Spring Has Sprung

I love Spring in Florida. I know it is going to get blistering hot in a very short time so I spend as much time as I can outside right now. I took some photos today of all that is going on here. Things are blooming like crazy and growing inches in a day. I love all this new life everywhere. My little birds will soon be gone, but flowers and butterflies will take their place. Hope Spring has sprung at your house too. Want to share?(if you get bored with plant stuff you should just skip this post)

This year I tried planting some bulbs. These are Freesia. They are supposed to be very fragrant flowers. I hope to enjoy them all season. I'll post a bloom photo later.

These are my 2 pots of Gladiolas. I planted 3 bulbs in each pot. So far only 2 in each are sprouting.


We moved all our Day lilies this last year and they love where we planted them. I am excited to see all the blooms we will have. I'll post a blooming photo later.

This is my almond tree/huge bush plant. It has the most fragrant blooms and the butterflies love it. The only thing bad about it is that it is HUGE and it took over my front butterfly garden. I've adjusted to it now, but it was sort of a shock at first.

This doesn't look like much, but this is a healthy, growing, coveted Paw Paw tree. It is the host for my favorite butterfly, the Zebra Swallowtail. These are hard to grow and this year mine is getting huge. I'm so excited about this one!

This plant is called a Hercules Club and it is food for the Giant Swallowtail caterpillar. It has wicked thorns on it and is slow growing.

These plants are food for Black Swallowtails and White Peacock caterpillars. You can find host plants at Biosphere Nursery on the west side of town or Lucus Nursery on the east side. To have butterflies you need nectar plants and host plants.

This is my crazy gone wild Lady Banks Rose Trellis. We didn't trim it back this year at all and it is absolutely filled with fragrant little white blooms.


This is my honeysuckle vine. It went crazy this year and did not freeze like everything else. I'm going to have to get another trellis for it to grow on. I planted it for hummingbirds...no luck so far. The yellow sulfur butterflies like it though.

Another reason I love spring. The flowers are so beautiful. This is by my front door. I love lots of color!

This is my latest butterfly project. My sweet husband indulges my passion for butterflies and helped me to set up this new area in our back yard. I shook seeds from a specially designed bag over the ground he and Matthew had prepared. It is supposed to be flowers for butterflies and hummingbirds. If anyone knows how to attract hummingbirds I would love to know. I've planted stuff, hung feeders and in 7 years I've seen maybe one or two.

Cute Catherine and her cute friends. Ours is the 3rd one from the left. She'll soon be 13...she is growing up and will soon be Sarah's Maid of Honor..."da moh" according to Sarah..."da pain in my bootie" according to the momma sometimes, but I wouldn't trade my girl for anything.

Davie ran 25 laps in her first "Race For Education". She did a great job. Unfortunately I said I'd pay $1 per lap. Bummer.

Hope the weather is lovely where you are. Spring has sprung...now get outside and enjoy it. Love, js

A Book Review from Jackie Sue

Now isn't that the catchiest title ever? I KNOW! Ok, while I hate to preempt Sarah's lovely face with a new post, I find that I must. I just finished the most amazing book. It is called "Riven" by Jerry B. Jenkins. I've never read anything by Mr. Jenkins before, but my friend Lisa recommended this one and because I read whatever Lisa says to read, I began the journey. It started sorta slow and it certainly wasn't a happy book, but b/c the afore mentioned Lisa said it was good, I kept on. I finished it this morning, in the wee hours with tears streaming down my face. LISA WAS RIGHT! YOU SHOULD SO READ THIS BOOK. I DON'T WANT TO TELL YOU ANYTHING ELSE...JUST READ THIS BOOK...AND THEN COME BACK AND VISIT ME AND TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS. I will stop yelling now. Seriously, read it. You will not be sorry. Love you, Jackie Sue

Exciting News for the Wimberly Family

So this is my first born. Notice her ring finger? Yesterday was her 22nd birthday. Honestly when old people say time flies, it really does. I can't believe 22 years ago I was in labor(it was a long,hard one by the way)and the result was this beautiful little red headed bundle. I still remember the doctor putting the internal monitor on her and saying,"well, your baby has hair" and me wondering, "hair??? I never thought about hair". Our Sarah was everything you would want your first born to be. She was such a delight to us. Here, 22 years later it has not all been delightful, but it has been a wonderful journey and I am so blessed to be her Momma. So, yesterday her beau of nearly 3 years proposed to our baby and asked her to be his wife. We knew it was coming. He,Chris, aka "the boy" talked to David, aka Eddie "the father" on Monday and asked for permission to marry her. I've known it was coming all week and didn't tell anyone!(Isn't that amazing???) David saw the ring on Monday, but I hadn't seen it. We had her birthday lunch at home yesterday and then they headed to the beach. I was at my Bible study small group when my cell phone rang and so I put her on speaker so all my "peeps" could hear her news. It was fun. We waited up for her to get home and I got to see her ring. It is GORGEOUS! I'm so happy for Sarah and Chris. We have had our reservations about their lack of future plans, but honestly God has so confirmed in our hearts that this is His plan for them and we are just thrilled to watch what He is going to do in these two peoples lives. As they commit their lives to each other and again to Him it is going to be quite the adventure, as all us married folks can attest to. I am so pleased with their love for Him and each other. It is a sweet love story...two young people committed to Christ first and then at ages 23 and 19 began their very first relationship that has blossomed into a forever love. Sounds like a happily ever after to me....Congratulations Sarah and Chris and "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."(ephesians 3:20-21)

Davie is 6 and Ellie puts on her own diaper...

Here's my baby...now 6 years old! Davie turned 6 last week. We had a party with her friends from school. Her favorite thing was that I wrote on the windows of the van about her birthday. Isn't that funny? She is such a precious gift from God and I am blessed to be her momma! Happy Birthday Davie Doo! Momma loves you all the way past Heaven. You are my girl for good.
Ellie only wears a diaper for bed and tonight she was anxious to get her diaper on. This somewhat captures her efforts to diaper herself. What a funny girl!






Anything in your life that has made you smile this week? Given the bad news we are constantly hearing, I'd love to hear about your happy moments. Don't lose hope...God is on His Throne and He is not sleeping or unaware...as best as I can tell from His Word, He is actively in charge...Much love, js