May Flowers

The peonies are blooming!  I have struggled with this plant for years.  Most years I have two blooms.  My Mothers have so many blooms she has to stake the plant to keep the blooms from pulling the plant to the ground. 

There are many buds on the plant and this may finally be the year when I am rewarded.  Epsom salt was spread around the plant when the foliage began to emerge--maybe this is the secret.  

The iris have been spectacular this year.  They look so delicate with their frilly ruffles and are such a hardy plant.

This one looks like the delicate pink Baby Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was wearing when she made her first appearance.

This is a Dutch Iris, very different from the bearded Iris--must add more of this variety to the long border.

The purpose of this award is for bloggers to nominate fellow bloggers. In order to accept the award, the nominated blogger must follow these rules:

• thank the person who nominated you and link back 
• Share seven facts about yourself
• Nominate 10 other bloggers for the award.

Seven facts about myself:

I am a huge history lover and student.  On my blog, I often write about historical  events and places.  My love for history has helped me to learn many things about my family:  the good, the bad and the ugly/sad. 

Keeping with the history theme--Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather Johanna Martin Shultz and his family was one of the first families of Tennessee, settling at the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains in a community called Emert's Cove. 

My love for gardening was a gift from Grandmother Bessie and my love for quilting was a gift from Grandmother Rebecca. 

While I am not a good cook, I come from a family of great cook's:  Grandmother's, Mother, Aunt's, Cousins.  As a family, we have shared many delicious meals.  My Mother was the pie baker and her specialty is crème pies:  Chocolate, Lemon Meringue, Coconut and Butterscotch.  When the family would get together, it was common for Mother to bake five pies.  

 AppleJack and I met in June, had out first date in July and got married in October.  Yes, out families did think we had lost our minds but twenty eight years later, I think the relationship is holding up nicely. 

 I learned to cross stitch the winter of 1976-1977.  Snow, snow, ice, more snow, low temps, many missed days from work due to road conditions was the news story of the day during the winter of 1976-1977.   I learned to cross stitch to keep my mind occupied and to help pass the time during the long winter days. 

Growing up on a dairy farm, I was taught to drive a tractor at the tender age of five--an H Farmall McCormick.  There is always work to do on a farm and my Father and Grandmother believed everyone could contribute regardless of their age.

Margaret of http://daysofasamplerlover.blogspot.com/ nominated me for this award and she shared insightful thoughts about blogging.  There does seem to be a change toward Facebook and Instagram  with less interest in blogging.  For myself, blogging is a way for me to keep a journal, to share with others, to learn about others and from others.  There are projects in process, exciting finishes, road trips, family times, recipes, funny stories, challenging times in people's lives.  It is time consuming to take photos, edit the photos and write the blog.  In this fast paced world of instant everything there are still things in life worth making an effort--for me blogging is one of those things.

My nominations are:

http://needleandthread.blogspot.com
http://kearnelskorner.blogspot.com/
http://mhttp://thecopperfox.blogspot.com/
http://thecraftroom.blogspot.com/
http://threadsbooksandthings.blogspot.com/
http://thepaintedquilt.blogspot.com/
http://roguequilter.blogspot.com/
http://themiddlesister.blogspot.com/
http://porcupineneedle.blogspot.com/
http://thepatrioticquilter.blogspot.com/