As I get older, I seem to notice more and more of life’s simple things, like whether or not a flower is fragrant. I notice the shape and color of the petals. I look at hue, at stems and leaflets, at thorns and tender buds.
I took a stroll in the yard yesterday and found lovely at its finest.
And, then there was this:
I am appreciating lovely.
finding merle 
What an amazing time of year! Your hubby deserves much praise as do you for posting and sharing your yard.
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Clare, I was in dental hygiene for 33 years and retired this year. After that many years of twisting and bending while working on patients, my back is fried. I have to be so careful. And, that translates to not much weeding in our yard. I just can’t. I planted a bed of wildflowers yesterday, walked around stooped over and achy the rest of the day. My hubby gets all the credit for our beautiful oasis. 🙂 Your yard looks lovely.
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I live in the middle of the woods, overlooking a vernal pool and across from a wildlife sanctuary. So, that means lots of wild life to share my gardens with. I’ve lived here for 36 years and have been slowly planting things and moving them around when necessary. Not everything has survived. When I retired, I enrolled in the Master Gardener Program at the nearby University of RI and I learned quite a bit of useful information. My gardens are quite messy and free-flowing. I have some MG Friends who would never think of letting their gardens do what they pleased. And I am always surprised every spring and summer with what shows up. I have a philosophy I apply to everything: I run my gardens, my gardens don’t run me. I run my blog, my blog doesn’t run me. (I think you get the gist.) Sometimes we can let people or even things take us over, as I’ve certainly done in my past. But since I’ve been retired, no one’s the boss of me and I like the feeling. Happy retirement to you, too! Clare
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I love and agree with your garden philosophy. Let ‘er be. See what happens. Move something if needed. I am still settling into retirement mode. I’ve learned it takes a while. The stress of the constant attempt to stay on schedule (in health care) while providing great care can be overwhelming (it was for me). The harder it became to do the job and do it well (because of my back), the more stressed I became. It became a running game. I felt I was constantly running, literally running, from room to room. When I retired, my body knew but my brain did not. It took a while for me to slow down mentally. I was still racing everywhere. It was a very odd thing that I did not anticipate happening. In that sense, my job ruled me. Not a pleasant feeling. It’s better now. 🙂 Your home site sounds positively lovely.
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I love it here in South County. We live a quiet and simple life (with a few vacations thrown in) now that we’ve retired. What you explained about your job reminds me of my sister’s situation right now. She is a nurse/social worker with drug addicts. It takes so much out of her. I’m glad you are settling in to retirement and only hope she does the same very soon.
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🙂 Thanks, Clare.
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So beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you for the kind words. Spring is my favorite time of year… can’t get enough of these flowers. 💐🌹💐
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I loved all the flowers, especially the flowers that stunning butterfly was on. What are they called? I need some butterflies in my garden. 🙂
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Thanks, Marlene. It is a type of Lilac. The regular Butterfly Bush is also wonderful for drawing them in. We watch ours from our front porch every year. 🙂
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Such an amazingly beautiful Spring we have had around here this year. Love your flower photos as always ❤
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Thank you so much!! I’ll bet your yard is gorgeous. 🙂
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Oh my gosh!! I actually got to see something! Thank you for doing the video! I LOVE butterflies! Beautiful post! 🌸🌻🌷
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Oh, you would have had a grand ole time laughing at me trying to get that thing uploaded yesterday! Ha! I still don’t know how to get photos from Google Drive or Google Photos into WP. Is there an easy way? I can do it, but it’s a several steps process or so it seems. Anyway, THANK YOU! Such kind words. Ours is a gorgeous yard, thanks to my hubby. 🙂
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Darn, I needed a laugh! Ha! I’m definitely not the person to ask about Google anything, ha. I’ve spent two days trying to reset my password to my google mail and no luck!
I usually post pictures off my mobile and my pictures are in my phone gallery or off of my laptop.
Those flowers are all beautiful. Bet there’s tons of butterflies.
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So you create and post from your phone?!!? I’m impressed. 😉
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Yes ma’am. WordPress has an app. It’s very handy. Our internet at home is very spotty, so mobile makes it easy for me to be able to post when I wouldn’t be able to get a connection on my laptop at home. Plus, I can post wherever I am. I’ve posted several times on this vacation with my toes in the ocean. All the pictures and videos I post are on my iphone 6. 🙂
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Will have to check into that. Not sure about formatting and how it would appear in the end with my typical post of lots of photos, letters, etc. ?? Good to know, though. 🙂
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I’m not sure. I chose a theme that is mobile friendly as well. 🙂 I’d say to stick with what works if it’s working. I do appreciate you doing a video this time. Thank you!
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Could you see the slideshow?
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Spring smiles her beauty 🌼🌼🌼
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She sure does! Thanks for the lovely comment, for stopping by and for the follow. I have family in AZ; will poke around soon at Out and About. 🙂 Have a great day!
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Lovely is the perfect word, how beautiful your flowers and that butterfly are. I love this time of year when everything is blooming and fresh. The air smells wonderful and I feel refreshed just being out there.
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Hi, Lois! That was my thought exactly: refreshing. Also, energized. Somehow I connect with the outdoors and feel so much better after being outside when I am down. Thanks for stopping by and your kind words. 🙂
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