An abundance of rain ...

We've had a LOT of rain in the last few days, but late this afternoon, it cleared up ~ and even warmed up a bit! Brr! It's been so cold! It feels like we've had our April and May kind of flip-flopped!
I took a quick walk tonight so I could see how pretty the rain had made everything ...
Our lilacs are out! Their fragrance is ... so sweet!

"Let my teaching fall like rain
and my words descend like dew;
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants."
DEUTERONOMY 32.2

"Let my teaching fall like rain ..." Wow. Now that's something to think about! Think how beautiful our hearts might be if we really soaked up God's word like a "tender plant."

A package ... for ME!

Happiness! A package! I knew it was coming ... but not this soon! I was thinking perhaps by Friday ~ and today is only Wednesday!
I am now the very ignorant owner of my very own MP3 player! How cool is that? Not being technical at all (like ... less than zero), I've never been too interested in these gadgets. But I LOVE music and I especially love children's music that teaches about the Lord. When I work with the children over at church, we play music constantly. It helps sets the tone. Plus, many of the Bible stories have songs that actually retell the entire story in a very fun way. The last few times we have visited down in Texas, I wished that I was able to do children's music with my grandchildren ... but I have SO many CD's, and we carry so much stuff to Texas already!
I was asking Adam for advice about an MP3 player a few weeks ago ... like would I EVER be able to understand HOW to use one, and where was the best place to get a very basic model, etc.
So Adam, being a technical expert, did some looking into it for me and ... since Mother's Day was up and coming, told me to expect a package in the mail. This was more than sweet of he and Emily ... THANK YOU! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! I'm so excited to learn about my new toy! The very cool thing about it is this mobile speaker ... because what good would it be for children's music to be going into my ears that my grandchildren couldn't also hear? This speaker is about 4" high and perhaps 2" in circumference ... very very portable. I'm going to have SO much fun using this and sharing wonderful music with the grandchildren! Grandpa Jones, naturally, is going to be the instructor and teacher of all of this stuff ... because ... I'm going to need his help!

So pretty in pink ...

I had a very nice Mother's Day yesterday. I invited my mother and Roy, Shane, Dylan and Kelly over for lunch. I completely intended to take a bunch of pictures of everyone enjoying the meal and even had my camera right in the dining room where I could grab it quickly ... but I did not take one single picture! Dylan and Kelly brought me a darling pot of Kordana mini-roses that had two roses already blooming and seven buds! So this morning, I took a few pictures of them to show you.
Since Mr. Jones and I were already committed to three morning services at church yesterday, I needed to kind of cook as much of our meal ahead of time as possible, and then just re-heat it as best as I could. I decided to try a brand new recipe for cooking fish. It was called vegetable-stuffed fish, and it sounded like something Dylan and Kelly would especially like ... and hopefully everyone else! The recipe called for sauteing shredded carrot, onion, and zucchini and then adding crushed crackers, Parmesan cheese, and one egg, mixing it all together to make the dressing. It was very colorful and I thought it was pretty easy to make. The fish wasn't all that flavorful, though, so it was kind of a "ho-hum" result. But the cheesy potato casserole was a hit, as were the glazed baby carrots, fresh green beans, and garlic bread. We had pound cake with fresh strawberries for dessert ... yum!
After lunch, we watched some of the Tiger/Indian baseball game which Detroit sadly lost. But ... I always love a baseball game, and overall, the Tigers are doing well early on this season.

I was able to touch bases with just about everyone in the family yesterday, either via Facebook, e-mail, or the telephone ... so it was a nice family day! Aren't these roses exquisite? I have looked them up on the internet and I have some reading and learning to do ~ I am determined NOT to kill them! I hope your Mother's Day was every bit as nice as mine.

A lovely afternoon at ... the Gardens!

Our friends, Tom and Judy, are members out at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. They invited us to join them yesterday afternoon, as their guests, to take a walk around the gardens and to see the featured exhibit ~ Chihuly: A New Eden.
I've never been a big fan of sculpture ... which seems contradictory to my usual appreciation of the arts. But I guess I have a narrow appreciation! I've always been more drawn to realism and impressionism than to abstracts or modern art. Plus, I have absolutely NO three dimensional skills ... I'm an absolute dunce even with a hunk with playdough! But the opportunity to see Chihuly ... I was NOT going to pass up. When I was a young girl, several different summers our family cruised to Cedar Point. If you docked your boat at the marina there, your park entry was included. So, do you think I rode the rides all day long? No! Roller coasters have never been my friends! I remember one summer we stayed there for almost two weeks. My favorite place to hang around was the glass blowing hut. I loved to just sit and watch the guy create beautiful pieces of art.
The weather yesterday did not cooperate with our plans. But you know what? The rain made everything so beautiful! The real deterrent, for me at least, was the COLD and the WIND! We tried to walk outside for a bit just to see, up close and personal, the Chihuly sculptures ~ but then we went back inside where it was warm.
We walked through the Victorian Garden, the Carnivorous Plant House, the English Perennial Garden, the Arid Garden ...

"... unfailing love surrounds those who trust the LORD.
Rejoice in the LORD and be glad,
all you who obey Him!
Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!"
PSALM 32.10-11

I would like to label all of these flowered photos with their proper identification ~ and my friend, Judy, could do just that ~ but I can't remember a single one that she told me!
My favorite place at the Gardens is the Tropical Conservatory (above). I came here in late February to photograph the butterflies. As soon as you walk through the door, the warmth and humidity just soak right into your body! It's amazing. My very favorite climate, definitely!
These gorgeous flowers were outside. We decided that since the rain was NOT going to go away, we would ride the tram around the sculpture park and see what we could of the outside Chihuly display.
This is the very famous horse that has a twin in Milan, Italy. The tour guide told us a bunch of interesting information about it, but all of it slips my mind right now! I like this piece because it is so REAL ...
This Chihuly is pretty amazing though. The color is astounding. The guide said that on a sunny day, it doesn't look this beautiful. But it absolutely glowed through the misty rain and gray of yesterday.
We went inside to the theatre and saw some of the video about Chihuly and his works. He's a pretty amazing artist.

I've decided I'm going to have to return to the Gardens on day where it is not cold and raining. When we were "tramming" around the outside, we passed by Michigan's Farm Garden ~ I didn't even know there was such a place! I saw about a million pictures that needed taking, but I was unable to do so riding the tram. I'm certainly not going to let the summer go by without coming back!

My very favorite place ...

If you know anything about me at all ... it's that I love Lake Michigan, lighthouses, and especially Grand Haven. I haven't driven over there since February (these pictures were taken exactly one year ago!) ... but actually, I go there every single day ~ multiple times per day! There is a website called surfgrandhaven.com that I have as a link on my sidebar, but it's titled My Favorite Place ... and all I have to do is click on it and ... VOILA'! I am AT Grand Haven! They have a live camera feed and I can see the lighthouse any time of the day or night that I please! And oh ... what a sight!
Believe it or not, it helps my wandering spirit to just lay eyes on this spot of the earth. And it's so fun to watch the weather change from totally calm seas to the splashing waves! Today when I clicked on the site, there were people flying beautiful kites along the beach, and there were a few brave body surfers, and always there are fishermen on the pier ... and seagulls. It's only a 45 minute drive from my house ... but I really can't justify driving there every single day, now can I? I love the sunsets there! Since I discovered this live camera feed, I have actually watched the sunset over the lighthouse ... every night! I hope you don't think this is strange ... but if you do, you simply haven't been to the lakeside and walked and breathed and let every single care and worry just slip away ~ because if you did ... you would love it too.

Walking ... in the cool of the day ...

I went for such a nice walk this evening! We've had a few days of welcomed rain that has watered everything so beautifully. I got to thinking that it had been awhile since I had visited over at Mr. Lyle's house and fed his horses, so I just wandered on up the street to see them.
I love this piece of property. So many flowering trees!
And of course ... the horses. It's a good thing I came up to see Dusty and Tuffy today because tomorrow, Dusty is moving away! Dusty is a sadle horse and Mr. Lyle is getting too old to ride him. When his great-grandchildren come over, he lets them ride Tuffy (the smaller horse), but all the while the children are riding Tuffy, Dusty throws a complete fit out in the yard. I've seen him do it! I didn't know horses could pitch a fit, but they can! Anyway, Dusty is moving to a children's camp in the Traverse City area. Lyle thinks that perhaps they'll purchase a miniature to be a playmate for Tuffy.
I fed the horses some compressed hay pellets while Mr. Lyle and I talked for awhile. Mrs. Lyle (Marilyn) came outside and chatted for awhile too. They have been married 57 years this summer and have lived in this beautiful location for the last 32 of them.
We walked around their property for quite awhile this evening, enjoying the smell of lilac bushes, the evening air, watching the bees go about their business ... all the while talking about our Lord who made it all.

And look at these dainty lilies of the valley ... so beautiful ... growing wild on the side of the road. I would love to have these growing in my garden!

"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day ..." Genesis 3.8. For a little while tonight, I had a glimpse of what that might be like ... some day ... when He makes everything NEW ... to walk with Him in one of His gardens, and enjoy the beauty of His presence.

A lament for Thomas K ...

This is our very first spring without Thomas K. He used to be my constant companion while I worked outside in the yard. PLUS ... he guarded our property and made SURE no intruders got very comfortable around here! But last summer he got into a little bit of trouble with the neighbor cats and so he had to be deported. He now lives (quite comfortably) at Shane's apartment.
But LOOK what we found the other day hanging out at our house! There were three rather LARGE rabbits right in our back yard! One had enough boldness to sit on our deck! He ran off when I tried to photograph him ...
We haven't done any planting of our flowers or vegetables yet ... but I'm a little worried ...
Will any of them survive without the vigilant protection of Thomas K.?!! I've been digging weeds and working our flower bed dirt for the last week ... and I will admit I've been a little lonesome without Thomas.