A little blog about the beauty in all that is around us......it is all in how you look at it. This is the perspective of a woman & a flower lady.....



Besides the water looking muddy.....I think the creek is so pretty....weeds & all!



From the full on shot of the creek bottom, yes it just looks like weeds.....but as I ventured in farther, I found some beauty amongst the nuisance.



This reminds me of some of some of the strange species of sea life.



Thistle fuzzies holding on for dear life to this "weed". I love the color & the texture of this particular one.



Bugs eye view of thistle against the blue sky. The clouds that day resembles the thistle after they blow & turn into the floating little fuzzies that carry the seeds.



Unique view from under Queen Anne's Lace....again a bugs perspective!



So pretty....how can you call these weeds?



This shot is of the creek bottom (again bugs eye view) looking up & over the state highway that is just beyond the grasses.

Just so you know, I did NOT lay down in the weeds to get these shots......just held the camera low, point & click. They are pretty.....but who knows what else was buried down deep in there!!

This is all gone now, as my father in law, who doesn't share my love of the beauty of the weeds.....mowed them all down!
That is the perspective of..........a man & a farmer!

Go....embrace the beauty of Your weeds!

Yesterday I spent the day outdoors, mostly mowing our yard & my in-laws' yard. But after wards I grabbed my camera & took the Ranger down to the creek bottom to see what beauty I could find amongst the weeds. Here is some of what I found, along with what is in my kitchen window.



In my kitchen window today is a vase of fresh spearmint with the bloom off the top of a sweet red onion plant in the middle.



On the other side of my window sill is (or should I say WAS) a vintage creamer with various varieties of day lilies & one of my heirloom yellow roses. I say WAS because they are not there this morning, but for 1 day they were beautiful.



This is a yellow daisy type flower that grows wild in our creek bottom.



I found this busy bee working his magic on the beautiful blooms of this large Phlox.



A lonely sweet pea blossom that grows against some vintage wrought iron fence in my front yard. Last year it was covered, but this year, for some reason I don't have very many blooms. I love the pretty, delicate pink blooms against the weathered, rusty look of the iron fence.



Another busy bee working feverishly on a clover bloom, I found in the creek bottom. If you click on this photo to make it larger, you will be able to see the detail of the pollen ball he had collected. Makes you wonder at the complexity of nature, when you see such a small bee with this huge ball of pollen he was carrying around. It had to weigh a ton compared to his size. Amazing!



One of my very favorite "weeds" Queen Anne's Lace grows all over the creek bottom & the ditches. I love the delicate details of each tiny bloom that makes up the entire flower.



I love this shot of my Stargazer Lilies. It captures the beauty of the coloring & detail of each part of the flower all in one.

What's in your yard, your ditches, your creek bottom or your flower beds? I know you have beauty all around you, just waiting for you to explore. So grab your camera & take a walk on the wild side of your home.......you will be astonished at what is growing right under your nose!

Next post I will show some of the endless varieties of "WEEDS" growing in our creek bottom. Some are truly beautiful when you look beyond them being a nuisance.

Happy 4th Of July....enjoy & be safe!
God Bless America!!

Pink, Pink, & more Pink....that was the color palette for last Saturday's wedding. The Bride chose a cotton candy pink for the bridesmaid's dresses & wanted all shades of pink flowers to accent them. Shades of pink roses & to have the bouquets appear to be sort of a cascade & still have bare stems were her only requests. The rest she left up to us. We chose to use Ballet, Malibu, & Hot Princess roses with pink peonies, Sorbonne lilies, pink hydrangea & festival bush. The bouquets were accent with dusty miller & sea star fern. The stems were wrapped in pink double face satin ribbon & pinned up the back with a hot pink pearl head pin.

Here is what we designed for her:




Here are the hydrangea, which started out white & were tinted with 2 shades of pink flower tint. The roses have all been stripped of foliage & thorns. In the clear box are the stephanotis that were used in the Bridal bouquet, groom's boutonniere & a few of the corsages.



This is one of the bridesmaids bouquets completed, along with the shades of pink ribbon we used throughout the wedding designs.



Our Bride in her hotel room....we had just delivered the flowers & the photographer had set her up for this shot. I don't care for the way she was holding the bouquet, but the photographer didn't want her to touch the bouquet to her dress to avoid water spotting. Her bridal gown had a pink satin ribbon that laced up the back of the dress that continued to carry out the whole pink theme.



Her you can see a close up of the Bridal bouquet, we used the stephanotis in her bouquet but not the bridesmaid's bouquets. A cream pearl head pin was inserted into the center of the stephanotis for an added touch.



This is a close up where you can see the Bride's Rosary in the bouquet. The Bride's parents had this made for her by Monks especially for her wedding day. It is made of sterling silver beads & pearls. It also has sterling silver block beads with the Bride & Groom's names & the date of the wedding. Very special & pretty. Sometimes the Rosary is wrapped around the stem of the bouquet with the cross hanging over the Bride's hand when she carries it, but this Bride wanted her bouquet to appear to be sort of cascading as to not see the stems. So I decided that the best way to incorporate it, was to place it on top of the bouquet where you would be able to see it. When she walked the cross moved along the bottom of the bouquet & was so pretty.



All 4 Bridesmaid's bouquets using the same flowers, but all put together a bit differently so they were not matchy. Sorbonne Lilies, 3 shades of pink roses, peony, hydrangea accented with festival bush, dusty miller & sea star fern.



Close up shot of the Bridesmaid's bouquets.



Mother's corsages were designed using pink mini calla lilies & pink spray roses.



Groom's boutonniere: Malibu rose, festival bush, & stephanotis. The stem was wrapped with pink satin ribbon & criss crossed with a thin satin hot pink ribbon & pinned with hot pink pearl head pins.



Father's boutonnieres: Mini pink calla lily & festival bush. The stems were wrapped in pink satin ribbon & pinned with hot pink pearl head pins.



All other men's boutonnieres: Ballet roses & festival bush with the stems wrapped in pink satin ribbon & pinned with hot pink pearl head pins.



Jr. Bridesmaid's Pomander: Pink hydrangea, roses, & white stephanotis accented with shades & various sizes of pink satin ribbon. Hydrangea blooms were tied into the thin satin ribbon for a fun effect. This was all out of silk flowers, so she could keep it as a keepsake after the ceremony.



A memorial bouquet of silk flowers was used to honor the grandparents who were deceased. Each white candle represented one grandparent & were lit after the unity candle part of the ceremony. This bouquet was also made of silk flowers, so they would have it as a keepsake after the ceremony.



Here are the 20 potted plants that were placed under the edge of every 3rd pew along the aisle & were then used on some of the tables at the reception. I believe they were to be gifts for grandparents, aunts & uncles, & those who had helped with the ceremony in other ways.

We were not able to set these up as the Catholic Church had booked a wedding in at 3, Mass at 5 & this wedding at 7:30. We had to leave them for them in a room to be set up after Mass was over.

The Bride & Groom's family did all the reception decor & I am not sure what they decided to do.

At first I was not sure about all this pink, but I think it all turned out nicely since we were able to mix the shapes of flowers & the shades of pink.

What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts, please leave me a comment!