The Greatest Gift is a Surprise

Finding good surprises in unexpected places always brings a smile to my face and warmth to my heart. Like this morning glory that I found growing at the edge of my garden and the empty lot next door. What a happy way to start my morning stroll through the garden.

I received another surprise that morning when this dog showed up by my side. He looks similar to our dog Biscuit but he is the wrong color. Do you see the similarity? LOL! Somewhere under those layers of red clay is our dog Biscuit.

Dirty, naughty dog on the left (before). Clean, behaved dog on the right (after). Biscuit really had a good time running around in our lovely Georgia clay the day after it rained. Can you say bath time!

But what really made my day was when Cherry from Cherry's Garden and More nominated Southern Meadows for the Sunshine Award. I was overjoyed. Cherry is a fellow Georgia blogger who writes about life in the South from her charming city of Savannah. She has a gorgeous garden, shares scrumptious recipes, stunning photos and her blog oozes with her charm and great sense of humor. Reading her blog always makes me happy.

The Sunshine Blog Award is a prize awarded to bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere. As an award winner, there are a few rules to follow:

Thank the person who gave this award and write a post about it.

Answer the questions below.

Pass on the award to 5 bloggers you like, link their blogs and let them know you awarded them.

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1.  Favorite color ~ this one is easy, blue but in the garden it is yellow.   

2.  Favorite Animal ~ this one is harder because I love all creatures big and small (well, maybe not voles so much) but dogs are my favorite (even when they are naughty).

3.  Favorite Number ~ hmmm….don’t really have one. Should I?

4.  Favorite non-alcoholic drink ~ most definitely tea but unsweet…not very Southern of me is it!

5.  Facebook or Twitter ~ Facebook. I haven’t plunged into the world of Twitter yet.

6.  My passion ~ gardening for wildlife. I love watching the natural world interact. So many great lessons to be learned from Mother Nature.

7.  Getting or Giving Presents ~ It’s a tie…love the joy of giving presents but also love receiving.

8.  Favorite Pattern ~ I’m not so big on patterns. I am more of a textures kind of gal.
 
9.  Favorite Day of the Week ~ Saturday when all the family is home.

10.  Favorite Flower ~ this is the toughest question of all…I love so many flowers but I will pick the Sunflower because it just always makes me happy (and it is yellow).

Now for the hard part...picking 5 blogs, because truly all the blogs I read deserve this award! 

So I've picked five blogs that I recently started following that are wonderful.

Gardening with Nature - Birdwoman gardens in zone 9a in Houston, Texas where her garden is designed for attracting wildlife especially the birds! Be sure to visit her blog and see all the native plants in her garden.

The Queen of Seaford - writes from Upstate South Carolina less than 2 hours from me. And can you believe we haven't met (yet!).  We live in the same zone, are Master Gardeners, have both moved around a lot, enjoy exploring with our camera and continuously learning about gardening (and many other subjects).

The Pyjama Gardener - so passionate about gardening PJ Girl doesn't bother to change before talking a stroll through her fabulous garden in the UK.  You must see her amazing kitchen garden. It is to die for. And she grows everything organically!

Girl Sprout NM - writes about her gardening experiences in New Mexico. She also has some things to say about food too! Oh, and she has the most adorable rescue dog named Aster!

Muse (formerly known as Going Native) - Mary shares her experience with wildlife at her home and garden she has affectionately named Marshview.  She has many native plants and wonderful photos of the wildlife that visit her garden.


So there you have it. Happy day and thank you Cherry for nominating me!

Some friendships are made by nature,

some by contract,

some by interest, 

and some by souls.

~ Jeremy Taylor

Hugs,

Karin