A Much Needed Long Weekend at the Beach and a Green Spring!

I feel like it's been weeks since I had a real blog post. I took a long weekend away last weekend and went to North Myrtle Beach to see my parents and my sister and nieces. My 2 year old niece learned to crawl out of her pack and play, which made for interesting mornings. And I happened to mention that I couldn't believe the mosquitos were already out and I didn't like them because mosquitos suck your blood. Totally freaked out my 4 year old niece! ( I have boys, they think that stuff is cool.) We had great weather and got some stellar photos on the beach. My sister has an awesome DSLR camera that makes me drool.

Lately, my weekends have been for work over flow and things I don't get done during the week. There's always the frenzy to get everything done before you go away and then the frenzy to finish and attempt to "catch up" when you return. A delicate balance that I never seem to achieve. This time of the year my blogging may ease up a bit. I'm working hard to regain my weekends. They are after all for fun, relaxation and gardening (yes, I find gardening relaxing too). Certain gardening tasks must be done in a certain window to be effective. The weeding, mulching and planting marathon has begun.

 

Blooming Dogwood

Red Japanese Maple

Blooming Wisteria

I can't remember what this flower is. I planted it about 10 years ago and this is the first year it has bloomed. Awesome foliage too!

 

My Mom gave me some of her Amaryllis when I was visiting. Already blooming and liking it's new home. The fat dog on the right is Izzy. She was the chewer, now she just eats a lot. We've been instructed to put her on a diet. This should be interesting.

 

I love this time of the year when the sun is bright and everything is vivid green and blooming! So hopefully this explains why my blogging has slowed. I do have some exciting projects to post and some new ones in the works. Stay tuned, I will be sharing soon!

 

Wordless Wednesday - Gorgeous Fall Garden

 

Sanctuary of Fresh, White Summer Blooms

I hope you don't mind that I occasionally take a break from writing about painting. I love to paint, but I also love to garden, vegetable and flower, although not so good at the vegetable part. I also like girl's weekends and drinking wine. ( I might start writing about that soon, as well.) Walking around my yard, with these fabulous days we've been having in the Carolina's, I decided to photo the various white flowers in bloom. The gardenia's are my favorite. Their scent is intoxicating! Sitting near a gardenia in bloom, with a glass of Chardonnay as the sun sets, takes you to another world where teens and work stress doesn't exist. :) If you have teens home for the summer you know exactly what I'm talking about! So my husband and I seek out the sanctuary of our back yard that we've spent many hours developing. So today, I'm sharing some of my back yard. I hope you enjoy!

Gardenia

Gladiola

Shasta Daisy

Portulaca

Diamond Frost

Beautiful, Blooming Peony

Just had to share a few photos of my blooming pink peony! We purchased this plant many years ago from the Grower's Outlet on South Blvd. It was tiny and in the clearance pile for $5. We planted it, but thought  maybe it got too much shade. We watched it get green, year after year with no blooms. We thought we just got what we paid for. After 3 or 4 years we moved it to a spot with a little more sun, and the next year it had one bloom!! We were so excited! I guess it needed to mature. It's been about 4 years now since we moved it and it gets more blooms each year and the blooms are getting bigger. That last frost affected some of the blooms, but not this one!

So pretty! I hope this reminds you that it is still spring, even though it feels like Summer!