Life's a Beach!

I just had to share these pics and say wish you were here. Life's a beach and I love it.

All of these photos and more like them would make great greeting cards or photo gifts and are available in my redbubble shop too.

Lantana, Love it or Not?

Do you grow Lantana? In some places it can easily become an invasive obnoxious weed and in other places it is an almost ever blooming, can take any kind of situation in stride, hardy, happy perennial.
There are many varieties of lantana and I am telling you, butterflies and skipper moths absolutely love it. They are drawn to the flowers like I am to the beach on a warm sunny morning. The stems are kind of hairy ( sometimes they will make you itch) and it has an odd smell. The first time I saw the plants, I thought it smelled much like deep woods off, but now the scent is a little less pronounced.
I have it planted in several places. I love flowers and I can't get enough and one that is constantly in bloom is all the better.


The foundation border in the back of my house never seems to welcome anything I plant. I can and have planted many different things there, but nothing seems to thrive. I think I will mix in some different colors of lantana and other things and let it become a flower bed for "survivors" only. Who knows maybe it will live up to it's reputation of being hard to kill.

Suburned in a thunderstorm?

I am about to tell you a story that is absolutely true and incredibly unbelievable.
I have lived at the beach most of my life and yet I have never had this happen before. We, (my husband and I) went to the beach other day for about 2 hours. We walked, picked up shells, and marveled at the color of the water , the smell of the ocean, the feel of the salty air and the sky. The weather was cloudy and thundering and we had to dodge raindrops, but only for about 47 seconds.
The water was the prettiest green color. I love greens and this shade was like a cross between a beautiful emerald and bright spring green peridot. It was perfectly gorgeous. The sky looked like steel. All around us, there was a dark silvery blue almost the color of lead sky except for a small patch of bright light blue. At one point it looked as though the storm was circling us in. All around us,was steely gray, but we were standing in the only spot of light. It was really kind of eerie and yet comfortable at the same time. The thunder roared in the distance, but there was no lightning. The breeze was cool and the waves crashing on the shore were so relaxing.
The part of the story that is unbelievable is I got sunburned. LOL. I know that it is much easier to get burned when it is cloudy than when it is sunny, but man this burn was a surprise! It was actually storming. LOL Of all the things you would never expect, getting sunburned during a thunderstorm has to top the list.
Next time I get a burn, I would love it if it were sunny.

To Yard Sale or Not?

Today was like yard sale heaven! Several of the churches in our area were having their huge annual sales and the weather is glorious ( there is nothing in the world like April at the beach). There were also a lot of individual sales today.
Late last night though as I was laying in bed, I thought to myself...
"Self you have enough of your own junk, you sure don't need to go and buy somebody else's junk!" LOL So, in a flash of willpower of an unbelievable strength, I resisted the urge to get up and go searching for things I don't need and have no place for. I decided I would stay home and plant instead.

I have been redesigning my front yard for several years. Each time I get it planted, somehow we decide to change something. This time though it is staying! My husband and I built 4 new flower beds in the front yard and I filled them with seedlings that I had grown last year.
We planted Brugmansia, Hibiscus, Tall bearded iris and more daylilies that I thought possible. I cannot wait to see it all bloom. I am still new at blogging, so as soon as I figure out how to post pictures, I will add some.
Till then, you just have to imagine....



A Kiss of the sun for pardon
A song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on the earth.
Author Unknown.