Are You Happy?

I know why I am here and my only real focused goal is to live each day to the fullest and to try and honor God and be an encouragement to others. What the future holds is firmly in God's hands, and I am very happy about that!  -Ken Hensley

A wonderful Quote!  Now...are you ready to sing along with this Video?  I love this song...the lyrics and the way the singer dances around, smiling, while he's singing this song!  Sing Along...

"Happy"

[Verse 1:]
It might seem crazy what I'm about to say
Sunshine she's here, you can take a break
I'm a hot air balloon that could go to space
With the air, like I don't care baby by the way

{Uh}

[Chorus:]
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do


[Verse 2:]
Here come bad news talking this and that, yeah,
Well, give me all you got, and don't hold it back, yeah,
Well, I should probably warn you I'll be just fine, yeah,
No offense to you, don't waste your time
Here's why

[Chorus]

{Hey
Go
Uh}

[Bridge:]
(Happy)
Bring me down
Can't nothing
Bring me down
My level's too high
Bring me down
Can't nothing
Bring me down
I said (let me tell you now)
Bring me down
Can't nothing
Bring me down
My level's too high
Bring me down
Can't nothing
Bring me down
I said

[Chorus x2]

{Hey
Go
Uh}

(Happy) [repeats]
Bring me down... can't nothing...
Bring me down... my level's too high...
Bring me down... can't nothing...
Bring me down, I said (let me tell you now)

[Chorus x2]

{Hey
C'mon}

A Birthday...

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You...Happy Birthday dear...Today is Angel's 1st Birthday!  She's been here with us since the end of December...over 6 months already.   It's hard to believe it's been that long...but yesterday marked 7 months that Benny's been gone.  Angel has certainly been a treasure.  And those eyelashes!  My goodness...those have become her trademark!  After Angel was groomed the end of June - with pretty pink bows in her hair.  She is always such a good girl for our Groomer.  She puts her head down when the water turns on in the bath, because she
knows it will be spraying water on her head and face.  Smart girl.  After her bath, she loves running like crazy all over the house and then rolling around on towel on the floor. She lays on her back (the way I taught her) to have her belly shaved.  She holds so still when I trim her pretty eyelashes - they are so long and so dark...just gorgeous.

Here she is after her grooming session in May.  So pretty...I love the Bows!

No post is complete without pictures of the other PuppyKids.  Here is Rosie, with her pretty pink and white feather flowers in her hair after she got groomed.  She looks like she's dreaming about something.  Maybe about some chicken!! 

And here's Jasper...Mr. Dapper in his Ascot.  Whenever I point a camera at him, he either slumps over and lays in a heap or lifts his right paw - just like he did in this picture.

I can't imagine life without these 3...they're so much fun and comfort.

Pups Welcome You at the Gate

The Pups have been Anxiously Awaiting your Return...Angel is standing and Rosie (left) and Jasper (right) on all fours - hope you'll come back and see them often...or just stay!  They love visitors - especially visitors who will play with them, give belly rubs or bring chicken treats with them!  They watch at the gate for trucks bringing mommy "goodies"...the mail lady...Dave with the loud truck and the other Dave with the boat.  They let us know when
someone is approaching...whether they know them or not.  But, they're learning when to STOP barking.  They'll even let you smell their favorite flowers in the garden.  They'll be at the Gate watching for you!

So far, there are a few more hydranges on the Endless Summer plants...but alot less than last year.  We trimmed them back quite a bit last fall and that trimming removed some of the buds for this year.  But we'll have plenty of Blooms - they'll just be a little later than normal. 

Alot of the Garden 2012 has changed.  I never did get any photos of our 2013 Garden...with all the storms we had {that made all the hydrangeas fall over, looked bedraggled} and a couple of vacations we took...time just slipped away and pictures wouldn't have looked good.  But, if you haven't seen it, here is our 2012 Garden!

We removed the grass in the center, after the dogs got a bad case of Fleas, which we found in the grass.  This was always a wet and damp area...and alot of the time, the dogs didn't even want to go anywhere near the grass...especially if it had just been raining.

So spring, of 2013...out came the grass and in went the rest of the pavers.  The Pups much prefer doing their potty on the pavers.  No more wet feet!

All of the Pink and the Burgundy Roses died over the 2013 Winter...making way for the 2014 herbs and peppers I planted.

A Special Story About Benny

This picture of Benny reminded me of a cute Story about him.  Just after this photo was taken, I groomed Benny for summer, removing most of his heavy coat.  It's a shame I never took a photo of him AFTER this grooming, because he had the cutest up-side-down heart on his butt.  The point was at his tail and the 2 scoops of the heart were at his butt line, making him look like he was wearing "daisy dukes"!  So many people would comment on it...making us all laugh.  A photo of that heart and "daisy dukes" would have been priceless, now that he's gone.  Benny was so precious to everyone he met. 

This is the area in which we eventually added the last Hydrangea this year.

Our first Garden, in 2007 had all these undulating lines around the concrete patio and stairs/porch.  It was filled with a variety of perennials, making it look like an English Garden.  Unfortunately most of my photos were lost last year, when my computer went crazy on me.

Luckily, I had this collage in a post on my old Blog and kept it in another file.  You'll see Butterfly plants, Cosmos, Hollyhocks, Dusty Miller, Coneflowers, Lilies, Roses and a multitude of other plants.  I planted 3 of all of the varieties in the garden near the porch...with Hollyhocks and Dusty Miller along the garage.  It was beautiful.  Gradually we added other areas of patio pavers and the Wall Garden, enclosing the courtyard.  Thanks for visiting our Garden again.

2014 - Outside the Walls

Thanks for returning today to see more of my Garden.  If you missed the first Garden post, you can read it Here.  Look close at the photo above - and you'll see a couple of Pups watching you approach the Gate.  They're friendly, so don't worry.  I have an Aspen Tree and underneath, Day Lilies.  The Wall Garden is filled with Hydrangeas - Invincibelle, Endless Summer and Annabelle.  There are herbs and veggies in the wall garden this year.  By the Garage are Blue Mammoth Hostas...and they get huge.  They measure about 4 feet in diameter and get to be about 3 feet high.  The walls are made of concrete blocks.

These are my Day Lilies - Apricot in color

Blue Mammoth Hostas get to be 5' round and 3' tall at maturity.  Mine measure exactly that right now...this is their 4th year...twice transplanted, too!  This section is about 15 feet long along the sidewalk and 5 feet wide, and have 4 Hostas planted in it.

The Pups are still waiting to see you up close.  Let's move a wee bit closer now...

These pretty Invincibelle Hydrangeas were planted in late July, 2013 and are now 4 feet tall and have the prettiest pink 3" - 3 1/2" flowers on them.  They'll grow to 6 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide.  There are 3 plants there.

Well, here they are...Angel's up and barking her welcome at you!!  The other two, Jasper and Rosie are wondering what they should be doing.  LOL!

Jasper's moved off to the right, behind the wall...Rosie's smelling and Angel is still waiting to kiss you!

Rosie really is a little shy, so don't mind her back-side

Oh no...Mommy says you'll have to come back tomorrow to come on in!!  See you then!  

Veggies & Herbs 2014

Yesterday, while there was a nice breeze and the sun was partially hidden, I grabbed my camera and went outside to take some photos of my Courtyard Garden.  This is one of my Favorite Photos of Benny, our Havanese, taken in 2012.  He loved sitting on the warm concrete sidewalk by the Hydrangeas.  He would stand up, never touching the hydrangeas, and walk side to side sniffing them!  Then along the wall, where all the other hydrangeas and Roses were planted...he'd walk one end to the other smelling everything.  He loved the Garden...and never disrupted it...only sat by it.
He's been gone nearly 7 months now.  His younger furry sister, Angel, who came along just 3 weeks after Benny died, has decided that spot is HER favorite place to sit and lay - right there by the Hydrangeas.
And she, just like Benny, stands up and never touches the flowers...and walks side to side sniffing the flowers too.  It's uncanny.  Neither of our other Pups have done anything similar.

Now for the Herbs & Veggies...

and of course, we have Tomato Plants...but they're all the way around the wall, way in the back, behind the Hydrangeas.  We have Grape Tomatoes and Juliet Roma Tomatoes.

Tomorrow I'll share some more photos of my Pups in the Garden Courtyard.