random thoughts

Because I believe it is important to grow and learn - some days I do not recognize myself as I pass through different thoughts

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Sometimes plumbing is your friend and sometimes it is just crap!

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I read through the Farmer's Almanac for March and saw the word snow as many times as I did in February. I was not amused.

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Sometimes putting yourself in "time out" is all you need to relieve the stress of a crappy week.

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I am making friends with a very untrusting Bitty cat. Even comes out for petting now. I am amazed.

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Night in Rodanthe was a good movie to watch on a cold night.

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Pilates surely mixes it up. I am sure tomorrow I am going to be sorry I mixed it up!

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I repotted the Bay Leaf Plant today. I originally dug it out of the garden one cold day last October. I guess it barerooted itself because today when I took it out of the pot, half of the soil was gone. So after I potted it and watered it, the leaves actually look green. Guess that plants like humans need to be well grounded in order to grow and thrive.

I looked at those bare roots for quite a while in amazement that from October until February the only thing that kept that plant alive was the fact that I watered it regularly. I trimmed it back because I thought it did not like living in the house - what it needed was soil. Lesson learned - if something is not thriving - look at its roots to see if it is connected to the terra firma!

The whole time I heard my daughter tell of a friend that had a huge Bay Leaf Plant. I was feeling like a failure. What I failed to do was provide dirt for its toes!

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I have my herb and garden order ready. Tomorrow I will do my small part in helping boost the economy...

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I like random.

Other things on the needles and future thoughts

OK the color contrast is not as good as it could be - but the sleeve is progressing nicely. I am to the elbow which means I can knit down to the wrist without too many more decreases (see the plastic pins)

Next time I work on it for a while I will put it on a white towel before I start the photo process.

Yes the color is that rich. Like knitting with a large container of amber... oh luscious!

OK Off to meet the day...

I looked at the schedule and it may as well be Monday again because I have chosen to take some classes over the next two years and they start Saturday. I am excited about them and look forward to the process of learning Healing Touch Therapy. I think it will fall nicely into the work I do with Healing Prayer and my very obvious talent for nuturing things - socks, sweaters, plants, gardens, dust, laundry, mashed potatoes, bread, meatloaf, coffee - - you name it I can bring it along.

So have a great day... enjoy the journey... that is all I ask... enjoy the day!

Inauguration Socks and other matters

Hello! I did not fall off the planet when the calendar changed numbers.

I have been working on a sweater and these socks... Rainbow Socks - ready for the festivities tomorrow.

I supported Obama for president because I heard what I think is truth. The times ahead are not going to be easy but we will be OK. As a nation we have collective ingenuity and a very strong backbone. And if there is a generation that is soft - well we will exercise them enough to make them strong - giving service to others strengthens you - gives you purpose and creates community that helps to support each other.

We have what it takes and we appreciate the truth the first time out of the shoot - not after a federal investigation of the matter.

Tomorrow history will be made and I am glad to be living during this time for this purpose.

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Off the soap box - on to frivial things... I have spent way too much time on Facebook!

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Winter will end - my sister promised me!

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breathe in and out in rotation - it is good for the heart!

CHARACTER

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

Helen KellerAmerican Author, Activist and Lecturer1880 - 1968

After I read this all the storms of life came whistling through my head. WHHOOOOSH!

I was thankful that enough events came my way to build my character. I recently learned of others who have chosen to turn the challenge into character building events and not character breaking events.

This person chose to live close to his son. Chose to hunker down and live within his means. He watched rented videos. Walked a lot of places. Made friends with a clerk at the video store. Made a good choice in his new friend and they have grown closer over the years. They too had storms but hunkered down and did the right thing and have thrived. Others thought them insane but they were convicted of love and endurance.

Push the screen play forward a few years and he has one of the best families that I know. The family is well adjusted. The family faces life full on not ducking if challenges come their way. They too have chosen not to climb into the bucket of their despair but turn the challenge upside down and step up and grow and fly.

I am not saying that there is no cloudy day in their lives or in mine. But even on cloudy days I look to see what color is predominate in the grey sky. Sometimes it is blue grey, pink grey or white grey.

Guess we have learned the lesson of character....

Silence Inspires 2008

When we set aside time each day for deep communion with the infinite, then, as surely as day follows night, the light of inspiration will illuminate our beings." ~Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith

Maybe this is what I am missing this year.

I had a few rough Christmas seasons in the last few years and had plenty of silence because I was wondering how it was that I was at the head of the table. This year I am comfortable with my position and my age.

I have had plenty of laughter and noise - but no silence.

Everyone that knows me well, knows I have to have a fair amount of silence in my life to survive and create my space.

So...

Today, I will create that space. I will silence all the noise in my head and in my environment and find the Season.

Get the action going.

Create the holiday and illuminate the way. I need to get going.

I think all the noise has frozen me in fear. Out of hear noise. Away fear.

Come LIGHT of the Season. Come JOY! Come HOPE! Come LOVE!!

Discordant Disoriented Winter Time Blues

Lately, I have been in a discordant mood.

Sometimes sassy, sometimes quiet, sometimes just want to walk a mile and smile.

But not necessarily sure I was ever going to be in the right place at the right time to ever make a difference to anyone. I was suspecting that I was an amiable face in the crowd.

It seems that I get lost from time to time in my own little world. I question whether I make a difference in the tour of the globe about the sun.

Then out of the blue, I am late for church, I attend a different service, I see both old and new friends.

I hear a story that just about blind sides me and I look up to the heavens and say WOW! You made me late for this moment to occur. You wanted me here and now to wipe those tears away and hug those shoulders. Wow and all this time, I thought, I was aimlessly wandering the desert and I was actually following a star to this moment in time.

Introspective.

Not going to take so much for granted.

Going to thank my lucky stars that occasionally I get off the path and wander into new places and see old and familiar faces.

Going to continue to listen more and talk less because it seems that is how I do my best work.

Going to bend the knee in some deep prayers tonight.

I have a lot of things to discuss with the maker of the stars.

Sufficiency

"We each have the choice in any setting to step back and let go of the mind-set of scarcity. Once we let go of scarcity, we discover the surprising truth of sufficiency. By sufficiency, I don't mean a quantity of anything. Sufficiency isn't two steps up from poverty or one step short of abundance. It isn't a measure of barely enough or more than enough. Sufficiency isn't an amount at all. It is an experience, a context we generate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough, and that we are enough." ~Lynne Twist

In all this economic downturn news this is an interesting thought. I at times get a panicked feeling in the pit of my stomach. I remember the stories that my Grandparents told of the Great Depression and wonder if America today can actually work together with neighbors to survive. I surely hope that we are the same people who can share what we have and trade and swap to sustain our lives. I heard some pretty scary comments during the election process and fear that there will be more hoarding than sharing.


But then something like this comes along and reminds me that what I have each day is sufficient for my needs. God counts the hairs on my head and watches over the birds of the air. I was given an intellect and if I take the time to really think through what is ahead I can see my way each day. I have friends who are fighting wars on foreign soils. I have friends who have put the love of their lives in Hospice. Each day I find out that the steps before me were blessed before I stepped there and all is sufficient for the day.


Sufficiency is an attitude that is very positive and hopefully contagious to the people around you. I have had an abundance of thoughts lately and now I have a sufficient abundance of words to declare them. A declaration that all will be well in the world that I wander.


Go and be sufficient and spread that attitude around - be generous with your sufficiency!

Have you ever peeked at your Christmas gifts?

Once upon a time I went to a wedding on Christmas eve - the officiant gave a sermon that described how the couple had peeked at the gifts under the tree of marriage before the ceremony... I thought it was a great analogy about discovery during a time of living together. He described how they went about trying things on and deciding about whether they wanted to keep the things they found. It must have worked - they are still married and enjoy a special celebration each Christmas eve.

I, on the other hand, did not peek under the tree before marriage - which made that first morning a very memorable moment. I have although taken a full look under the tree this year. I have been enjoying the gift for a week or so now. Unlike some women, appliances for Christmas are acceptable to me. I love things I can plug in and turn on! They make me happy. Especially the part where you can turn them on.

We have lived here for 7 years on Thanksgiving Day. Our washer and dryer were purchased new when we moved into the house. In that 7 years a church was built for almost 4 years; the foundation was waterproofed and extensive excavating took place; gardens have been located; grandchildren have lived here and the house creates its own peculiar forms of laundry too. So after 7 years of valiant duty and about 8000 loads of laundry, the washer gave up its ghost.

A trip to a scratch and dent sale garnered us a new high efficiency washer and dryer. It is a gem. We agreed that was our Christmas and my birthday present. That is fine. We will still have funny things under the tree. But we looked long and hard at our present and I am trying it out about 3 times a week before the big day... Yep we peeked and checked it out to make sure it fits and we are going to keep it a very long time...

Have a good night. Snuggle up. Keep the germs at bay. Wash your hands and keep you fingers out of your mouth.

Thanksgiving 2008

“There is something about the mental act of thanksgiving that seems to carry the human mind far beyond the region of doubt into the clear atmosphere of faith and trust, where all things are possible. Even if at first you are not conscious of having received anything from God, do not worry or cease from your thanksgiving.”~H. Emilie Cady

Quote is taken from: Lessons in Truth


Maybe this is what is missing in the world. The art of giving thanks in all situations.


At this moment in time I see not much to be thankful for in Mumbai, but I am sure that those that survived are thankful and the grieving are thankful for those around who are carrying them through the process. The terrorists are probably even thankful that they made the world news.


In everything give thanks... that is our charge from the writer Paul in the gospels. It may take a moment to realize it, but in every situation there is a way to give thanks, from some perspective.


I have been on this sphere long enough to know that in every situation - happy, sad or desperate, I am able to say thank you for the opportunity to grow and become a more real person.


Today, take a moment and be thankful that life gives you every opportunity to grow and become a better person. You become more knowledgeable, more patient, more accepting, more loving, more tolerant, more hope filled, more beautiful each and every day. And each of these increases are free for the taking - taking the chance and saying thank you when you are finished using your new found skill...


Thanksgiving in all things...

Election Day, why it is important to me...

It all began with a question from my children one winter day. “Why was I writing my Senator?” I told them, “I was upset about the way that they were acting in the Senate and it was my right to complain…You can’t complain if you do not vote.” I left it there and it seemed enough of an answer for the time.


So blink your eyes from the late 1980’s to 2008 and this long and drawn out election season we are having. This year it did not seem enough to complain and vote. This year the donations were not enough of a contribution as they were in the past elections. Talk is cheap with 24/7 news on the internet and cable TV.


No, in 2008, it was time for the rubber to meet the road. It was time to act.


Over the weekend I did a literature drop in several local neighborhoods. I saw some people walking the neighborhood and dropped them a pamphlet also. Sometimes sample ballots help people decide. My daughter and grand daughter did door to door canvassing. They saw the real America. They got the door shut in their faces several times and probably got an earful for good measure. I just got a polite “No thank you.”

I have been encouraging my friends, spouse and children to vote since they became of age. Most times they comply. And with the right to vote exercised – we complain. We complain mostly to each other. Occasionally we will even write a letter to an elected official telling him/her just what we thought and how we voted for or against them.

So please, no matter your candidate. VOTE. Never let your voice go unheard in this great country.

Just do it!

THINGS PEOPLE FORGET

1. "Please" and "Thank You" are the two most important words in the communication process.
2. "Excuse me" and "Pardon me" are next.
3. Keep your promises. Do what you say you are going to do. Make it important to be a person of your word.
4. Rude is an example of your ignorance and lack of respect for the other person.
5. Apologizing is essential to survival. Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. Just own them and learn and get on with life.
6. Smoking is dumb, expensive and stinky. It affects everyone.
7. Courteous behavior goes a long way.
8. Appreciate what you have. One day you may find out that you have more than you ever imagined and wasted time complaining that it was not enough.
9. Sing whenever possible. It can get you through the hardest of times.
10. Stop the complaining. You may miss the most important minute of your day because you were grousing about the last ten minutes being not what you wanted them to be.
11. Keep your things picked up and orderly. Live simply. Less is more.
12. Never mind about what others have. They are not you and you are not they. You were made to be the individual that you are. One of a kind. Stay true to yourself. Always.

DID NOT FALL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!

DEAR ADORING PUBLIC!

I want to thank all of you for your patience with me over the last month. I have never worked so hard for so long with so few hands in my life.

I appreciate all the support that the DH has given me unconditionally. He has walked the dog twice a day, cooked meals that I have missed, created recipes that we can eat, done laundry and been a peaceful presence in my everyday life.

DH YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND!

This weekend I am going on retreat to hopefully clear the head.

The animals have not forgiven me for being away 24/7.

They are glued to my lap and side.

My new trick is knitting two socks at the same time - pictures soon.

My garden needs to be dug up and put away for the winter.

I am happy to be back among the living and have no desire ever to do another LARGE event for 1300 high maintenace people again.

I do have one funny aside. A friend uses silver colored plastic pieces all the time. I showed these to the ladies who were "planning the luncheon" and you would have thought I invented air. OY!UNREAL!

OK back to reality. Dyson the floors - cook - do laundry and switch the clothes for the warmer variety!

Love you all for your patience and keep the soldier in your prayers...

He left today for deployment.

PLAYING LOOSE AND FREE

Admit it - we all do it - cheat around the edges of things. As HOUSE says in his TV show "We all lie."

The recipe calls for 2 T and we add heaping T's.

The label says add 60# of air - we go 62#.

The directions say assemble with these tools - we make do with a table knife.

OK - you get the picture.

We (the Mister and I) are on an eating plan. We count calories. He gets 500 per meal and I get 400 per meal. I never leave food on my plate - ever - I lick the last grains of rice off the plate. It is hard to do these meals - we are accustomed to having gravy and sauces on our meats. BUT when you add them now - they count toward the bottom line - that is living loose and free with the calories.

Over the weekend we grilled our sandwiches that had yogurt cheese - turkey - tomato and mustard. We were living high off the hog and all within the numbers with enough left to have a cup of soup!

I would rather be dieting now then recovering from a coronary in a few years. We will stick with it - keep exercising - keep eating right - we want to vacation a lot more times with the grandchildren - we like these vacations a lot...

OK my calories and my sleep are important - you loose weight if you rest enough - and hold on to the weight if you do not - has to do with stress... stess holds weight - relaxation releases weight... night now - check you another day when we can play loose and free with planting stories... gardens to move around this fall... HURRAY - they have been there two years and have grown well - time to move things around the yard!

a few thoughts...

• Labor Day weekend - how did it arrive so soon?

• I am grateful for the vacation to Maine. Surely still colors many days of the week.

• I am glad to be part of the fading Middle Class. Long may she revive.

• Change - a good thing.

• I have plans for a new design of the garden in 2009 and it is not even finished for 2008

• If you harvest a 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes and 3 gallons of herbs - you are going to be busy for a long time. And you should consider yourself the most lucky person in the world.

• I am glad I am not part of the Rich and Famous - Seen and Be Seen - world. I like my privacy and solitude much too much.

• Wading pools are fun. Hummingbirds overhead while you swim...PRICELESS!

• I would rather be doing a Cardio Routine and getting healthy than recovering from a heart attack....

• I am not impressed with Governor Palin from Alaska. The entire state has less people than the city of Chicago. Hello? What are you thinking?

• I was very impressed with how everyone behaved at the DNC. Dignity from the top down.

• Life beckons. Church, friends, activity.

Tag you are it!

I have never been invited to meme before so here goes a new adventure for me. Janet at Big Sky Knitting tagged me for this game.


Here is what I am supposed to do:
1. Put the logo on your blog:
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs


1. Eat at Joes: I like this blog because he offers a different way of looking at things while being entertaining. Joe is a guy living in Durham, North Carolina. Eat at Joe's! is Joe's food blog. Joe knows nothing about food, except what he has picked up from cooking, eating, and reading. He's pretty much the same way about writing and blogging: he is neither a professional chef, nor writer, nor blogger. He's just a big old geek.


2. Yarn Spinner. This woman in KY gives perspective into spinning which I have no patience for and her DH is a professor and I love to follow the antics of the pets, husband and adventures in the southern part of KY.


3. The Sailing Knitter. Who would not love to sell it all and live on a boat? I find myself living vicariously through her adventures. Plus she is always knitting socks! She finds great yarns and has great pictures of a part of the world I will never see.


4. A Little Life. Fun to read. Stretches my vocabulary. Interesting subject matter.


5. Possum Creek Herb Farm Blog. She encourages my addiction to herbs. That in itself is enough of a reason to read the blog and research what plant I am missing in my collection. It is my favorite spot to read in February when I have had enough of winter.


6. Out Little Acre. Gardens and comments are priceless. Northeast Ohio is near and dear to my heart. I grew up on the shore of Lake Erie.


7. on the hill. Flowers, Travel, socks, food, geography and variety - What more can a person ask? A blog that allows for a fair amount of travel dreaming while being able to crawl into your own bed at night! She lives on a hillside in the Yorkshire Dales. Across the big pond.


STEP 4: Add links to those blogs on yours DONE!

STEP 5: Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs


Now if anyone wonders why I have a hard time doing things on time these are 7 good reasons...


On another note we have a hungry hummingbird who I call Brownie. Probably looks like this link. I got a franchise diner for the Mean Green Hummer because there was a fair amount of collisions. So now I wait to see if they use the second feeder too!



I could bore you with words about Maine and the vacation that was A-MAINE-ZING but I will not do that... Next time I post I will bore you a little.


The garden is doing well. I have a few chokeberries and a few wonderberries - but the rest of the plants that were suppose to be that variety look an awful lot like tomato plants. The Zuchinni lived its life and is now on the heap in the woods. My second setting of beans are about 6 inches high. The lettuce and spinach will get planted this week for fall enjoyment!


Tonight for dinner we had Turkey, tomato, avacado sandwiches. Garden additions make every meal a great treat.


Back to the socks that Cat Bohrdi calls Spiral Coriolis Sock. This person had a much better success at it than I am having - but I am sure that my second sock will look 100% better than my first because I understand the procedures now... Socks are forgiving - you cover them with shoes and pants ... have a good day - be kind one to another!

Change

Tonight I want to talk about change.

Not the kind you find in your pockets, but rather the kind that over takes you.

I have been in such situations before.

I have fought the change.

Let me tell you how hazardous that is for the body and the soul. It makes you sick and tired.

Let me share with you the wisdom gathered on the journey...

If there is a humongous change before you - let it fill every pore of your body. Let it completely wash over you. Harvest the energy of the change and in doing that take control of the ride. You can be victim of change or victor of change. You can hanker down and say "Stop" or you can ride the wave and gather speed and come out on top.

In these times change itself comes with baggage. Steal it. Make it your own and then you can rule the world that is being laid out before you.

Take no prisoners. Take nothing but your God given skills and float away. By riding the wave of change you can gather energy and not waste any fighting what is happening to your world. In the end you will be in a better place.

When all is said and done - take a moment to look at the difference between the two worlds. If you used all your talents - you will like all you see. If you were angry and got stubborn - the surroundings will make you wither and miserable.

Fly with the change and rejoice in your resilience.

OK. Now I said my piece - go to bed! Yeah that means me too! Right after I wrap the zuchinni bread!

VaCaTiOn In A bOx

Ever since we had a deck and sun and time, we have had a wading pool.

This one was on sale for half of what I have spent on wading pools in the past.

It now claims about a third of the deck surface.

It is glorious.

Filter and everything.

Now that will make the next 5 weeks of the hot summer bearable.

We were feeling like we were captive in our own house. With a pool - we now just feel sunburned.

Oh the garden is doing well also

Beans

Zuchinni

Swiss Chard

Herbs

and soon

Tomatos and Peppers!

Sit quietly and listen to the wonder about you...

Nothing but garden

BEANS

MOLES

BEANS

AND WEEDS

NOTHING BUT GARDENS

BUT WE DID ENJOY THE HOME GROWN GREEN BEANS TONIGHT

AND I FINISHED THE EUROBAG LAST NIGHT

TOO TEDIOUS TO MASS PRODUCE

BACK TO THE SOCKS - EASY MINDLESS SOCKS

AUGUST 12 I GO BACK TO THE CABLE KNIT SWEATER FOR THE STUDENT

Time to tell the brain - time for sleep...

SELF DISCIPLINE

All my life I have struggled with self discipline.

I find it easy to do things for others.

I find it hard to do good things for myself.

You know what kind of things - moderation things - things that require you to have a good strong talk with yourself and do things like - eat right - exercise - sleep enough - keep your language on the proper level - be kind - be consistent - be positive.... you know the fruits of the spirit kinds of things. Things that do not harm yourself. Things that make you a better person.

I have struggled with self discipline ever since I realized what it was at age seven.

Breaking bad habits is hard. I suffered from gluttony at one point in my life. I also remember thinking that life would be better if you did not need sleep at all (as I was coming out of the grocery store at 1 am).

I have struggled with moderation over the last 5 years. I have learned that sugar is not my friend. I have had to part ways with many things that I loved no longer can I eat cheese. I have learned that some of my habits were not healthy for me. I have struggled and most days I succeed.

I just realized that I must be getting some control on things - I understand when I need to eat and do it with moderation almost 90% of the time - I am very aware that exercise is important and my body craves it almost as much as Jackson craves his walks.

I still have a ways to go on other areas - there are projects that are unfinished - and I sometimes bite off more than I can chew - but I have been very aware of what it means to be self disciplined lately and feel that I am making some head way on the project - - - afterall.

Better be - I have been working on the project for 50 years.

But I have also learned to forgive myself. Which is another side of self discipline.

Now it is late. Good Night.

Today I have a a thought

These people need prayers:

Bob

Ray's family

Lindsay

Alex

A woman friend going through divorce

You are good at prayers I know you are - and if no words come - just lift the name to the heavens and God will know what to do - just be the elevator.

Keep a good thought - it has been a most unusual day.

See you tomorrow....