The Rose of Sharon...

With my love for roses, I had none around my cottage home.
A couple of weeks ago...
we picked up some plants for beauty around the cottage...
and in between some ordinary looking plants was...
this tiny twig of a rose bush.
No roses on it, as yet.


My husband, who knows how much I love roses...
encouraged me to pick this up and bring it home.
Just this delicate looking twig with no real promise to it and no idea what color the bloom would be.
Tenderly and carefully...
I planted it into the ground next to the bottom of the cottage stairs...
not really expecting much except the possibility that it would die.
It didn't die...it didn't even stress out from the transplanting.


Then...the other day, I saw this bud...
and then, the next day...
I saw this bud starting to burst from its pod...
and how excited I did become.


Oh my! Not only did it burst out gloriously...
it burst out in my favorite shade of pink!!
My camera just doesn't do it justice...but, it's beautiful!


As I photographed the rose...
at first, I tried to think of a way to brush away that ugly chicken wire.
It was put there to protect it from the dogs playing close to it and from the weed wacker.
But, in my fear of damaging the rose bush...
I finally left it thinking how the contrast of the hard wire and soft pink rose made for a more interesting picture.


For now, it is the only rose on my cottage grounds...
but, it makes me happy.


And, it rather looks nice with the color of my cottage...
what do you think?


This tiny rose bush will get lots more tender care...
in the hopes that someday...
 she will give me more beautiful pink blooms.


I'd like to think that it will grow large enough...
to cover the side of my stairs with more roses than I can count.


For all my gush about one lone rose...
there is One Rose of Sharon whom I love so much more.
"I am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lilly of the valleys.
As the Lilly among thorns, so is my love among the daughters."
Song of Solomon 2:1,2
Without this Rose of Sharon, my life is nothing...nothing at all.
His name is Jesus and the Christ of my soul.
All the lovely roses in the world cannot surpass this Saviour of souls.

May your day, or night be filled...
 with the blossoms of God's blessings.


Good Morning!....

We are in the rainy season...
making it a tad difficult to stay in the gardens long enough...
for anything.

We are under my favorite tree.

It is one of those days to steep herbal teas...
and work on the veranda curtains.


It's a great day to listen to some good sermons on God's sovereignty and His grace.
This is one good preacher.
Pastor Fortner preaches like very few do.
If you are interested in the things of the Lord...
check out donfortner.com

May you have a good day, or night.

A Piece of Cottage Respite...

Just for fun...

pieces of my bedroom in faux dry brush paint


May your day, or night be filled with respite.

Big Red Revealed!...

Hi there!
My name is Big Red.
And, I'm here to set a couple of chick hens straight.
I'm gonna strut my stuff around and show 'em who's boss.



Hi girls!
Girls: humph...who does the new guy think he is?
he comes struttin' in here and thinks he's gonna take over?



Girls: think we oughta tell him a thing or two...
get him straight on whose coop this is.


Big Red: think I'll give 'em a little show here and impress 'em a bit.


Girls: Gasp! Jus' look at him! He thinks he's the cat's meow.
jus' wait till the cat comes around.



Girls: okay...this is goin' on long enough. It's time to nip this one in the bud.



Milly: hey...uh...you...with that funny wing stuff you do...



Milly: we jus' want you to know...this is our coop...
and we get to say how things go around here...
you got that?
Nina (under breath): think I'll keep my distance



Big Red: jus' who is bigger around here...you or me?



Milly to Nina: I'm not sure we're gettin' anywhere with this guy...
what do you think we should do?
Nina: weeelll...I don't know. He is a lot bigger than us and cock sure full of himself.
Maybe, we can give him a little room and jus' pretend he's not here.



Then, Big Red makes a sudden move...scattering the girls in fright...



and flaps his wings again, reminding the girls just who has more weight on.



Big Red: okay, girls, how about we jus' call a truce and get to know each other.
Milly and Nina: looks like we ain't got much choice, so...



okay! let's eat!



Girls: Big Red, you keep findin' all the goodies.
Big Red: Hey...I ain't such a bad fella...I'll share with ya.


And, we have been living together, happily ever after.

May your day, or night be peaceful in God's grace.

A Short Hello...

Sometimes...
it's just a little difficult to fit blogging into the day's schedule.


But, it doesn't do for me to have a blog up and not put something up to say hello to all and any readers coming by.
So, hello, again.
I do hope to come visiting you all in the next couple of days and checking the posts I've missed.
In the meantime...
there is one long list of items calling out my name...
and they must be attended to.
I will eat my breakfast before heading out of the cottage...
and slowly checking off the list.

Salad greens, avocado, cherry tomato, cranberry salad with fried ripe plantain

Lord willing, I will visit you soon.
To show my thanks for comments...
your blogs will be visited first.
So... :-) ...do please leave a comment if you will!

Please do have a wonderful day, or night.


Nothing Better....

Time flies...
especially when one is busy.
Welcome back to Pilgrim's Cottage.


With all the rains the last few days...
the ckicken coop has been slow in getting up.
But, today...
it does look like it will be finished.


I love white flowers...and pink ones.
The guava trees are blooming their beautiful white flowers that you see in above photo.
The plant in below photo is also blooming but,
honestly...I just cannot remember the name of this tree.


Now, the next ones below are the cotton plants blooming...
what will come of them, I can't say as yet...
that remains to be seen.
In the meantime...


the cotton flower above and below are the same one...


and the same one below...
the same exact flower.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how this gorgeous bloom turns from white to pink.


It first turns a pale pink as the petals start to fold in...


Then, it becomes an even darker pink over time...
I get two in one!
White and pink blooms!


Pink...the Lord must have thought of us women when He created pink...
and pink flowers, to boot!...
do you think?


After I tore myself away from staring at my white and pink blooms...
it was time to do some work in the garden.
Foxie sat on the water tank and watched.
No dogs allowed inside my potager.


My cucumber patch is doing wonderfully....
I staked a tepee trellis for the cucumber vines...
with extra branches at the top for the doves to sit on.


While our honey bees were busy among the cucumber flowers...


I admired some of the cucumbers growing...
they do look rather gorgeous.
If you look behind the front cucumber in the photo below and to the left...


Well...I picked it.
That one is for supper tonight.


Yea..the doves do like my garden, too.
Those branches come in handy as a "look-out".


One more bloom to show from my flowering vine that is growing along my potager fence.


"There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink,
and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour.
This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God."
Ecclesiastes 2:24

Yes, indeed.
Blessed be the Lord.
May your day, or night bloom with blessings from our Lord God.