Catching up

I have been nominated for several awards and a meme in the past week or two, but have been so busy I didn't post them, so here goes.

I was tagged to name five things I love by Karen at A Scrapbook of Inspiration. Well, that is easy! In fact, I have a hard time paring it down to five things. My list may be a bit different than most, but these are things that really make my heart glad.

1. My pergola. My darling husband built this for me for our 25th wedding anniversary and it makes me smile each time I see it. I especially love it this time of year when I have so many beautiful flowers hanging from it and surrounding it. I step out into a garden each time I go out the back door. For parties I hang it full of paper lanterns and I have my wicker setee in it for morning coffee or evening firefly watching:>)

2. Fireflies on a warm summer night. Is there anything more magical? I have loved fireflies since I was a little girl running around outside at night, in my nightgown, capturing the tiny glowing creatures so I could watch them spark on my dresser as I went to sleep. The farm fields where I grew up were so full of them it was like the stars had fallen and were twinkling in the tall grasses just for me.
Pure white Lilies against the shed and pink hollyhocks in the back garden
3. Flowers. Any kind. Any color. They all make me smile. I am not much of a gardener, my flowers bloom right along with the weeds most of the time. (Too much forced weeding of the garden when I was growing up!) In the winter I dream of when the flowers will bloom again.


4. Packages in the mail. Really, isn't a surprise package just the best day brightener? To think that someone sent a little something just for you and see that box on the porch, well it is just like Christmas. A package in the mail can make my day! This is the latest package I received. A beautiful print, called Cottage of Abundance" from Karen Harvey Cox that I won in her give away. I have another of her works that I am still looking for the right frame for. What a joy to find something so beautiful in the mail!

5. Blogging. I love it. My family can attest to that. I spend far too much time visiting blog friends and "photo styling":>) but it has opened up my world to a lot of kindness, creativity and inspiration. I find wonderful Christian women, artistic kindred spirits, and just wonderful people
who share their day to day trials, fun, creativity and so much more. That is my list of five things I love. I am passing this meme on to five women who I would love to know more about:
Mary, at Little Red House
Becky at Sweet Cottage Dreams
Lallee at Lallee's Cottage
Alexandra at Silver Bell Cottage
Jan at Jan and Toms Place
I also received the Arte Y Pico award from Jan and Tom and the Brilliante Weblog Award from Amy at Bunny Rose Cottage, Karen Harvey Cox and Mrs. Rabe at Creekside Cottage! Wow! I'm so flattered and I really appreciate the kudos:>)
In the interest of time I am going to cop out on these awards, I appreciate so many of you I just can't choose any more. I love visiting all of you, you know who you are! I just can't stay away, so consider yourself awarded, showered with appreciation. You are all wonderful to know:>)