Happy Sunday!!

Happy Sunday everyone.  

I hope your day is filled with sunshine and joy....

We have had the most delicious summer so far this year.  Not too hot, rain when needed, plenty of sunshine, I am putting my request in for next summer to be identical to this one.  Wouldn't it be nice to be able to order up some sunshine when needed?  Or to have all of our prayers answered the exact way we request them.  How many times do we tell ourselves that there is a reason for our prayers not being answered in the way we want...trying to figure out the whys while still hanging on to our faith.  My prayer is always "to let go and let God",  Such a short message but a mighty difficult one to adhere to.

I continue to enjoy summer by a trip now and again to the Arboretum.  Friday was another delicious day, sunshine and only in the 70's, blissful.  I decided to drive to the Fragrance Garden that is usually filled with beautiful flowers and wander down the Joy Path.  Ofcourse I wasn't disappointed....but before I reached the garden I found this....ahhh!!

You know how I love red berries and against that blue sky, bonus!!

Flowers in a variety of colors....

Love those anemones...

This butterfly had the most gorgeous wing span.

While at the garden I struck up a conversation with a couple, they were taking pictures of each other with an I-Phone.  I asked if I could take both of their pictures together (I do this alot) and ofcourse they were delighted.  Thus began our conversation.  He is a retired orthopedic surgeon and then the obvious question followed..."what does your husband do?"  I explained and when he asked what facility my sweetie was staying in, I was delighted to hear that one of his former colleagues owned the facility.  He went on to say that the owner was a very dear friend, a man in tune with care and and caring.  Along with the beauty surrounding us, that conversation made my day!!  He even gave me his business card and told me if I EVER had any concerns to call him and he would in-turn call his friend, the owner.  Perfect.

The only thing that concerned me on this trip was that some of the leaves on trees are already beginning to show signs of Fall.  Oh I am so not ready to give up this summer, but I do admit we have pretty terrific Falls.

Back home I noticed my neighbors sunflowers haven't bloomed yet, so summer can't be over!!

And the backyard birds are still with me.

OK, today is going to be another day on the porch.  I need to finish my bookclub book, "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman.  I will let you know how I liked it when I finish...right now, I am on the fence.  Next up, "The Orphan Train".  I am probably the only one that hasn't read this yet, we are reading and discussing this in my "story-hour" book club where we only read one book a year.  The remaining gatherings are book reviews presented by the members. I remember last year one of the books reviewed was "Me Before You" a book on my must read list.  I tried my best not to listen to her review, but the only way I could avoid her words was to nod off to sleep, then I started snoring...how rude!!

Again, happy Sunday and enjoy the week ahead!!

“No matter where life takes you...the place where you stand at any moment is holy ground. Love hard and love wide and love long, and you will find goodness in it.” 
—Susan Vreeland, Lisette's List

Until next time.....