Speechless!

The thing I love most about our yard is that something is ALWAYS blooming!  Even in the dead of winter, the glossy green branches of the camellia bushes in our west garden can barely support the soft majestic snowy white flowers that threaten the beauty of the most beautiful roses. 

In my previous post you saw our first glorious sign of spring amidst the Azaleas and Dogwoods. Just as those blooms began to fade, the hydrangeas teased us with tight green buds that would soon burst into round globes of pink, blue and lavender.

It facinates me to see how quickly a plant goes from a mass of brown dead wood to green leaves larger than my hands and blossoms lovely enough for an oil painting.

The Anthony Waterer Spirea have been poised for weeks, simply waiting for the perfect sunny warm day to unlock tiny buds into sprays of delicate blissful pink splendor.

When the natural surrounding you is this grand, what words can you use? 

Thank you God for rendering me speechless!!

Be love and be blessed!

Woodard Azalea Trails

East Texas is awash in blooming dogwoods and azaleas. 

What a wondrous tribute to the beginning of Spring!  Branches of shrubs are heavy laden with gorgeous blooms in dozens of shades of red, pink, coral, lavender and white.

I decided to create a photo journey of my very own Azalea Trail.  Most of our plants are young, but what they lack in size, they make up for in bountiful blooms.  So enjoy your time on the Woodard Azalea Trails!

 

The lakeside yard is too beautiful for words. Blooms are everywhere!



Before the azalea blooms fade the hydrangeas will burst into large blue and lavender mopheads of color.

Double flowers~

Let's walk to the front yard...

A sunny spot to enjoy the blooms.

On to the West Garden....

New ferns begin to unfurl.

And the clematis vine emerges from hibernation.

The native Cross Vine will be visited by butterflies, bumblebees and honeybees.

One of my favorite places to sit and mediate surrounded by God!

A lantern marks the West Garden trail entrance.

You never know who might be hiding in the azaleas!

Hope you enjoy your own spring journey! 

Be love and be blessed,

Complaints

At the beginning of February I was inspired by another blogger to go a month without complaining.  What a concept!  "This will be easy" I thought.  After all, I hardly ever complain.


Halfway into my "No Complaints month", I had some slip ups and challenges. Until you really focus on what you are saying you probably don't realize how much you complain.


It was so interesting to catch myself and "recalculate" my thinking into a positive instead of a negative. Over and over I would hear my GPS brain say "recalculating route" as I mentally reformed a negative thought into a positive one.  I learned a few things: 

1. I complain without realizing it. So what does that do to my psyche for the rest of the day? Do I set myself up for a negative day with my unintentional complaints?
2. Complaining has no part in living a positive life.
3. Complaining contributes to frown lines. No one ever genuinely smiles when they are complaining!
4. My husband complains much less than I do. I should learn from his example.
5. Complaining fixes nothing, including my attitude.

Be love and be blessed,