Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Monday, July 30, 2018

LILIES in our YARD 2018

BLACK BEAUTY TIGER LILIES  7-24-18
Hello Friends---WELL--it is almost AUGUST!!!!   July here in Tennessee ended up being good when it comes to the weather... We had some rain (which we needed) --AND  we had some cooler temperatures with less humidity!!   AWESOME!!!!    BUT--what will August bring us????  I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Today I am featuring the LILIES that bloomed in our yard this year.  This year we only had 12 varieties which bloomed --but most of them were really pretty.   We used to have many more Lilies  (and Tulips) than we do now.   The deer love to eat the buds, and also the ground critters (chipmunks and squirrels) also love to dig up the bulbs thinking they are nuts or acorns.   SO--we have been losing the battle with our Lilies and Tulips.

Since Lilies are one of my favorite flowers,  we are trying something different for next Summer.... I'll let you know how it works out.....

Hope you enjoy seeing our LILIES..  Get a favorite beverage,  sit back and enjoy!!!!


MONTENEGRO LILIES  6-2-18



ORANGE ELECTRIC LILY  6-9-18



ROSELLA'S DREAM LILIES  6-9-18



SARINA LILY  6-12-18



ROSELLA'S DREAM LILIES  6-15-18



PINK PERFECTION LILY 6-15-18



PINK LEMONADE  LILY 6-16-18



GOLDEN SPLENDOR LILY 6-22-18



PURPLE PRINCE LILY 6-25-18



LILIUM LEICHTLINII  TIGER LILIES 6-29-18



MUSCADET LILIES 7-3-18



STARGAZER LILY 7-6-18


GOLDEN SPLENDOR LILIES  6-23-18



BLACK BEAUTY TIGER LILY 7-10-18   (This is a close-up of the group of lilies at the top of this post today.)



GOLD BAND LILY  7-6-18



CANNA LILIES  (up close and personal)  7-4-18



Our entire bed of CANNA LILIES in bloom 7-7-18
Well, my Friends,  do you have a favorite???  It's hard for me to choose a favorite --but I will say that the Cannas are prettier this year than they have ever been.   I love their foliage as much as the blooms.   I guess the abundant rain helped.   And, even though they have never been my favorites,  both varieties of Tiger Lilies did well this year.  AND--I also love Rosella's Dream Lilies... And --my list goes on and on.

Have a wonderful week.

Hugs,

Monday, July 23, 2018

Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky: Much More than Caves!!!

Good Spring Cemetery in Mammoth Cave National Park
From July 11-13, 2018,  George and I enjoyed meeting our good friends,  Neal and Patti,  at Mammoth Cave National Park for a few days together.  Since all of us had been in some of the caves previously,  we stayed above ground and explored the 'rest' of the park...

One thing all four of us enjoyed doing was visiting several old cemeteries in the former tiny communities dotted around that area..    SO---this post is about CEMETERIES...  Some of you may not be interested at all in this ---but maybe,  some will!!!!!

I have enjoyed Genealogy for years ---and really enjoy visiting cemeteries,  not only to find information on my loved ones,  but also looking at many other lives.   People have stories to tell --and it is apparent, while visiting these little cemeteries,  that families still visit these graves.  I can only imagine families standing around telling stories of deceased loved ones --of all ages.

People had hard lives in the 1800's --and that is always apparent when checking out the olcer gravestones in cemeteries.   George found one couple who had buried 6 infants, over the course of several years.  Can you imagine?   Some of the older stones were hard to read --but in a few cases,  someone had done some work to help clean up the information written on those stones.

We noticed many deaths during the epidemic years..  I remember the horrible FLU of 1918  and the Typhoid Fever Epidemic in the early 1900's.   That is what killed my Grandmother  (Mom's mother),  when Mom was ONLY 4 years old.

George said that I didn't need to do this since we were in public cemeteries,  but I blacked out the LAST names on the gravestones in respect for those families...  BUT--I will say that we did keep seeing  many of the same last names over and over throughout all of the cemeteries.  Many of those last names were used to identify other things around the area,  such as all of the old ferry crossings across the Green River.

Hope you enjoy seeing and reading about some of the folks who inhabited this area many years ago. Above,  you will see one of my favorite cemeteries,  the Good Spring Cemetery.  We drove way back in the woods on a gravel road to find this cemetery and little church.   It was such a peaceful place.

Willie Marie was the 'sunshine of their home'.   How sweet!



I enjoyed seeing the sketching of the little church on this marker.  Note that this little girl died during the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918.



There were lots of beautiful flowers dotted throughout all of the cemeteries we visited.



Here was a mother and son.  The son died first.   I love the quote on this gravestone.



Meet  Albert and Frances...  He was 14 years older than she was.   What amused me was seeing their nicknames:  Shorty and Recy!!!!



Meet Isabell.  She was only 40 when she died.  Wonder what the feather meant???? YES--she went to a "bright home where grief cannot come".



Some of the older stones were hard to read..  But, here is one I can read. Please meet Nancy.  She was only 14 when she married,  and  only 25 when she died....SAD!



Here is an interesting memorial...  Kenneth and Helen died on the same day.  I 'assume' automobile accident..?????



Wish you could have been here to see this one.  Someone obviously liked FROGS..  There were frogs all over the place near this gravestone.    Nosy me would love to know the story behind the frogs!!!



This young man (only 39 when he died) was and IS loved--as you can tell from all of the flowers and items around the gravestone.



 A close-up of the gravestone in the picture above;  Thomas Lee was born a year before my middle son.  And --he died WAY too young at age 39.



This is the back-side of Thomas's gravestone.   What caught my attention was the sketching of the truck.  I assume that was Thomas' truck ..  Wonder how he died????



Some of the gravestones and monuments were in fenced areas.   Does that make them more special?  I think NOT.



Reading the inscriptions around certain gravestones told their stories also.  Sudden deaths are the hardest for loved ones still here...  
Well---- I hope you took time to read this post --even though many of us don't like to think about DEATH....It is just the next step in our lives and none of us know when it will happen to us. Life is precious..  Let's LIVE it to our fullest each and every day!

Hugs,

Monday, July 16, 2018

Beauty, Joy, Sadness, and our Busy, Blessed Life

LILIES in our Yard  (2018)
Dear Friends,   I truly apologize if I don't get to your posts this week...  We just got home from a trip (on Friday, 7/12),  and are leaving again for another trip!!!!! Life is full of all kinds of emotions these days..    Our yard has been so pretty this summer  (until the deer and Japanese beetles visit)..  BUT--I'll share some of our Summer photos so far around the yard

We took a short trip to  the Mammoth Cave National Park to see our good friends,  Neal and Patti.  Most people go to Mammoth Cave to hike down into the caves..  We have done that and love doing it.  BUT--there's a lot more to see in the National Park there.

The four of us enjoyed driving on all of the unpaved back roads in the woods in that area.   GORGEOUS!!!!!!  We stopped and checked out many little churches and lots of old cemeteries..   Most of the little churches were built in the 1800's...   SO interesting to think about the history of that area.  It reminded me of both Cataloochee and  Cades Cove  (but more rustic).   We had such a wonderful couple of days!!!!

The SADNESS I mentioned in my title is because George lost his brother  (2 years younger) on July 9.   Ken had been suffering from Leukemia for about 2 years.  He fought the good fight --but the cancer finally won the war.   George and Ken talked on the phone every Sunday night at 7:00 (ON THE DOT)...   George already misses him so much --but knows that he is out-of-pain and is with God.

We got home from our Mammoth Cave trip on Friday,  washed clothes,  re-packed and left Saturday for the visitation (on Sunday) and the funeral (on Monday).    Talk about a BUSY life ---but as I said, a blessed one.  Prayers please for Ken's family --and prayers for family members who are driving to Indiana.

Hope you enjoy seeing my photos and collages today...  IF you want to know what a specific flower is,  please ask.   I wanted to put the names in --but ran out of time.... 


YARD  (Summer 2018) 



DAY LILIES  (Summer,  2018)



ROSES--   Summer, 2018



Our wonderful FRIENDS,   Patti and Neal  (July 12, 2018)



KENNETH RAY ADAMS
July 6, 1944----  July 9, 2018



ADAMS' SIBLINGS:   George,  Janet,  Ken  (2009)



Ken and his beautiful wife,  Bonnie,  at our wedding --in 2001

I hope that all of you will have a great week.   I will respond to your posts once we get home and life settles down a little.

Much Love to ALL,