Cactus Monday

I remembered!! Top that with the fact that I have a new succulent to share and it's a pretty good Cactus Monday in my world!  Our favorite neighbor friends opted to bring us over an arrangent in honor of Bob's mother's passing instead of sending something to Ohio that he wouldn't have been able to bring home.  While it definitely wasn't expected, it was really thoughtful and appreciated!  And, since I'm the plant lover in the house, she put together an arrangement with a Crown of Thorns, a Bromeliad and I think it's called Varigated Fig Leaf Fern.  I can't find the third one one line, so if you have a different name, please share. 

The Crown of Thorns is huge and I'm excited to keep it alive!  Be sure to stop by Teri's at Teri's Painted Daisies for more Cactus Monday offerings.  Happy Cactus Monday...have a great week!!

Book Review - Slay It with Flowers

Not happy that it's taking me a week to finish a book, but I finally completed Slay It with Flowers by Kate Collins this afternoon during volleyball practice. 

From the back cover:  Near Mrs. - Abby's latest gig is the perfect marriage of her talents.  Not only does her bride-to-be cousin, Jillian, want Abby to be a bridesmaid - she also wants her to sign on as floral designer and sleuth...

Though nearly once a year Jillian has agreed to marry a different man, she has yet to make it to the altar.  But this time, it's cold dead feet that may stop the wedding.  Before the couple says "I do," one of the groomsmen disappears and another member of the wedding party is found dead.  Luckily for Abby, she has plenty of help - including her brassy been-there-done-that assistant, a hunky bar owner with a penchant for love and justice, and her own family.  Together, they aim to unveil the truth...and make sure the bride still gets her day to shine.

My take:  Slay It with Flowers is the second in Kate's A Flower Shop Mystery series.  I think I enjoyed this one even more than the first!  Abby does not "meddle", or at least she would like to think she doesn't.  She can't resist a challenge though and this time finds herself in quite a mess.  While she's trying to find out who murdered one of the groomsmen, she winds up in the middle of another mystery in town...this one with deadly consequences.  The only thing that I was bummed about on this one was that I didn't have the third one with me when I finished this one!  That one is of course next on my list...

Mandy

Word - Filled Wednesday

2 Cor. 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

I saw this on a blog this evening and really liked the idea of  Word -Filled Wednesday's, plus it didn't hurt that I had the perfect scripture for today!  If you read this regularly, you know that my oldest daughter was home for three weeks with a stomach issue and that my husband's mother passed away this past weekend.  As if three weeks of being stressed to the max between trying to get my daughter better, being a wife to a stressed out husband who was dealing with the impending loss of his mother wasn't enough, I still needed to pay attention to our youngest daughter, go to a workplace that I know can't hardly tolerate and make it to all the required volleyball practices and games.  Forget cooking, cleaning and my all important reading time!!  This has been a horrific month to say the least.  In comes my best friend.  I spoke to her briefly Sunday morning in passing when we knew the death was near, but at least my children were feeling better so I could really focus on my husband.  Fast forward to Sunday evening.  The call comes in and then during the night both girls start with two totally different, but concerning coughs.  I dropped my husband off at the airport, came home and gave the oldest a breathing treatment, realized we weren't going anywhere so I made the call to work and then to the schools.  Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to call in for the fourth week in a row to let them know that your daughter won't be there yet again?! Thankfully I got voicemail.  Today while I was at work fielding text messages from a hurting husband and uncomfortable children, my best friend sends me a text with this scripture reminding me that God is comforting me in that while I'm required to be superwoman (temporarily I hope) He can be my supernatural superman.  Tears poured down my face because I haven't talked to her since Sunday morning, yet she knew I need encouragement.  I'm so thankful that God encourages and comforts us so that we can be a comfort to others, while at the same time others around us can be comforting us.  I hope that made sense put in words.   My husband made it through the viewing and will make it through the services tomorrow.  I'm really looking forward to having him home, but am taking comfort in the fact that God's got it all under control!

If this is the first time you've stopped by, I'm not generally this whiny!  I don't mean to sound whiny at all actually, just incredibly grateful that I know the Master Comforter and that He knows me!!  Be sure to stop by the Internet Cafe Devotions blog to enjoy other Word-Filled Wednesday posts. 

Mandy

Saying Goodbye

My husband's mother has been sick for a while.  Six years ago, she went in for routine bloodwork and found out she had a huge tumor in one of her kidneys.  They removed it in it's entirety and she did great for several years.  Maybe two years ago, the other kidney had enough and she reluctantly, grudgingly started dialysis three times a week.  The week of Christmas, she fell on the way to the dialysis van and while she didn't break anything, the news wasn't good.  Her body was riddled with cancer, if there was a spot it could be, it was there.  Two weeks ago, on the weekend of his birthday, my husband flew up to say goodbye.  After making the decision to stop all treatment, Mom passed away this past Sunday in her home surrounded by her family.  We put him back on a plane Monday for one last trip.  It's been hard.  Hard because we had to send him by himself, hard because he knows that this will be his last trip home and hard because he had to say goodbye to his mother.

Mandy

Book Review - Mum's the Word

I came across this series on one of my adventures at Half Price Books a while back, and it's taken me a while to get all the books (minus two).  The series is called A Flower Shop Mystery by Kate Collins, and I'll be you can't you imagine why I'd want to read them!!  Mum's the Word was a delightful read.  I'll share a bit from the back of the book with you before I give you my take.  I thought I should start doing this since sometimes what I think doesn't really give you a good idea of the book. 

I don't meddle, honest!  But can I help it if my nose for injustice is as keen as my green thumb?  Now, I Abby Knight, law school dropout, am the proud new owner of Bloomers, my hometown flower shop.  I'm devoted to making by business grow, but I'm no shrinking violet if someone needs my help to right a wrong - even if that person is already dead...

A Thorny Predicament - So maybe Abby's life isn't the bed of roses she was hoping it would be.  She adores her job, but a new low-cost competitor is killing her profits - and a black SUV just rammed her vintage Corvette in a hit-and-run.  Determined to track down the driver, she accepts the help of hunky ex-cop Marco Salvare.  But their budding relationship is threatened when the trail turns deadly.  Now Abby is caught in a tangle of menacing phone calls, police corruption, and murderous road rage.  If she's not careful, the next flower arrangement might be for her own funeral...

My thoughts:  I loved this book from the start.  Abby's short, busty and stubborn...I can relate to all three!  My dream job would be to work in a nursery/book store (weird combo, but in my mind it works), and a flower shop is not a bad idea either.  Imagine if I got into the right place...I could introduce succulent arrangements, and the city of San Antonio would be all the better for it!  Back to the book.   When Abby's Vette got run into, she was not about to stop once she figured out who hit her.  She got wrangled into helping Lottie's cousin, Pearl, leave and divorce her no good cheating husband.  That added an entirely different problem into the mix, Pearl's husband also has a nasty temper.  There was a bit more language in it that other Cozies I've read, but that probably had something to do with Pearl's husband's violent temper.  I can't wait to read the next one, which I'm starting today.  She's funny, spunky and too irresistible not to like.  So, if you like flowers and mystery, this could be the series for you!

Ramblings and Succulent Blooms

Yesterday, the weather was incredible.  So much so that my co-workers and I donned our walking clothes and went for a 2 mile walk during lunch sans jackets.  We've been doing this for several years, but we got out of the habit after the Rock 'n Roll Marathon a few months ago.  It was great, I surprised myself and started jogging on the way back.  What that means to me...I must be a born runner, why else would my little legs have just started off on their own with no encouragement from me!  heehee!!  Today on the other hand, freezing cold and the wind was blowing something fierce!  Weird!!

The greenhouse is getting heated as I type, and my Crassula 'Springtime' is opening her blooms.  I brought her in to get some pictures since it was too dark to get a decent shot outside. 

These next little guys were a surprise that I didn't notice last time I was out there.  I don't remember it's name, but it was weird looking and that's always a plus for me!  There are three little blooms getting ready for a show.  This is the first time this one's bloomed for me, so I'm curious to see what they're going to look like.

Cactus Monday

I forgot today was still Monday, but here is my offering for this week's Cactus Monday hosted by Terri at Terri's Painted Daisies.

Crassula 'Springtime'

She really thinks it's springtime in the greenhouse I guess, this is the first time this one has bloomed for me.  I didn't realize how much she's grown until looking at this picture either.  These blooms are taking their sweet time too, I've been watching them for weeks.  Maybe not too much longer!

Hawthorias and Hoya Kerri 'Sweetheart' Hoya

While I was finishing up dinner tonight, Daughter #1 went outside and the next thing I knew she was at the window begging for a picture!  It just happened that two of my favorite Hawthorias and the 'Sweetheart' Hoya that I'm starting for a friend were in the picture too.  Perfect for Cactus Monday!