This Perfectly Imperfect Life

Something wicked this way comes. Rain & hail. All hell breaking lose. Back yard flooding, filling the patio but didn't get into the kitchen thankfully. Here we go again folks! So today was not only Wordless Wednesday but Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and Julia Child's 100th Birthday! I had a lovely slideshow of garden photos planned, all taken early this morning, for a "When Wordless Wednesday & Garden Bloggers Bloom Day Collide!" post and I was going to do a little something in honor of Julia today as well. Suddenly, the arthritis flared in my hands & arms and it was all I could do not to let my hands cramp up into fists & cry. That's when I noticed the clouds gathering, the sky turning darker. By late morning I could hear thunder off in the distance & see that odd dark gray out towards the direction of NY (Long Island). And so the computer stayed off. I did get to watch The Chew's tribute to Julia on ABC7 withou...

For more Garden Blogger's Bloom Day fun, head on over to May Dreams Gardens .

Disclaimer: My slideshow for today's post is a tad long! (Don't say you were warned :o) With winds over 40mph all day, taking pictures out in the garden today wasn't an option so I've gathered here pictures I've taken throughout the month, all of which are in fact blooming today here in my coastal Zone 7a garden. (Those few pictures of my northern Zone 6 garden are labeled). Sit back & I hope you enjoy the show! For more Garden Blogger's Bloom Day fun, head over to May Dreams Gardens .

Because I've had so much blooming since May's Bloom Day post and things are winding down a bit right now as another round of blooms gets ready to burst open, I decided to give a sampling of all that's been blooming in my garden from 5-16-11 through today. (Forgive me for taking such a liberty but hope you'll enjoy the photos). For more Bloom Day fun, visit May Dreams Gardens .

For Part 2 of my Garden Blogger's Bloom Day Post, please click here or scroll down to the next post. To get in on all of the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day fun, visit Carol over at May Dreams Gardens here . Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry® **I apologize if you've ended up here looking for my June Bloom Day Post! Please click here instead. Thank you!**

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry® **I apologize if you've ended up here looking for my June Bloom Day Post! Please click here instead. Thank you!**

I didn't have a chance to post this yesterday because I wanted to be sure to post the butterfly in the cherry blossom photo's. (Click here for yesterday's "Friday Favorites" post to see them - I don't often toot my own horn about things but these photo's are incredible!) Aside from lots of green foliage, I don't have much blooming yet here on the Jersey coast as you can see above (and nothing yet in my northern Skylands Region garden), but I managed to get a few shots this week. Everything that's not blooming is coming back nicely. My Bleeding Heart just took a direct hit though from a wind blown branch so the first pink blooms getting ready to open this week were knocked off but there will be plenty more to come. (We're under a wind advisory and coastal flood warning today; awaiting the arrival of up to 2"s of rain!) A belated happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day to all of you! I look forward to seeing what's blooming in your gar...

Happy September Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and Wordless Wednesday! To get in on all of the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day fun, head over to May Dreams Gardens .

For more Garden Blogger's Bloom Day fun, head over to May Dreams Gardens .

To get in on all the hub-bub, go to Mary Dreams Gardens .

The joy I get from my blooms is more than 10,000 times the size of my 2 small gardens.

For more Garden Blogger's Bloom Day posts, go to May Dreams Gardens .

For more info on GBBD, see May Dreams Gardens . The Monarch Butterflies are suffering this Winter season! For more info, please click here . It's still chilly, foggy and raining here, as it has been for 5 days. This storm has been unlike anything we've seen here in many years. Power's out all over (thankfully we only browned out- dozens of times), trees down, homes flooded, schools closed, roof's blown off, debris everywhere, people have died... Mother Nature's fury indeed. Beware The Ides of March this day!

(Click on slide show to go to the album to see the captions) What's in your garden this day? To get in on the fun, go to May Dreams Gardens !

Even with the prolonged below freezing temps we've had, my Butterfly Bush is waking from it's short slumber & looking towards Spring. See May Dreams Gardens for more on Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.

Not much left blooming here. The colder weather, wind & rain and Nor'Easter after Nor'Easter have left more of a mess than anything else. For more info, go to May Dreams Gardens at http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/2009/11/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-november-2009.html

Go to http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/ for more info on Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. Is there any wonder why I cannot wait until we move up there?! It's the most wonderful time of the year!

While tooling around the internet yesterday, I stumbled upon "Garden Blogger's Bloom Day." While I'm unsure if it was started by Carol at MayDreamsGardens (http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/), the following is from her blog: "...I hope you’ll join us for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day this month and tell us about what's blooming now in your garden. All are welcome! It's easy to participate. Just post on your blog about what's blooming in your garden on the 15th of the month and then leave a link in the "Mr. Linky" widget below along with a comment so we can find you and visit your garden to see what you have blooming." Fun! Pictured above is some of what was blooming in my garden as of yesterday, September 15th.