"The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra la"........

I got home in time for the blooming of the lilacs....yeah!  My ornamental cherry was already past its prime and the yard was covered in violets.  Quite a change from the desert of Arizona!

 I have two huge lilac bushes.  They were really loaded with flowers!

When they first bloom they are this rich color of purple.  Later the get paler.

 The ornamental cherry tree has these pink blossoms and now the ground is covered in "pink snow".

 Some of the violets before Mike mowed a lot of them down.  When I mow, I just mow around huge areas :-)  I'm not greatly concerned with what my neighbors think about the neatness of my yard.

 Between my two lilacs are two Spirea bushes.  They don't always bloom at the same time, but this year they are overlapping and I tried to get some photos with both flowers.

 The purple and white together are really beautiful. The lilac color has gotten pale now, but they still look pretty.   My bushes are huge and need to be cut back, but the one time I cut one of the lilacs back, I have not felt it is as pretty any more.  The color has become lighter on that bush.

 Unfortunately, the sun is rising behind the bushes and it is hard to get a good photo right now.

 Close-up of the spirea.

I love this time of year and am glad that I didn't miss all the blooms!

St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery......

This will be may last Arizona post, and is rather long.  We visited this beautiful monastery, located about 10 miles outside of Florence, Arizona.  St. Anthony's Monastery was founded in 1995.  A true oasis in the middle of the desert!  There were beautiful well established trees and flowers on the grounds as well as small chapels scattered throughout.  The fountains were not running for some reason, and most of the flowers right now were the roses, but it was all very beautiful and peaceful.  I will not go heavily into identifications of the buildings, because I might get something wrong.  I tried to keep the different building photos separate, but some got mixed up anyway.

 Love these beautiful Bottle Brush trees.

 The wood carvings in the chapels were beautiful and intricate.

 The Monastery cat :-)

 Wonderful architecture.

 There was a dress code.....for women, long skirts, long sleeves and a scarf.

 The Greek Cross.

 Saw a new bird....a Hooded Oriole, but didn't get a clear shot.

 Orchards on the grounds.

 Walking the paths through the trees was very peaceful.

 One of the carved thrones.  I believe this is the Bishop's Throne.

 Huge amazing chandeliers, but hard to photograph.  I tried with flash and without flash...still poor.

 Bell tower at St. Demetrios' Chapel

 Love the roof!

 One of the wood ceilings

 Center of the chandelier.

 Each chapel had chairs like this....the seats fold and the men stand in them or can fold down the seat and sit if tired.  Called stasidia.

 I know this is St. George's Chapel.  You can just see the carving of St. George slaying the dragon on the left door.

 St. Nicholas' Chapel

Sorry, I haven't typed in lots of information, but there is just too much.  A beautiful place to visit!