Wednesday Treasures

Hey everyone! It's August already!  Where did this summer go? I like what Jane Austen says in this picture on one of my calendars below:

(Susan Branch calendar)

Ain't that the truth?  It's been HOT everywhere this summer! And I definitely feel like I am in a "continual state of inelegance".  LOL.

Hard to feel very "elegant" when you are constantly sweating and trying to find ways to keep "cool". 

I do love this John Sloane Country Seasons August calendar picture...Such a beautiful garden and a lovely lady with her kitty and flowers and birds...However, she would never be able to dress like that here in Florida in the summertime!  At least not while she's outside cutting flowers in the garden! 

 

Seems as though all of my calendars are full of lovely garden pictures this month:

Even the Teapot Calendar has a garden theme:

Here's the quote from that calendar for this month:

Oh, speaking of "The Secret Garden"...I like what that says, because "if you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden"...even my little "Secret Garden"...it seems as though it's a secret to everyone that it is really supposed to be a garden...

Not much blooming there right now except for these little purple wildflowers...

And we do have lots of holly berries growing on the holly tree...they just aren't red yet...

Yes, it is the Memorial Garden as well.  I'm ashamed that there isn't much blooming that would be a very good memorial to our son in this garden, but he was a lover of nature and ponds, so I am sure he wouldn't mind this little memorial along the shores of Still Waters Pond.

The butterfly garden has been suffering in the heat of this summer, but I am thankful for the rain that keeps it alive.  We just planted the Bottlebrush bush to the right of the bird bath. Hopefully it will grow and thrive here.

Since I started writing this post today we have been out to eat with our sweet kids Benton and Rose for an early supper.  They had to take us in their  (quad cab) pick up truck because our car AC decided to malfunction today.  It comes on for a while and then shuts off and blows hot air. When the temperature outside is already 92 degrees +, we sure don't want to ride around in a car w/o AC.  Just seems like if it's not one thing it's another!  We have an appointment tomorrow morning to have it checked and hopefully repaired...but that's another major expense that we were not anticipating at this time. 

Anyway, these pictures were actually taken last year at the same place, around the same time...when they took us to "Johnny's BBQ" for our anniversary dinner.  Our anniversary isn't for a couple of weeks yet, so this was not a special occasion...just wanted to go out to eat with our kids...(we already had this planned before our AC decided to quit on us. We decided we weren't going to let that spoil our lovely time with our kids). 

This was last year...we had just opened up Dixie Cottage, and so we were wearing our Dixie Cottage t-shirts.  This year our family no longer owns Dixie Cottage, but I still have those t-shirts and I can wear them around the house for "house shirts". LOL. They were about worn out anyway.

And there's sweet Benton and Rose...last year.  Nothing's changed much...we all still look pretty much the same, so I figured these pictures would suffice for showing where we were today.

When we got back from "lupper" (lunch and supper combined, lol), our library called me to let me know that the next batch of books I had ordered online was in...so I took back the old bag full of books that I had just finished last night and picked up this bag full of books to keep me occupied for the next couple of weeks...yeah, still reading the Beverly Lewis Amish stories...I tell you I am practically speaking Amish/Pennsylvania Dutch after reading these books...they are so "wunderbar gut!" LOL.

I am so thankful for this sturdy leather bag that my dear friend Sharon Watson created for me many years ago when I still lived in the forest amongst the bears...

Here's a picture of us together...Sharon is next to me, then my niece Debbie and my sister Doris. Sharon made these wonderful bags for each of us for Christmas that year.

And sadly, here is a link to a post about Sharon back before she passed away from cancer (in the summer of 2019).  Such a very dear and precious friend whom I will never forget. I am so thankful for her friendship and also for this bag to remind me of her...along with many other special gifts she gave me back in those days. Sharon was a treasure for sure.

So, speaking of sorrows and difficulties and unexpected events, here is a great verse to remember:

This is on the Thomas Kinkade calendar for this month.  Always so inspirational.

Another great verse to remember.

Well, folks, these are my "treasures" for today! I pray you are looking for treasures in your day each and every day.  It's kind of like the quote above from "The Secret Garden",

"If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden."

I say, If you look the right way, you can see treasures in the whole world all around you...

Have a "wunderbar gut" day!!