My Friend Grace

Those of you who have been reading here all these years may have heard me mention my friend Grace.  She was the inspiration for this blog and when she asked me to help her with her wedding flowers, she inspired me to go to flower school too.    We don't get together very often, but it's always so nice to see her and catch up.  Recently she visited The Farm for the first time, and guess what?  She loves The Farm too!  Well, that's really not such a surprise.  Most everybody who visits falls in love with it too.  Here's Grace's take on The Farm over on her  blog Grace Uncensored.  Thanks Grace!

Carol & Her Sweet Baby Aubrey

Vote for Buford

My friend Hillary has entered her bulldog puppy in a photo contest. You can vote for him here. He is a cutie. I haven't got to meet him yet, so I hope he doesn't get too famous for me.
http://www.bissell.com/MVP09/Week05/Vote5.aspx?ImageName=Buford&FileName=324.jpg

Leah posted a fab design on her blog!

http://bomelogio.blogspot.com/

Wreath Class

This is Sara, who's just as nice as she is pretty! Sara and her mom Patty are both in my class at Richland and it's been great getting to know them.

Abe's Amble

Well, we walked the whole 6.2 miles and survived! So many people there! Jo-An and I are in the middle of the second shot. The lady in the green ahead of us is Pam, who also works with us.

Abe's Army

Check out the picture on the Abe's Army blog at http://abesarmy.blogspot.com/. My friends Pam and Jo-An and I went to orientation the other night. You can see us in the front row. I'm the one in the black jacket (I was freezing in this cold May weather!) who looks like she's sleeping. Jo-An is in blue to the left and there's Pam in her cute purple outfit. The lady sitting on the other side of me is Jo-An's friend Brenda. Anyway, we're all going to walk walk walk this summer getting ready to walk Abe's Amble, a 10K race at the state fair in August.

Cake!

This is the cake that Lee Ann made for Lisa's wedding reception. And here's Vern and the kids--they are all so pretty and handsome. Ellen's toes were dressed for the occasion too!

Jewelry Party

I did the flowers for Tami's party today. We had a great time. Lots of beautiful jewelry and really good food.

For Tracy

This went to Tracy, my hairdresser, because she taught me how to dry my bangs this week. I'm 50, nearly 51. You'd think I'd know how to do that, wouldn't you? But anyway, I they look so much better, and lots of other people have liked my hair this week. Natalie even asked me if I'd had some "work" done. So for that, Tracy got flowers--daisies and acacia along with sprouting curly willow. The container is one of the purses that Lori found at Goodwill. This was so much fun to make. The tag says, "Thanks for my new bangs!"

Ellen's New Haircut!

Here's Ellen with the cutest new hairstyle. She's holding her long long ponytail that she has been growing for Locks of Love. Such a sweet thing to do, Ellen--some little girl will be so happy to have her new hairstyle too!

Before and After

Here's a picture of me leaving for the wedding. In one hand, I have one of Grace's beautiful hand-painted bottles, of which I neglected to get a close-up. And in the other hand, the toss bouquet. I just heard that it held together through the toss. And the second shot is of Grace's bouquet at the reception. I loved her ribbon.

Perfect Wedding

Grace and Kevin had such a beautiful wedding. It was perfect. I had a great time helping with the flowers. It was a surreal feeling to see her carrying the bridal bouquet. I have a few pictures, and will post over the next few days. I was so focused on finishing each piece and moving on to the next one that I totally forgot to take pictures along the way. I even forgot to eat! When has that ever happened??

View From the Top

This was a fun one. There were so many zinnias out there, and they needed to be deadheaded so they'd keep making. It's a really low arrangement, maybe 6 inches tall, and was made just for Jefferson Hall, because they bared their souls yesterday and did good work--the kind of work that makes us remember why we all decided to become helpers in the first place.

Beets in a Florascape Bag

These are for Anna, because she loves beets. I hope she likes these!

Thanks Christine!

Christine works with us at McFarland as a recovery specialist. She has brightened the place up with beautiful artwork and encouraging quotes. This is a shot I took last year of an arrangement of Pat Austin roses with black and blue salvia. She spruced it up and had it framed for the hallway outside my office. Very sweet of her. It means a lot to me.

Lunch Today

We had some people over for lunch today. Lots and lots of food, good company, and sunshine.

Stepping Stone

I've been looking for color out there, and this is the best thing going at the moment. Tami gave me this little stepping stone several years ago. I think it came from Wild Birds Unlimited, and it has held up beautifully. Today I'm going to search the catalogs for Eden and Royal Bonica roses, for Tropicanna canna, and for some dahlia tubers.

Star of the Show

Marcus was our special guest at lunch this week.   Everybody wanted to hold him.  Lee Ann was the lucky one at this moment.