A #Spring #Garden in Pennsylvania by Karen Rose Smith

Spring has been slow coming to Pennsylvania this year. I can count on my hands the number of days with sunshine instead of rain! Still plants will grow and the landscape has turned unbelievably green. 

Irises like this weather!

Blooming in spite of the weather in this wet Spring are the irises. The pink with purple are my favorites.

I started geraniums and impatiens from seeds in January and heirloom tomatoes from seed in March. Inside on a heat pad and under a grow light they grew hardy. 

The impatiens are blooming. Now the problem is needing to place them in the patio sunroom and on the porch. But with nights still going down into the 30's until last week, they have stayed in the basement, especially at night, where they are safe. 

Columbine, Forget-Me-Nots and Pansies like the cool and wet Spring. The variegated sage has grown hardy too. I placed a few pots I planted on the patio with hope they can survive the rain. For the few nights in the low 30's, I covered them.

My hubby gifted me with this bird feeder that is fashioned of old glassware. I couldn't wait to put it in the ground. We planted a few snapdragons around it because we knew they'd be hardy in this type of Spring.

A Weigela and bird bath made from old glassware

After the next few days of more rain, we're supposed to have sun and 70 degrees for 3 or 4 days. Yes, I've turned into a weather buff this year. I'm hoping by Memorial Day the gardens will be awash with sunshine and flowers, plants and herbs will be adding color and scent to all of the gardens.

Two of our regular strays

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Karen and Paddy

USA TODAY Bestselling Author Karen Rose Smith is an only child who delved into books at an early age. She learned about kindred spirits from Anne of Green Gables, solved mysteries with Nancy Drew and wished she could have been the rider on The Black Stallion. Yet even though she escaped often into story worlds, she had many aunts, uncles and cousins around her on weekends. Her sense of family and relationships began there. Maybe that's why families are a strong theme in her novels, whether mysteries or romances. Her 95th novel will be released in 2016.

Readers often ask her about her pastimes. She has herb, flowers and vegetable gardens that help her relax. In the winter, she cooks rather than gardens.  And year round she spends most of her time with her husband, as well as her four rescued cats who are her constant companions. They chase rainbows from sun catchers, reminding her life isn't all about work, awards and bestseller lists. Everyone needs that rainbow to chase.

Karen looks forward to interacting with readers. They can find her at the links below. 

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Karen's Newsletter IN TOUCH

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Karen Rose Smith's romance website 

Karen Rose Smith's mystery website 

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©2016 Karen Rose Smith

Remember when? Memorial Day Remembrances by Karen Rose Smith

My father-in-law

My father

Memorial Day is just that--a day full of memories. It's a holiday that brings back pictures I don't often let surface. For my first few years, my parents and I lived in my grandfather's house with him and my aunt. In the living room  on a side table sat the induction photos of my dad and his brothers who were in the service. My uncle Johnny died in World War II. I remember studying those photos, not only when I lived there, but after my parents built a house next door and I ran in and out of my grandfather's house often. The sanctity of keeping those pictures on that table is something I will never forget. These photos of my dad and my father-in-law hang on the wall in our house now.

Another vivid memory is cutting irises and peonies with my mom and arranging them in Mason jars to take to the cemetery. My dad had a Country Squire station wagon and we would load up the back of it with the flowers. My aunt and grandmother accompanied us. The cemetery then was in an out-of-the-way location and I remember all the memorial stones were quite elaborate--from angels to five-foot-high tablets with inscriptions. After we arranged the flowers at each grave of a loved one who passed, we would say a prayer. Sacred times and sacred memories.

My mother and her brother Dom

Memorial Day also brings back memories of family get-togethers around the dining room table or in the backyard, weather permitting. The holiday was a family time. This Memorial Day we will be hosting my BFF and her daughter and enjoying talk, laughs and cat stories with them.

Memories can be bittersweet but also filled with rich, deep meaning that's like a shield around my heart, reminding me always what's important, what's lasting and what matters most--the love of family and appreciation of the values I hold dear.

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The house where my sleuth's parents live in the Caprice De Luca Home Staging Mystery series is modeled after the house where I lived with my grandfather and aunt. Caprice's house is modeled after the house my parents built next door. I relive childhood memories every time I delve into the mystery manuscripts. It's a great way to savor memories and hold them close.

Karen Rose Smith's mystery website 

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USA TODAY Bestselling Author Karen Rose Smith is an only child who delved into books at an early age. She learned about kindred spirits from Anne of Green Gables, solved mysteries with Nancy Drew and wished she could have been the rider on The Black Stallion. Yet even though she escaped often into story worlds, she had many aunts, uncles and cousins around her on weekends. Her sense of family and relationships began there. Maybe that's why families are a strong theme in her novels, whether mysteries or romances. Her 87th novel will be released in 2015.

Readers often ask her about her pastimes. She has herb, flowers and vegetable gardens that help her relax. In the winter, she cooks rather than gardens. And year round she spends most of her time with her husband, as well as her four rescued cats who are her constant companions. They chase rainbows from sun catchers, reminding her life isn't all about work, awards and bestseller lists. Everyone needs that rainbow to chase.

Karen looks forward to interacting with readers. They can find her at the links below. 

Karen's Newsletter IN TOUCH

***************

Karen Rose Smith's romance website 

Karen's Cat-Themed Zazzle Store

Karen's Facebook Author Page

Karen on Twitter

©2015 Karen Rose Smith

#Irises and Mason Jars--Memorial Day Musings by Karen Rose Smith

Irises are usually blooming for Memorial Day.

When I was a child, Memorial Day was a special holiday.  I'd lost an uncle in WW II.  Another uncle as well as my dad served, too.  Back then my dad drove a Ford Country Squire station wagon that was blue with wood on the sides.  My mom and aunt, grandmother and I would fill the back with Mason jars full of irises, peonies, lilacs and anything else that was pretty and blooming in the gardens.  Then we'd drive to an old cemetery, one with 3-4 foot high statues and memorials.

It was like a church service as we placed the jars, not only on service members graves but also on those graves of anyone in the family we'd lost--or on those plots of lost one in our friends' families.  And then we'd say a private prayer.

That evening, we had a picnic with family, sharing memories and making new ones.

Memorial Day was important.  It meant remembering and family and history and prayer.

Hoping your Memorial Day is filled with all of those too.

Copyright 2014 Karen Rose Smith

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