Hope Took Root In East Texas

 🌼  Mrs. Lee's Daffodil Garden:  Where Hope Took Root in East Texas.

This place is located only 45 minutes from our home!!!

This story blooms by the way of a boxcar!  Yes...a big Boxcar!!  Mrs. Lee's Daffodil Garden in Gladewater, Texas is much more than a field of flowers..   What I love about this story is that it is a living testimony of vision, grit, love and pure determination  that turned a families raw land into a place of beauty.  

The story begins with Mr. Lee and his wife, Helen.  When they married, they had very little and in fact..(according to local lore) he had only twenty five cent in his pocket when he proposed to Miss Helen.  

During the East Texas Oil Boom of the 1930's, Mr. Lee built success in the oil industry and he eventually was able to purchase land outside of Gladewater, Texas.  True success had finally come their way. But, after Mr. Lee passed away in 1954, the land became something even more remarkable. 

Mrs. Lee had a vision and as the years passed, she expanded it.  Acre by acre, she purchased adjoining land until the ranch grew to more than 1,000 acres.  She transformed the land into two beautiful lakes and she had them stocked with bass, perch, and catfish.  But, her true masterpiece came from a simple flower order.  

Mrs. Lee ordered a box of jonquils.  When this order came in, it was not a box of flowers....it was a BOXCAR full of bulbs from Holland.  

Can you Imagine??

With the help of workers, thousands upon thousands of jonquil bulbs were planted across the rolling landscape. 

And Now.....each spring, when these flowers rise across the hills, it looks like a sea of golden sunlight beaming across the land.  Now, decades later, these heirloom daffodils continue to bloom and this is what moves me about this story.... This is proof, that beauty planted with intention can outlive us.  

It is so sweet how this garden whispers some things a lot deeper than could be imagined.  

Hard beginnings....Heaven's abundance...and how grief can birth something glorious when we try. 

I would say that Hope still grows here and it brings smiles to thousands of people each Spring.  🌼

Happy First day of March!!  🍀

Shug...💛

Awesome Things....NOT so Awesome Things

Awesome things.....Not so awesome things.  

Big Congratulations to our oldest grandson....   Lt. T.......  He graduated yesterday from Space Force Officer Training.... This was a full year of very hard work for him.  Super Proud of you T. 

He also received an academic award which was well deserved after the high scores he received throughout the course. 

Another Awesome Thing!

On Thursday afternoon, Sam was able to attend Mylee's softball game. Not only was this a big WIN for Sam, but Mylee's team had a big Win as well..    15 to 6

Now for the not so awesome thing!!

Yesterday, while Sam was having his infusion, I decided to run a few errands.  As I headed down the highway (only 2 miles from the cancer center) there was a pick-up truck in front of me.....  I'm guessing I was about 6 car lengths behind it. 

Suddenly, a can of white paint falls out of the back of the truck. 

👀 👀 👀

I missed the biggest spill, but as I was switching lanes, my tires did go through a small bit of the paint.  

I immediately pulled over to use my phone to find a carwash in that area.  After a few turns, I finally ended up at the car wash only to be told that with paint, they could not let me go through.  Thankfully, there was a "Do it yourself" car wash just down the road.  

I stopped by....spent $6.00 trying to wash it off with no luck at all.  

Gosh...I was dreading telling Sam about it.  I knew he would be exhausted and I didn't want to put any stress on him. 

After I picked him up from having his treatment, I told him what had happened.  

He phoned the dealership and thank goodness...they are coming to get my car on Monday.  

We were already scheduled to have the oil changed and so NOW...they will also be looking at the paint on my car as well.  

Funny thing...or maybe not so funny, when I pulled into the car wash, the guy told me that in the last ten minutes, I was the third person trying to get the paint washed off of their car.  

We all know that in life there is a mixture of sunshine and sudden storms. 

Some days I'm enjoying fresh flowers on the table and a cup of hot coffee in my favorite cup.  Other days, brings news that I wasn't expecting or roads that I didn't choose.  

BUT... the good is this:

The valleys teach us gratitude for the mountaintops. The struggles carve out compassion and the unexpected bends in the road builds resilience.

Life is certainly layered isn't it?

Lots of joys and many challenges that shape us into stronger, wiser people.  

Thanks for stopping by today..

Love to you all.

Shug.....💛  

 

Standing in line

 Standing in line!

I don't think any of us enjoy standing in a slow line.  

We tolerate it...

We endure it....

We try to calculate it...

"How many people are ahead of me?"

"Why did I choose this line?"

"Is the other line moving faster?"

If you really think about it, waiting in line exposes something in us.  

It reveals a portion of our character.  

Our culture trains us for speed.  Fast shipping, Instant streaming, Two minute devotionals, Microwaved everything.  It's like living life on a roller coaster.  A fast one at that!!

The other day I was standing in line at the grocery store and the lady ahead of me was writing a check for her groceries. (Not many people write checks anymore)...... I was patiently waiting as it was taking her a very long time, not only to write the check, but to record it in her checkbook.  

Behind me, I hear "REALLY?" "Why today." Needless to say, the lady behind me must have been in a big hurry or she lacked patience.   

I could tell she was very frustrated so I asked her if she wanted to go in front of me.  Her response?  "Well, I will if she (the lady writing the check) ever finishes."  I thought...How RUDE.  No Thank you...No, I would appreciate it.  Just frustration. 

🌸🌷🌸🌷🌸🌷

Patience isn't proven when things move smoothly.  It's formed when they don't.  

The question we have to ask ourselves in situations like this is:

"Will I choose irritation or Grace?"

Who knows, the slow person in the check line could be exhausted..They might be grieving...or perhaps they are facing something that is out of their control.  

We just never know what story is standing right there in front of us and we need to learn to value and respect others.  There is so much to gain when kindness prevails.  

Shug...

** Happy Friday Everyone!!  I might be slow reading and commenting today..Sam has his treatment this morning and I will not have my computer with me.   

Thankful Thursday - The Old Pecan Trees

Thankful Thursday 

I am so thankful for this amazing tree that is located down at the farm, and for the many hundred others that look just like this.  

These trees are at least a 100 years old.  

By looking at the trunk of the tree, you might say "there is no way that this tree is that old."

Here ↓↓↓↓ is the reason why!

 100 year-old pecan trees managed strictly for graft wood (scion wood) have small trunks primarily because they are subjected to continuous, severe, and intentional pruning, which prevents them from developing a large, mature canopy and trunk structure.

You can see in this close up photo the many twist and turns on the branches of the tree... These are caused due to the yearly cutting of new growth for graft wood. ...... throughout the past 90 or so years. 

These stock trees are only grown for graft wood..... NO Pecans come from these trees. 

A simple pecan is planted one year, the next year the tree that shoots up from the pecan seed is grafted with the wood that comes from these specific trees .... the third year, the tree is ready to be sold. 

This is what Pecan trees that have NOT been cut back for graft wood look like.

These trees produce actual Pecans...

The trees that are used as STock trees are the ones with all the twist and turns.  

I'm thankful for these old trees because they provide for our family...  

Thousands of pecans are grafted each year and thousands of pecans trees are sold each year.   

Shug.... 🌿

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