 I don't know the name of this flower, but it is so pretty.

The elephant ears around Golden Pond are huge this year due to the heavy rains every afternoon.  We are so thankful for rain because it keeps the garden a brilliant green.  These have grown even taller since I took the photo below.  They are probably a good twelve feet high now.

The best husband in the whole wide world.

And look at this fabulous bloom.  Isn't God amazing?

I think this is a firecracker.  The blooms get much bigger and brighter.

Our grapes are putting on fruit, and the vines are escaping our yard via the fence so the neighbors will enjoy them, too.

The flower friends give me so much JOY!

Hubby bought me another birdbath. Isn't he the sweetest husband in the world? I'm so thankful for him. I haven't decided where to put it yet, so I'm enjoying it on the back porch.  It was a great bargain - $14.99 at Aldi.  The other one (with birds) cost $50.00).

Our grandson visited this week and wanted to play chess with his PawPaw.  He won, again. . . and he's got his poker face down pat.  He can even sing and fiddle around with toys while he plays.  He's amazing.

He got us tickled again this week when he said, "Today is the 24th, right?"  We assured him it was.  He got really excited and said, "I have to go home and get to bed early so I'll be ready for tomorrow!"

"Why? What's happening tomorrow?"

" It's $5.00 sushi day at Publix!"

That cracked us up.  He loves sushi and especially the Publix kind.  Ahhhhh, that boy . . . a constant source of JOY!

Next week, I'll show you some birds new to Golden Cottage and a few from our birding drives in the area.

I'll leave you with these thoughts:

What are you thankful for this week?

I sometimes share my posts with these friends:
  Spiritual Sundays  GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays
   BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS LINK PARTY     Share Your Cup Wednesday Wordless Wednesdays    Classical Homemaking Link-Up     
    Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday 
Sunday Thoughts Link-Up
 OVER THE MOON LINKY PARTY!

Thankful Thursday - How Sweet It Is

The day I became GiGi (a grandmother)

And here he is today - a source of constant love and JOY . . . and laughter!  We are so thankful for him.

Do you remember the saying, "How Sweet It Is"?  It was spoken by tv host, Jackie Gleason, on his weekly show back in the 1950's.  Well, that's how I feel about being a grandmother.  I love it!  I thank G-d every day for my husband, children, their husbands, and our grandson.  We are so blessed.

Father and son warming up by the fire dvd, which we've used a lot this winter.

So thankful that we got to spend some time with dear friends this week.  How sweet it was!

The restaurant where we ate is on the water, and I got to take some good photos of birds -- I'm always thankful for that

This sign was in a park near the restaurant.  Don't you love it?

How sweet it is to be able to have fresh flowers all year 'round.  They make me feel so rich.  But, hey, I am rich!!!  I can buy a $4.00 bouquet that lasts for two or more weeks at our local Winn Dixie or Publix grocery. (Aldi and Walmart flowers don't last as well.) Here are a couple of bouquets I've made lately.  

A bunch of carnations was only $4.00

A mixed bouquet with three roses was only $4.00, too.

I want to share a little trick I use with fresh flowers to make a fuller bouquet:  I use artificial baby's breath.  That way, I can use it over and over again. I buy a bunch at Walmart for about $3.00.  I cut one bunch down to fit the small containers.  It makes me so happy to save money!! 

~~~
I sometimes share my posts with these friends:
  Spiritual Sundays  GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays
   BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS LINK PARTY     Share Your Cup Wednesday Wordless Wednesdays    Classical Homemaking Link-Up     
    Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday 
Sunday Thoughts Link-Up
 OVER THE MOON LINKY PARTY!