Monday, August 4, 2014

Thank you all

Good Monday morning Folks ~ First of all, thank you for all of your kind and encouraging comments, and for your prayers for widows. I am blessed to have you all in my life.

I just noticed this morning that that last post got posted twice and I really don’t have a clue as to how that happened! I use Window’s Live Writer and have never had that happen before.  I apologize for that. I was somewhat distraught, so that might be the cause of my doing it twice.

Yesterday I sat here quietly embroidering while listening to books being read out loud on LibriVox. An artist friend of mine told me about this website, as she listens to it while she creates her porcelain pieces.  You can visit her blog The Cranes Nest and be inspired by her gardens and her artwork.

We had rain yesterday morning, then a reprieve, then a monster thunderstorm in the late afternoon, that hung around for quite sometime.  This little cottage shook and quaked from the thunder, lights flickered a few times, but the electricity stayed on.  I did have the a.c. and the computer turned off though.  Florida is known as the ‘Lightening Capitol’ of the U.S. You do NOT want to be outside when a storm happens.

At least, I am not having to water gardens, God is doing it for me. More rain is expected all of this week. That means everything is going to be growing even more rampant and I may just disappear under all of the growth. Below is one instance of ‘running rampant’.  This is almost blocking my path into potting area, which by the way is in sore need of being taken care of. I have ideas, but need cooler weather to work back here.

08-01-running-rampant

With all of the rain there is one fern that is extremely happy.  It is called ‘The Resurrection Fern’.  When we have no rain, the fern shrivels up and looks dead, then when it rains it comes back to life, hence the name. These are growing up the Norfolk pine, which we bought as a 3’ little tree to use for Christmas, many, many years ago.

08-01-resurrection-fern

08-01-resurrection-fern2

08-01-resurrection-fern3

I looked up into the tree and can see this spreading further on up.

08-01-resurrection-fern4

Another palm frond is hanging by a thread, and will soon be crashing down, hopefully into the driveway in the picture below this one.

08-01-palm

This is part of the driveway. If you look closely through the lattice gate, (which needs to be cleaned once the rains stop), you can see a car zipping by on the 5 lane road out front. This is my little oasis, overgrown and as weedy as it is,  in the hectic and crazy world that we live in.

08-01-driveway

Following the picket fence on around, which encloses the clothesline garden area, you see the caravan. (The tall tree on the left, is the Norfolk pine which the resurrection fern is growing on.)

08-01-morning

This lovely heart shaped leafy plant was given to me by my dear husband’s two sisters and their husbands when my husband left this planet for his heavenly home.  They picked it out because of the heart shaped leaves.  It is in the little screened porch off the kitchen, which is my main entrance, and I see this every day.  I believe it is a Spathiphyllum of some kind. It gets watered by the a.c. water that collects in two buckets.

08-01-spath

One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life:

That word is love

 Oedipus at Colonus

***

 Have a good week  & let’s not let the trolls in life get us down.

FlowerLady

26 comments:

Deb J. in Utah said...

I love your green oasis! Have a good week.

Sandra said...

I too love it when I can rely on the rain to water my garden, and we've been having quite a bit of that lately with more today :)

I love the heart shaped leaves, they are beautiful :)

Hope you have a wonderful Monday.

Hugs and love,
Sandra

Sallysmom said...

Praying for you always.

Annie said...

Lovely post. I'm heading your way this time next year...might just pop in. Want to see America in Autumn

lil red hen said...

I think I would find comfort in your oasis, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I know I would love having so many different flowers in bloom!
Hope you have a wonderful day!

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

The last plant is a houseplant in norther Indiana. You have the correct name, but it is also called a Peace Lily. Love the pictures that you have shared. Hope the storms hold off...at least the severe ones.
xx, Carol

Jean Campbell said...

Thank you for the Library Link. I think I'll start with Louisa Alcott, a childhood favorite. There are 30 entries for her.

Could your beautiful plant be an Anthurium?

organicgardendreams said...

Dear Lorraine, I can imagine that with all the rain and warmth that you are having in Florida, growth of plants is rampant and it must feel like living in a jungle, which I would consider a good thing :-)! But I can also understand that keeping up your property is huge undertaking for you alone. So kudos to you for trying to stay on top of things. I like your motto at the end! It is sometimes hard not to get bogged down, but we need to pick ourselves up, dust us of and move on. Wishing you a wonderful week, with lots of energy and joy to get things done. Warm regards,
Christina

crafty cat corner said...

I love the ferns growing on the bark of the tree, I don't recall seeing that over here.
I believe the little caravan is where the lovely floor is, isn't it?
I'd love another look at that some time, it is beautiful.
God Bless
Briony
x

Balisha said...

I can just see you back there off the road...tending your gardens and doing handwork on something beautiful. I love coming here and seeing things that I haven't seen around here....like lush vines, and orchids and even overgrown things. We all have a place in God's world.....
Balisha

Stephanie said...

An absolutely lovely post in words and pictures :) Thinking of you and wishing you a wonderful week!

Shirley said...

It's been awhile since I've been blog hopping but today I had opportunity to do so and I'm always so happy to pay you a visit. It's incredible to see the size of your Norfolk pine with the resurrection ferns growing up its trunk. Here Norfolk pines are sold as houseplants. Some achieve a decent height but nothing that remotely compares to yours!

Over 25 years ago my husband and I made a trip to Florida and were scheduled to visit the everglades but on our way out with the guide we were called back in because of the threat of lightning. We were sad to miss the opportunity to visit but grateful to have missed the lightning which we could see out on the horizon.

Thinking of you and wishing you well.

M.K. said...

That is a Norfolk pine? Oh my word! I've had two of them before, in pots, and had to bring them inside in the winter so they wouldn't die. But they never, ever got larger than the circumference of my wrist. I'm amazed! And I have heard of resurrection fern also. My mother is such a wonderful plant woman. Things grow for her happily. Plants see me coming and hide, hoping I won't take them home. Glad you are doing better, dear.

L. D. said...

After becoming a widower when I was thirty years old, I learned to just withdraw and heal. You have a right to heal and grieve. My life is new now and it is wonderful but the pain of the past is still vivid, I just know what the future now is. You are strong and you take good care of yourself.

Rose ~ from Oz said...

Honestly blogger is doing all sorts of strange and odd things lately Lorraine. Yesterday I (thought) I left a very long comment on your previous post and I just checked now and it's not there!! Can you believe it? Oh dear....
One of the things about living in the tropics is that plants really do go rampant in the lovely humid, moisture! I admire you for looking after such a large garden Lorraine.
Enjoy the week dear girl.

Ruth Hiebert said...

Thanks for the tour around your place. Everything looks so lush and lovely. We need a good rain here,but for now it seems to be passing us by.

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

I am amazed by those resurrection ferns growing on the tree. Have never seen them before.

I think all of your trees and vines are pretty. Do many hummingbirds come to those orange flowers on the vine?

If you didn't have so much greenery and trees surrounding your cottage, I think you would find the noise from the nearby 5 lane road to be very loud. The pine tree in our next door neighbor's yard died and had to be taken down. It had served as great noise barrier/absorber of the sounds generated by a nearby busy four lane road. We didn't realize it until the tree was gone. There isn't enough room on that side of our property for us to plant another tree, so I just have to get used to the louder noise level.

Val said...

I love you and your home, Lorraine. Especially after reading your last post, I wish as always that I could visit you some afternoon with taco fixings (one of my favorite meals too) and a bouquet of flowers and just visit with you. ♥

You just shine on. ♪ "This little light of mine. . ." ♫ :)

Julie said...

Beautiful post, Loraine. Everything really is green and growing like mad down here right now!!!! Ignore it all until mid October, when it should be cool enough to finally get back outside,! Love your ribbon roses BTW.

Diana Studer said...

I missed the trolls?

But your garden is indeed an oasis. Never imagined you had 5 lanes of cars roaring past. I remember your excitement when the 2 of you worked on converting the caravan!

Diana Studer said...

PS just saying - Windows Live Writer is no longer supported. I simply write my posts as Word Documents, then use Blogger's new editor.

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

You oasis is nice. Good for you to have a place to retreat in. Be well and be blessed.

Claire said...

I love to see the abundance in your garden - a little rain, a little love go a LONG way :)
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a lovely comment ((hug)))

Rebecca said...

It was good to get another peek at the caravan :) Glad it's surviving the storms right along with YOU!

I can imagine the challenge of keeping up with all the fast-growing plants in your almost-tropical environment....

Maybe I should try audible books. I'm having a difficult time concentrating lately....I used to be such an avid reader.

And no, let's not let the "trolls in life" get us down :)


Skeeter said...

Plenty of rain here in my GA gardens this summer is a good thing for me. I enjoy watching the resurrection fern pop back to life after a good rain fall. Such an interesting plant... Happy Non Watering...

Darcie said...

I always smile on my face and in my heart when I think of you and your little oasis. Goes to show that there can be peace in all the chaos of the world. (((hugs)))