The Chrysler Imperial Rose

Only 14 more posts (after this one) before I reach the magic number of 1000. I actually started this blog to keep a garden journal. I had received a Chrysler Imperial Rose for a present and thought that in keeping the online journal...I could keep this rose alive. I had never had much luck with roses and thought that if I had to report on it's care every week...maybe I would be able to keep it alive. Well, the journaling started, and before I knew it, the blog grew into something much more personal. I never intended to tell so many things about my thoughts and life. I was leary at first about telling personal things about who I was and where I lived. As I journaled, most everyday, I grew more and more comfortable with my writing.I started writing about everything...my home, gardens, Church life, politics, art, recipes, books, decorating, holidays and on and on. I visited other blogs and found out how important it was to leave a comment. People left comments here and I was hooked. It's now one of the best parts of my day...when I sit here and pour forth my everyday thoughts and doings. I've made so many friends in the blog world. Some of you are so special to me. You prayed for me when I had surgery, asked about Joe during his surgery, leave comments to cheer me up, share recipes and emails etc. I would love to live next door to some of you. What a neighborhood we would have... full of blogger friends.

Once in a while I tell a bit about my family, but I usually respect their privacy and their lives. Joe is the only one who I write about easily. It just comes naturally to bring him into my posts occasionally. He's with me here in the computer room...just a foot away on his computer. We live our lives together everyday and he has never said that he didn't want me to write about him. So, he pops up every once in a while and I have found that several of you enjoy hearing about him.He reads my posts and has come to know you when you comment.

So, the Chrysler Imperial Rose has bit the dust but I have learned how to care for roses, by reading many garden blogs. I have learned that my best bet is a Knockout Rose. I have four of them and I help take care of the roses at Mary's Garden at my Church. In my 70 + years I have accumulated so much knowledge about this hobby... that I couldn't live without. I tell some of the "old fashioned" ways of gardening and then find that I want to try the new ways...and put those in my very full memory bank. I find that I have learned something new and many times an easier way of doing things. I learn, throughout all the seasons, so much from you. So many of you have enjoyed my sharing things from my past gardens, going back to when I gardened with my Dad in the 40's. Who knew that people would be interested in my gardening experiences? Who knew that I could teach someone about life in the garden? Who knew that I could keep this blog going with very little trouble.....posting, putting pictures in my posts, answering comments, and just keeping it going for 1000 posts? Well, in a couple of weeks I will hit the magic number and a prize will be given to someone whose name I will draw. The glass bowl is overflowing with little slips of paper. The names are adding up and I will soon pull a name out of the bowl. So, here's to 14 more posts...and on to # 2000.

Balisha