Hello Beautiful Ladies.... It is my birthday tomorrow, February 6th and I will be 55 though I feel like a 26 year old who was in an accident :D But that 55 number is rather creepy to me when I feel so diametrically opposed to it lol. I am making it public because I know what happens when I say in such a strong and confident voice whether inner or outer, that I dont need anyone to know, or to have nice gifts or presents or even just a wish for a good day.....I know what happens when I flippantly dismiss this day as any other ordinary day...... IT DOESN'T WORK ! I am strong and carefree for the whole day until it ends with nothing and then my heart breaks, silently, and deeply. I really was alone and no one noticed. It doesn't work. Not on this day. I found out many times now the hard way, there is something about the B'day itself that demands, commands attention and attention it should be given....not just by myself but also by others. It is simply essential, that people are recognized for being born on this Earth and that others have actually noted it. It is especially much nicer when informed and caring people decide to make a fuss, which I have never experienced, and make a gift because IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY ! Hello! Should not our arrival into life on a planet be celebrated? I alway believed somehow, that as each year goes by, the parties get bigger and bigger. I even imagined that if I ever lived to be 50, past now, that I'd need rich friends to rent a hall to accomodate all my caring friends, because one does NOT EVER give themselves their own birthday party, of course not, friends do that ! LOL.....where did I ever get such grand notions??? We should always cultivate our spirits, find ways to nourish the innocent happy one inside of us who got buried with time and Earthly experience by celebrating our personal lives. Its just more fun with others who feel the same. Yes.....I love acknowledging people in this way and I love it back too. So I'm not going to try to ignore it anymore, in fact I want to do what some previous friends have done and that is to celebrate the entire month~! I have decided to do this starting yesterday lolol.....and that I will also have a theme to this celebration and that theme of course must needs be a passion, whether new or old, but a passion regardless, and that passion theme this year is BEAUTIFUL GARDENS. I am lucky in that I have gotten my housemate on board with a bit of this planning. It has taken me 10 years to realize this garden is mine and I need to mold it myself, but believing I was moving away each year I didn't get too serious about it, but the last 2 years I've had to since I declared in October of 2012 that THIS IN FACT IS HOME....now what do I do with this garden? How do I make my loves grow over years and not merely seasons?? in tropics?? First is that 10 years of neglected pruning needed to be done. Do you know what that's like in the subtropics where a jungle can grow in just weeks? Well its not that bad but still alot needed to be pruned and most of it is done except for 2 large trees now. And alot of other things too many to list here... but I am just beginning to work on it again after a brief hiatus. I've decided if it doesn't fruit or flower it goes. Garden life is too short. Now what are my inspirations? Wisteria, Lilac, Roses, Peonies, Giant Blue Delphiniums, Hydrangeas, and all those beautiful things that require cold seasons to bloom. It doesn't happen here in zone 10. That zone, almost the final one, the bottom of the barrel......such an intimidating zone to try to be a lush gardener in. Lets not think of that number either! I love French Landscapes, Italian, namely Tuscan Gardens. I'm totally infatuated with Orange or Lemon Trees in Terra Cotta Pots!! ok, ....all those pics which are all from google and pinterest and I cannot give credit to their owners because even on pinterest they are borrowed from somewhere. I'd love dozens of these trees to line the driveway.....but alas, I live in a little cottage house not a palace and every strategic spot for a showcase plant is already taken up with Areca Palms. Soooo....I will have to tuck in my beloved Citrus Trees in between somehow and make it look grand. And I will. But the most wonderful things about these trees is their scent, their flowers, the most beautiful scent in the world to me, is Orange Blossom and this pure essential oil is even pricier than the purest rose...but Orange Blossom has stolen my heart. It has cured many an anxious day and nervous friends in a tea and in scent, and made me the ''best smelling friend ever!". :D But for my theme of BEAUTIFUL GARDENS {even in the sub tropics!} there are many other things I'm going to do, like try to fill in blank grass spots with moss, and grow creeping thyme instead of grass which is a total waste to my mind. But it will take alot of not just work, and powerful seeds and Fairies, but alot of Magic! Here in South Florida there is only so much one can have with the extreme heat we have throughout the entire summer. Even full sun plants wilt in the summer, even when well watered, everything gets moody. But I will take pictures and post them as I think of it, and I love that some of you follow this blog and appreciate the pictures and the words in some cases. I do get a really nice comment now and then from total strangers who say they read my every post! How cool is that, that someone somewhere is reading after I type this and click send, and they are smiling in another part of the world. I love that!! :D:D:D Well, I'm off for now, and going to try to sleep as much as possible this night to be energetic tomorrow even though it be raining which I love, we will be doing what needs to be done. First to pick up a couple more citrus trees and a few terracotta pots.....and maybe a few more gems....likely ! lol. This morning at 6am, I got new garden clogs, a new mini branch saw, a long sleeved shirt to protect me from horrid mosquitoes, I cleaned all my tools for the first time in like ever, and I ordered some living fresh moss to cover soil in pots when I do all my transplanting especially the orchids which all need to be repotted......lots and lots to do! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A little about the fireplace....... I needed to do something with the fireplace we get to use only for a day a year, if it gets that cold here in South Florida which it has not! I got this idea from a blog and I thought it would be good for my fireplace too. I didn't think I'd find a candelabra for this purpose that was multi tiered and metal and had many places for candles. I thought I'd be looking for a year at least when I found the very thing I needed within a week! AND that is not all I found, I found a whole bunch of Shabby Chic things some of which I didn't get and talked about that here. But another thing I wanted to make is something like this hanging planter candelabra when I saw this picture Love!!!..... I thought I'd be searching forever for a hanging thingy with candle holders like this but NO! I found it too within the same week at the thrift store! What luck I'm having already this year finding what I needed for the projects I fell in love with and wanted to do. I don't even have anything else in mind to do now, and I have all I need for those things I thought to make. I adore Romantic Lighting in the gardens and love using anything from Nature, and this is gorgeous and I'm going to make a post on that one when I finish making it. But I'm jumping ahead. The fireplace candelabra was going to take a while, or so I thought. I found the perfect one at the thrift store within a week and though it was bronze in color and I thought I'd leave it that color, just spruce it up, I changed my mind when I began to spray paint it bronze and said no, it needs to be bright and so it needs to be white. Of course! What was I thinking?! So I painted it white, and even the housemate liked it ........white is always dazzling! I put it in the fireplace and lit only three tea lights in it and it was bright enough and we liked it. But I still wanted to keep my original idea of using twinkling fairy lights so I did it. I used the one string of lights that have only a few twinkling lights in it, not blinking lights, but twinkling lights :D:D:D It looks great with the Fairy Branches which are copper glittered and the sparkle is beautiful and looks like a woods wonderland....... but of course ! :D This Lady of the Woods needs reminders of Home. Such a simple thing, a candleabra with candles and lights in a fireplace. And one last silly thing........I can be silly you know.....if I want to......:D:D:D Shadow Playing....lol One night as I sat down in bed with book and glasses in hand, I looked up to find a giant shadow moving in front of me! it was me! lolol I have a light behind me on the wall and when I sat up I created a shadow which surprised me but then struck me as delightful! lol....I began to play.... I had alot of commentary in here which I have taken out as my sillyness is often misunderstood. However......OHMYGOD...... as I'm looking at this picture, directly in my neck area I am seeing a Fairy lying down!!! can YOU see it?? Its laying its head on the side and has very dark hair and long pointed ears !! I think its a male and his eyes are closed.....oh... this is intriguing ! there's that fairy still sleeping with the black hair and long ears!! I KNEW I felt some Fairy Presence that night! I was too giggly and feeling too tickled to be my own! well that's all.... and it was real fun silly as it was.... good night all!