Was I missed?

Last week was a long one, but the hard work paid off and we made over $3000 on our annual yard sale. My brother (as usual) made the most, but I made more than I did last year so I'm happy!

I'm also happy to be home and it seems I might have been missed. My little dog, Aislinn, has been getting in my lap to nap...something she didn't do before I left. The other dogs were all wiggling and giving me kisses when I got home Monday night and Don was waiting in the driveway to give me a hug when I got out of the truck!

This morning Don brought me the lovely wildflower bouquet above. It's a mix of Joe Pye Weed, Calico Asters, Goldenrod, brilliant red Sumac leaves, Brown-eyed Susans and a white flower I haven't been able to identify. I'm not handy with flower arranging so I just put this bouquet in a vase just the way Don brought it to me. I think it is gorgeous and love having a bit of Autumn in the house to enjoy.

Personally, I think Autumn has just as pretty a display of flowers as Spring does with all it's golds, reds and purples, which are some of my favorite colors (red being my absolute favorite). I also love the way Autumn paints the leaves on the trees with reds, rusty browns, gold and yellow colors. All this glorious color set against a bright blue sky is just breathtaking.

I hope you get a chance to go out and enjoy this time of year. Soak it up...it's fantastic!

Hot house flowers? No thanks!

Today I had to venture off the farm to do my grocery shopping and errands, a task I dislike, but especially dislike on Saturday. So, to cheer myself up I thought about buying some flowers at the grocery store. However, once I walked in the door I changed my mind.

As I stood there looking at the glads (which were on sale this week), the roses, daisies, etc. all I could think about was how harmful these lovely flowers were to our environment. Every time I see commercially grown flowers I remember an article I read on the amount of rain forest lost to flower farms. On top of that is the amount of fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, nematocides, etc. that are used to raise flowers...all of which are harmful to the environment and human health.

So, I kept walking. I have lovely flowers right here at home, courtesy of Mother Nature. They are as natural as can be...not a bit of chemical fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, nematocides, etc. made these flowers grow. Nope, all it took was some dirt, some rain and some bright sunshine. It doesn't get any better than that!

Now I have a lovely bouquet of orange butterfly weed and white Queen Anne's Lace. It only took a few minutes to go gather the flowers and didn't cost me a penny. No fuel was used to ship the flowers to me, nor did I have to get in my car to go buy them. Nope, I just walked out the door on my own two feet, took a few stalks from each plant (I never strip a plant because I want it to continue to grow and be healthy), thanked Mother Nature and am now enjoying my lovely vase of wildflowers.

I hope you have a lovely Saturday. Take a moment to step outside and enjoy Mother Nature's beauty. Bring a bit back into the house to brighten it up. Mother Nature won't mind. She likes to share!