Fertilizer Friday/ Flaunt Your Flowers Sept 9/11 (and a huge announcement)

WELCOME!!!!

This week's flaunt is up a bit early today because I have a huge announcement to make at the same time…and I also need to be elsewhere at the usual time!!!

Happy Friday!
Friday is a BIG day for us here at Tootsie Time…(ok, just me…there is no one else here…lol) It’s a big deal because it means it’s PARTY TIME!!!! Fertilizer Friday is the day of the week than an ELITE group of gardeners from all around the world get together, snap photos, link up and Flaunt Their Flowers!!!
If you are new to Tootsie Time and Fertilizer Friday, I just know you are asking yourself…”How do I join?”
Well…it’s easy really. Here’s all you need to know to become a part of this great group of gardeners, bloggers and friends:
If it is spring or summer where you live, you need to snap a few photos of what you have growing, blooming or just love to look at that is of the plant variety…if it is winter where you live, you may post past favorite photos…or indoor plants…whatever you like. The only criteria is that it is a plant or something growing!
You do not need to use fertilizer to participate in this party, but if you do, this is the reminder to fertilize weekly!
All I ask is that: Your post must include the logo above and/or a link to Tootsie Time, or the linky will be deleted.

So....I would like to invite each and every one of you to join in and share your photos...

Welcome to another week in the gardens that I love so much to share!

It has been a bitter sweet season in my gardens for my children and me this year. Many of you who know me on a personal level know of what I speak…and for those who don’t know, allow me to explain:

After a long and painful journey through what seems to have been hell and back, I am finally free. The path to this divorce was a long and difficult one…with more ugly details than a sensational movie…but the kids and I have come through it…stronger and happier than we ever imagined that we could be. It is taking a lot of healing but with the support of many beautiful friends and my family we have come to realize, that – in spite of the horrors we lived through - it is the best thing that has ever happened to any of us…with one exception.

The divorce is final…I am free of the marriage…but the ‘lovely’ man that I have left, has not let this be easy to do. There has been issue upon issue that has dragged it out …and just a few weeks ago, a judge heard his arguments again, and granted him the one thing that the kids and I thought would not ever happen to us. The ONE thing he promised them that he would never do to them. We have been ordered to sell our house.

Yes…we are forced to move. Leave behind our home… gardens and all that I have put into this place. The blood, sweat, tears… (lots of tears…) creative changes…fond memories of friends and family…and my greenhouse will all be but a memory soon enough. My children will have to say goodbye to the only home they remember…and they will be forced to adjust to yet another life change…all for the sake of one man’s greed. Lets be honest – put all the cards on the table…why else would someone force three little kids out of their home? If I was not forced to move, I would have stayed…and simply CONTINUED to maintain the home and continue life with the kids as I have been doing for the last few years. It doesn’t matter the emotional damage…or the effect that this will have on the kids…the money is the most important thing to him. It is very sad.

So…it is with a heavy heart…that I will say goodbye to my gardens…and home. The kids and I will move on…to a new beginning…and I will leave the little piece of heaven that I have cherished for so long behind. I have been writing this post now for almost two weeks…unable to write but a few words without the tears falling. When I broke the news to my children…ages 12, 10 and 6…they were DEVASTATED. It is the sadness of the kids that has affected me most.

My oldest daughter did not speak for nearly a full day…she would just lay on her bed and sob…she stayed in her room alone all day long.

My son was not surprised…He just got quiet…and the tears rolled down his cheeks…he mentioned how sad he was …and how it “sucks” that we have to leave the great neighbor (Justin) to the west of us…who has become a member of our family and been such a support to us all.

It was the reaction of my youngest that broke my heart most. She cried and cried…she doesn’t understand why her whole life has been so difficult…she was only 3 when her family was destroyed…and she is insecure about most things because of it all. She just clung to me…crying and begging me to fix it…please mommy make it different…I don’t want to move!

We spent some time together talking and after a bunch of scared questions…that I tried to answer as best I could, the worst of all…was when they told me how sorry they are that I have to leave my greenhouse. It was then that I cried and cried. Not because of the greenhouse, but because I was so touched that they even thought to say something like this to me. I am a very proud mom.

So…this will be the summer of a million photos…trying to memorize every detail of the things we all love most about this place…

Suddenly going out on the lake or to anywhere else doesn’t seem quite so inviting…we are spending time in our home…enjoying every single moment that we have in this place. As for me…I am planning.

I am planning my new greenhouse…the one I will design to MY specifics…and have built at my new home…The one that will be better than any that I have had before…It will be a brand new piece of heaven…and it will offer me the same sanctuary from life's storms that this one has…My gardens…I can rebuild…heck…I did every single one of the 17 in this yard all by myself…so what’s stopping me?

I will not miss a season…not skip a beat…I will not be defeated…or broken again…I am Tootsie…and I am strong and resilient. Right?

I am trying my best to keep thinking on the positive side of all of this…trying not to let this bring me to my knees…That man will not break me again. And so I am planning…and imagining…and composing posts and projects in my head.

Just think of all the posts I will share…the adventures in gardening…home renovations and decor…the projects...and the growth…both personal and as a family…perhaps…just as the divorce was the best thing that has ever happened to both me and the kids…maybe this will be too.

I cannot say that I am excited about this recent blow to my kids and that I am not worried about them…but I can say…that no matter what has happened…my kids and I are closer and stronger than ever before. Together we will get through yet another change…and be there to hold hands and say we survived.

So…without further adieu, this is my flaunt for this week. In the coming weeks you will notice that some things will be changing around the yard. I am going to be pulling some of the yard art out, potting up some of my favorite perennials, and prepping for the move. The house is listed as of today, and I will not be leaving all my treasures behind for a stranger to ruin. haha

My gardens are feeling a little tired. Many things are almost finished…and the frost is just days away I am sure.

It has been incredibly hot the last week or so…warmer temps than we had all summer!

I wish summer could last forever!j

This bed looks very overgrown…it is just looking messy now.

I love the vivid colors

The clematis is looking fine now!

These look better in photos than they do in person anymore! haha

I like the sun filtering through the trees…

I already miss this view.

Thank you for all the support and for taking the time to walk though my gardens with me this week!

Now…what are you waiting for??? Get your flaunt on!!!

Hugs and smiles…wishes for a safe and happy weekend to you all. Thank you to all who have dropped in and left a comment and a link for their flaunt! I hope to see you all again next week!

*)*)*) to my special three…Money can buy you things and it might even buy you some level of happiness, but it certainly can't buy you class or morals. I really wish I could travel with Karma...I'd love to be there when "what goes around, comes around."

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.

www.tootsietime.com

you can find links to these and more great blog parties here