Garden Party!

Last Wednesday I posted a picture of my pup sitting on the loveseat of our new patio furniture. Some of you might remember that last Christmas we cyber tours of our "Christmas Homes". That's when I thought - why don't we have a garden party! Let's share pictures of our gardens, yards, landscaping and patios. Jim and I live on our patio in the summer (at least in the early morning and later in the evening when it's hot and humid! As a matter of fact, we enjoyed our coffee and the papers outside today. It was lovely. We love working in the yard and getting our hands dirty. I am hoping that as summer progresses I can share photos of our veggie garden.

So... throw on your floppy hat, flip flops and take a mini tour... after, enjoy some lemonade and enjoy all that God has to offer us on a bright summer day!!!
Welcome to our home...

The next three pics are from one of the hosta gardens we have...



I love geraniums! Have quite a few located around the house

We have quite a few wren houses around our yard... I love wrens! The male is like a little real estate agent. In the spring he will fly around to suitable nesting locations and place a twig or two inside. The female will fly around and then decide which home she prefers! This year... she picked this crock-like bird house. We put it out on a whim and w/in a week she found her sturdy home! The babies are tweeting inside now. She's a good housekeeper as well. She cleans out all the "gunk" if you know what I mean.

The side of the house and our hummingbird feeder. They truly are amazing! What a delight God has given us in these mighty little birds!

The View toward the garage and front patio


If you look closely... you can see that the flower pot is held in a wire chicken.


I have moon flowers that hopefully will soon be vining up and then blooming on the trellis behind the chicken. Moon flowers are white and open in the evening. I wanted to also plant morning glories to grow up the same trellis, but didn't get around to it. Morning and evening color would have been great!

The front patio. We enjoy meals out front and out back!

Elephant Ear Hosta

Top of one of the birdbaths

Endless Summer Hydrangea

We have loads of Day Lilys

Remember "Where's Waldo"?

How about "Where's Jet?

Backyard

Back Deck area... I got the concrete cat the spring after my beloved cat Bruce passed away!

I have yet to put flowers in our bicycle planter

Our Rock Speakers... Rock!

Jet's Love Seat

I love sitting hear w/ a good book on a lazy, summer afternoon.

Sit back and enjoy some lemonade w/ me....

I sure hope you will join the Garden Party and give us a glimpse your gardens etc.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

~ John 15:5

In the Good Ol' Summertime...

The first official day of summer is this coming Sunday! Although many of us have been experiencing summer activities... the caledar tells us it's official on Sunday.

As I have said in the past, I am a "seasons" kind of gal. Lemonade, swimming, lazy days on the patio, cookouts, lawn games, catching fireflies, listening to the birds sweetly sing their song, sitting in my rocking chair on the front porch perusing a favorite magazine while sipping on iced tea! Ah the luxuries of summer!

Up top is a picture of my beloved Jet. Yes... we purchased new patio furniture and guess who was the first to take a seat? Yes, Jet. I think he has claimed the loveseat as his own! As a matter of fact... he's out there now lounging in the sunshine. We were still putting the furniture together - now that's a story, and he promptly staked his claim! I do believe he is enjoying the warm temps too!

With summer approaching I thought I would throw out an invite! Let's have a garden party! I would love to see pictures of your yard, your gardens, your patios! A picture tour of our summer sanctuaries! I am going to start taking my pictures today! I can't wait for you to see all the new patio furniture! I just love the set! Very comfy! So, make some lemonade and let us sit back and enjoy our own cyber garden party! Hope you will stop back to check out my tour when I get the pics up! And I hope you invite us along to your lovely home!!!

Enjoy summer my friends!

Welcome Home!

Many months ago I asked you to pray for my friend Paula & her family as they were in the process of adopting twins from Ethiopia!

Well, after many, many months of excitement, heartache, joy, fear and a lot of prayer... Candace Selam & Sarah Fikir have made the long journey from Ethiopia to Nebraska, USA!

Thank you to all who lifted up their voice in prayer along w/ me for my friend!

Please visit Paula (here) and read a bit about the trip and see pictures of these darling girls and the family God chose especially for them!

... and Paula... Happy Anniversary to you and Tom!!!

Love you!!! K

~ WFW ~ Come Unto Me...

It's been some time since I have participated in a Word Filled Wednesday. I haven't been blogging as much as I would like due to a busy work schedule etc. You can read about that here

With my busy schedule the words from the Gospel of Matthew just fell on my heart....

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

~ Matthew 11:28-30

Of course I needed a photo to go along w/ the word... and I thought of this picture I took of my sweet dog (he is a whippet) Jet. He loves to snuggle under the covers and rest his head on the pillows. Ah to be able to rest in Jesus as my pup rests in our bed.

The purpose of Word filled Wednesday is to share God’s word through photo’s & a Bible verse!To be blessed by more Word Filled Wednesdays - please visit

Extravagant Grace

It's that time of year...

Those words for some reason seem to ring a holiday bell in my ear. However, it's not November or December... it's summer! It's that time of year that my world seems to overflow with outdoor activities, cook-outs, cycling, swimming parties, work... some fun, some not so fun. So many times I have wanted to sit down and blog... Something would hit me in worship, God would reveal something to me and once again would show me how awesome He is. Sometimes it's just been a longing to sit down and share my day with you. However, with summer comes a busier real estate season, and we are being blessed abundantly at this time with work that is keeping us busy. Also, we pick up our outdoor cycling season and that takes a lot of time in the evenings and on Saturday mornings. I am grateful for my health and the stamina God has given me to improve this year on the bike. It's been fun, but hard! Kind of like life huh? So many things have kept me away from blogland. But please know that many of you are so near to my heart and I still have many of your prayer requests in my jouranl and are still praying over them.

As of today, I am finishing up one Bible study ~ Stepping Up, A Journey through the Psalms of Ascent ~ Believe me... God has spoken a Word to me in this study. If you only new how many times I wanted to sit down at my laptop and share with you all! Not only have I been doing the Bible study, but also have been facilitating the study. Leading always seems to take a bit more time to prepeare. This is our group's last week for Stepping Up. I have to tell you, I will treasure this portion of Psalms forever. Already I have been able to apply what I have been learning. I am eager to learn more about the Feasts! It's been a real hoot watching the men in our group react to Beth Moore during the video sessions of the study.

Last week our summer ladies group at church started Esther ~ It's Tough Being a Woman. So, I have been busy each day completing not one, but two different studies. How come the ladies group didn't realize I was just finishing up a small group study of my own? (I type that with a grin - I know the world doesn't revolve around me) Now, I know some of you have completed the study of Esther. I am sure you will agree with me when I say this study is awesome! I have only completed one week... and after the first few verses in the book of Esther I was hooked! What a journey this will be. I had a hard time disciplining myself to not move forward to quickly and do all the work in a few days. Fascinating! A word I would use to describe the book thus far! I hope if you have not done the study of Esther that you certainly consider doing so... Girls, God's richness is all over this one!

So you can see... life has become very busy for the Schwarks. Work, play, summer fun, God's Word... seems to keep me away from blogland. I know I have been able to keep up w/ some of you via Facebook... but FB certainly doesn't pour out our hearts like our blog posts. I certainly miss the rich blessings I recieve when I read and respond to your blogs. I have missed visiting w/ all of you and will visit your blogs as time permits. I know once fall rolls around I will have more time. I like to think that God is purposely keeping me away from blogging too much for a reason. I don't know what that might be, but I trust Him and will respond to His prompting when it's time to visit more often. Who knows... that time might happen this week, or it might happen once the dog days of summer and the sweltering heat keep me inside more often!

I love you my blogland friends. I missed you tremendously. I look forward to catching up and reading as time permits. I long for the fall and winter days when I can spend more time reading... until then my prayers continue!

Much Love,