Pretty enough for Van Gogh

So, I'm feeling better, my friends. I escaped life for a few days and traveled up north with my girls to visit their Daddy. Milwaukee, Wisconsin was our home . . . away from T.V's, phones, neighbors, family, everything. It was . . . . lovely. Just us. We spent a whole day at an indoor water park (avoiding the rain and heat), and I fell asleep at poolside while lounging in a comfy chair - mouth wide open - for about an hour. I haven't been as relaxed as this in weeks. PG laughed when I finally woke - I can imagine the other guests had quite a chuckle as well. But, it was good. Really good. And I woke up feeling a bit like my old self again.

Again, a thanks to all of you, for the kind kind words on my post Monday. My blog has certainly become my land of release - and often feel like I dump my bah-humbugness on you, my faithful friends. I want you to know that your supportive comments pick me up when I am down, and bring such comfort to my spirit. Thank you . . . each of you.

Now, I have to tell you more about that sunflower I shared with you on Mondays post. Have I told you about our garden this year? Oh, our garden. You may remember from posts past that I am not much of a green thumb lady. But this year, I've taken a new approach on the garden and have embraced all it's beauty, and let me tell you . . . I'm loving it. The sunflower picture I included in my last post was of a flower in our garden . . . sigh . . . beautiful.

I love sunflowers - did you know that? Probably something I fell in love with when I first understood what art was and, while walking through the Art Institute of Chicago, saw a postcard with Van Gogh's sunflowers on it. Love at first sight.

So, when planning our garden for the summer, I wanted so very much to include sunflowers. And not only any sunflowers . . . I wanted BIG ones that would tower over the other plants and bring joy to us all season long.

Starting from seeds (back in April), PG and the girls grew our little garden of love right in the kitchen, and for weeks we watched the seeds blossom into beautiful babes. I love how they reach for the sun in this photo above. Life . . . right before our eyes.

Finally, the time came to plant. We had a hard time with bunnies in the yard this spring, so PG had to come up with a security system that folks at the Pentagon would admire. Here is a photo about a week after planting (and after an unfortunate bunny invasion.)

The bunnies did NOT prevail!

This next photo, taken just last week, shows how tall the sunflowers have grown. You can see the top of our fence in the background - our 6 FOOT fence. These particular flowers can grow as tall as 12 feet! Yippie!!! I love the reflection of the water coming from the sprinkler on the bottom of this picture.

Unfortunately, a strong rain storm over the weekend did some major damage on the flowers. Yesterday, with the help of my mom and a long broom handle, I was able to prop up the tallest flower stem and tie it to a lattice. It looks a little droopie in this next photo, but I hope it will perk up and all of the buds on it will soon blossom for us all.

Here are just a few shots of the sunflowers . . .

When we returned from Milwaukee, I couldn't believe how much they have grown. About 5 or 6 of the flowers blooming on the plants, with promises of more to follow.

And with that, the SUN has definitely come out - especially in my back yard. Sometimes, just a short change of scenary is all I need to see the Sun, and to realize it has been shining all along.

Thanks again, my friends.

This one is for you . . . and for the sunshine you bring to my life.  Tonight, I have a date with my computer and your blogs . . . and I can't wait!

Peace.