Thursday, May 31, 2012

Spring Beauty

Good Morning,
    The birds are singing, the geese are swimming in the pond and it looks like we will have some sunshine after a badly needed rainy day yesterday- what more could I ask for!
   I still have a few more pictures featuring our lilacs-don't worry I will soon have moved on to the peonies! The early peonies are just starting to bloom here but soon there will be hundreds of peonies blooming as they are loaded with buds this year.

Our summer porch
We have enjoyed  relaxing on our screened porch with the scent of lilacs .
Pretty containers full of our lilacs from the garden

I am picking a bouquet of lilacs for you.
Don't you just love lilacs?
We have over 40 lilac bushes in our garden-all different colors and sizes.Did you know lilacs like a slightly alkaline soil and a sunny location to bloom well.

Tomorrow is a busy tour day so I better get our house and garden in order.

Can anyone tell me why my photos seem to go fuzzy in the last few days when I make them larger-I always email them over to my blog and didn't have this problem before.

Thank you for visiting me.

Take care,
Carolyn



29 comments:

Sue said...

With a birthday in May, the lilacs were always blooming. I miss them so in Texas! Don't you just swoon from the scent? Yours are so lovely. Thanks for sharing them.

Deanna said...

Dearest Carolyn, This is a lovely post! Lilacs are a favorite of mine and yours are beautiful. They smell so very good,
d

Vava, A country dreaming mum said...

Your lilacs are lovely, I can almost smell the scent! I have seen your house featured in a magazine here in Italy and I loved it so much. I am glad to have discovered your blog, so I can follow your progresses with the house and your beautiful garden.
Silvana

http://jackieinsurrey.blogspot.co.uk/ said...

Morning Carolyn, another beautiful post of the various arrangements you make for the house and garden. I wonder how you find the time?? It makes me want to go out and get a lilac lilac for next year to compliment my white one.

Have a great weekend, lots going on here in the UK with the Diamond Jubilee. I am going to put some bunting and flags up tomorrow!! Shall spend a lot of time watching the TV to see all the activities.

Love Jackie in Surrey, UK.

Sissie's Shabby Cottage said...

I wish that lilacs would grow here on the coast but I don't think they like sandy soil, nor do peonies. But I do have abundant hydrangeas.

Love, love your porch. I could stay there all day long and never tire of it. So pretty.

hugs
Sissie

Arla said...

I noticed your fuzzy pictures, too. Thanks for the lovely garden pics, though. I switched to live writer for writing up my blogposts with pictures and I have no more fuzziness. Live writer allows me to post large clear pictures.

The Tablescaper said...

Oh Carolyn, my lilacs didn't do so well this year, so it was wonderful to partake in yours. I could almost smell them over the internet.

- The Tablescaper

Sylvia said...

Your lilacs look lovely! JPG files will get fuzzy if you make them larger because they are made up of tiny squares of colour, and when you enlarge them, the little squares look like a patchwork quilt. Also, every time you save a JPG file, it is compressed more and loses more detail. Try saving the files in exactly the size you want them to be in the blog. You could also save them in PNG format, which doesn't get fuzzier every time you make a change and save the file. You don't need to make them really tiny, either, since even a large JPG file is compressed and doesn't use a lot of memory. Hope this helps!

Michele M./ Finch Rest said...

Beautiful post - and Sylvia's reply was helpful to me for sure, didn't realize that exactly. Good to know.

Good luck with your next tour, Carolyn!

You look so pretty in blue in your pics.

Lynne (lynnesgiftsfromtheheart) said...

Hi darling, your lilacs are lovely, I can only imagine the beautiful fragrance. I miss having a lilac bush, must put that on the list of things to do. I hope this finds the little guy doing ok, I think of him often.. enjoy your gardens.
hugs ~lynne~

Anne said...

Whoa 40 lilac bushes.Oh your garden must smell like heaven.Lucky you.And they are gorgeous too!
((Hug))
Anne

Beverly said...

Carolyn, visiting you must be like visiting heaven. I can imagine just how exquisite your home and gardens really are.

I've never actually seen a real lilac, but I am always amazed at just how gorgeous yours are. I don't know how they do where we live because I can't find anyone around here that has lilacs. I spoke to our garden center, and they say they will grow here, so ... we purchased and planted a small one. It is not looking too happy, but we'll wait and see.

Carla said...

I am so envious of your lilacs. When I was a child we lived in Wisconsin and my mother grew the most beautiful lilacs. We has an old playhouse that had a huge bush right outside, I can still remember the scent and how excited we would be when mother would pick a bouquet for our playhouse. Thank you for sharing your beauties and bringing back such fond memories of my childhood and my mother's love of lilacs.

Marilyn Miller said...

Gorgeous lilacs. Mine are about gone and also looking forward to the peonies soon. Your photos always inspire me.

My Little Home and Garden said...

I have a tiny lilac, planted last year, that is covered in fragrant blooms. Unfortunately, my large one didn't take kindly to the early spring followed by the cold. Your blooms are beautiful.

Blooming Rose Musings said...

Carolyn, your lilacs are absolutely breathtaking!
I have to admit, I noticed your fuzzy photos and thought maybe you were playing with different textures. I don't know what program you edit in but I have started using picmonkey(just to keep it simple and quick)and the final step is to pick a size so I go with the middle size and then enlarge it when I put it on my post. I once used the larger size in editing and my photos were fuzzy too. I know it all has to do with size in editing. Your photos are always so beautiful that it doesn't matter if they are fuzzy or not! Thank you for sharing your gorgeous lilacs.

jill said...

Oh Carolyn Lilac is one of my favourite and I can smell it from here in NorthYorkshire England,I had some in my last home and so miss it here,enjoy yours its beautiful.Love Jill xx

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

Beautiful porch Carolyn. I rarely pick my lilacs since the whole yard smells of them anyway. Of course with a bigger property, you have more to pick and they look so nice in all your vases and the teapot.
As for your photos, I always just upload mine from the computer. Don't understand why you're emailing them.
Judith

Judy at GoldCountryCottage said...

Carolyn: We have had the geese around a lake at the fairgrounds and as I thought I'd take pictures of them on Tuesday, they were all gone. From what you have said I guess they went 'home', so I'll have to wait until next year. I use Picasa and when I take the photos off of the camera they go directly to my computer and to Picasa. I didn't do anything about size and when I put them on my post they are small and I just click x-large and they are fine. Don't know how it happened but it works. With that being said, your photos are beautiful no matter what, you have such devine subjects..Happy Thursday..Judy

Cindy Adkins said...

oh my goodness! So beautiful! I can almost smell the lilacs. Thank you so much for sharing!
Cindy

xinex said...

What a beautiful porch! So homey, comfy and just adorable!...Christine

Rose Garden Malevik said...

Hi Carolyn
Just LOVLEY photos,,,,,and the frangrance of Lilacs are just wonderful :)
I say it again,,,,,you are still NUMBER ONE in the World :)
and do not miss,,,,,,,

S
A
T
U
R
D
A
Y

S
H
O
W

O
F
F

it is FUN :)
WELCOME
Håkan ( The Roseman)

SwedishCorner ~ DownUnder...Pernilla said...

Adore lilacs :) They remind me of my childhood in Sweden.
Greetings from Australia♥
~Pernilla

Shabby soul said...

I love lilacs so much, but here it's quite difficult to find different qualities. Yours are beautiful, a joy for eyes!
Silvia

Bella's Rose Cottage said...

Hi Carolyn,
As always amazing shots! I love the basket full on the bedpost... dreamy:-) Ours have finished and our Peonies are starting too, I think we will have the same flowers at the same time now or soon? We have rain to spare, I'll send some your way (haha I wish!)
Hugs,
Bella

pembrokeshire lass said...

I love the lilacs. I must put some in my garden! I had them in my last house. All the beautiful china and settings. I just love it. I am joining a few people's followers hoping that I might be inspired to use some of mine that way so I think I'll join yours. Joan

Cindy said...

Hi Carolyn,
I just love lilacs, out front of the house I have a lavender, a white and deep purple lilac, then across the driveway I have a bunch and they are small little ones. Oh, every time I look at your screened in porch I so want one, hum.

The pictures, see what your setting is on your camera, if you want to downsize your photos use this amazing re-sizer and you can set the unique size and where to save (free download) Try not to save adn resave a jpg image as it will distort. Save two images of one photo, one is going to stay the original size while the other is the size you choose for your blog. Then use this http://www.fotosizer.com/ to size and save your images. I use fotosizer v1.31.0.497 not the latest version but I love it and I can choose the folder, custom the size. I hope this helps. Do go to your camera and set it for the largest size of pic, perhaps you have it set on (email photos) and are taking smaller pic's and trying to upsize them. If you need or have other questions email me, ccousineau@eastlink.ca I'll try and help. In the meantime, come visit me sorry I've been sick and away so long http://www.fotosizer.com/ hugs, cindy

Meredith Roark Childress said...

Hi Carolyn! I've just discovered your blog by re-pinning a pic of your flowers on Pinterest. I'm blown away by the beauty of your blog and have bookmarked it to come back again. And I'm thrilled that you're going to connect me to other lovely blogs, it seems (haven't checked them out yet, but I trust your choices). Thanks for sharing your beautiful home.

Unknown said...

It was a pleasure to meet you in Kingsbrae Plant Centre - your gardens are spectacular! especially love my favorite - lilacs - the scent is heavenly!