An Anniversary and the "Penrose Gang"

 As we go through this low place on our life travels,  beautiful flowers are reminders of the many blessings we have experienced during the last 6 months.  The picture above is of a Christmas arrangement that daughters Dorothy and Sara sent to us.  This bouquet lasted over two weeks, and gave us a special reminder of the wonderful smells of evergreens.

  Live has been more than difficult for both of us, but particularly Ron during this past six months.  But there are bright spots.   This week, we observed our 36th wedding anniversary.  Who'd have thought that two people who found each other in the middle of our time on earth could make it to 36?  Many wonderful reminders of the years gone by are present in our everyday life.  These gorgeous roses came last night (via FedEx) and they revived beautifully. They are a gift from the "Penrose Gang", which means my five siblings - 3 sisters and 2 brothers.  What wonderful thoughtfulness to help lift our spirits and give us beauty to enjoy in our home.  Please enlarge the top picture to see my reflection in the tv.

 Aren't these pink roses delicious?

And, last but not all or least, our friends in the next cup-de-sac delivered this poinsettia before Christmas.  Still going strong, and giving us color during this cold snowy time of winter.

Flowers for Solace

These are the beautiful yellow roses that Judy chose for Blood family contribution to Jenny's funeral.  They were a ray of sunshine on a very drab day.  Interestingly enough, Ron chose this bouquet to take to our hosts, and was so pleased when Judy told him that she had picked them because they reminded her of Jenny's smile.  Judy had chosen the spray that we purchased, and proceeded to separate it into multiple bouquets to put around the house.  So, we just exchanged - a very good thing to do on such an occasion.  The funeral itself was beautiful - Ron, Julie and Andrea spoke, and then Judy Frizzell, one of the Home Teachers to Jennifer spoke.  She is a wonderful teacher, and we were so pleased with her talk.  We had so much support in Olympia - very grateful for friends who have not forgotten us in the 17 1/2 years we have lived in Preston.  More about this gathering later on my blog.

Where Are You?

All right, everybody - where are you?  We either need an egg count from Ann, a book review from Dwight,  garden progress from Judy, or a quilt  from Louise.  I'm not sure of my responsibility in all of this, so I'll just post the picture that's a month old that Ron took some days after I was home from the last hospital stint.  Belated thank you all for the lovely posies.

A Flower Garden for Louise's Birthday

Flowers to Decorate the Blog

Dad and the Lilies

This picture of Dad among the lilies, dahlias, and astilbe in my Tumwater garden was always a favorite. Dad was always willing to have his picture taken to make the subject more appealing. I was a little unhappy this morning when I really looked at this picture and saw how blurry it is. I watched a short feature yesterday on a new program that Photoshop is developing that sharpens impossibly blurry pictures. Don't throw them away yet. We're waiting for that one.

TURTLE HEADS

For Judy who has every plant on earth, but no turtle heads.

Lilacs

I know this blog is community property but I took it upon myself to think we had been in Sunday School long enough, and that we probably we were not going to get much more repentant than we already are, and that it was time to remember lilacs.

Annie's Flowers, Updated

Flowers for Louise's Birthday

Judy told me I had omitted flowers for Louise's birthday.  I hereby correct this oversight with some orange cactus flowers, some dusty pink roses, and some yellow lilies.  Double click to get the full view.