Lift Helps People Form Habits and Help Each Other

White Ceramic Birds: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013

About 25 days ago I joined Lift and I've been enjoying it ever since. Lift's tagline is "Build better habits. Change your life" and the site's (I use the web-based version) community spirit is really great. You pick your habits (I'd personally recommend not adding more than 3 new habits so you boost your chances of success and after those are established just one ore two at a time to keep the success flowing), check in daily and offer "props" to others who complete their habits. Offering props is as easy as clicking "like" on Facebook. 

Lift is free and it's fun. I joined as "Cat Wheeler" (Cat's my favorite nickname and you're welcome to call me Cat too) and am currently tracking the following habits on Lift:

• Do a good deed
• Exercise
• Goal reading (I created this habit and am the only one doing it at the moment)
• Sing
• Unclutter 
• Write
• Set priorities for your day
• In bed by 11 pm

These weren't all "new" habits but some weren't getting done every single day. Having that extra accountability has truly helped turn them into daily habits. Of course, I have other daily habits (like prayer, Bible study etc.) but as they're well established I didn't add them.

If you join Lift please be sure to say hello and I'll gladly give you props for your healthy habits. 

May God bless and keep you!

Disclaimer: This post is my own personal opinion and I wasn't asked or paid to write it.

Lotus Flower Photos & Haiku Poem

Lotus in the sky: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013

This weekend I enjoyed a walk through the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens with my beloved husband. The lotuses have started blooming and they are beautiful.  I love how as spring turns into summer each week brings new blooms to enjoy. God's creation is amazing!

Angled Lotus Flower Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013

Here's the lotus haiku I promised in the title:

 Lotus Haiku

A swampy marsh sounds

boring but it's teeming with

big pink lotus blooms.

 

Young Lotus Flower: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013

It seems that the flowers have the most pink just before they open. For some reason blogger isn't letting me add any regular text below the next picture so I'll close things out here. It was a blessing to enjoy the lotus blooms. I hope you enjoy my photos. May God bless you and keep you!

Related Posts:
Previous Kenilworth photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/05/kenilworth-park-aquatic-gardens-photos.html
Kenilworth Flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/05/flowers-at-kenilworth-aquatic-gardens.html
Goose Family: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/05/goose-family-photographs.html

Lotus Field Overview: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013

 

 

Supermoon Weekend

This weekend offers a rare supermoon sighting and is expected to be the largest full moon of the year. Last night I took the photo above (you can see how bright the supermoon is in this shot) and my husband took the photo below (you can see wonderful detail of the supermoon in this shot). It's such a blessing to enjoy God's amazing creation!

Thanks to Ben (my beloved husband) for letting me share his photo with you (especially since it's so much better than mine). May God bless him and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
Jug Bay (with daytime moon) photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/01/jug-bay-wetland-photos.html
Sunset / Moonrise photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2011/12/last-sunset-of-2011.html
Nature photo: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2011/12/bless-your-day-with-walk.html

Anti Procrastination Haiku (Short Poem)

Mary's "Buttercups": Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013

Happy June! I enjoyed my "write something every day" challenge in May so I've decided to continue the practice as an ongoing daily habit. I'm also still working on decluttering my home (clutter could be considered a form of procrastination).

Anti-Procrastination Haiku

Don't procrastinate

Do it or decide not to.

Breathe deeply and act.

If I weren't limited to seven syllables in the second line (haikus traditionally have 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second and 5 in the third/last line) I'd have made it read "do it, schedule it, or let it go" but this shorter version works too. 

May you have a beautiful and procrastination-free day and may the God of all peace be with you!

Azaleas of Old Japan: Satsuki Bonsai Exhibit at the National Bonsai & Penjing Musem

Bonsai Azaleas of Old Japan 1: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013

Today my husband and I enjoyed viewing the 2013 Satsuki Bonsai Exhibit featuring azaleas of old Japan. The exhibit ends tomorrow (June 2) so if you love bonsai or azaleas it might be worth a trip the the National Arboretum tomorrow (the National Arboretum houses the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, which is near the recently remodeled visitor's center).

Bonsai Azaleas of Old Japan 2: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013

I enjoyed the variety of azalea bonsai specimens on display as well as the unique stands and bonsai dishes that enhanced the presentation.

Bonsai Azaleas of Old Japan 3: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013

 It's amazing how long some of these beautiful azalea bonsai plants have been in training.

Bonsai Azaleas of Old Japan 4: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013

 Here's an overview of a little more than half of the display.

Bonsai Azaleas of Old Japan 5: Copyright © by Ben Wheeler, June 2013

And last but certainly not least is a photo my dear husband allowed me to share with you. I hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of the bonsai exhibit. Which was your favorite photo? Have you ever seen azalea bonsai in person?

May God bless and keep you, dear friend!

Mary's Amazing Garden Retreat

Mary's hosta garden

Mary, my kind and talented neighbor, has an amazing garden retreat in her Maryland back yard that she graciously allowed me to tour and photograph today. She has a story behind each plant and an amazing green thumb. She's got a stunning variety of plants in her suburban garden and the many paths she's managed to fit make it seem as though she has four times her lot size.

Cascading creeping jenny

I loved this blooming creeping jenny raised up on a pedestal and surrounded by spider wort, hosta, a white blooming rhododentron and many other plants in another corner of Mary's garden. I'd never seen a creeping jenny bloom before today.

Rose propagated from a rootless boutonniere

Mary grew this giant climbing rose bush from her son's senior prom boutonniere! She has a real gift for plant propagation and I'm going to try to follow in her footsteps with some rose propagation this fall.

Bee on vibrant red rose

Here's a close up of some of the senior prom boutonniere rose blooms. They're so healthy the bees flock to them.  Mary has quite a few climbing roses growing up arbors and trellises and even cascading over a wall on her back patio.

Mary's unique iris

This iris has a unique shape and I love the coloring. Mary has a wide variety of irises in her garden, including yellow water irises, bluish purple irises and more.

Post-bloom clematis

This clematis had white blooms that had already passed before our tour but I thought these neat spirals were just as pretty as the flowers. Mary also has some beautiful purple clematis flowers in her garden. I had a great time touring Mary's garden with her today.

Thank you, Mary for the wonderful tour and tips!

May God bless Mary and may He bless you, too!

Evening Primroses, Verbena and Strawberries and Cream Roses: This Week in my Maryland Garden

Evening Primroses: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, May 2013

I love spring! God has certainly blessed us with an amazing abundance of flowers and greenery here in Maryland. The evening primroses (above) are flourishing, even though I thought they were weeds and pulled at least half of them out earlier in the spring. I left a few, just in case they weren't weeds and those have spread like wildfire. They surround our strawberries and cream rose bush (below) and our reblooming dwarf lilac bushes.

Fancy Verbena: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, May 2013

I love this fancy verbena. I think it's called lollipop verbena but I'm not sure because it came in a mixed pot without a tag. I'm going to have to learn to propagate verbena just so I can have more of these lovely plants next year.

Here's one of our strawberries and cream roses. The lighting was poor but I wanted to include a picture of it in this post so I'm not copyrighting the photo but do ask that if you use it anywhere that you give me the credit and link back to my blog (http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/).

What's growing in your area now? What are your favorite spring blooms?

May God bless and keep you!