This Perfectly Imperfect Life

Click on pics for larger view. In our northern town. Top photo was taken early yesterday evening when we went into town to pick up dinner. Few cars on the streets, few people in the three restaurants that were still open. Quiet & shut down for the weekend. Reminded me of the town I grew up in on the Navesink River. "You can't go home again" but it's nice to find home again elsewhere.

Picatinny Arsenal tower, as seen from Route 15.

Last year I bought two 'Daniel Deronda' Clematis vines for my front arbor. Or so I thought! The Clematis pictured here is definitely not like the Daniel Deronda vine, which is a dark, striking purple with blooms bigger than my hands. The Clematis pictured here has blooms half the size that seem to cluster and the purple is much softer, sometimes like periwinkle blue. And as of yet, I have no idea what Clematis this might be! Oh but it's beautiful! A beautiful mystery in the garden...

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom My rating: 2 of 5 stars  I was disappointed with this read, it was not what I expected.  Very disappointed, I wanted to like this novel but just couldn't.  Too melodramatic and at times unrealistic, too contemporary (despite it being historical fiction) 'Gone With The Wind' for my tastes.  Too much in one novel about too many people facing nearly every imaginable awful hardship a human can endure at the time it takes place. Emotions are written about but I often couldn't feel them.  There was a lack of depth at times.  And I felt like so many aspects of the novel were familiar, as if I was seeing things from history, other novels and movies. It was hard at times keeping everything strait. I do not shy away from reads that deal with the issues & horrors of slavery and indentured servants but I didn't care for how this novel told those stories.    View all my reviews I am facilitating the chat on ...

It's finally Raining! A Nor'easter is upon us and we could get as much as 3 inches of rain through tomorrow morning. It's been raining here (on the coast) since mid-morning, steadily becoming more heavy with each passing hour. Everything has been caked with green pollen for weeks and now that glow is gone from everything. Sounds like handfuls of pebbles being throw at the windows along the back of our home. It will be an interesting night as the storm progresses and moves on. Gale & coastal flood warnings are in affect. While at the supermarket this morning, I decided today was a good day to make a pot of Dad's tomato garbanzo bean stew for dinner and the leftovers would be handy for my lunch tomorrow post iv session. Usually making this, or any of his recipes/ones of mine he enjoyed, brings smiles, but, I couldn't get through making this today without tears & sadness. My brother.in.law has moved in with Dad to help take care of him and hospice be...

Pink is my signature color." -Shelby, Steel Magnolias. (I love that line!) And it looks to me like pink is my signature color in my garden. Because it is my favorite color and in honor of my daughter. While I also love orange, red, yellow, purple, white, certain shade of blue & all shades of green in my garden, pink is the color that makes my heart burst with joy! I have 6 pink roses, pink azalea's, pink Bleeding Heart, pink phlox, pink peonies...  Then there are those multi-color roses which have pink in them as well & the gladiola's, the wax begonia's, petunia's...  Sissinghurst has The White Garden, perhaps I will have The Pink Garden. Hhhmmm...  There's an idea!  More shades of pink to come as things begin to bloom, bloom, bloom!

These red Tulips stretch a block long, but because of traffic (and no sidewalks here) this was the best of two shots I was able to take last week. It's a dangerous road so I wasn't taking too many chances. I look forward to them every year. Directly across the street, white Tulips run nearly the same length! (They weren't open yet as of this photo). Dueling via Tulips, imagine that!

To see and read about how I honor my loved ones in my garden, please click here for my latest Adventures In Gardening column on The #gardenchat Blog . For the archive of all of my Adventures In Gardening column posts to date, please click here .

Is dying, everything in your world looks different, feels different and your chest, your heart literally hurts and you sit, open mouthed, tears streaming down your face, utter disbelief washing through your whole being even though you knew you would hear the word "Cancer" when you answered the phone. My husband's dear, sweet, wonderful father, whom I love more than words can begin to tell you, has cancer. Cancer that is spreading already. There's nothing they can do. We don't know when his time will come but the doctor doesn't give him long and I pray he's right only because I cannot imagine the suffering he will endure with the cancer continuing to spread throughout his body if he lives for any great length of time. He doesn't deserve to suffer like that. He has suffered and been through enough as it is. I feel as though my heart has been ripped out, my chest hurts so much. It's awful. So very awful. Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my Blac...

It is startling, and in this case, disgusting, when the ugly comes out. When I politely asked a man who was trying to bully my elderly mother, who's recovering from a mini-stroke, into moving her parked (shut off) car to another space because He wanted to park where she was, to Stop yelling & beeping his horn at her, that she wasn't moving the car and if he didn't stop I was calling the police, this was his response: "Call Your Mother B----! Get a dye job, get a husband and your Mother should've had an abortion!" Before he slammed his work truck door shut, I was already on the phone with the police. When he saw that, he sped off down the street. Yes, that's exactly what he said. And she heard every word. I'm stunned and disgusted, violated by this stranger's hate and hateful words. I did not leave the world of domestic violence behind so that strangers could pick up where my past abusers left off. I am so tired of the negativity and nasty atti...

Blessings to all this beautiful holiday!

The pear (no flowers) and peach (pink and white flowers) trees are coming out of their winter slumber.

Palm Sunday is here, "already" and Easter Sunday will arrive just as quickly. My first Bleeding Heart, now many years old, has begun to bloom. I look forward to its' return every Spring and it never ceases to amaze me still how quickly it grows back once it first breaks through the crusty soil! I now have two more pink and I'm anxiously waiting to see if they will bloom this year. I hope to add a white one this year as well. Their simple beauty brings me such joy!