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, September 7, 2020

LILIES in our YARD --Part II

Dear Blog Friends,   Happy Labor Day!!!   This is a National Holiday in our Country celebrating all of the hard-working laborers.   Growing up in the coal mining areas of southwest Virginia,  I always think of all of the men and women who work in those mines. They are definitely laborers.  Today we honor them --and many, many others who work hard each and every single day, many of them doing difficult jobs which many of us wouldn't choose to do.  God Bless our Laborers.

Today I am featuring Part II showing the  beautiful Lilies in our yard.   Part I was featured on 8/3/20.  IF you missed that post (or would enjoy seeing it again),  click Here 

As you know,  I love our LILIES.  We used to have many more of them planted all over the yard.  BUT--the deer would destroy them before we could even enjoy them...  SO a couple of years ago,  George put some of our favorites in containers and brought them to the deck.   So far,  that has worked well for us... I can enjoy them from inside and also from the deck ---and the deer have stayed away!!!!

Above was another collage that I made.   Below are some of my favorite pictures of specific groups of Lilies.  If you put your mouse over each picture,  I added the names and dates when I took the pictures.

Hope you enjoy seeing these beautiful flowers.












I miss seeing them now --as the summer is winding down with only the ROSES and a few re-blooming Day Lilies and Irises in bloom in the yard now.... 

If you are on Facebook with me,  then you know about our hard day Saturday.   IF not,  WELL--here is what happened:  We woke up during the night early Saturday morning to find water gushing all over the place in our large bathroom.   A pipe had burst under the sink!!!!   George got the water turned off --but the damage was done.   IF that was not bad enough,  the stress and anxiety of that happening put me back in A Fib...   Being in A Fib is worse than a bathroom leak... The leak can be repaired  (and has been) --but A Fib cannot....There are no cures!  VERY frustrating!!!! 

BUT--despite our hard time that Saturday,  God provided us with an amazing  "Autumn-Like Day" here... When I walked outside on the deck that morning,  I just had to take a minute and smile -- and thank God for this wonderful blessing.  As I have said many times,  when we experience the RAINY Days (hard times) in our lives,  God provides a RAINBOW of hope for us.... Thanks be to God.

I am looking forward to a better week ahead....   I will close with another Facebook Post I wrote recently when talking about the love of flowers.... Think of all of these LILIES above.  Flowers are amazing.  They bloom no matter what is going on around them.  They get along with all of the other flowers.  Their message is to send love, joy and peace to ALL.   Maybe we humans should be more like flowers.... God Bless us ALL.

Hugs,

Betsy💝💛💚💕

Monday, August 31, 2020

COLORS from Biltmore Home and Gardens 7/23/20

Dear Family and Friends,  Hope you enjoy some Summer COLORS from Biltmore today.  We always go to Biltmore during most every season of the year.  In Summer  (we were there this year on 7/23)--we specifically visit the Walled Gardens,  the Conservatory,  the Italian Water Gardens (to see the water Lilies and Lily Pads),  and the SUNFLOWERS  (a favorite Summer flower of mine).    I had way too many pictures to share --so I made some collages for you today... ENJOY!!!!

 









We are so fortunate to have Season's Tickets to Biltmore ---so we can go for short periods of time  and enjoy different areas of that amazing place during all of the seasons.  Due to Covid,  we missed our SPRING visit (which is always a favorite) ---so we just had to check out the Summer flowers.  The good news was that there were fewer people around which made "Social Distancing" easier.... 

Hope these pictures brought a smile to your face today--like they did to mine!!!!

Be sure and read the explanation of why my Header Picture (at the top of the page) this month is so SPECIAL to me.... The explanation is below the picture!!!!! 

I wrote a couple of paragraphs about my struggles with all of the changes Blogger is making (with no instructions or information)--but I deleted them....You don't need to hear my bellyaching --especially when we all need to stay as positive as possible during these hard times in our wonderful country.

Welcome September ..... I am NOT fond of the hot summers, so as you can imagine,  I'm really looking forward to some Fall Weather and Colored Leaves  ----and of course,  my PUMPKIN SPICE coffee (along with Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD)..... ha ha

HUGS,

Betsy💝💛💚💕