Happy Anniversary!

This month, my sweet husband and I celebrated our anniversary. Our wedding was in 1986 and if I hadn't worn a hat you definitely would have noticed some big '80's hair! It was a small wedding in my church which was only a block away from home. Here we are in our "ivory" and the bridesmaids wore peach. It was just a peaches and cream wedding!

The whole wedding was a family affair, except for the flowers of course. They were fresh flowers all done up by Estelle's Flower Shop. My mother made the gorgeous cake, we filled the rice bundles ourselves (now it has to be birdseed!) A sweet old lady in town made the bridesmaids dresses out of what I thought then was the most beautiful fabric I'd ever seen! My dress, however was purchased, along with my hat. I still have the receipt! $175.00 for the whole thing! These days girls are spending thousands on their dresses! I think my cream colored Gloria Vanderbilt pumps cost half as much as the dress and hat! It didn't matter to me. I just wanted to marry my sweetheart! A big, expensive wedding was never our taste anyway.

Our only regret is that the photographer took soooooo long after the wedding that we didn't really get time to "visit" with anyone! Our sweet grandparents had traveled some distance to be there! If we had it all to do over again, the photography is the one thing we would change, but back then I was a stickler for tradition and wasn't about to let my groom see me before the wedding! He was almost late that day, but nobody let me in on it! No matter. He made it and we are still just as in love as we were on that day. Probably more so!

Thankful for the Rain!

What a treat to have it rain every day while you are away! We went on vacation and our plants did not suffer! (They wouldn't have anyway, our sweet neighbors were checking them everyday for us.) But thank God for the rain! Everything looks so lush. And we live in the desert!
As for gardening, I consider myself an amateur, but it's in my blood! I remember my great-grandmother's front porch, flower bed and vegetable garden, and HER out in a long-brimmed bonnet working everyday! I remember the giant kalanchoes my grandparents always grew in their "den-den." And I'll NEVER forget my grandmother's itchy fig tree! I had to get up early every morning in the summer and take my red, Gandy's plastic ice cream bucket out and pick figs. As a teenager, I really resented that fig tree, but now....I'm trying to figure out where I can squeeze one in on our property!
The patio is nice this time of year! It is a place to have quiet time in the early morning, listening to the sounds of the fountain and the birds. It is a place to relax and watch the kids play. It is a place to visit with family and friends on into the evening, provided the mosquitos don't start chomping on us!

This is one of my favorite spots at home. The patio! The fence is covered in trumpet vine this time of year. It's really a treat for me to watch the hummingbirds and butterflies flock to these gorgeous flowers!
This one is a little blurry. The breeze couldn't stop for just a second! But you can still appreciate the orange and coral-pink color of these hardy flowers.

I get to walk by that wall of flowers on my way to the Potting Shed.

Here is a shot of one of our Lily of the Nile blossoms just beginning to open. It found a home around our fountain. The sound of the water is so nice any time of day!

Now this is just too darned cute, but I can't remember the actual name of it! I bought them at Walmart and I think they were called Summer Snapdragons, but I can't be sure and that's not like me because I can always remember flower names (unlike medicine names!)

Portulaca, or Moss Rose as I've heard it called. This is in a basket on the back porch.

Isn't the Bacopa cute right now? I came home from vacation and found it full of blossoms, thanks to that nearly 5 inches of rain that fell while we were gone!

And this is my new favorite! A variegated verbena. It reminds me of candy canes in the summertime.......or those cute little "pink ladies" at the hospital! I just love it! I want it every year!
I have it potted with spider plant and another pink petunia-like flower that I can't remember the name of. Shame on me!

I am linking up with Tootsie @ Tootsie Time http://www.tootsietime.com/ for "Flaunt your Flowers, Fertilizer Friday."