2026

Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to OCTOBER. My header photo this month shows a gorgeous picture showing beautiful Autumn Colors God's Blessings to YOU for an awesome month.

Monday, May 7, 2018

A Must-Read Book for YOU

Dear Friends,   I have been reading an awesome book,  written by a  blog and Facebook friend of mine.   DEE READY has been a blog friend since about 2012...    Do you have certain blogs that you ALWAYS go to --no matter what????   WELL---Dee's blog has been one of my favorites.   If you'd like to check out her blog,   click HERE.    Dee is a writer and no matter what she says,  I can relate in some way to her situation....

She has written a new book  (her memoir) entitled  "PRAYER WASN'T ENOUGH"....  Even though I have read her blog for several years,  I found out that the book goes more into detail about her decision to enter a convent and become a nun, how life was on the inside,  and then how she survived once she she made the decision to leave. We sometimes think that we are following God's plan for us, but later find out that we took the wrong road.  Taking that wrong road is sometimes not as hard as starting over anew..  






I don't want to spoil this book for you,  but  I will say that Dee's 8.5 years in the convent in the late '50's and '60's  weren't easy for her.   Her ideas of finding peace there through prayer and 'solitude' weren't what she expected for sure.   I was interested in reading about 'community' in the convent, and how that affected her... You will find out about her teaching experience while in the convent when you read the book....  You also won't believe how long it took her to actually leave the convent after she made the decision to do so.

Life after leaving the convent wasn't much easier for Dee for many years... How does one go back into the crazy world we live in --after spending so long without knowing what was going on in the outside world?   In some ways,  leaving the convent may have been harder than staying there.   But  Dee did it --and I, for one, am SO proud of her.

I hope I have said enough to make you want to READ her book...  I will say that no matter what Dee went through,  she doesn't blame or express any bitterness toward anyone at the convent or elsewhere.   She is a gracious Christian Lady,  full of faith and love and hope, who knows that being in the convent was part of her 'growing' experience.   She knows her weaknesses --and has worked her way through them, one step at a time.  We all have those growing experiences ---and going down that 'dark road of life'  makes us stronger.

Please read the book!  To me,  it was an entertaining read filled not only with harsh realities,  but also some humor.  You will enjoy reading about her  'hard-boiled-egg' experience!!!!!!! Ha!



My Friend,   Dee Ready

You can order the book from Amazon.  Click HERE  for a paperback copy OR a Kindle copy.  You can also check out Dee's Facebook Page.   Click HERE.

If you have questions or thoughts,  I'm sure that Dee Ready can help you!!!!   I'll bet that you,  like me,  can relate to much of what Dee has endured in life.   The one thing which Dee has done that many of us don't do is that she has come to terms with her weaknesses and has made the necessary changes in order to find that  joy, love, acceptance, and peace in her own life...  Oh --how I wish we could ALL do that!

I'll close with one of Dee's comments  I read (and copied) from one of her Blog Posts a few years ago:
"Do or say one helpful,  compassionate good thing to someone each day."

Hugs,

Monday, April 30, 2018

Tulips and Azaleas from Biltmore House and Gardens, Asheville, North Carolina, April 17, 2018

Us  at Biltmore enjoying the TULIPS 
Dear Friends,   Can you believe that it is ALMOST May????   Time is flying by ---but now,  maybe we will all have some warm weather, lots of sunshine  --and finally,  some SPRING!!!!!! April was a COLD month for us  (colder than Feb.)---and many of our plants have suffered so far...  They are waiting for some 'real' Spring also!!!!

On April 17, 2018  we drove to Biltmore to see their Tulip collection...    WOW---did we ever get there at a perfect time...   Even many of the Azaleas were blooming...   SO today I hope this post will make you SMILE.....  Sit back and enjoy the beauty!!!


TULIPS



AZALEA



TULIPS and some WHITE DAFFODILS still blooming



AZALEAS



LARGE TULIPS 



TULIP Opened Up;   Would you recognize this one as a Tulip if you hadn't seen the picture above???



AZALEA



TULIPS AND MORE TULIPS



Love this Purple/White TULIP  next to the dark Purple TULIP



The Inside of one of the Purple/White TULIPS



Mixture of AZALEA BUSHES



TULIPS and WHITE DAFFODILS



More TULIPS ----oh,  so many colors!!



My Favorite Color of AZALEAS



See the smile on the face of the girl who LOVES TULIPS and AZALEAS!!!



OOPS----not a Tulip nor an Azalea  --but a sweet little family of CANADA GEESE;  Look at those adorable babies!!!!



BILTMORE HOUSE AND GARDENS,  Asheville, NC  --4/17/18
Finally,   I'll include one of George's fantastic pictures which he took while we were standing in the Walled Garden --looking toward the Biltmore House in the distance.... We were definitely there on a gorgeous Spring Day,  and enjoyed every minute of our day there!

Hope you have an awesome day and week ahead....  I think/hope that we are going to finally get some warm weather here --and maybe,  I can get the deck furniture out of the basement and get it cleaned up!!!!   YEAH!!!

Hugs,