It was the best of times

Close-up of the flowers Andrew sent to me

We had a splendid Mother's Day. I hope you did too.

The weather has been perfect of late, and Sunday was no exception.

Naturally we all went to church. Our church has a Mother's Day breakfast each year, during the Sunday School hour.

Antique books and an Eton College bookmark

It was beautifully prepared, and delicious, and we enjoyed every morsel.

Our family elected to not try and do anything special that afternoon, as we'd decided to gather at Erica's house after the evening service.

She'd made individual chocolate mousses, and there was a cheese and cracker tray, and a cake, and assorted hot and cold coffees and other beverages.

Mike took this picture in our church lobby

We girls exchanged gifts. I'd helped Dagny pick out something for her mother, and had wrapped it for her.

I got each of my girls a decorative lantern, and a pretty mirror to layer behind it. I wrapped their gifts in French-themed tote bags.

Erica gave me a farmhouse-inspired solar light to put out in back near the pool, where it will get plenty of sunshine.

Erica gave me this lovely solar light

It has a holder for a flag, and the light illuminates your flag all night.

Audrey brought me a gift bag full of treasures from her recent trip to the United Kingdom.

There were two antique books -- poems by Wordsworth, and a volume of Dickens works, including A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol -- as well as a special bookmark from a bookshop near Windsor Castle.

The peach roses were perfect

Also from Windsor Castle there was a jar of fine-cut marmalade, a crown-inspired key ring, and a soft ornament of a raven brandishing the keys to the Tower of London.

In case you didn't know, the Tower of London must have at least six ravens on site at all times, or the Kingdom will fall.

And you know I love me a raven.

Audrey also included in her gift to me, a set of postage stamps based on characters from Jane Eyre.

With the exception of the Bible, Jane Eyre is my favorite book of all time.

A Jane Eyre inspired gift is always a hit with me

The stamps are packaged inside a wonderful folded card with many excerpts from Jane Eyre.

Audrey told me that she didn't go looking for that gift -- although she knows how I feel about Jane Eyre -- but just happened to see it at the till of the bookshop.

And she asked if it were for sale, and was told that certainly it was, and she bought it for me.

Also tucked into my gift bag was a pair of socks bearing the face of the Bard, and this greeting: Hi, I'm William Shakes-Feet.

The Bard's likeness on socks

Everything was so special and heartfelt, and so befitting of Mother's Day.

I was able to talk to Andrew for a little while, on the other side of the world. There is no indication of when he may be coming home.

Even if it were tomorrow, it wouldn't be soon enough for me.

Stephanie sent me a gift card for coffee, and that will be lots of fun to have and use.

Cards that I will cherish

OK so, you know I'm not a gardener but this year we did some renovations out by the pool, and I enlisted the help of an expert or two, and we put in some flowers.

I have two Knock Out rose bushes planted next to one another. I bought them at a nursery and they were blooming like crazy when we got them situated and well-watered and so forth.

Then every last bloom died, so I deadheaded all of those and now it looks like there may be some new growth coming along. At least I sincerely hope so.

I'm feeling the urge for tea and toast

We also planted some lantana, and agapanthus, and a portulaca, and a water hyssop, and a scabius (pincushion) plant, and some purple phlox.

I have some container plants up near the French doors too, and I'll show you those soon. Lots of coleus and a profusion of double yellow begonia.

But because my rose bushes are bare of roses, I ordered another Knock Out rose from Walmart, the orange glow variety, and it arrived on Saturday.

I planted the pretty light along the fence

It was only twenty dollars and they package those roses for shipping as if they were tiny babies.

TG put it in a big pot for me today and we sat it near the retaining wall and got it all fed and so forth, and I'm enjoying it so much.

And now we are gearing up for Allissa's high school graduation this coming Friday, in North Carolina. 

Then it will be Memorial Day, and the pool will be open, and everyone will come and we'll remember our heroes, and also celebrate Erica's birthday.

My orange glow Knock Out rose

She will turn forty this year.

I have a special gift for her that I hope she will like. I'll show it to you after she has seen it.

And we will keep hoping for all things good, until the day break, and the shadows flee away!

Speaking of shadows, you may have noticed that my blog is broken. Comments are not getting through to me, to be approved.

The ravens hold the keys to the kingdom

I have reached out to Squarespace, because that's the platform I have used for my blog for nineteen years.

They have been less than helpful with the problem. It's a long story and I'm not sure what to do but until we get it figured out, don't feel as though you have to comment.

If you do, and I don't see it, there's nothing I can do about that -- but you can always email me from the link provided in the sidebar, if there's something you need for me to know.

But no worries! Worrying is forbidden.

And that is all for now.

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Happy Tuesday