I took a walk in the neighborhood this weekend and noticed a house that has been empty for years with white lilacs growing over the fence. I went home for my basket and filled it with flowers. I have two purple lilacs, but the white ones I have never been interested in. I’m kind of a purple girl really, and the purple ones really caught my eye. I realized I missed the elegant beauty of white lilacs.

Early Sunday morning, I got up and lit the candles and turned Pandora radio on to soft instrumental music. The entire house seemed to be filled with peace from the lovely white bouquets scattered around the dining room. I instantly fell head over heels in love with these white beauties.

I have decided I simply must have one of these elegant trees in my yard. Before I got home, I decided on another must have. This is a photo of my neighbors house and her wisteria that is growing over her porch.

The wisteria blooms are kind of on the end of their cycle, but is this not the sweetest thing you have ever seen? It is a darling old house, and this just makes it even more sweet. We have two old homes on Cottage Avenue with wisteria growing over the porch.

But the first house on cottage, my little green house, the climbing old fashioned roses are starting to bloom over the arbor. Stop back by next Monday and I bet I will have some photos for you, in the meantime, I will leave you with one more mosaic of of the flowers around my neighborhood.

Have you been swooning over your neighbors flowers and getting ideas for your own dream garden or what you would like to add to yours?

Find rest O my soul, in God alone. Psalms 62:5

Wishing you a day of Sabbath rest and renewal for you soul.

]]> http://www.behindthegateblog.com/2013/05/finding-rest/feed/ 11 http://www.behindthegateblog.com/2013/05/motherhood/ http://www.behindthegateblog.com/2013/05/motherhood/#comments Sat, 11 May 2013 14:26:53 +0000 admin http://www.behindthegateblog.com/?p=6149

Motherhood is a choice you make everyday to put someone else’s happiness and well being ahead of your own, to teach the hard lessons, to do the right thing, even when you are not sure what that thing is…  and to forgive yourself over and over for doing everything wrong. Donna Bell

I thought I was done with the intense mothering. My children are grown, and we even have three little grandchildren that I love and enjoy – and then send home with my daughter at the end of the day.  And then, oh so gradually, I begin to have to take care of my mom. One day this spring, in the confusion of her mind, she told someone I was her mother. It was a moment of clarity for me. I realized it is true…I am now responsible for a another life, to make sure she is taken care of.  She is looking at the world through eyes that don’t understand, and looking to me to keep her safe. I am now her mother. It is a choice I have to make everyday, and truthfully, one I wouldn’t have chosen. Some days are easier than others. I must forgive myself over and over again, and my mother as well.  If you think it takes patience to cope with little children, it takes even more to cope with someone struggling with Alzheimer’s Disease. I really am trying to do the right thing by her, and to keep my sanity as well. She doesn’t live with me, but lives in a memory care center a mile from my house. Care for her is now 24/7 and intense. It is much more than one person can do.  I am thankful for the wonderful caregivers who help with her care, I honestly don’t know how I could do this all on my own.  My role is to mother her the best I can, every day that I can. One day at a time…

Is there a season quite as lovely as lilac season?  As I walk to the post office, their heady fragrance in the yards fills my senses even before I see the beautiful old fashioned bouquets. Light purple, darker purples, snowy white, they are all so lovely.

At our house, I have an old fashioned deep purple lilac tree.  The poor thing took a beating in January of 2012 when we had an ice storm. I noticed this year I have very few blooms.  I have two trees, and I have to confess, both of them don’t have the blooms I think they should have. There is an abandoned house in the neighborhood with all the grounds neglected for years. That lilac is covered in light purple blooms!

I am hoping to purchase a new light lilac soon, does anyone have any tips for me on care for these plants?

It is blue Monday around my house today. The hardest thing about a wonderful weekend, is coming back to real life on a Monday. My son and his girlfriend took me sailing on Saturday. I have never been on a sail boat before, and I was amazed at the two of them! They live on a sailboat in Puget Sound and the weather is finally warm enough for me to come along and see why they love the water enough to want to live on it.

Our destination was a little port town called Pouslbo. I was charmed by the little white church on the hill overlooking the bay. By the time we docked, I was starving and we could smell the food cooking in the restaurant that overlooked the water. (You can see it in the photo on the left with a large railing out front.) Our hunger was more than satisfied with a wonderful meal and and watching the boats come and go, the sunshine glittering on the water. You just can’t sell anything quite as pretty as sunshine on the water.  We walked around town for awhile and stopped at a bakery and bought some bread and cookies.

We sailed back home the way we came, moving slowly across the water with the wind carrying us back. My son and his girlfriend will stay on the little boat in the marina. Rachel takes the ferry to and from Seattle everyday to work, and Tyler stays on the boat working a few days a week in a the community.  It is a different life, but it does a mother good to see her children happy and pursuing their dreams.  They are docked next to a large ship in the harbor and an eagle sits on top of the ship watching the comings and goings of life and hunting for food.

Tomorrow I turn 54, sometimes I wonder where the years went. My husband was a little concerned when our son left his condo and his job and moved to the boat. But youth slips away, and this is the season to embrace the joy and the passions of life.  When I spent the Saturday with him on the water, I can see why he loves this life.

I came home late on Saturday and collapsed exhausted in bed. I woke Sunday morning to sunshine in the garden and my large old home. I thought to myself, this is so different a life than my son has now. What an amazing life it is I thought, and we are blessed to have so much diversity in our region of the country. I am thankful for another year to enjoy life, to experience something new, to enjoy family and watch our children and grandchildren becoming the extrodinary and unique individuals each of them are.  We do loose much as we age, but we gain so much in blessings that it more than compensates for the things we loose.  And I do remind myself, I will never be younger than I am today!

Linking this post with Mosaic Monday

Song on a May Morning

Now the bright morning star, days harbinger comes dancing from the East, and leads with her the flowry May, who from her green lap throws the yellow cowslip, and the pale primrose. Hail bounteous May that dost inspire Mirth and youth, and warm desire! Woods and groves are of thy dressing; hill and dale, doth boast thy blessing.  Thus we salute thee with our early song and welcome thee, and wish thee long. -John Milton

May does sing a sweet song; a song of warmth and light, of children and flowers. Who doesn’t welcome May?  May is the birthday month at our house, and baby Jaxon turns one today.  Some of you who follow the blog may remember that he had quite the time when he was born.  He was a big baby and somehow my daughter’s doctor missed this. His little head was tucked into one side with very little room to move in the womb. He ended up breaking his collarbone in the delivery, getting a dangerous case of jaundice, and developing torticollis from his head being to one side. His development was a little bit delayed, but I am happy to report he is crawling all over the house and is the sweetest baby. His two older sisters adore him; he is a baby used to being kissed!  The photo at the top of the page is one my daughter took yesterday of his sisters. She is a professional photographer, and although I know I am partial, I  think she has an amazing gift.  It is not an easy thing to get a photo of children, and yet she manages to get amazing shots.  She will be starting a new ministry with her photography soon by photographing children on hospice. It is not an easy thing to see children who are dying, but the parents will always treasure these photos. When she had Jaxon in therapy, she saw so many sick children that it touched her heart and she wanted to find a way to give back. A non-profit company accepted her as one of their volunteer photographers and she will soon start this quiet and gentle ministry. Isn’t it amazing what comes out of our own suffering and hard times?

The old pear tree and ornamental plum tree are blooming in the backyard right now. I may not have a view of the water or the mountain, but these two trees are view enough for me.  I plan on working out back today and plant some vegetables in our raised bed.  I  found an old bike at a thrift store a few years ago, and brought it home for my garden.  I put pansies in the basket last fall and leaned it against the old pear tree.  I was so surprised when the pansies took off this spring spilling out of the basket. They are pretty, don’t you think?

What is happening at your house on this first week in May?

Linking with Outdoor Wednesday

At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe us when we say that there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough. And what might seem to be series of unfortunate events may, in fact, be the first steps of a journey.- Limoney Snicket

I took the photo on the left the day we had a wind storm that blew all the petals from my cherry tree down. I wait all year for this tree to bloom, so it was so disappointing when the petals were blown from the tree after just a few days of blooming. I went out in the storm and noticed the walk was covered in pink. When I looked around me, it looked like pink snow was falling and blowing as the wind caught the flowers and they twirled and fell, covering the walks and the road. Sometimes our lives are like the tree, we look so forlornly at the changes, that we don’t look down and around us and see the beauty under our feet.  We don’t see that this is a new journey for us, because we weren’t expecting this.  The evil and wrongs come into our life through many sources, the media, other people, our own thoughts and disappointments.  If I let myself, I begin to look just at the dark and don’t look for the beauty and wonder. There is good in this world, and sweetness, but you will need to look for it.  Despite storms and disappointments,  I want to look hard for the good, and find the beauty that was under my feet all along.

I am curious how each of you do this in your life? How do you focus on the good when it seems we are steeped in negativity?

Linking up with Spiritual Sunday

Is it just me, or do blue flowers take your breath away with their beauty?  I have a few little spots of Grape Hyacinths  in my garden growing right now.

My computer gave up the ghost this week. I am finally back on line with a new one that I can’t seem to quite figure out. I keep saying positive things to myself like, I can figure this out, it will get easier. The practical side of me grumbles, I certainly hope so because this is beyond frustrating!!  All of my photos are in the old computer, so I transferred a few from facebook. Tomorrow we hope to retrieve all the files, although I suspect we will end up having to pay someone to do it.  Even if these photos were taken a few years ago, I enjoy seeing them again in photos, as well as in my garden.

These flowers have really multiplied since I planted a few bulbs several years ago. Blue beauties that come back every spring and multiply in the garden every year…. what lavish simplicity!

Linking at Mosaic Monday  and Outdoor Wednesday

When despair for the world grows in me, I come into the presence of still water, and I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light.  For a time, I rest in the grace of the world  and I am free…  Wendell Berry

He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.  Psalms 23

  This has been a week of turmoil, of fear, of tragedy and of miracles,  May our souls find peace in the days to come.

Linking with The Sunday Community

]]> http://www.behindthegateblog.com/2013/04/still-water/feed/ 18 http://www.behindthegateblog.com/2013/04/pink-joy-3/ http://www.behindthegateblog.com/2013/04/pink-joy-3/#comments Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:24:09 +0000 admin http://www.behindthegateblog.com/?p=5957

Color is joy. One does not think joy, one is carried by it.  -Ernst Hass

I think if joy had a color it would be pink. If joy was a tree, it would be a cherry tree covered in pink blossoms.  I’m a little bit partial perhaps, I live in an area where gray is the winter hue.  By spring we crave color like a southerner craves a juicy cold watermelon on a hot summer day. You will find blooming trees everywhere here. When someone in the Northwest goes to plant a tree, they naturally gravitate towards a tree that is pretty in pink.

We planted our tree right out front after my Dad passed away. He was from another part of the country that did not have quite the passion for cherry trees, and he thought they were the prettiest thing he ever did see.  It blooms every year around his birthday and I always think of my country dad who had a soft spot in his heart for the pink trees.

My brother flies in next weekend, he has never been here in the spring. The wind is blowing pink petals everywhere so I am hoping there will be some blooms left on “Dad’s tree” when he arrives. If not, we have another variety in the back yard that is almost ready to bloom.  I am thinking he will be just like my Dad and be carried away by their pink joy.

I’m curious, do cherry trees bloom where you live and is the area covered with them like it is here?

Linking with other photographers at Mosaic Monday