Designer

…….I look at a garden the way I look at life…..it is always in transition……….Somethings die…..and others take their place………The Lilacs and Pansies lived their life….They were beautiful and gave me lots of joy….but now they are gone. I told Franco to remove the pansies when I wasn’t home….the way I used to have him remove them when Jac wasn’t home….it’s very sad…..but….the pots weren’t empty for too long….we quickly replanted the pots with new summer annuals that will have all summer to grow and flourish…..They will once again bring me joy all summer……until the fall when once again the pots are emptied, cleaned and stored away for the following spring……The circle of life………However, that’s a long time from now, and I have all summer to enjoy them…….The climbing roses along the drive are almost in full bloom and look and SMELL glorious! They too will soon be gone, but the Black Eyed Susan’s along the drive are growing tall and come July will be blooming. They will Last until the fall season too…….Another TRANSITION……The seasons are coming and going too quickly! ! !It’s already mid June…..Is that because I’m getting older, and the days fly by?…..Well, as they say……”STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES!!”

……………………..This was a great year for my Rhododendron bushes……They were so lush you could hardly see the leaves…..However, their time has come and gone and they are quickly fading……..In their place are the Hydrangeas. They are just starting to have small blooms, but they are still mostly budding [photos upper left]. The photos in the middle bottom of the fuchsia and white flowers [don’t know their name] are spreading like wildfire. It’s a good thing I love them…..It’s always fun to plan which flowers to put together in which posts. I try to mix them so no two pots are the same…..they are all different, and the eye can move from one to the other…..like dancing!

………………….My parents were married in October of 1935…….They took a cruise to Florida, which my mother told me at the time was a pretty big deal…..They then stayed in a hotel for a week before taking the ship back to NYC…..The bottom picture at the right shows my mother sitting on the ship wearing a wrap coat……My mother told me one evening my father was wearing a white suit to dinner….She whispered to him “Jim what kind of underwear are you wearing?” He replied “Why, I’m wearing my polka dot boxers”…….My mother said, “well you better change them because I can see the dots through your white pants!” Needless to say he went to change and never made that mistake again….My mother thought that was a funny story, and thought I would also find it funny, which I did picturing him in his dapper white suit with polka dots showing through…I’m so glad I have these old pictures of them in their youth…..They had their whole life together ahead of them…… They were married for 70 years, but they knew each other as children so they knew each other their entire lives…..Like many couples the paths they took to be with each other wasn’t always clear or straight, but love won out……. My parents both passed away at the ages of 95……one week apart……My mother went first……My father told me “your mom’s calling me”, and one night in his sleep his heart stopped…..They were lucky to have each other for so long……..Sometimes I wonder what will happen to all of these pictures when I’m no longer here to treasure them.

……………………….Parents make sure your children UNDERSTAND the importance of INTEGRITY, so they don’t grow up to be LINDSEY GRAHAM.

………..With Father’s Day only a week away I thought i would post this early picture of my Dad and his Dad……….This picture of my father and his dad, my grand dad, was taken for my father’s Communion……so I would imagine he is about 10 or 11……I love that they took these formal pictures!…..My dad was the first born, and the apple of my grandfather’s eye. After my dad was born there were four girls before another son, my uncle Louie, came along. So, my father was the only boy for many years. I have to say he didn’t change much from what he looked like as a boy to an adult……I LOVE the way my dad is dressed with his long frock coat, and his shiny high lace up shoes……My grand father didn’t speak much English, but he showed his love for all of his grandchildren in many ways. He always had a box of Chicklets in his pockets or us, and  gave the best hugs!….He played the guitar and sang Italian songs to us….He made his own wine in a “special room” in the basement of his house, and grew his own grapes on his property…..He also had a small hobby room in the basement where he made these amazing ship models….He made these glass cases and created scenes in them with fake water and backdrops where he displayed his boats….I used to love to go into this locked room and see all of his treasures…..I don’t know whatever happened to them……My dad was an alter boy in his local church!!!! He told me he used to play craps behind the church with two priests!….Some alter boy!!! My dad was somewhat of a hellion in his youth. He and his friends all had nicknames. My dad was called “Jimmy clink”, because he was arrested for being drunk with his friends……When the police came to my grandfather’s house to tell him my father had been arrested, and he could come and pick him up my grandfather told the policeman to keep him overnight!…..History repeated itself when my oldest brother and his friends got arrested for drag racing……When the police came to our door and told my dad he could come down to the station and get my brother ….my father told them to keep him over night! A lesson learned.