Books by the old Leather Chair

  • Snow In The Summer
  • My Bible
  • The Power of Silence
  • What Comes Next and to Like It
  • Encore Provence
  • A Year in Provence

Friday, July 23, 2010

My Humble Sweet-Pea is Blooming

She spent many a summer with her beloved grandmother in Tennessee. Through childish eyes she would see a beautiful green yard with flower beds. A wide front porch with a swing (where in the evenings her grandmother would brush her hair). A green hedge surrounded this home and she can remember her great uncle using not to choice words as he would clip on hot summery days and sometimes be stung by a bee. The towering old trees were a delight to sit under and sometimes she would eat her simple lunch on a blanket under the trees. To view through a child's eye is so wonderful. A special trip not to many years ago revealed a small frame home with a tiny yard and the trees no longer were there.

There were always zinnias, marigolds, nasturtiums and the sweet-pea. When she looks at this flower it never fails to bring back memories of a time long ago.

The little girl grew up in an apartment building in the large industrial city. She will never forget the times this grandmother made special trips to bring her to another world.
What she dreamed of at that time became a reality as her life unfolded.
In these last years she views fields of green, woods, flower beds and hears the sounds of nature.


"A garden might be made beautiful with sweet-peas alone, and with hardly any labor, except the sweet labor of picking to prolong the blooms, be turned into a fairy bower of delicacy and refinement"

Elizabeth shares about her garden in the wonderful book "The Solitary Summer" by

Elizabeth Von Armim

12 comments:

Jessi Cotterill said...

I think we've got the same sweet heart today. I've just posted my Sweet Oleander.

BlondeMomBlog (Jamie) said...

That is absolutely beautiful.

Your header looks nice too! :)

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Jessi and My Jamie, thanks for visiting. Jamie, thank you for recommending piknic for my image :)

Tabor said...

I am surprised that your sweet peas are blooming now. I remember my mother's which were a huge wall of color on the West side of our house when I was young!

Nan said...

So glad your have them, Ernestine! Aren't they just the best! I adore the fragrance.

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Tabor and Nan - thank you for visiting.

walk2write said...

I hope you don't mind me stopping by. I saw your comment on Prairie Rose's site and was intrigued enough to come over. I find the most delightful blogs that way, and it looks like I've found another one.

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

walk2write - thanks for stopping by. visit again!

MsGraysea said...

What a beautiful photo of the sweet peas. They are one of my very favorite flowers and grow wild on the dunes and along the roads here in summer...our dunes have wild roses, dusty miller and the sweet peas and they are such a classic summer scene here.

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Marcia, they grow wild along roads in this area also. This was cutting that I started in a flower pot and now have transferred to a trellis. May have to move it as it does not get much sun. Then maybe it will do fine...

Rose - Watching Waves said...

Sweetpeas are my favorite flower. Every year, my dad would grow them all along the length of the back fence. Oh, how their scent filled the air! I'd gather big bouquets tgether and bury my nose in their frilly blossoms.

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Rose, thank you for visiting...