My Garden Walk Week 7. The Tulips are still blooming!

It's week 7 of walking the gardens and it's amazing that the Tulips are 

still looking really good.  I think it may be because we have had

a very cool and wet spring.  I'm actually getting

tired of rain and I never thought I would say that living in Utah.

There are a lot of English Daisies in the gardens right now.

This walk way is just so welcoming and beautiful. 

This I believe is a Primrose plant.

I like this doorway photo going into the secret garden.

The clematis are about to bloom.

This flower is actually on a tree. I have to learn what all the trees are.

The view from the bottom of the Italian gardens.

This almost looks like a little creature with its mouth open.

It's another flowering tree though.

A Strawberry flower.

I think this is a Mormon Metalmark on an Allium flower.

I love the color of this Tulip.

Blue Bells.

These are my favorite tulips.  I just like the pink and green .

Don't you just want to jump into this photo and sit and relax for awhile.

Well I hope you enjoyed the photos from my weekly walk. 

I try to pick just my favorites.  I take a ton of photos.  

Do you like photography?  What do you like to photograph?

G.G.

On Losing My Cat to Cancer. In the journey of grief, 4 months of missing my fur baby.

Last night I went to bed weeping.  Oh how I miss my sweet cat.  Then upon looking at the calendar I realized it has been 4 months since we said goodbye to my sweet cat.  I wish many nights before falling to sleep that my cat would visit me in my dreams.  I guess heaven is so wonderful that coming and visiting me is not on the schedule. 

Perhaps though I am just not in tune enough to the world of spirits and she is there

watching over me and I am just not able to notice.  I still find her cat hair in places

where I think how could this be here.  Each time I find a little cat hair or 

see her photo on her memorial chair I think of all our wonderful years together. 

My heart still aches for her.

She was such a character.  We go back and forth about getting a new cat.

I sometimes feel that I failed her, that I made wrong choices.

I worry I will fail again.  I want to be a good care taker of Gods innocent creations.

We are thinking of adopting a new kitten.  Not to replace this lovely cat who

gave us so much joy, but to rescue another animal who just needs love and a 

safe place to live.  

I will love you forever Amber.

G.G.

Mom of a Returned Missionary. Reflecting on it all.

My son has been home from his mission for over a month now.  This past month has been busy with doctor appointments to make sure he didn't have any hidden illness from being in a foreign country for two years.  Visiting the college he will attend in the fall.  There are lots of things to figure out with that.  He is back working and so we have the daily drive to work and back.  I am also trying to get him driving more.  My kids are not the type of kids that have a grand desire to drive.  But we are getting there.

We have been catching up with each other and sharing about what happened in our lives over the last two years.  I've enjoyed trying some of the new foods that he fell in love with in Mexico.  This is a mango.  It's really good.  We have enjoyed listening to his stories of the things he did in Mexico.
I have to say there are some things that I'm glad I did not know about while he was away.

My son said the other day he was glad he was home.  I am glad to have him home.

There is more laughter in our house now.  My husband is less stressed too. 

There is a balance that was missing when he was away. It's amazing how each of us

contributes to our family circle.

It's wonderful to watch my children reconnect.  I'm glad that they are close to each other.

There is one thing that I have thought recently, it sometimes feels as if he was never away.

Those two years seem to have floated away in the mist of my mind. It makes me wonder about

the life to come when we graduate from this life and enter our eternal life.

Are there spirits on the other side waiting our return, do they remember a time when we

were with them.  When we pass to the other side after a few weeks of being back

will it feel as if we had never left.  I read books about the other side and it says there really is 

no time there.  It's very hard for my mortal brain to understand the timelessness of eternity.

As I have reflected on my sons mission there have been many occasions where it seems to parallel our own missions here on earth.  We leave the presence of our Heavenly Father to come here on our

"Earthly Mission", we live here and are tested and learn and then

we graduate and return to our "Eternal Life".  In each stage there is preparation and learning there is leaving and returning.  I think that there are spirits that are waiting for us, watching over us and planning a big celebration at our return.  Just like the journey our missionary son took.  I think probably once we graduate this life, all the pain, sorrow and hard times will float away from our memory and we will feel like this life was just a small part of a much bigger plan.  We will look back and see all we learned and accomplished and realize that it was worth it, but also be very glad to be back to that eternal world.

What do you think?

G.G.

Hyacinth. A Study of Spring Flowers.

In Greek mythology, the Hyacinth plant resulted from the death of a young 

boy named Hyakinthos.  He was killed by the god of the west wind (Zephyr), 

when he caused a discus to fly at the boys head because he was jealous of the attention

the boy was giving to the sun god Apollo.

The different colors have meanings.

Purple means asking for forgiveness.

White means loveliness, or praying for someone.

I loved how they created this purple pathway at the gardens.

Here is a poem.

"BLUE HYACINTHS"

In your

Curled petals what ghosts

of blue headlands and seas,

what perfumed immortal breath sighing

Of Greece. 

Adelaide Crapsey ( 1878-1914) 

I found this poem in the poem book 

"THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS POEMS"

Pink or Red means play time or recreation.

Yellow means jealousy.

This is a Grape Hyacinth.

Next year I have to take time to smell each of the flowers.

It is said each type of Hyacinth flower has its own fragrance and

that they are used to make perfumes. 

What is your favorite flower?

G.G.

Flowers and Poetry. Deaths of Flowers.

I have a book called "THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS Poems."

I decided I would take photos of the different flowers that there are poems for

and share the poems with the flowers. 

I thought this poem was interesting it's called 

"Death of Flowers." 

I would if I could choose

Age and die outwards as a tulip does;

Not as this iris drawing in, in-coiling

Its complex strange taut inflorescence, willing

Itself a bud again- though all achieved is

No more than a clenched sadness,

The tears of gum not flowing,

I would choose the tulip's reckless way of going;

Whose petals answer light, altering by fractions

From closed to wide, from one through many perfections,

Till wrecked,Flamboyant, strayed beyond recall,

Like flakes of fire they piecemeal fall.

E.J. Schovell (1907-99)

I took my daughter walking in the gardens last week and promised I was 

only going to take a few photos of the flowers.  I told her I was after dead tulips for 

my blog.  Well as usual I took way more than a few photos.  But I enjoyed 

looking at the garden and trying to get photos to go with a poem that I read.

I will be enjoying this new idea. 

What do you think of the poem?

G.G.

My Weekly Garden Walk. Week 6, The Tulips are amazing this year!

I can't believe I have been walking the gardens for six weeks now.  

Time just zips by when you are busy with life.  I think that is 

why I love my weekly walk, I take time to slow down

and literally smell the flowers. 

The weather here has been a lot cooler and most weeks we have a day or two of

rain which isn't the normal weather, or at least the last seven years it hasn't been 

the normal weather. 

These little butterflies are everywhere. 

This section of the garden makes me think of Easter.

I think it is the colors. 

The flowers around the little stream are finally blooming.

The green on the trees are not the leaves, but the tree blossoms.

Pinkalicious.  These are pretty tulips.

I love taking close up photos of flowers.  This is 

an English Daisy.

I haven't done the one thing I was going to do this year which was

choose certain spots in the garden and photograph them every week.

It's hard when there are tons of people walking around.

I have done a few photos at the doors of the Secret Garden.

I think I have also photographed these two sections of the 

garden every week.

It is very hard to get a photo here without a person walking into the photo.

I like the pansies on the carousel horse.  It is hard to get a good 

photo of the horses.

I find the not quiet open poppy in the middle of

the tulips interesting. 

This was an interesting plant that I found.  I"m not sure what it is.

A bleeding heart plant.  They remind me of my Moms garden. 

Have you done any fun garden walks this year?

G.G.