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| Ginny, our miniature dachshund (in the April garden with Ajuga and Azalea), photographed by my daughter |
It's been difficult to write lately. It's not that I've been uninspired; I've just been outside working in the garden for hours every day and completely immersing myself in my surroundings. I'm sorry I haven't been a frequent blog visitor or blog poster.
I have wanted to share the happening's in my garden with you all, but time has sped by so quickly and I've just gotten really far behind!
It was late April when I last posted about plants in the garden, where I featured some of my natives. In my mid-April 'bloom day' post I hinted that the azaleas were budding, but I never went on to show their pretty colors in a post.
I looked back on my former blog posts and noticed that in mid-April last year the azaleas were already blooming. They were just a bit later this year, and lasted a little over 3 weeks.
I may not always be able to keep up with my blogging in a timely manner, but I am never without a chore or task to keep me busy in the garden!
Either I have a new truckload of plants to get into the ground, or I am digging up and transplanting existing plants to another area of the garden.
Or, I am weeding, or trimming bushes. Or moving rocks, laying paths, and building walls.
Or spreading mulch. Or picking up tulip poplar branches, leaves and flowers that have continuously dropped over the last couple of weeks. Or picking up bushel baskets of pollen.
Or cleaning off the deck and porch...covered and filled with pollen and debris.
Or taking photographs of the bees and butterflies that have stopped by. Or planting the containers on my deck and front porch.
Our daughter graduated from college last weekend. It was a wonderful event and we are so proud of her.
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| Lilac blooming with the azaleas |
She's been home for a few weeks and I've enjoyed spending time with her. Spending time on the computer doesn't seem that important when the weather is nice and your daughter is home.
There has been never a dull moment at home and in the garden, and I do plan to share it all. It just might not be 'on time, as it happens'.
Is it ever too late to share our gardens? Do dates really matter? Do we have to be on a schedule and worry about 'keeping up'? As long as we are enjoying our gardens, that's all that matters, in my opinion! That's what I've been doing, and I hope you have too! I'll see you around, when time permits. I hope you have a beautiful day. I'm thankful for all of you, my garden friends.
Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/
Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.
Oh wow Jan! How beautiful your azaleas are. Your front yard is just gorgeous with all of those blooms.Everyone is getting busy in the garden now and would be even busier if the rain would slack off. Well here in Ohio anyway. I have been able to try out some of those new tools though. LOL! They were such a welcome win and will get a real workout here.
ReplyDeleteIt is never too late to share our gardens! We've been super busy here as well, with all the gardening to do in addition to the regular day jobs. We've had visits from the children and grandchildren and a daughter receiving her master's degree. We can always catch up on the blogging and blog reading - time with family is much more important!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post! I am especially fond of the dog pic, and the white azalea with the butterfly is gorgeous. There is no timeline for posting pics, and no requirement for blogging or visiting. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to know you have been enjoying your gardens and your daughter, what a great duo!! No time constraints on posting, ever..
ReplyDeleteI love your attitude, Jan. You're just taking one day at a time, enjoying your garden and the rest of your life. Congrats on your daughter's graduation. I saw photos of her on FB. You must be so proud. Beautiful azaleas!
ReplyDeleteA college graduation is something to be proud of. I'm glad that you are taking some time to be with your daughter. I miss that together time that I used to have with our son.
ReplyDeleteYour azaleas are so beautiful!
So pretty the colors are all so vibrant!
ReplyDeleteI to find I tend to blog less and forget about my facebook and email accounts durning this time of year. I've left a note on my facebook that tells everyone I'm alive and well if there anything magor call me :) This time of year I just want to spend any moment I can enjoying and doing in the garden. There's never a moment when something can't be done out there until winter. Thank you for sharing! I look forward to your posts!
Oh Jan I wouldn't worry, I think it's far more important to be on schedule with the garden, as gardens wait for no one! ;) Your blooming azaleas are proof of that. What a glorious display! That photo of Ginny is just precious too.
ReplyDeleteJan, I think gardening is way more important than blogging. My son graduated from college in NC last weekend--happy but sad. Congratulations to your daughter. Carolyn
ReplyDeleteJan your flowers are amazing and gardening is so much more important than blogging these days for me too although I try to keep up...we shall see...congrats to your daughter and your family....enjoy them and your garden...we'll see you around...
ReplyDeleteWow! What great color and vibrancy!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to your daughter on her graduation Jan. Your azaleas were just stunning! I admit I, too, like to get outside on Saturday mornings and start pottering around in the garden, rather than spending time at my computer.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever seen the combination of azalea blooms as you have in your garden. Simply wonderful! Each one compliments the other. I don't think it would ever be too late to see such beauty.
ReplyDeleteWow. Wow. Wow.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lona. Hope the rain slows down for you soon & you can go outside & do what you love best! So glad you won the tools--they looked really nice;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Ginny, so glad you've also been enjoying your family. Congratulations on your daughter receiving her Master's degree. My daughter is starting work on hers in 2 wks and will graduation with a Master of Arts in Teaching next spring.
Thanks, Rebecca! I love the photo with our dachshund, too. I was glad my daughter snapped it when she did...that ajuga is no longer blooming, neither are the azaleas. It all goes by way too fast!
Thanks, Darla. Our children are indeed our greatest treasures! Wish we could freeze them in time; but then, we wouldn't get to watch them bloom if we could do that.
Thank you, Grace! I'm glad we're FB friends. I share more family photos there. I'm not too keen on adding them here on the blog. At least on FB I know the majority of my friends who can view my photos;-) Yes, we are definitely proud of her. Hard to believe those 4 yrs. went by so quickly!
Thank you Alison;-) Our time with our kids is so fleeting! I wish it didn't go by so fast! We just need to try to treasure every moment we have!
Thanks Cher;-) Do you have a blog I can visit? I tried to follow your link but it doesn't go any where;-( I'm glad you spend as much time as you like in your garden and don't worry about keeping up with FB! If you're a gardener, digging in the dirt is where you want to be as often as possible!
Thanks, Clare;-) Gardens wait for no one...so, so true! They do their own thing, as much as we try to 'manage' them!! And we don't want to miss a thing! It's fun to know gardeners like you and the other bloggers who 'get it':-)
Oh Carolyn, congratulations on your son's college graduation! I know you were having ambivalent feelings about that occasion! Yes, it is happy but sad. Such a time of accomplishment, and now their whole life is before them...yet it does signify such a move forward from when they were 'ours'. A difficult time, to be sure, for the mom's;-(
Thank you, Donna. Gardening is 'it', for us, isn't it?! But the blog connects us, so it, too, is important. I am so happy to have you and the other wonderful garden bloggers as friends. I feel guilty when I neglect you all...but I'm glad you understand;-)
Thanks, Sheila! Glad you enjoyed the vibrant colors...They went by WAY to fast!
Hi Jayne, Thank you, and yes, the garden is way more fun than the computer. But we are connected by our computers so we need to 'check in' now and then...thanks for doing so and stopping by;-)
Hi Michele, thanks for the compliments on the color combinations. They weren't 'planned', they just kind of got planted and ended up as they are by chance, over the years. I wouldn't normally think those colors would work that well together but it really is a bright 'splash' of awesomeness in the spring, and I've come to really be surprised by how much I like it each year.
Hi Debi, thanks for the 'wow's'!!! Hope you're doing well:-)
Never too late or too often to share your garden! Love the white azalea with the red, they both just pop!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your time with your daughter! Time is fleeting when it comes to kids! Your Azalea montage had me drooling. I know Azaleas really thrive in your zone. They grow here, but they're spectacular a little further south. This is a beautiful post!
ReplyDeleteStunning--and Ginny sure picked the perfect background to set off her coloring, smart pup!
ReplyDeleteDitto your comments about keeping up with a blog and visiting others. Tonight I am trying to catch up with everyone else (over 300 unread posts on my subscription list). Alan, our fellow Va. Gardener magazine blogger, stopped by the store the other day and your name came up. I mentioned that you are the only person to ever comment on anything I have written for them and that I am not sure how many readers we get from that source. I owe them about a month and a half worth of posts, but that will be later.
ReplyDeleteHi Jan,
ReplyDeleteWow, look at all that color! Your azaleas are beautiful! Thanks for taking the time to post photos of them. I am behind in everything I do, and have been for awhile. I went out after supper to pot up some plants and didn't come in until 9:00 p.m. central daylight savings time.
Congratulations to your daughter!
No excuses needed Jan, we all know how busy it can be during the spring planting season. May always finds me running around in all directions in the garden, and I do have a job and a life to lead! But I love it that way, and I'm sure you do too. Your azaleas are incredbile, and jaw dropping.
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