Samuel's Birthday

Samuel's parent's came for a visit to celebrate his birthday.  Whenever our daughter comes for a visit we like to go to places that she and her husband enjoy.  All of us enjoy Colonial Williamsburg so we decided one of the days they were here we would drive down to one of our favorites.

After having a wonderful lunch at the Old Chickahominy House we decided to take a stroll down the Duke of Gloucester Street.  This was the first long walk I have taken since having a flare up of arthritis in my knee.  I mentioned to Noel, Peter, and Samuel to just go ahead as fast as they want and Grayden and I took our time enjoying the gardens.

As many times as I have visited Colonial Williamsburg, I have never encountered a pig on the Duke of Gloucester Street!

His owner was letting him eat the grass.  He seemed perfectly happy with visitors petting him. 

We passed Bruton Parish Church on our way down the street to view a favorite garden.

It was a warm, but beautiful afternoon.  There were many tourists enjoying themselves.

Passing by this boxwood garden reminds me of how lovely and formal this garden looks.

At this garden you can buy plants and flowers and books and all the items you need for your colonial garden.

All the bee skeps in this garden look lovely as well as help the bees have a home to pollinate the flowers and nearby vegetables.

It was tempting that day to want to take a carriage ride.

Johnny Jump Ups

Walking along we found a nice shady spot to wait for our family to return and join us.

Soon they too wanted to take a break in the shade.

Samuel and Peter hold themselves the same and I always get a kick out of seeing that!

On Monday we celebrated Samuel's birthday with dinner out and cake and ice cream.  Then his parents had to fly back home.

Peter decorated his cake.  Do you know the symbol on his cake and his t-shirt? 

Flowers

  

It's no secret that I love flowers.  Our children gifted me a lovely arrangement for Mother's Day.  One from each of them.  Also Grayden had gifted me roses a couple days before Mother's Day.  It's nice to have so many lovely flowers gracing our home. 

I'm so thankful to have little or no pain in my knee now.  The flareup of arthritis in my knee sure did leave me worried.  I'm trying to be careful and not do any kneeling in my garden.



"The lesson I have thoroughly learnt, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives." Gertrude Jekyll

Here are a few flowers that are blooming now.  Our abundance of rain has made my garden happy.  It's so important that our water table is not low before our usual dry, hot summer begins.  

Can you guess what these flowers are?  They are foxglove.

Red Knockout Rose

Native Columbine

Pinkie Climbing Rose

Pinkie Climbing Rose

Nellie Moser Cematis

Pansy

Rudbeckia

Sarah Bernhardt Peony Bud

Jackmani Clematis

This is not a flower but a host for wasp on an oak tree.  It is also considered a gall and some folks go to great lengths to remove them.  Our oaks are much too large and the few that we get we just let them be. Soon they will look like a golf ball as the gall progresses.

Our eldest grand's birthday is soon so his parents are flying in for a few days.  It is always nice to have them visit.  I can hardly believe that Samuel will be 22 years old.  How in the world can that be?  Time is passing faster than these fast moving clouds. 










    

Happy May

The month of May just sounds so happy, don't you think?  Although I do believe April was more like May in my part of the world.  Even though the gardener has to have restraint, sitting on the patio with Grayden is a lovely way to view our garden and relax.
  

The trailing vinca that Grayden planted is thriving.  We've had wonderful rain and warm days to encourage all of our plants to do well.

We found a new outdoor rug for our patio.  The old one had seen better days.  It's so nice to have a defined spot on our concrete patio.  As you can see the new rug is smaller than the old one, but the quality of this one is much better and hopefully will last longer.

Caution photo ahead is of a snake!  

If you're frightened scroll on down.  As I was hobbling along and looking down, I came upon a black snake sunning himself in the grass.  I'm not a big fan, but I do know they have their place in our world.  Considering all the moles and voles we've had in the past he or she can have all he or she wishes.

I can't leave you with that creature.  Our roses are really doing well this year.  They are blooming about 3 weeks early, but we are enjoying them so much.  The Climbing Pinkie has just been the prettiest ever!

"Won't you come into my garden?  I would like my roses to see you. "

Richard B. Sheridan

The Climbing Pinkie is not a full petaled rose, but I love her delicate bloom.  We don't have a lot of sun in our yard that is required of roses.  But I do have a couple spots here and there where I can grow them.

Even the knockout red roses are doing well.

Thank you for coming into my garden today.  How is your garden growing these days? ♥