There is a glimmer…
then a flash…
after the darkness…
and the cold…
the skies are clearing…
there is light arising…
along with hope…
for our future…
happiness.
~~~
On this historic day we wish the best to our new president. Lead on, President Obama.
Frances
About me
My name is Frances and I am a lifelong gardener, having lived in various parts of the USA over many years. I am now gardening in USDA Zone 7a east Tennessee. From 2000 to 2014 I was gardening on a slope in a small town in Tennessee. I have been blogging about my gardens since December of 2007. Thank you for visiting!
The slope in spring
The slope in fall
The slope in winter
The Hop~
640 Merrimon Ave.
or The Hop West
721 Haywood Rd.
Asheville, North Carolina
The text and pictures of this blog are the sole property of Faire Garden. Any use of these pictures or text without the express permission of Faire Garden is forbidden.
Fairegarden 
Well, I guess I am going to be a basketcase today…I am getting choked up reading your blog. It is going to be a grand day.
Thanks Frances.
Hi Janet, thanks, I agree. It may be a one hundred tissue day. It started for me last night watching the news shows. But these are tears of happiness. 🙂
Frances
What a wonderful positive post Frances. We all are feeling the hope for better times to come.
Beautiful Grands. You have much to be hopeful for.
Hi Lisa, thanks. It is a happy, if cold day. I wish for a better world for the younger generation, in many many ways.
Frances
Tuesdays are my busiest teaching days, so I’m going to miss watching all the festivities. But, like you, I feel like the country is bathed in light today.
Hi Susan, I do hope you can take time out to watch a little bit. Our schools are all closed today due to a rare snow day, so the kids are home and hopefully will watch a bit too. So historic. BTW, your bird blind/potting bench is brilliant. I am going to show it to my son, Gardoctor to see if he can build me something like that with the porthole. Thanks for the inspiration.
Frances
Amen!
Hi Tina, agreed.
I love that my 4yo is all excited about Obama, but he’s blind to the issue of the racial progress. To him, Obama is just a great new President. That is progress!
Hi Jill, hooray for progress. May everyone grow to be colorblind, no matter their age.
Frances
I hope Obama will be that great president we all want him to be, and that the future will bring all of us a better world / gittan
Hi Gittan, thanks. I know the whole world is watching today, and most wish us well.
Frances
Dear Frances, Love this beautiful post… (little lbj is adorable). I have so much hope for our country and for Mr Obama. Fortunately, my client load is slow so I can watch and listen most of the day. Take care…No snow here but plenty cold. Gail
Hi Gail, thanks, a most wonderful, longed for day has arrived. We actually have about an inch of snow, photos will be taken despite the cold. I will be watching all day, too cold here to work outside.
Frances
Good thing I can write with the lump in my throat. It’s going to be a whole new world.
Hi Kathy, thanks and welcome. It will be emotional today, a day to remember for us all.
Frances
Frances,
This is just what the US needs – a great big dose of hope and the promise of bright future. Best wishes from cold and snowy Canada! Barbara
p.s That little fellow is as cute as button!
Hi Barbara, thanks so much for those good wishes. We are all ready to move forward and not look back, out future depends on it. We agree about our little LTB, he is a light to us too. 🙂
Frances
Beautiful post–I’m going to be choked up all day today, I can tell already. My kids are really excited about Obama, too—they have a cold today, and we’re planning on all snuggling in my bed and watching the inauguration. I can’t wait 🙂
Hi Colleen, thank and welcome. It is promising to be an emotional and exciting day. Our schools are all closed here with one inch of snow, so the kids can watch this historic happenings too.
Frances
Hear, hear Frances.
We’ll be watching the ceremony this afternoon 🙂
Hi VP, thanks. The excitement is building here, less than three hours until the big moment!
Frances
Beautiful, beautiful post, Frances! Fortunately, I don’t have to work today, so I’m excited about being able to stay home and watch the inauguration. I don’t remember a time when the country had such hope and high expectations on this day. For those of us who grew up in the 60’s and remember those turbulent times, it is a momentous day.
Hi Rose, thanks so much. I am glad you get to stay home and be in the moment. I know exactly what you mean, being a child, or teenager of the 60’s too. Momentous and historic.
Frances
No matter who people may have voted for, you cannot help but feel the hope and possibilities for a better future! It’s a historic day, and speaks well for our country. Such big shoes he has to fill, and so much is riding on it. I wish him well, and pray that he has the wisdom to do this difficult job.
Hi Robin, yes, it doesn’t matter now, he is everyone’s president and we are all behind him.
BTW, I tried to leave a comment on your yellow flowers post, but could not, it was rejected for some reason and I could not get around whatever was stopping it. If you would allow comments without signing in, by name and url, I think that would help.
Frances
My heart lies with yours, dear Frances. Let freedom ring …
Hi Joey, thanks, yes the bells will ring…
Frances
Oh, that last photo just made the whole post bring goosebumps on my arms! Such happy innocence. And these children have no idea what’s even going on in this country, thank goodness. Just their little slice of the world. I so hope the future will be much brighter for our grandchildren! Thanks for this uplifting start to my morning, Frances!
Brenda
Hi Brenda, thanks so much. This is an emotional day, but even more so with grandchildren to think of and the world we will leave for them. Your words have choked me up too, thanks for that. 🙂
Frances
Wonderful post for today!
I wrote about our beautiful snow and the fresh start today.
Cameron
Hi Cameron, thanks. The snow day was a godsend for the children to be able to see this as it happens.
Frances
Good morning Frances. This is a hopeful day. So much responsibility resting on the shoulders of one man.
Marnie
Hi Marnie, thanks and a very good, if cold moring it is. Yes, a lot of responsibility, and the feeling like he is the one who can bear that weight and help us rise out of our troubles.
Frances
Good Morning Frances! This is truly a remarkable day for not only the US, but for the world. I can fell the energy and hope this man brings with him to this historic day. I quickly wanted to catch up on all my morning reading so I can go and watch all the festivities on TV. Our youngest daughter is actually there with 75 kids from her high school. She texted me at 4:16am to tell me they were getting on the subway headed for the mall and then called me at 5:50am because she thought once they got closer she wouldn’t have cell service. She said there were millions of people already there walking into the city! How exciting for her…I am sitting on pins and needles here.
Hi Siria, that is the most exciting thing for your daughter to be there. Do keep me posted with her messages. I hope the cell service doesn’t fail!
Frances
A great day of hope for our country! We are getting a bonus on this special day, snow flurries! Since that is rare in our area, I am taking that as a good sign of great things to come! The little ones are adorable as aways!
Hi Skeeter, thanks. The excitement is so thick you can cut it with a knife, and yes, snow is good luck!
Frances
I couldn’t be more excited. The face on the little one says it all to me. Yippeee and onward to a better future!
Hi Genevieve, thanks. Yes, Yippeee, hooray and every kind of celebratory exclamation possible today. I just heard that Obama and my littlest grandson share a love of Spiderman, too! 🙂
Frances
I’m a soggy, happy neighbour today, Frances, watching history be made. You’ve said this beautifully. Thank you!
Hi Jodi, thanks. I have been watching too, and am still stirred to tears. We appreciate the support from our neighbors to the north.
Frances
I just watched the inauguration at work and am all teary-eyed. I took from it something I wasn’t at all expecting–a renewed faith in myself, and that taking chances is about hard work and courage. It solidified in me something I’ve been planning for the last two years! (Stay tuned!).
Hi Monica, it was such a wonderful ceremony, I don’t remember ever being glued to the television as I was today. Nearly everytime they showed the massive crowd, I got a lump in my throat. I look forward to hearing what you have been planning!
Frances
This is a beautiful post, Frances. It made me smile!
Thank you.
Philip
Hi Philip, thanks. Today is a day for smiling!
Frances
🙂 🙂 🙂 Can you tell I’m happy? 🙂 I also did a similar post this morning. Once again, this is all I can do: 🙂
Hi Jean, yes, we are all happy now. It was an uplifting ceremony and we will smile for the rest of the day. 🙂
Frances
I love the post. I have to work today but I’ve recorded it.
Hi Phillip, thanks. How fun, you get to see it anew for yourself. It was powerful.
Frances
It’s been quite a day, Frances, and like you I too have hope. MSS of Zanthan Gardens was here and it was very cool to watch the ceremonies with her.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Hi Annie, thanks for stopping by, too bad you didn’t bring some of that shortbread! How fun that MSS was there too. I was glued to the tv from start to finish, watching history and feeling a part of it.
Frances
Yes, a most uplifting day. I even had my 2 year old watch with me as he was sworn in!
Hi Catherine, welcome, what a wonderful day, your yellow rose was perfect too.
Frances
Isn’t it wonderful !
The day was filled with excitement and positive possibilities.
Hi Patsi, yes, it was a wonderful and happy happy day!
Frances
Hi Frances– How exciting that you are building something like the bird blind/potting bench! I want to see some pictures when it’s done.
Hi Susan, thanks for the inspiration, I have sent a link to my son to look at it and see what he says. He is a carpenter and builds houses and especially likes to make those fancy cuts. If it gets made, I will certainly post about it and give you a link! 🙂
Frances
Oh Frances, I’m sorry to have caused you trouble posting a comment to my site. I am quite computer illerate sometimes! If I allow comments without signing in, will I still be able to accept or reject them? I hate when spammers come through trying to leave unrelated comments! Thanks so much for your help.
Hi Robin, do not apologize, sometimes we don’t realize what hoops the commenters are forced to jump through, especially when they are non blogger users. If you want to keep blog owner approval of all comments, you can delete anything you don’t want with any type of sign in. For wordpress users, the name and url is the one I prefer on blogger sites. But I was able to comment using the open ID, it just says fairegarden instead of Frances at the top.
Frances
Frances – wasn’t it a glorious day? Great post — I couldn’t resist this weekend and put up my picture with him during the campaign. I normally limit my blog to gardening, but I am just so filled with joy, I can’t contain myself! God Bless America.
Hi Diana, thanks and welcome to the alternative universe. I thought your link was on the blogroll, but have added it now. Sorry for the delay. This event has garden implications for the earth will be considered more carefully now, so a blog worthy topic. A happy happy day.
Frances
Ditto what Tina said ~ “Amen!” Beautiful Frances. I share with you in wishing President Obama well on this historic day. I feel hope rising too. It’s been an emotional day. and unproductive ~ I’ve spent almost the entire day glued to the TV!! Oh well, tomorrow we’ll be back to business, right?
Hi Kathleen, thanks. Amen sums it up nicely. I was also glued, LOL. But today must get back on track.
Frances
Hi Frances,
I had to come back after work to look again at your inspiring post. You express so beautifully in words and images what I feel.
You capture the moment in so many ways.
🙂
Philip
Hi Philip, thanks for coming back and those sweet words.
Frances
Lovely post for a lovely day. I got to watch much of the festivities with my family on the good old computer, then at school with all the kids since the staff had set up a big screen in the cafeteria and decided not to start classes until after the ceremony was officially over. It was so great to witness history and envision the future together. Hope the kids see a different world than the one we live in, and a better one!
Hi Karen, thanks so much. You were lucky to be with young people for this historic event. I join you in wishing for a better world.
Frances
A beautiful way of depicting the change, Frances. I was glued to CNN too and also got some shots from the tv screen. The crowds, the ceremony and the Man of the Moment himself…it was all so amazing! I’m glad I am part of this period of time.
Hi Kanak, thanks so much. I share with you the feeling of being glad to be alive during this historic time.
Frances
Great post, Frances. I hope you know that people all around the globe are as excited as you are with your new President. There’s a sense of history in the making. A feel that nothing is beyond hope. There’s a sense of newness in the air. God bless!
Hi Sunita, thanks so much. It is indeed gratifying to know the whole world is watching and cheering too. Hope is a strong force. And your surprise wowed me to tears! 🙂
Frances
Frost so pretty!
Clouds and sky so lovely to see.
Best wishes to your new president!
Esther Montgomery
Hi Esther, thanks. We are entering a new era here and we are filled with hope.
Frances
A beautiful post Frances. Here in bitter cold and snow we celebrated in typical New England style with a community potluck to watch (or re-watch) the Inaugural ceremony together. We all feel ready to join in the work that will be required over the next four years and do our part.
Hi Pat, thanks. I loved your post about the potluck and the apt poem. I could not leave a comment for some reason, though. When clicking on the tab, there was no comment box. We are also ready to do our part, but just feeling the change in the air and the statements that were made in the speech about right and wrong, was a music to our ears.
Frances
Very moving post Ms. Frances. Couldn’t have said it any better!
Hi TC, thanks so much. Sometimes fewer words are better.
Frances
Perfect post for a very exciting day in our country’s history! No matter your political leanings you must be able to feel the hope in the air!
Hi Kim, thanks so much. It’s nice to think that this is a president for us all. It is time to heal the divide between us. I must have a purple sled! 🙂
Frances
Yes!
Hi Elizabeth, so true.
Frances
Hallelujah!! In two days he is already setting this country back in the right place by restoring the rule of law.
Hallelujah!!
Hi Christopher, hallelujah is right, I am so proud of the steps he has taken, to see the priorities of what he considers most important. A sigh of relief from here and across the world.
Frances
Great post, Frances. Like you I am very hopeful our new president will usher in a positive and progressive and productive chapter in our history. I love the dream team he has selected for the Cabinet and other key positions…some of the very best and brightest and most experienced. This is just what is needed in Washington to start repairing the damage of Dubya’s eight years.
Jon at Mississippi Garden
Hi Jon, thanks. We are thrilled at the prospect of a new direction.
Frances
– Flores nunca sĂŁo sĂł flores, um olhar mais profundo sobre o tema nos mostra que seu valor está muito alĂ©m do jardim, a passagem, o filtro, o refĂşgio, um mecanismo de defesa ou quem sabe algum tipo de banho onde se passe para tirar as imperezas que em nĂłs se esconde e que vamos sabe-se lá como ou porque agarran-se de forma insistente como uma espĂ©cie de energia que nĂŁo queremos mas ela insiste e se fixa a nĂłs e ao por alĂ, um simples jardim passa á nĂŁo ser sĂł um jardim, pureza de espĂrito e alma se refrescam e se livram do que nĂŁo querem, nĂŁo precisam!!! afinal um jardim nĂŁo Ă© sĂł um jardim e as flores sĂŁo nossa conecção direta com deus e sua energia… parabĂ©ns por praticar o bem atravĂ©z de suas flores que curam!!!
Saudações do Brasil
Flowers never are alone flowers, a deeper look on the subject in the sample that its value is very beyond the garden, the ticket, the filter, the shelter, a defense mechanism or who know some type of bath where if pass to take off the imperezas that in us if hides and that we go knows there as or because agarran of insistent form as a species of energy that we do not want but it it insists and if it fixes we that way and, a simple garden only passes not to be a garden, pureness of spirit and soul if they refresh and if they exempt of what they do not want, do not need! ! after all a garden is not alone a garden and the flowers are our direct conecção with god and its energy… congratulations for practising the good atravéz of its flowers that cure!
Greetings of Brazil
Hi Eduardo, thanks and welcome. Your discourse was a little over my head, but I think we share a love of nature. 🙂
Frances
Amen Frances. What a lovely post! It was a wonderful experience witnessing this historic moment and feeling the international joy, hope, and feeling of renewal this Inauguration Day brought.
Seeing policy changes already beginning to occur is so heartening and encouraging.
Hi Linda, thanks and amen also. It does look so promising already with the things that have been done first. It shows the new direction planned for our country.
Frances
Eduardo –
A beautiful response to Frances’ post. And Frances, as always – you’ve perfectly expressed what so many are feeling today.
Chloe M.
Hi Chloe, thanks for those sweet words. Do you speak spanish?
Frances