Celebrating Those Who Nurture

What a wonderful weekend we had, the weather was simply perfect.  Sunny and warm and pleasant.  Dayle and our son Travis went to Costco on Saturday and returned home with arms full of flowers for Kristi and I for Mother's Day.  I want to recognize ALL those who nurture their friends and family and even their pets - men, women, all of those who care for us all.  

Dayle got me some pretty two-toned roses and also a bunch with blood red and white ones.  Kristi's favorite are yellow roses.

My daughter Amy in Ohio sent me this wonderful hand-crafted oak wooden spoon, isn't it neat?

I oiled it with mineral oil and it drank it in.  

And it even has my name on it!  Fun!

I made baked beans yesterday for a Mother's Day BBQ and used my new spoon to stir it as it simmered on the stove for a few hours.  :-)

My Sensation Lilac has fully bloomed out and now I'm trying to figure out the very best place to plant it so it can thrive.  

We relaxed on the deck a lot over the weekend, listening to the little waterfall's sounds and the birdsong.

My Lantana's are adjusting to their new home and seem to be growing in front of my eyes.

Every year I see more varieties of these.  Some are orange, yellow and pink, like this one, some are mostly yellow, some are more pastel.  :-)

Kristi worked hard in the yard over the weekend and so we went to Tad's for dinner on Saturday evening.  I wanted to tell you that after a 6 month regimen of low carb, and a loss of 25 lbs., I have gone back to eating what the rest of the family is having.  I decided that any meal regimen that forbade fruit, carrots, peas, corn and potatoes, bread, pasta and rice wasn't good for a long-term plan.   

One of the highlights of my weekend is when my grandson Hayden handed me this card he made for me.  :-)

I think I might need to frame this and keep it forever!  :-)

Our pink Rhododendron is in bloom and the bright orange azalea that Kristi planted a few years ago is doing well!

All of my Hostas are doing extremely well this year so I've decided to plant the rest of this tiered area with them.  It's a shady area and these do really well there.

More Lantana pix.

Look at my purple Clematis.. wow.. now that's purple!

My pink Rosebud Azalea is stunning each year.

And my huge bright fuchsia Rhodie.. I have at least 3 of these, the one across the circle drive is 25 feet tall!

These really are eye-poppers!

The white with dark purple markings.

And I picked a nice bunch of Lily-of-the-Valley!

I meant to put these in a smaller vase but yesterday was busy so I stuck them in this glass tumbler for awhile.. they're still there.. lol.

Dayle BBQed chicken, I made the baked beans, doctoring up canned baked beans with ketchup, some mustard, brown sugar and I sliced up a whole orange and added them while they simmered and oh-la-la.. they were good!  And the first potato salad of the summer.. Yukon Gold potatoes, hard boiled eggs, chopped celery, mayo, mustard and chopped pickles.  Picnic food!  

Well, I must dash to my DAR meeting and then to swimming.. have a super week!  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)