May - The Month of Gardening

The month of May brings to my mind working in my garden and yard, cleaning out the debris of winter and planting new flowers to bless all the spring, summer, and into the autumn. 

It is sometimes hard work and I get tired, but the enjoyment of the finished product is worth it.  Sometimes I am overwhelmed with all the work, and as I grow older and slower, I have to think about planting less possibly.

A few years ago I was ill during a few weeks of the summer, and my sweet neighbor volunteered to water for me while I recovered.  She later said "do you know you have forty-five pots of plants to water?  We are going to have to have a 'plant intervention'!"

I do love an urn or planter filled with trailing plants. Plants to me are a happy part of life. They bring so much beauty, color, and sweet fragrances into our lives. If you are blessed with a garden relish it. If you only have a small terrace plant something and enjoy. If you have only a room inside, plant something and place in on your windowsill and love it. 

"If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden."  

  - Claudia Adrienne Grandi

This is a picture of a hand-made welcome sign my husband, David, made for me. We hung it on our picket fence and the ivy has grown around it.  I  keep the ivy trimmed away from the sign so the welcome can be seen.

It is a lovely little welcome to all who enter here.  

We can make our own welcome sign for our friends, family, or guests. There are many types we can purchase: there are also doormats that say the word "welcome."

Make certain your entrances are welcoming and inviting to those who come in. We can make our doorways lovely by keeping them swept clean and neat. We can add a wreath or some type of arrangement on the door or beside it. 

"Welcome" - used to greet someone in a glad or friendly way.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary: "to receive or accept with happiness or pleasure."

Make people feel especially and gladly welcomed when they come to our homes. 

Hebrews 13: 2  says "Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

The month of May is know for flowers. "April showers bring May flowers." Remember that one?  So it is appropriate for this month's blog to focus on flowers and gardens.

"Just living is not enough . . . one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

- Hans Christian Anderson

"Where flowers bloom, so does hope."

- Lady Bird Johnson

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity."

- Joesph Addison

According to the Rutgers researchers, "the presence of flowers provides the following benefits: Flowers have an immediate impact on happiness. They cause us to be less depressed, lessen anxiety, and agitation."

Plus, they are just beautiful and a miracle to us from God above. How blessed we are as humans to live in a world with flowers. 

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful: they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind."

- Victor Hugo 

Maybe we should give someone we love a bouquet today.