(Walking through Publix the other day.)
Shhh … Silent Sunday. 10/12/25
Tag: Flowers
Always Leave Room
This is a fairly long post, so you might want to put on some comfortable shoes and grab a snack.
Yesterday Robert and I visited the most SPECTACULAR garden center hideaway here in the greater Savannah area: Savannah’s Secret Garden.
But wait. Let me back up a second.
On Monday, we went over to the backyard of our friends and fellow church members Pat and Mary Prokop.
“Hmm, why their back yard?” you are surely asking. “Won’t they let you inside their house?”
Well, because they (primarily Pat) are incredible gardeners of flowers and vegetables (and friends).
Now I’m going to plagiarize a bit from HR‘s recent blog post about the same garden party.
But first he is forcing me to include the link to HIS blog post about the garden party.
SKIP OVER IT VERY QUICKLY SO YOU WON’T READ HIS BEFORE MINE!
Whew!
The plagiarism: Pat and Mary open up their garden each Memorial Day weekend to be enjoyed by all: gardeners, garden lovers, photographers, solar panel enthusiasts, astronomers (all Prokop hobbies). Sit a spell under a cool patio with fans and cold drinks, pet the garden cat “Grizabella” who roams freely (yes, from the “Cats” Broadway play).
A few of my photos from the garden party:
While we were sitting in the shade, chatting with Pat, Mary and guests, for some reason HR (Husband Robert for any newbie readers) brought up the pitiful fact (pitiful since we were sitting in a glorious backyard garden) that he and I only have some potted plants and a tiny tree lawn in front of our place in downtown Savannah. But that we are looking to plant some milkweed to draw the butterflies!
“Then you HAVE to go to Savannah’s Secret Garden!” one of the guests immediately exclaimed!
“Wow,” a secret garden,” I thought. “Then I wonder how you ever find the place.”
Next my mind wondered a while back to when young actor/singer/grandson Daniel played the part of Colin in the Savannah Children’s Theater production of The Secret Garden and I presented him with an “Academy Award” …
“Neal!” Robert (rudely) interrupted my yesteryear thoughts, “Let’s remember to go to Savannah‘s Secret Garden to look for milkweed.”
Fast-forward (backward?) to yesterday, which indeed found us at the delightfully hidden-away secret garden nursery.
We spent about an hour meandering around the lovely place …
… until we finally came across this secluded little corner … filled with the cutest Faires!
HR was mesmerized!
Moral of the story:
Oh, and here’s our marvelous milkweed …
Always leave room!
Five Friday Happy Bringers 4/18/25
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. Brilliant red blooms of the Fire Lily in a yard near us.
2. Enjoying a delicious and educational olive oil tasting at Woodpecker Trail Olive Farm near Glenville GA.
3. Making a very yummy Strawberry Pear Pie with fresh-picked strawberries from Sonrise Farms near Dublin GA.
4. Our skin, which wraps us up so lovingly.
5. This beautifully quirky little pillow on the couch in the waiting area at my therapist’s office.
(I wonder if it was strategically placed there to somehow assess or affect our mental health.)
May you have a Healthy Weekend ahead – mentally and otherwise!
Shhh … Silent Sunday. 3/23/25
First Day of Spring in Savannah
I don’t know what it’s like in your stretch of the woods on this First Day of Spring 2025, but Savannah is …
Bursting into Bloom.
And a Galleria of Azaleas we just saw on our First-Day-of-Spring Morning Walk …
Red Tip Photinias dazzling in the morning sunshine …
And a Miscellany of Marvelous, also on our Morning Walk …
Our sweet little Green Japanese Maple coming back to life …
Happy, Happy First Day of Spring, whatever you see today.
Five Friday Happy Bringers 3/7/25
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. Watching this beautifully tall and obviously-in-love couple leaning toward each other at Amerson River Park in Macon, GA yesterday. (Robert and I were taking a walk, waiting for time to check into our Airbnb.)
May they live happily ever after.
2. Finishing a fascinating novel about the timely subject of trans men and women. Both hilarious and heartwarming. I’m so glad we found the book.
This is the 198th book Robert and I have read together.
May we continue to be able to read what we want to read in this nation – and not only what “the government” wants us to read.
3. The ability to feel — physically feel. I have been struggling with more arthritis pain than usual lately. Frustratingly, in several areas of my body. And I’m a big baby when it comes to pain.
As I was moaning and groaning recently, HR reminded me that at least I can feel. Some people can’t even do that. After fighting off the urge to inflict pain upon him, I realized he is right.
4. Once we settled into our Airbnb (three rooms of a crumbling but still beautiful Southern mansion in Macon’s Old Town), we went out onto the huge shared front porch …
… and were promptly welcomed by the Friendly Neighborhood Greeter.
5. Our Travel Buddies (who go with us everywhere) hovering under the tulips HR picked up to brighten our Airbnb.
May you pick up something to brighten your weekend ahead!
There’s a Story Here Somewhere
Walking through Savannah’s Colonial Park Cemetery this morning with HR, we came across this bench.
There has to be a story somewhere. Is the story’s central character Mary Helen Ray, whose name is on the bench?
Or maybe one of the nearly 700 folks who died during a yellow fever epidemic in Savannah: “The most macabre bit of history involves a subtly tweaked fact on a historical marker about the yellow fever. According to the marker, ‘nearly 700’ victims of the 1820 yellow fever epidemic were buried in a mass grave, but historical records allegedly show that exactly 666 people are buried in the grave. Nearly 700, indeed.” savannahnow.com.
Here’s a link to an interesting story about Colonial Park Cemetery: 
Oh, and for extra credit, here is Robert sitting in a bunch of ginkgo biloba leaves at one of the entrances to Colonial Park Cemetery …
That’s probably a story in itself.
Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling? 2/10/25
Marveling this morning, remembering our beautiful visit to the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, FL last Friday.
It is one of our favorite art museums anywhere, but this time, because the weather was so beautiful, we decided to simply hang out in the gardens.
Robert and a BIG oak tree …
Me, pausing by a reflection pool …
HR too …
The gardens make up the “backyard” of the museum, along the mighty St. John’s River, with downtown in the distance.
MARVELOUS!
I think it’s important, perhaps now more than ever, that we finds things that cause us to pause and marvel.
Five Friday Happy Bringers 1/17/25
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. Squirrels in our living room!
HR’s nickname is Squirrel.
2. The beauty of aging wood.
3. Clean water to drink. I SO take this incredible blessing for granted.
4. Our wonderful morning hike yesterday at J. F. Gregory Park down in Richmond Hill, about 45 minutes south of Savannah.
The park is home to a huge series of canals built in the 1800s (by enslaved persons) for rice cultivation. The canals flow into the Oveechee River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
5. Flowers. We usually buy an inexpensive bouquet or two each week, divide them up and spread them around the house.
Flowers, like food, are essential to life.
May this weekend flower you with joy. At least, a little bit.
NealEnJoy 