Good morning Folks ~ here it is another Valentine's Day. Today is a day that celebrates love in a big way. Let us remember that love can be shown on any given day, not just on a designated day. Everyone needs love, always. I wanted to share 'hearts' that I've been blessed with, given to me by God. My dear husband used to give me hearts he found, bought, or made, but the last one from him was in 2012. These hearts from God are pleasant surprises that make me smile and say 'thank you'. He lets me know I am loved, even though my dear husband is with Him and can no longer let me know he loves me ..read more

Good morning Friends ~ We are under a wind advisory with winds at 20-30 mph gusting to 40 mph and at 10:11 EST it is 59. It's been gray, but the sun is poking out from behind clouds at the moment. Nice. I need to get outside for a bit to get some walking in, even if it's only around the property. I've been working on editing more photos taken the last few days. Below was the sunrise on Sunday morning.     This is a hibiscus called 'Diva'.   Ground orchid blooms. I bought this plant last year I think, at a new nursery not far from me. Next is a lovely hibiscus shrub t ..read more

Greetings Friends ~ Where did January go? Time is zipping right along at a fast pace. We've had some cold temps for us down here in s.e. FL, high 40's and 50's. Today it is gloomy, with drizzle or light rain. I had wanted to work outside, but not in this weather. I decided to work on editing photos and writing up a new post. Doing this always take hours, literally. The more I use the Gimp photo editing program, the easier it is remembering how to do what. I'm getting back into photography and posting to this blog more. Now for some pictures from my overgrown gardens. This first one is beautif ..read more

Greetings from Plum Cottage this last week of 2023.  The end of this year was a bit rough for me. I caught a cold/bug the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so that I had to forego dinner plans with friends, Christmas caroling, three Sunday advent services, no ladies Bible study. That lasted about 3 weeks, totally draining me of all energy. Then as I was feeling better from that I got a bad toothache, cheek swelled. Had an infection, found a holistic dentist who fit me in at 5 pm on a Thursday evening. 2 1/2 hours in the chair. Did pretty good until the end when I was starting to 'feel' what he ..read more

 Hello friends, sorry for the long absence, I hope to be blogging on a more regular basis. I just got a larger monitor which is a great help for aging eyes. I have many photos to edit, lots of flowers, etc. Fencing is still coming along. ;-) House projects are ongoing. It is hard to believe that our celebration of Thanksgiving here in the US is this Thursday. This year has zipped along so fast. I will be celebrating with a sweet family from my church and am looking forward to a day of laughter, love, good food and thanksgiving.  I have so much to be thankful for. This little cottage ..read more

Greetings Friends ~ Here it is almost the middle of May. I do believe the last of our cool weather is gone. We were blessed with some lovely late cool temps, such a blessing. Summer's heat and humidity is starting to settle in now. I am thankful for my new room ac which is working just fine. If you want to check it out you can find it here. at Home Depot and I am not receiving anything for this little ditty about how great I think it is. ;-) Easter has come and gone. Our church's Resurrection service was wonderful, the adult and children's choir did a fantastic job. I had a nice piece of lamb ..read more

Good morning Folks ~ Here it is nearly a month since my last post. Time seems to be passing so quickly. I've been able to tackle the back of my main garden. The jasmine vine that is back there took over. What a mess!! About 6 feet out from the fence, encroaching on paths. I can usually work out there a couple of hours in the mornings.  We've been having some nice cooler weather, we've gotten some much needed rain. The rain in Ft. Lauderdale, south of me, caused flooding of homes and businesses. 2 feet of water. This was a couple of weeks ago. Since gasoline comes into the area via ships ..read more

Good morning Folks, here we have the gift of another day.  Right now it is 81 but with the humidity the real feel temp is 98. I was out earlier working in my main garden. I have a jasmine vine that was like Jack's beanstalk, growing, twisting and taking over everything. I work outside 1-2 hours in the mornings when I feel like it and the weather permits. Every little bit done makes a difference even though I feel like I'm hardly getting anywhere. There is still so much to do for clean up, deweeding, etc in this main garden, all in good time. I want to move potted plants to the area, maybe ..read more

Hello folks, here it is nearing the end of another day. Thank you for your kind comments, and encouraging words. I do have to clarify something though. The young pastor who took me to Lowe's,  'helped' to pay for the washing machine, paying almost half, I paid the rest. His gift was so unexpected, so appreciated and I am ever thankful for it. I am thankful for the way this church has a heart for widows. It shows!  Also, I forgot to finish the story in my last post about what happened with Miss Rinkie. In all of the commotion of taking out old washer and putting in the new one and the ..read more

Greetings Friends, hope you are all doing well. It's been a busy time for me. House and garden projects. Right now we are in drought conditions.  This January was the driest on record in 129 years. I've been moving and grouping potted plants closer to house for ease of care and ease on the gardener. I've been blessed with help from my church family and am so thankful to God for them. Trees trimmed, a couple of indoor projects, a new computer, prayer, love, encouragement. I have been going to this church for two years this month. (The church I had been going to had closed it's doors during ..read more