My Grama's Soul

I  have never lived alone....although I have a few lady friends that do.   This morning my wonderful soul mate had an early meeting.  That meant I was here alone with my pups for a good part of the early morning. I tried to imagine my life without Brad....it was unsettling to say the least.   As we grow older together it is inevitable that one of us will end up being alone.  I'm not trying to be morbid here but just addressing reality. You build a life with someone and suddenly you are the one who remains. I don't really know what a person can do to prepare for this.....but it will happen in each of our lives if we have a partner.  How do you adapt to doing everything ALONE that you once did with someone else.  It really is almost overwhelming to think about it. So.....for the time being....I just treasure each day that I have with my partner and I know he does the same with me. You know.....when you are y...

TOO FUNNY..... xo Jo Photo:  Style Carrot

OH My......are their some geraniums amongst that lobelia?  It is springtime here....and everything is blooming like crazy.  We don't have a very long spring so I always revel in all the flowers and greenery that just explode. These flowers are from the side yard and are so very pretty I wanted to bring them inside. I always pick flowers from my garden when I can as I love to have fresh flowers inside my home.  It also saves a ton of money when you don't have to buy them at the store. Unfortunately the geraniums will not be long lived here as they are really a winter flower in AZ.  They can't stand the tremendous heat of our summers.  The roses, on the other hand, will bloom during April and May....they actually like our AZ heat if they are planted in the right spot in your yard. I've been fortunate to meet a Master Gardner at one of our local nurseries here.  Sheri, works for Sunset Nurseries here in Phoenix and is alwa...

Well......we finally planted our little garden in our backyard.  It is fairly small but hopefully it will yield some beautiful results.  There will be a lot of photos today so I just am giving fair warning.  LOL LOL I put lots of things in pots as we have desert landscaping here and our soil is so very bad.  Everything is on a water emitter system so we can control the water output.   Our state, along with others is facing a water shortage crisis so if we garden....we try to do so responsibly. Various shots around the yard.  When we moved here last August the back yard was so spartan which inspired Brad and I to get busy. We have two huge shade trees..one lemon...and one orange.  They give a tremendous amount of shade so hopefully they will give our new plantings some protection from our hot, hot, hot summer sun.  We also use umbrellas strategically as needed. I have always been a gardner and am sure I wil...

This is an unusual post for the Easter season....but wanted to share this with everyone.  Two years ago Brad and I were able to take a little trip to Europe.  We cruised the Rhein and the Main and the Danube rivers.  This cruise stopped in all the major cities and small villages along the way. Of course, there were so many old castles, churches and buildings that one cannot remember them all.  But I did manage to take some wonderful photographs of a cathedral in Cologne.   These stained glass windows are in Saint Andrew's Cathedral.  Much of this cathedral was destroyed during the war and the city has spent many years repairing the damage done.   You will notice the different style in each of the windows.  Each window was installed at a different time in history as cathedrals of this size were built over many generations.  The local citizens actually removed the stained glass windows during the war to preserve ...