This past weekend my mom and I attended a garden talk workshop at the Edison Home here. If you have never been to the Edison Estates and if you ever get the chance to vacation in beautiful southwest Florida, you must make this attraction a priority on your list! Nestled on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, Thomas Edison & family, along with Henry Ford & family built their legacy here. It is a number one tourist attraction (you can see some visitors on a tour in a picture here, they are on the porch of Edison's home- you can also see the river in the back ground- Ford's home is the smaller, gray colored one), additionally a favorite with the locals and often times a field trip event for schools.  Their homes-most still furnished with many of their original belongings, Mr. Edison's laboratory (the green building-amazing inside!!), the museum (housed with a ton of their pictures and Edison's inventions), the gardens, Ford's cars, the grounds, the view on the river, the horticulture-everything -is absolutely beautiful, tropical, lush and amazing! You would be in awe of the old banyan and fig trees (pictured here). At Christmastime, everything is even more beautiful and off-the-top decorated. The palm trees that run a long McGregor Blvd (pictured here) are over hundreds of years old and are wrapped in white lights at Christmas.  The neighborhood area (Edison Park sign), which houses the Edison Church (pictured here) is incredibly beautiful & the streets are line with older homes and such gorgeous, lush landscaping. Simply my most favorite area. I have visited many times before and each time enjoy it more. This time in particular, we were there to attend the vegetable garden talk workshop (go figure). We loved it!!! The staff horticulturalists provided a private, informative tour of the veggie garden and flower grounds (pictured here)...do you like the Mr. Edison as a scarecrow?!....including a question/answer forum, samples of a berry tea made from leaves straight from a tree (sorry, cannot remember specifics at this time), resource handouts and more. Absolutely superb and all for five dollars! They just recently completed a nursery area where the public can buy an assortment of plants, flowers, veggies, herbs......at very reasonable prices.I especially loved their "plant in a bottle"(pictures here)...what a bright way to recycle and plant at the same time!! Each month they have some type of similar workshop and we will be going back! After the workshop my mom and I tooled around the grounds for a few hours...looking at the different plants, herbs, flowers, strolled the neighborhood -- I was def in the mood for some pics. We did not actually "visit" the homes this time (on the other side of the white fence), as we have been many times before....but I was definitely in the picture taking mood. That is mom with Mrs. Mina Edison and me showing my love for the Mister!  If you click on one picture, you can then scroll through them all on the feed that run a long the bottom of my page.  Hope you enjoy!! I think this may be one of my favorite posts to share with you- for sure!

For more on the "Edison Home"...as us locals call it.....go here:  http://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/  be sure to watch the short video-it gives you a peek inside! 

Randomness around our house lately:  My precious Compassion International angel Lourde, who I sponsor, pray for and love very much. Someday I am taking a group trip to Haiti and going to meet her. Someday, I will share with you, how "I" chose her (after much prayer and wait-I was showed many signs, all in one day-BAM- there was her picture and all answers lined up!); a plane on my morning walk which reminds me of the quote by C.S. Lewis:  "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream"; hello birdie on another morning walk; I am in awe of this abandoned bird nest that was in a hedge outside my front door-the elements and intricacy amaze me...notice the string and the screen fragments??....this reminded me of Matthew 6:26...that we do not need to be worried in life-if a bird has God's given innate ability to build it's own nest....He will most certainly take care of us!!; a morning walk sunrise; our Foxy girl in her eyeshadow glam..this little girl sits next to me every morning while I get ready for work and just stares at me...she gazes and watches me put on my glam- so why not???  HA HA...she is a trooper and we love her-and for the record..I do not put on my eyeshadow to that extreme depth....but I wanted it to show against that brown fur!; my beautiful daughter Jess strumming her guitar on a sweet day; artwork by my talented son Nich- he is natural, all free style-each one of my children have such natural, amazing, artistic talent; my first attempt at making  frozen yogurt pops infused with fresh banana chunks-turned out yummy- I am partial to the vanilla ones; and finally- that incredible fall sunset last night......right out my front door.  Notice the tree that takes the shape of a heart on the left?? I love it.  Long story- but God has definitely placed me where he wants me...I have had so many signs since moving into this house last year. It is perfect! 

PROGRESS!!! Hello and Happy Fall! I love fall!!  I have the day off today in a paid, court holiday- in honor of Yom Kippur and I am thinking how I would love to be at home one day per week..time to catch up on a lot around here.........remember that "first little fruit of my labor", the solo bean in the previous post???...well, it has blossomed into a blooming row!! I couldn't be more thrilled. I am obsessed with my garden and although only in it's early stages; the first task I do each morning after sunrise and at the end of my day-is head to my backyard to see if anything has grown in the course of a just several hours of the day/night! So here I have: green beans of course, sweet basil and chives (which I actually started from seeds, in pots, indoors and then planted-in their entire peat pot-directly into the organic soil...my poor dill is not doing so well), carrots, cherry tomatoes, onions, eggplant and my herbs-in their original home before planting in the garden. :)

 My first, ever garden- all organic-and the first "fruit" of my labor only after one week -green bean!  Eggplant, carrots, onions, cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes & lavender should soon be appearing. In the center of the garden is my dill, chives and sweet basil that I started from seeds indoors. Apparently, some herbs (and flowers-hence the lavender) repel critters & bugs from eating and eventually destroying your veggies. I first plotted off my area for the garden. It is relatively small as it's my first one and I didn't want know what to expect or how it would take. It's maybe 4ft w x 8ft l. I then placed a plastic tarp for a few weeks over this area to deaden the grass. Then the digging (a lot of it!) began~ this was the hardest~ as I dug out all the dead grass and additionally another 4-5 inches deep of dirt. I used two bags of Lambert's all organic garden soil and one bag of all organic cow manure compost. I would have liked to have found horse or cow manure from a local farm, but ran out of time. I used all organic seeds. The entire process maybe cost me thirty to thirty five dollars. I am just so excited. I have always wanted an organic garden and after moving into my house a year ago- I have the most perfect area and backyard. A true blessing. I am an advocate of all natural, pesticide & chemical free and do not even use harsh chemicals in my home. I  only use apple cider vinegar mixed with water & a little drizzle of hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle for most cleaning. My organic garden will save me quite a bit of money as typically my budget doesn't really allow me to buy all organic at the markets. Stay tuned.....I will be posting pictures!

Just living is not enough...one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower. ~ Hans Christian Andersen