After Valentine's Day Photos

Sometimes you just want to post pretty pictures, right? These are the roses my husband got me for Valentine's Day. I particularly love the orange one with the pink in the middle! I also made up a basket of homemade goodies for the grandangels, and took pics to chronicle my grammy goodies. Too bad we all can't just do fun projects all day, every day!

Hearts

I love Valentine's Day, because I love the colors and the shape of hearts. They are just so roundy and cute! I still have to make my frosted heart sugar cookies for the grandangels, so they aren't part of the vignette, but I had fun decorating with candles and glass hearts. I actually saw the ball jars w/candles in them on someone else's blog and thought it was a very clever idea. The picture frames had been sitting in a drawer, so I decided to decorate them with ribbons and pretty papers. The beautiful, deep red glass hearts are from my friend's nursery/gift shop. I loved them so much I bought three! Can't have too many glass hearts, you know! Happy Hearts Day to all!

This I love...

"Wherever you go, go with all of your heart."

Chyna's Garden

When I was naming my blog, I thought of many different names that I loved. I was shocked to see how many were already taken. So much for thinking I might have an imagination! I then resorted to pet names, and finally came up with Chyna's Garden. For you see, we had a beloved pug named Chyna. What better name for a Chinese Pug? She was without a doubt the SWEETEST dog I have ever owned, and I have owned many.

My husband got her for me when we were dating. She was supposed to be a birthday surprise, but it ended up that I had to go with him to meet the breeder because she wanted to meet the new owner, so I saw her beforehand. When it came time to go get her, my husband was in the area and picked her up. She was so tiny that she fit in the palm of his hand. He took her to his home and had her for several days...just the two of them...alone...bonding. By the time I got her, she was HIS dog, and remained his dog until she died, thirteen years later. They were so bonded, that when she died my husband was heartbroken for months. I had never seen him so down.

We buried her in a corner of our yard, which at the time was last years vegetable garden. In her honor, and for my husband's broken heart, I turned it into a beautiful garden where he could go and sit with her. Several times I found him out there crying. It is filled with beautiful shrubs and trees (a dogwood, flowering cherry and white birch), 2 birdbaths, a trellis with pink climbing roses, and a bench for reflecting. Every year I plant something new to remember her by. Last year it was the pink flowering dogwood.

My husband got me another dog for my birthday. Guess whose dog he is?