Spring Flowers, Lost in the Moments!

As Spring descends early at our island haven, the flowers fill the air with the sweet scent of lilacs, nuances of wild flowers and the coming of the breathtaking Rhododendrons and Clematis. The Honeysuckle will soon spread it's perfume to permeate my front yard with months of nature's finest perfume! The lovely Roses will join the event with their fragrant addition to the show!

Eagles have been soaring over breaching whales! Every day is heralded by another of nature's glimpses into the magnificence of what is!

In my modest gardens, Purple Striped Garlic and Egyptian onions are in competition in heights of an early harvest's promise. The chives and onions greens have graced my table for two months. The herbs and teas are ready to enjoy, the currants have flowered, the Plum tree and so much more! On my table sits a bouquet of Red Rhododendron and White lilac upon a lace table cloth...simply elegant. Sigh, I do so love the Spring!

April Storms on the Island!

The winds were howling, debris was flying....cozy indoors with a warm fire burning in the woodstove....CRASH! Alarmed, I rush outside, besides my trellis beside my home leaning...I didn't see anything of concern at my home or in my yard. Suddenly it hits me...that unfortunate tree, the huge Maple at my neighbor's home, the vacation home owner's, had fallen! At one point years ago, it had been hit by lightening and it bore the blackened scars. Despite some limbs snapping off and some insistent advice to take down his tree, this neighbor only comes here a few times a year. I am sure he put it out of his mind as someday...he would get around to this someday..... Life can be like this, putting off the little things filed under....SOMEDAY! We can realize that it is the sign of these times with high technology and the world at our finger tips that someday is reserved for some special inconsequential things or so we think! I once took a picture of a dear friend with her husband kissing on their boat. They laughed when I took it but...he passed on a young man quite unexpectedly and the last pic together was the one I took! Treasured by his wife, someday they might have had portraits again together but this....was what she has today!

Storms blow over but they leave the damage behind! As we watch the storm, safe inside we consider what damage this one will bring! We are assured we have taken preventative measures to keep ourselves secure but as with all things, anything could happen......but not someday!

A Love Note......

One day as I was looking out over the water.... I began contemplating my feelings for my husband. How I used to do little things to surprise him with the expressions of my deep love and appreciation. Romance is not contrived, nor is it something we can copy from the pages of someone else's life. It used to be such a simple gesture....yes....a note...but not a card without my words. A love note that said something touching from me that would make his smoldering green eyes soften and just melt! Yet it could not be given lightly, a surprise would be more meaningful. I wrote my love note to him on a pretty piece of paper as I loaded the coffee maker. He takes a great deal of pleasure out of pushing a button, and coming back to his fresh strong steaming coffee in solitude while I am still asleep in the early morning. I set the note carefully in front of the coffee maker. The very last words on the note said, "Wake your loving bride with a kiss!" As I awoke that next morning to a soft kiss and a very surprised husband....I realized I needed to post this. The little things in life mean the very most! I was a bride about 24 years ago and I still see my husband like the day we first met!

Valentine's Day....

There will be Red Hearts in every store, jewelry store ads promoting the glittering diamonds...what every lady wants? The endless boxes of chocolates everywhere we go..... Is it romance we are craving, that special touch that causes the little goosebumps and shivers of pure ecstasy? Oh the soft kisses and snuggling, warm fires and a fragrant bottle of wine....candles.....a decadent dinner or perhaps dinner brought in..... Valentine's day is for love...the absolute appreciation that you do indeed love someone... The expression of which is as varied as the person....

I have created a little something special to commemorate the day... Seashell Roses! These can be placed on a dresser, jewelry box, centerpiece, wreath, or with a nautical display.... For those about to propose...a ring placed in the center of a Seashell Rose? Well you can imagine the reaction! Placed on tables at a wedding....Valentine's Day is a wonderful day for one!

As I walk along the beaches searching for the shells for the roses, the sunsets overhead and the waves softly carry them in, scattering them across the sand.

Each "petal" or shell has a shimmering silvery glitter applied by hand. The rim of each one is also rimmed in a high gloss red glitter. The base shell securely holds each "petal" in rows.

Happy Valentines Day! A lovely Rose for a lady to treasure for years!

If you would like one...write me directly at....romysrealm@gmail.com

Rough Waters Ahead....

There will always be bumps in the road, sharp curves, steep grades, plunging cliffs, rough waters, sinking boats and life is full of the ups and downs of uncertainty in all things. Would that predictability govern life, does that make the blessings seem less? To have nothing to compare the good to but good, would not that lose the luster? For all storms, there is calm and for all sunsets, there comes the darkness, perhaps softened by the glistening of stars not unlike our memories carrying our way through the years. There are paths we will take, right or wrong we travel them, but without the assurance that there will not be.....bumps in the road.

The New Year

Where did the time go.....wonder of it all, it did! A year filled with new beginnings, some goodbyes and many memories to last a lifetime. What is around the corner? I never know and my life is always interesting this way! The constant is my haven, the little portion of paradise I lovingly call home may be just borrowed for a time and yet.....coming with a simpler existence, an embrace of all that is beautiful. I have embarked on new paths, always with a nervous excitement. Only to find that the travel was more rewarding than the destination! I have rekindled relationships with friends spanning decades and the most unexpected surprises that have followed. Sometimes I have to sit still to let it all sink in..... A man with the soul of a mariner had said to me...."I know what it is about you!" "You are happy!" He said this with such emotion, a sweet smile and sparkling blue eyes in his rugged face......this touched me with pure honesty. There can be no value placed on a treasure such as this. Yes, in the new year, I am happy......content......at peace and...always in awe of life......