Give me a Sunday Morning Full of Grace

...a simple life and I'll be okay, here is small town USA.

Good morning dreamer friends!  How are ya?  This Sunday morning I was up early and enjoying all the beautiful visions out in blogland.  Y'all sure do have it going on and looking good!  I am always so amazed at how much others are able to accomplish when I barely am able to keep up with what we have.  I sure haven't been keeping up with blogging like I had hoped to.  One reason I haven't kept up with posts is because I've been waiting for something great or something inspiring to show you.  You know, something pretty to see!

So I ran outside to take a few shots, because I think there is beauty in my backyard.  Then I stood there looking around on this dreary morning and thought beauty?  Maybe....for me, maybe not so much for you.  Last night we had a few rains that came through and well, our backyard looks much like the morning after today.

I couldn't help but notice I had left my beach towel out and it got soaked in the rains, The chair cushions are a little damp but not as much as they could be because they usually end up staying in this position all the time because we don't like the cats getting cat hair all over them.  And then there's the puppy float below that sits around the pool all summer but rarely in it just waiting to take our dog (who never wants to get into the pool) for a ride.  It sits out because even with all this decking we have, we still don't own a deck box for storage.

Storage that is well needed to store things like floats and the pool brush that is laying on my patio table.  Yes this one here below.  Thats right, that the one with the paint project that still needs finishing, the one with 3 white chairs and the last black chair sitting there like an outcast.

Even with the sun just now starting to peek out as I type, I resisted the urge to wait on a post.  I could have waited until the sun was all the way out and shining, and I could have waited until I cleaned things up a bit more.  I could have waited until I finished all the little things I want to get done.  But friends, I if I wait, and I stage, and I make sure everything is spot on, well then, your not getting the true picture here and that is what I want you to have today.  I want you to know that as I live and breathe in a dreamers world, I also stay grounded in reality that is full of grace.

At first glance, I thought my deck was looking quite enjoyable,even after being soaked in the precious rains.   I thought with all the color I've added this year I'd go up the steps to get some closeup shots.

I could have moved the camera just a bit so you would see only the ferns and the beautiful Ivy geraniums.  I could have angled it just perfectly so you wouldn't see the small deck planter I insisted my husband include on this deck when he built it.  You know the one, that I now dread because it has thrown off the whole balance of the deck for me with the planters but we are too thrifty to just yank up all those boards and replace them until they actually need it.

I could have zoomed in close on the Tomato plants to show you only the green parts.  You didn't need to see that they are struggling did you?  

Or that the small leftover florals I stuck in the these pots aren't really going to take off like I had hoped they might, and if I'm going to add more to them, well then perhaps I should.

You might find these flowers quite pretty and doing very well if you overlook the fact they are still in their original containers.  The truth here is I intended to leave these in their actual containers but I had also intended to cover the containers with burlap and twine.  Hasn't happened yet!

Nor have I found the perfect pot for this beautiful plant even though I have found the perfect spot for where I want it to sit when I find that beautiful new pot I want.

Yes, honestly I know what you are thinking now. How much more of this do we need to see right?  

 I could have skipped sharing this photo too.  What is there to look at here?  A ladder laying in the side yard, that the Mr. needs to put back up.   Never mind the fact that its there because he stores it under the house and it's near the entry underneath.  It's not pretty to see is it?  But it has a story.  He pulled it out because we can hear something through one of the vents in the house...something like a creature moving about. EEK!   We are pretty sure it is a possum that has figured out a way to get in and out near the heating and air conditioner units but we cannot catch him yet.  Well let me rephrase that...hubby cannot catch him yet. I want no part of it!  I want to call the exterminator.

Sorry, I get sidetracked, let me refocus on the backyard again.  All righty now, yes I could have cleaned up all the spent blooms that have fallen off my beautiful hibiscus plant before taking pictures...

...and cleaned up all the ones from gardenias too.  Could have, should have, right? 

Lastly, (because I know your getting a little disappointed or bored by now) I could have angled this shot a little better as well right?  You didn't have to see the dirt we piling in the corner  behind my newly planted palm to try and level it off from the slope that happens beyond the fence.  

And just like the poison ivy that is growing up my deck, I didn't have to share any of this with you.  I could have kept it all perfectly posh when sharing.  I could have shared only that which is the most pleasing.  I could have just not shared at all as I have a tendency to do when everything isn't perfect.  Yes, I certainly could have let the poison of feeling inadequate, of feeling less then choke out the joys that I do have and that I do see.

  When all I  (or you) can focus on is the ugly, something is wrong.  It's time for a reality check.  It's time for a step back and to take another look.  Thank you God for showing me that pesky old poison ivy vine. The one that if left unchecked will grow and grow and choke out everything around it and causing an itch that won't go away untreated.

My life is certainly not picture perfect.  I certainly don't have the best of everything and a lot of what I share is not going to take your breath away and I'm not going to pretend it does.  

But did you notice among all the chaos, there is life going on?  What some of you probably don't see here in these pictures is someone who is living and loving her reality.  I don't begrudge those who have finished up this and that because I know how hard you work for it and I'm glad to see it.  I work for it too but I've also learned to slow it down more and to focus on enjoying it more as well.  It's okay if everything doesn't get finished quickly.  It's okay if I seem to be jumping from one project to another before totally finishing one.  It's been crazy this summer so far and so much has gotten done really yet all I seem to be able to share with you in my blog is the outside.  LOL!  

I guess I'm sharing outside again because even among all the ugly,  I can still see the beauty in what is and how far things have come.

I remember when we built this pool I had a vision of this planter area between the deck and block wall being filled with gardenias.  It has taken several years to fill in nicely.

This year that vision has come true in abundance, and it smells devine!

I've also had a plan to save money on plants this year because I'm not working outside the house anymore.  My plan included buying less, but also searching for discounted plants.

I purchased lots of flowering plants that were marked down because they were either neglected or in need of pesticides.  I also looked for very large pots of flowers that were marked down so that I could divide them and spread them around.  Husband hit them once with the strong stuff but I have also been treating them with a spray bottle of dish washing liquid mixed with water.  The combination will kill bugs on contact but not harm your flowers.  I'd say they are adapting well wouldn't you?

My very inexpensive water feature got a boost this year when I repainted the urn pot blue to match the pool and the containers around it.  Suddenly the cheap PVC pipe even looks better to me.  Not to shabby for a makeshift fountain.

Yes, we have a ways to go outside and sometimes I wonder if it will ever be what I'd like to see.  

But look how far we have come!  Sometimes that all it takes to see the beauty of things.  A step back and fresh perspective and heart of grace.

Thank you Lord!

Have a blessed Sunday friends!

Hugs and Waves!