Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!

The boys woke me up at 6:00 am this morning! Once I stepped outside with them and felt the cool morning air, I didn't mind. To the east was the most amazing sunrise. In the distance I could heard the bluebirds and cardinals singing their morning song. The bluebirds were perched on the fence, waiting to check on their nest in the birdhouse on the porch. There must be babies inside because yesterday afternoon I saw one of them taking in a mole cricket.

I can't be outside for long without starting to putter with my plants. I love the smell of the herbs! Just running my hand across the leaves releases the most wonderful aromas. The pretty orange rose bush is putting out new blooms and the little peach tree is loaded with fruit. I need to re pot the bromeliads I brought back from Florida last Christmas. I dug them up from my daughters garden and put them in my carry on bag! I still need to get the Passion Flower vine in the ground but it seems to thriving is its plastic bucket. It will take over the entire fence before long. Gulf Fritillary butterflies like to lay their eggs on this prolific vine. The caterpillars are bright orange, just like the butterfly.

The backyard is so big I call it a meadow. Except for a few sprigs of San Augustine grass close to the house, it is still in its natural state. Lots of bright yellow coreopsis, dandelions, wild morning glories and other assorted weeds and grasses have taken over. The birds like it because of all the seeds and bugs, so I don't mind, except that it gets so high that Elvis and Presley 'get lost'. In some areas all I can see are their tails. It really needed to be mowed so I had a teenager from my church take care of it yesterday. It looks better, but I miss the flowers. At least I can find the dogs now!

The cedar tree limbs placed along the edge of the beds are from my aunt and uncle's old home place. The old tree needed to be pruned and reshaped. Sis and her hubby saved all the branches. When they offered me some of the wood, I immediately visualized them as a border along my herb garden. One of the limbs is perfectly curved to fit the shape of the bed! As children, my brother, sister and I would climb the tree, knowing that if Aunt Era caught us in it we would surely be in trouble. The sticky sap is almost impossible to remove from skin and clothing, but we could have cared less. We just wanted to be up high in that old tree! Now, some 30 plus years later, as I tend my garden and touch this old wood, I am reminded of happy, carefree childhood times long ago.

Well, the morning is about gone.....it's time to get moving. I'm meeting Sis and Cousin at the old house later to go through the closets again. Today is the first opportunity the three of us have had to get together in a while. We need to get it done before the weather gets too hot....no A/C in this 1930's bungalow. I'm sure we will uncover many more mementos and share stories of long ago as we clean.

Where does the time go, ya'll?