This Perfectly Imperfect Life

';Sufficient Grace'; by Darnell Arnoult is the most beautifully written book I think I've ever read! I've never felt a book so much before! I wasn't as sad ' disappointed as I usually am at the end of a good read - I felt so blessed to have read it! This is Ms. Arnoult's first novel (her name threw me too!) and it is simply amazing! I truly think reading this book has started something spiritual happening inside of me! (Not just in a specifically religious aspect). I think this book has entered my top fav read of all time slot!

I hope this pic comes out! Hubby and i were working on another apt tonight, getting it ready for inspection on friday and for the tenant to move in on sun and i discovered this GORGEOUS rose bush just off the patio! Funny thing is that i've been down that way before and don't remember ever seeing it before! The petals are a deep, velvety red - the kind of red that makes you think of valentine's day! - and their scent is very sweet with just a hint of cherry. No doubt it's been there a very long time. The tenant who lived there was here a very long time. Surprising, it's not in an area that ever gets much sun, regardless of time of day or year. I've never been so taken with the scent or sight of a rose before. I feel as though i was meant to find it because i love flowers and gardening so, as if it was looking for such a person and only made itself known once it had found finally found that person! (I'm feeling very spiritual lately!) Hu...

1 cup water, 2 tblspoons unsalted butter, dash of pepper, 1/3 cup brown sugar (packed) and a 16 oz package of baby carrots (halved)... Combine all ingriedients in a deep frying pan, cover and bring to a boil on high heat for about a minute or so, then reduce heat to medium and continue boiling for about 25 minutes or until the carrots are soft and most of the liquid is gone. (stir occasionally) We had them with a beef roast and boiled potato's last night and it was delicious! Mood swing: I'm/we're not having a good stretch of days since friday morning. I'm not feeling up to being very specific with details, but generally it's financial, (my past coming to haunt my present) it's my mom (no surprise there but combined w/everything else i've actually got chest pains and have started having doubts about living this life) and a dear longtime best friend is moving from the big apple to the windy city this coming saturday (i'm so proud of and inspired...

This here's what I call my candy striper dahlia!

What a truly pleasant surprise! Over all it's grown quite a bit since i brought it home in may or june - should put on quite a show next year!

This is my other butterfly bush, out back, with one of the many bumble bees that visit each day!

This is a pot of annuals i always forget the name of! Their foliage is such a lush green! Course there's only a stray bloom here and there at this time of year - ck my Picasa photo album (in my links) for pics from earlier this year!

This pot is centered in front of the living room windows. It's where I transplanted my butterfly weed, white cone flower and purple cone flower after digging them up this spring. As you can see, even though it looks pink, the purple cone flower has come back! I also planted some mixed cut bouquet flower seeds in this pot and it looks as though some baby's breath and celosia are taking off along with another flower - maybe dwarf sunflower? - I won't be able to identify for anothe couple of days when the buds begin to open.

We're off the porch now and in front of the living room windows! This is my pot of bean vines and my tomato plant, all started from seeds. (also started lettuce but the sprouts drowned after a really bad thunder storm in july).

Down at the bottom left here is a pot of mixed wild flowers I started from seed on top of some bulbs that never bloomed.

All the way over to the right in that large pot are my raspberries that NEVER bloom! Red, black and yellow. But their green foliage is pretty, one of the 1st things to turn green each late winter/early spring. Sometimes I plant annuals below their tall leafy stalks so it doesn't look as bare as it does now.

There's a lot going on in these pots! Bottom right (next to the Autumn Joy) is a small pot of red and white striped dallhia which seems to have stopped blooming. Next is a pot of red dianthus (which blooms often yr round!) and burgandy blanket flower which is also still blooming. Next is a pot of purple ice flower (a succulent) which you can hardly see since the huge dahlia stalks from the pot behind have grown a bit out of control! (and have yet to bloom!) There's also some lemon balm in the pots behind these along with a couple of things I no longer remember the name of! It's all so nice and full with things blooming from late winter through the 1st frost!

Hopefully this close up came out - not sure if this little guy is a moth or a butterfly but he sure likes the butterfly bush!

Most prominent in this pic is my Autumn Joy Sedum which is already turning reddish pink! A bit early so we'll just have to see if it lasts into fall this yr! It's really come back three-fold since i dug it up out of the ground and potted it this spring!

Moving on! My oranges and lemons blanket flower (on the ground to the right of the cat greeter) seems to be done blooming for this yr. It's really been a gorgeous addition - I'm really thrilled with it!

This is our front porch starting by the door. I got the funky cat greeter on clearance at Joann Fabrics for $10! (originally over $40!) It's holding a welcome sign in the shape of a fish! So ugly it's cute! I've had that pot of purple petunia's and pink verbena (on the chair behind the cat greeter) since the day before Mother's Day! Just behind it to the right is my purple butterfly bush - one of my fav's in my gardens! Directly behind it is my green and wax bean vines (already bloomed though thanks to the deer and other local wild life i only harvested 13 beans! There were more!) and my cherry tomato plant which has 6 small green globes on it thus far!

Taken this past sat @ a local 'salt water day' celebration! These just may be my favorite fireworks displays of summer! Sure, many towns round here have fireworks at the water, but you can go walk out on the jetty pier, out into the bay away from the lights and watch from there. They're set off from another jetty pier and the water glows and shimmers - it's gorgeous! The weather was gorgeous too! An early taste of autumn it was! I think the horrid hot ' humid weather has made me cabin feverish again! (just as the cold weather that started way too late ' stayed too long into spring this year did!) i'm craving the outdoors, more specifically the sounds of the ocean and the songs of the summer bugs! Well, it's getting late ' i'm falling asleep while texting this! Ta ta for now!

Oh what a hottie of a day it has been! This was taken earlier this evening at the beach - it was free concert night! The breeze was inland & coming in from the water so it was warmer than usual down there but still more pleasant than at home! Once i am at the beach i never really want to leave! It is an amazing place to be in the evening and at night! I wish we had time to get a permit and camp out over night. That would be incredible! The views from where we have seen tents (during the day) are amazing during the day and at night! There are bay views and ocean views, not to mention being able to see a few ny boroughs and the skyline of manhattan! But, tonight the breeze died down and outcame all the biting bugs so there was no lingering this evening!

This was taken sunday - the only perfect summer day and night we've had in a long while thanks 2 this nasty heat, humidity and little rain weather pattern we've been stuck in! It was in the high 70s during the day, no humidity and low 70s that night, all with a gorgeous breeze!

This was also taken @ the county fair, just b4 the 1 below. What i'm refering 2 as my ';ferris wheel meltdown'; is that hubby told me he wanted 2 take me on it ' i reluctantly agreed cause i'm afraid of heights! But, i figured i was ok when we went on that ski lift foliage ride at elk mountain in pa a few yrs ago ' w/him i'd be ok! WRONG! i was terrified! I wrapped my left arm round the pole in the center of the thing we were sitting in, squated down on the floor ' had the shirt on his shoulder in a vice grip! I cried ' barely opened my eyes! Hubby kept kissing me ' trying 2 get me 2 look @ him, kept telling me we were fine ' had his arms around me. But the swinging motion of the thing we sat in did me in! It felt like that sensation of falling when you're dreaming! And how high it went didn't help! Hubby said i freaked out so bad it was scarey! 2 scare him?! Must've been even worse than i thought! Oh well! At least i did ...

Sat 7/28 @ Monmouth County Fair - before my ferris wheel ride meltdown!