Spring is coming to Shady Acres. Yesterday, Certain Man began to mulch the hedge roses that line our fence. Last year, he bought me the arbor so that I could get into the front yard without going out to the road to get around the fence. We are still looking for roses or something that will climb over the arbor and go with the hedge roses. In between the hedge roses, there are peonies. These extravagant flowers grow on his mother’s grave, and he has always been partial to them. I am anxious for their fragrant, showy blooms, and from the looks of the buds, it won’t be long.
This is Rach and Beeba. They are my “outdoorsy” girls. I will never forget a day, soon after we moved to Shady Acres, when Beeba (Deborah) was probably 10 or 11. She always climbed to the very top of our huge (30 feet tall) Magnolia tree, and would look out over the country side. A perfect stranger pulled into my driveway one day, rung my doorbell with great urgency, and asked me breathlessly, “Do you know that you have a child in the very top of your Magnolia? I was coming down the road and I happened to look up and there was this head sticking out of the very top!!! Don’t you think you should make her get down?” I did traverse out there and speak to my daughter, but she was safe enough, and it was a great way to get away from life. (Something she has always seemed to need more than the other children, I might add.)
This picture does not really do justice to Certain Man’s one Bleeding Heart plant. He has a number of them in the front garden, and they act like they are in a race with eachother. (For those of you who remember the “Lily of the Valley” escapade, this is the garden where we planted a whole bunch of Lily of the Valley roots — one for each stone, all the way around the garden which has 50 some of the stones that you see there in the foreground. Alot of them are growing, but you can’t see them in this picture.) The Bleeding Hearts could not be more beautiful this year, and they remind me that there are many, many hearts that are hurting in this old world, and hurting hearts can be “showy” in their own ways. But “bleeding hearts” (of the human variety) have an incredible attraction as they allow God to turn the sorrow into fragrance and beauty. . .
I just want to say again: I believe in The Resurrection that we give lip service to today. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, conqueror over death and the grave, victorious over the scheme of Satan to wreck God’s plan. I believe that in His sinless life, and His death and resurrection, lies my hope of Eternal Life. He died so that I could be forgiven–reconciled to a Holy God. I believe in Heaven, and that we will live there forever and never get done exploring the wonders there. And I believe that this Jesus really is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE.
What an incredible HOPE!
Delaware Grammy 
I love bleeding hearts and was happy to discover 2 of them in the flowerbeds when we moved here. They seem to be doing exceptionally well this year.
P.S. the pirate pics are posted.
Thanks for sharing the pictures I love getting outdoors this time of the year (my house shows that it is suffering)
Shady Acres is a most wonderful place! So much love and happiness happen at your home. Thank you Mary for having such an open heart and home. You minister to so many people.
Thanks for sharing the pictures~now I can picture Shady Acres in my mind. Did you have a good day at Polly’s house? I saw her pics, it looked like quite the houseful! Have a good week.
Enjoyed the post! Keep it up. =)
What nice pictures! Lovely home, thanks for sharing your pictures. I have one Bleeding Heart plant and it is certainly not as far along as yours. I may get some pictures to share of my plants today. We are slower here just this weekend my phlox bloomed. HIM had hers blooming weeks ago. My forcythia is particularly slow this year and we’ve had several wonderful warm days. Your Shady Acres looks like a haven of peace. Also I greatly appreciate your statement of faith. I was tempted to copy it and paste it to my site but thought better of it!
The corsage on Lucy is simply…………hold on to your hat………….simply a corsage………no puppies, no cameo faces , no hi-jacked flowers hidden………..just a poor ol’ corsage……..but I am working on it ………..maybe……….maybe not …. but who knows what lurks in the mind of Lucy ?
IRYC: I read “blueberryeyes” comment once … and thought that it surely didn’t sound like her. Then I read it again more slowly and was convinced that it had to be you! ~ I especially love the picture of two of your offspringin’s!
What a beautiful home! It is so nice now to picture it when we “talk” back and forth! And your beautiful girls, too! Thanks for sharing with us your special part of the world. I loved your story of Beeba in the tree! She is lucky to have a Mom who understands her needs and let her do her “thing”. I can just picture her little head at the top of the tree (a little like the scene in Sound of Music!). It reminds me of the many, many times my brother and I (before Lucy and Miss Brooks were old enough to follow us) climbed to the top of the windmill and sat an surveyed the “world”! Most moms would have been horrified, but our Mom didn’t rush out screaming for us to get down.(She might not have even known we were there, on second thought!). I think she entrusted us to The Lord every summer day we left the house and knew we would be o.k. You just reminded me of another post I can make! Doesn’t one thing lead to another on this Xanga-ing!
From De we had moved to Blountstown Florida That was in 1982 Then we all moved to Waterfall PA in spring 1994 In Spring 1995 Fred and I moved to Dot Lake Alaska then moved back to Mcconnelsburg Pa in Fall 1996 We have been in Pa ever since Although we moved to Orrstown Pa in the fall of 1997 !!! Spring Run is between us and Mom & Dad!!