This Perfectly Imperfect Life

View from our back gate. Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

View from our back gate. Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

I wanted to thank everyone once more for dropping by my 2nd Annual Practical Magic Party post over the weekend! Your kind words make my heart sing and I appreciate them more than you know. What a delightfully fun time it's been again and I look forward to next year's! It was good to see familiar faces and new ones. A big, gracious "Thank You!" to the wonderful Anna of Frosted Petunias for hosting again this year!

Many local roads & bridges were washed away by Hurricane Irene. Nearly a month has passed since she hit and getting around is still an adventure. Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

It's time for the 2nd Annual Practical Magic Blog Party created & hosted by the wonderful Anna of Frosted Petunias ! My sincerest apologies for getting this up rather late! The adventure that is post Hurricane Irene cleanup & repairs has been taking up too much time recently. (sigh) Things are a mess; I only started decorating for Autumn yesterday and I'm missing Halloween decorations! Luckily my broom is always safe and sound by the front door so at least I don't have to wonder where it is. (Not that it hasn't been known to scamper off now and again - naughty broom). I was afraid, quite honestly, that I wouldn't even get a post up sometime today! I kept hitting dead ends with every other one I tried. But, this morning I sat here at the computer and it flowed. Thankfully! I would have been so disappointed if I'd missed this, it was such fun last year! As some may remember from last years party, while I like the movie, (and love that house!), I love the

Ladies and gents, I give you 'Queen Elizabeth' Grandiflora. (Yes, I featured her last Wordless Wednesday, but she apparently loves this Autumn weather we're having & has been blooming non-stop!) Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Look at what that crow dropped into my lap as I sat in the yard earlier! He cawed and cawed, apparently trying to get my attention, but look up, I wouldn't and so I believe he got frustrated. Thankfully though, he made his delivery anyway and Made My Day ! I do hope you'll join me , the enchanting Vanessa of A Fanciful Twist and the many others for this annual haunted blog hop! Click here or on the widget in my left-hand column for info!

The 2nd Annual Practical Magic Blog Party created & hosted by Frost Petunia's begins Friday evening, September 23 and officially starts on Saturday, September 24, 2011! I joined in last year, had so much fun and met many wonderful folks. I hope you'll join in the fun with me again this year! For all of the info, click here:

The regal and beautiful 'Queen Elizabeth' grandiflora. Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

It is a lovely, quiet, late Summer day here on the coast. Hazy and warm but the strong breeze hints of the nearing Autumn, a taste of which we'll get by weeks' end. I am relieved that September 11th and the 10th Anniversary of that horrific day has passed. The strangling dread that builds up as days like that approach is so awful. And it's not that what happened goes away once a marked day like that passes, but there is a powerful feeling of relief that envelopes me in the days after for which I'm very thankful. I will always watch the services from the WTC site in Lower Manhattan as long as they are televised. I will keep visiting local 9/11 memorial sites and one day visit the new memorial in Manhattan. (I haven't been back to the WTC site in a long time). I will always light candles, pray, sob, honor, mourn and give thanks on 9/11 no matter where I am or how many years go by. I will never forget. I don't know if I'll go to local memorial services

And I hope you never will either. September 11, 2001. Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

And I hope you never will either. September 11, 2001. If you'd like to know my September 11th story, click HERE . Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Ten years ago today, it was the day before our lives and world were changed, directly & indirectly, by the horrific death and destruction of September 11th. I'm fighting to keep the tears from falling, I'm not ready yet. With all of the stresses the last few weeks because of Hurricane Irene, the approach of September 11th has been too much. Unlike previous years, I haven't watched the documentaries containing footage of images that have given me nightmares all these years. I can't watch anything to do with September 11th without being completely choked up or crying, even now, 10 years later. I doubt that will ever change. Today I'm heading down to the harbor for the annual flea market, something I always look forward to. But, unlike 10 years ago, I won't see the Twin Towers when I look across to Manhattan Island and today especially (and tomorrow during the Memorial Services), that will bring my soul to tears. Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBer

I used to be a teller of tales, didn't I tell many a tale? Happy adventures, sad & frustrating ones too, in the garden and out & about, of kitties & feathered friends, of things in the fog, whispers of our past, holiday & seasonal fun and so much more! I got derailed last Summer (surely y'all remember!) and a year later I'm still not 'back on track.' Huh! Funny how that happens. Odd. There's lots of talk lately of "getting back to normal" and I realized for me, that's not the case, it's more like finding a new normal. Again! Which isn't a bad thing at all, it's something I'm used to actually given my health obstacles. So perhaps the same applies to my blog here. Not that I won't keep sharing (oodles of) photos - y'all know how much I love taking & sharing them. But this has become more of a photo blog since last Summer and that wasn't my intention. It served its purpose though as I wasn't a

Yours truly! I am utterly surprised, touched, honored and proud! After all we've been going through pre & post Hurricane Irene, I can't begin to tell you how this has lifted my spirits & made me smile! My heartfelt thanks and appreciation again go out to: ~ The great folks at Costa Farms ~ Talented gardening friend & all around wonderful lady Brenda Haas, BG Garden , who nominated me ~ The incredible #gardenchat #gardenwalk & #rosechat communities on Twitter. Scrolling through past gardens of the month, I see what incredible company I am in - I still can't quite believe all of this!