Gardens are better than books - they turn their own pages

Yesterday besides being the 30th anniversary of establishment of twins - was the equinox. I was outside in the daylight until 9:15 and came in because HOUSE was on the TV. I also figured out how to make the rain barrel drain and watered the hydrangea with the water and a few other plants in the front yard - - then I did sprinkle the impatience under the tree with the hose as they, the hostas and the tree needed water

Tonight I watered the garden with a sprinkler. I also carried around a bag of fertilizer and whereever I stopped I scooped some fertilizer in the soil. I can do this kind of thing - fertilize because for some reason I forgot about it totally last year and the plants were so listless.

I also fed the rose bushes and the day lilies... the ones I have been waiting and waiting for...

They are not blooming yet - but they are close. Here are the photos from the website - where I discovered - some are no longer available... so I had best keep these safe from the deer.

wayside king royale

wayside painted lady

welcome mat

vanilla fluff

wineberry candy

Aren't these great names - what fun.

Some of these are suppose to smell really great - but they are so full of deer scat - that the whole scent thing amy be lost this year! Can't put deer fence so close to the street now can we?

I will be focusing on the roses a little more over the next few days - I think they are feeling neglected - more so than even the year that we had the foundation dug - at least that year the heavens watered them and I did manage to feed them on schedule - there was no other plant in the yard!

Keep a good thought for tomorrow - this aging process and all the crazy tests we have to take - make you a little crazy - but we seem to take them in stride - sort of like taking the car in for a test to see the problem with the engine...

WEEKEND IN THE GARDEN - OH BOY!

A REALLY BOUNTIFUL HARVEST OF LAVENDER IN A 6 INCH DIAMETER VASE....

TO THE LEFT YOU CAN SEE LEEKS GROWING VERY VERY SLOWLY AND THAT PESKY CRABGRASS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLOT

TWO PURPLE PEPPER PLANTS ON THE DECK TABLE. THERE ARE 3 DIFFERENT BASIL PLANTS; 2 SCENTED GERANIUMS AND 6 ORANGE PATIO TOMATO BUSHES

THE SINGLE PLANT THAT LOOKS LIKE A TOMATO IS REALLY A GROUND CHERRY WHICH IS AN EXPERIMENT FOR THIS YEAR. There are about 6 total and several Wonderberry bushes growing too. More experiments....

SALSIFY, WHICH I HAD TO START AGAIN BECAUSE IT LOOKED SO MUCH LIKE GRASS THAT MOST OF THE FIRST BATCH GOT WEEDED OUT. THIS MAKES ME THINK ABOUT STARTING EVERY SEED I BUY IN A CUP SO I KNOW WHAT I AM GROWING.

That is what I have today. Soon there will be pictures of the day lilies that I have been waiting for two years to see. They do not bloom the first year you plant them and this year I have been spraying them with Deer Scat and putting dog hair all around them every time I empty my Dyson.

Any guess on the amount of knitting I have accomplished?

Sweet Dreams...

TIM RUSSERT 1950 - 2008

Life they say is what happens between the dashes.

Tim Russert loved life. He loved the game of politics. His tributes today have been without equal.

There is a large Tim Russert size hole in my life today. The whole MSNBC news family is in shock at your sudden departure and it showed on every face we saw tonight.

I am an admitted MSNBC news-aholic.

He was my 15 seconds of fame. We graduated together from John Carroll University.

Oh Tim, How we will miss ye!

There is a man named Bob Nook who watched Meet the Press as faithfully as any one I knew.

Stop by for a chat, have a cold one, and engage him in a discussion once again. Please.

Thanks for teaching us to love our fathers, past, present and future.

I can only hope we have learned the lessons or readiness, preparation and accountability you tried to teach us. You truly spoke the truth in love, kindness and humility.

May the Lord hasten to gather you to his boutiful table. My you have a comfortable room in the mansion. May eternal rest come upon your soul.

HOW TO LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE - Part 1

Today

Tomorrow

And right now the scent of petunias is the best in all the summer plants.

Always reminds me of being 5 and putting one to my face, inhaling so hard that the petals stuck to my face without holding the flower.

I thought it was a great sport.

The hummingbirds like them too!

Part Two - soon.

I am now off to make correct what I absent-mindedly did last week!

Gardens are me!

Spring

Finally

Here

Too much fun playing in the mud and planting seeds that will take their own sweet time to sprout and grow into a lovely garden.

No deer problems as you will see why. Seven feet of safety and a gate for easy access.

The garden looks different even a few days later. Green beans are about 2 inches high already.

I can almost taste the "Home Grown Green Bones" as we like to call them.

A few more plants and some flowers and we will be ready to watch and see. I am trying several new things this year. Ground Cherries, Krul Celery, Salisfy and Leeks.

Be patient - there is no microwave gardening here - just good old fashion patience...

Next we will be making some string Tee Pees for the vines. I will have a helper next week and we will make all kinds of fun supports for the cucumbers, melons and squash to hang from! Rube Goldberg watch out - here we come - string and sticks - it will be like knitting...

Here is the view from the deck!

Life is not a Microwave

Some things take time.

Gardens take time to grow from seed to plant. Water, sunlight and care are needed to encourage the plants to grow.

Children take 9 months to mature from seed to child. You do not push a button and get the baby all developed in a few minutes of waiting.

Traffic lights take a few minutes to change colors. Yes, you will survive with waiting patiently. No, you cannot turn left on red if noone is coming when the light is red. No, you cannot ride up the turn lane for miles to avoid waiting in the long morning traffic.

It takes a few minutes to turn left on a Saturday Afternoon.

Healing takes time. Physical healing, spiritual healing, psychological healing all take time. Things have to level out. Bonds need to be invented again and made strong through exercise and patient waiting and rest. Healing, tenderly nurtured in the beginning will stand the test of time.

Love takes time to develop into a relationship. You do not go to Match.com and find the perfect person the first time - meet and marry in minutes. Love takes time. I do believe in love at first sight - but the relationship that stands the test of time and survives all the crazy curve balls that life throws - takes time and tender caring.

Cash registers take time.

Face it folks, life takes time. You have to wait for things. Just because you can go from ice cubes to boiling water in 3 minutes does not mean that every event under the sun can be performed at such a speed.

As a society we have become to expect everything will happen at microwave speeds.

Not so much.

I suggest that the planet take a universal sigh and cleanse that thought from their brains and learn to be just a little patient with the person ahead of them in traffic, grocery store, gas station, parking lot, drug store, golf course, and even on the street when walking the dog.

It all takes time and in the beginning and in the end - that is all we have - time.

Slowly stepping off the soap box and going to sleep - it is time for that!

SO, LAST NIGHT I WAS AT CHURCH....

SO...

We have been attending a series on GRACE at church on Wednesday nights. The variety of ways that grace comes to you and can make you whole. I use my grace to do healing prayers during services at church. I found this gift one day when I was a little lost for reasons to attend church. Not had a problem attending since. You go to church - you get filled and renewed - and then you get sent out to use your serving of grace (which is immeasureable, really).

At any rate...

We were given and exercise to do for about 20 minutes. Read a Scripture passage and listen to what it says to you and pray with it... So I start, read the directions for the exercise through. Read the verse. Started to follow along... reading - then reading again - then the third instructed reading - I found these words:

Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him,

"What do you want me to do for you?"

"Lord, I want to see," he replied. Luke 18:40-41

I cannot tell you how many times I have asked that question to people that we pray over. It was there sitting in the silence that I discovered a very sacred thing.


The healing happens when the person tells God what it is that He/She would have Him/Her do.


That one request from the broken to the divine heals the person, makes them whole.


They sit there as a child, asking the Father/Mother in response to the question:

"Dear Child of mine, what would you have me do for you today?"

And then we pray and if we stay out of the way, God hears the prayer, and the faith of a little child will help to heal them.

I have never seen physical healing on the spot. I have seen people turn over burdens and let God carry them because they are too hard to deal with alone. I have felt the heat and the warmth of the Spirit fill the room. There is an energy there that surpasses all other life experiences.

SO

When you pray

Hear the words: What would you have me do for you?

Then tell the Lord the truth, be honest and sincere, and wait. The healing grace will arrive to make you whole...

One secret - the answers to your healing prayers are never what you expect.

They are 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

times better.

THE SIGN SAID: CALL YOUR MOTHER

So I did:

Mom, I love you
Mom. I miss you
Mom, I sure could use a hug today

Mom, I love you
Mom, I miss you
Mom, We all could use your love down here today

Mom, I love you
Mom, I miss you
Mom, the world is in such a mess today
We sure could use some love down here
Please deliver some soon

Mom, I love you
Mom. I miss you
Mom, I sure could use a hug today
Mom, I tried as hard as I could to have a great life
Mom, I think you would be proud too
Mom, I am happy with my family and many remind me of you

Mom, I love you
Mom. I miss you
Mom, I sure could use a hug today

So this is the song I sang as I rode down the road. The lyrics continued as I beseeched her to help us fix the world we live in because I feel we have made such a big big mess... I asked her to visit some of the hurting places and heal their wounds from her chair in the heavens...

I did call on my Mom. It made me feel better just to sing her this crazy made up song and say the word again like I was calling her once more.

I HOPE YOU CALLED YOUR MOM ~ I SURELY WOULD HAVE IF I COULD HAVE

WHAT TAKES UP YOUR TIME?

Since my last post which I think was about 12 days ago - it could have been a lifetime. Lot of life has passed over the road. I took apart the garden to one big flat square of soil. Many things moved to new homes and deer fence is going up soon.



My husband had some "procedures' done to assure his health. Come back in 5 years - so all of us over 50 know what he had done. He also heard my favorite Bingo call "B-9"



We have seen another great concert by Tom Rush who gave us the "Remember Song" and a great night of music. Tonight we heard Steve Chapin and John Wallace who played all the great songs of the Chapin band. Yes, even Taxi! They even sang one of our old favorites: Two Sleepy People ...



Then there is the basement project!





There was a day spent (could have been 1.5 hour activity, but you know how long home repairs really take) in the basement fixing the sagging upstairs floor. The pictures say everything. This project did not turn out exactly like we had researched, The floor did not budge, but obviously the double 2x4 did bend. And the pipe that we used beat the sawsall. It was not a great day for tools.

So we have this project on the further research list and it will get done eventually.

The washer got new dogs. The dog got another bath. The lawn got cut and the gardens are definitely taking great shape. The DH has been very busy. We have finished out turns as helpers at Sunday School and we are taking a Wednesday night class on Grace, Prayer and the Risen Lord! We are helping relocate hobby supplies from a life time collection of crafting.

There have been many once in a lifetime moments and I have loved them all.

Somewhere running around my head is a story about Mint Faith. Not ready for prime time.

There has been plenty of time spent watching the pundits. I am ready for the mud slinging to be finished now.

I have had some good very good conversations about what the heck is going on with my life. I think I have been in such a continuum of change that my life was spent riding the waves and surfing along. No big deal I have won the surfing contest for my age bracket. What you say? There was no contest? Sit down - it is my game and I made the rules and I won.



It is the beginning anticipating season of gardens. The seeds are under the grow light and it is getting more exciting every day.

Little knitting, some months are like that, yeah they are!

Do yourself a favor.

Live your life with all the colors in your crayon box.

Staying inside the lines is optional.

At the end of the day - give yourself an A+.

Hang the picture on the wall and tell yourself - good job - well done - bring on another day - I will be ready in 8 hours!

Digging in day - a WOO HOO day!

Today it was suppose to rain - but who ever believes the weather people. Noone predicted this either!

While driving to the cat sitting location - I needed sunglasses and thought to myself - this is some odd kind of rain!

So I started the day with a cardio workout because I decided that the medication (that the doctor and I do not agree upon) was making me way to lazy and I did not take it last night - guess what - I could actually do almost 30 minutes of cardio - quick shower - swallowed my cereal and medicine and off to get the nails done - Who Do VooDoo - is a great shade for me.

Now this presents a problem - you sure do not want to do yard work with a fresh manicure - so we went to the bookstore - where I needed the sunglasses for the travel once again.

Peanut Butter and Jelly - all time favorite lunch - and I cleaned the hot tub and refilled it. All of a sudden I heard the Rototiller - - - woo hoo! And I checked the mail - woo hoo! Seeds all kinds of seeds!

So sport fans - it is gardening season for sure... now to be patient enough for the soil to warm and the earth to be properly worked and relocated and mixed with amendments - I promise to try and be patient as I can be. But it does not count if you grow things under the lights in the basement now does it?

I am suppose to be doing laundry and folding clothes - sigh - maybe just one load and then to knit - I am almost to the sleeve island border - - - woo hoo again!

It surely is a woo hoo day!

March socks of Araucania hand dyed yarn

I started with on skein of Araucania hand dyed yarn - I would tell you the color but the dog chewed the label - I used Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters Book One pattern Veil of Leaves which produced these lovely textured socks:

I learned Cobblestone Cuff; Star toe and have almost mastered Judy’s Magic Cast-on.

The picture does not do the lace pattern justice but if you thought, I was going to ask anyone to model them – you are crazy – I loose socks that way!

My April socks may be short ones as time in the garden will be more important than anything.

Time to get the beauty rest Queen City Chess Tournament comes soon enough.

Just a little progress

There are strange acronyms in the knitting world!

• TINKING is kniting backwards (repairing mistakes)


• UFO's which are unfinished objects


• WIP's which are works in progress

Now there is a fine line between UFO's and WIP's. I prefer to call items in that status ON HIATUS...

So there is this FLAK2 that I have been talking about bringing out of Hiatus. I did and the third start is the charm for sure.

I made a few changes to the pattern and I stayed with the changes so not they are part of the pattern and you may never even notice them. I remember how the cables flow - the timing of the twists and I remember how much like a river knitting cables really is - to me at least.

I love it - water is my favorite thing to be around - to play in - to swim in - to drink - just love water... and so my FLAK 2 is taking shape.

Here is the front section half way to completion before I begin the sleeve gussets...

Now I that I am about to start on skein three of the sweater I find myself counting the hours until I have an hour to work on the sweater... It really is compulsive at times...

The weekend is over... I am tired... I did some mandatory housework - laundry - vacuumed the front room - cleaned the bathtub - fed the birds and that was pretty much it... guess I had best get some other things done as there will be company coming for Easter!

SIGH less sweater time!

Houston, we have a problem!

It has been a week!

I went to the doctor for the inevitable weight and BP check. Good on the weight and bad on the BP - so there is a medicine roulette we will play for a while... no big deal just a season of life I am sure.

About two weeks ago as I was knitting I smelled what I could only describe as something burning. We did not discover anything smoldering so we let it go. The next day I went to do my daily ablutions and the light and vent fan did not work. I shrugged and proceeded with the day. I mentioned to the mister who said "OK, I will look at it."

Well the days went by and I would ask, "Did you look?"

Well the days went by and eventually I had asked enough that he did look and start to investigate. Yesterday the process resulted in a little dry wall eruption and today the picture says the rest. It is a 30 gallon trash can filled to the brim with the most obvious of reasons that the shower vent and light did not work. Electical spagetti! We find this quite often in this 1950's bungalow, whose occupants have done cowboy wiring, open splices and the such.

So now there is no ceiling in my bathroom at all. The vent hole opens to the outside and it is very chilly in there. So the mister and I will be sharing a bathroom for a while... We will see how this works as we have not shared a bathroom since the kids left the abode about 8 year ago and we have always had seperate grooming areas... which we still do, so stayed tune sports fans it may be the most interesting adventure we have had in a while.

Tonight I will post pictures of progress on FLAK 2!

Go hug and electircan!

WHAT TO DO WHILE BEING SNOW BOUND

1. Shovel snow
2. Take a shower because you are wet and hot and cold
3. Clean your Dyson Filter and Canister
4. Get dog out from under your bed where he has chewed up two giant rolls of toilet paper
5. Shovel snow
6. Take a shower because you are wet and hot and cold
7. Cook a roast
8. Knit on FLAK2 sweater
9. Shovel snow
10. Take a shower because you are wet and hot and cold
11. Knit
12. Do Laundry
13. Watch How-to TV and realize they are working in shirt sleeves and you have two sweatshirts on
14. Watch all the Red-Winged Black birds at the feeders you just filled up because you know that they need the food.
15. Laundry
16. Dry sweaters because the heat is going to be on anyway
17. Send pictures of snow to children
18. Text message with your kids
19. Be reminded at 10:15pm that it is Spring forward weekend and now it is 11:15pm just that fast
    
20. I sure did enjoy my day of captivity!

DO OVERS

There is a lot of talk about DO OVERS in Florida and Michigan.

I can understand but it worries me because the only time I ever want to DO OVER anything is when it is F*U*B*A*R. Now the thought that our election system is in that state really worries me.

Now why would I ponder DO OVERS? Because yesterday when I pulled out the FLAK 2 sweater I was working on I saw that I had completely run amuck on following the correct repititons of the patterns involved in the sweater. Now had this been an area under the arm, on the bottom edge, I may have fudged... but no it was front and center. So at 9pm I decided that this sweater deserved a DO OVER and I unraveled the yarn, the DH neatly balled it up for me, and alas here I am on my third attempt to Get'er done!

Rumor has it that the third time is the charm. Let us hope so!

OK then! The weather people have decided that 10 inches of snow would be a good idea. I bought two packages of chicken, Oreos, milk and some Ivory soap for dishes. Figured with that combo we could live for days...

Some emergency preparedness - I can hear my friend in Montana just shaking her head! I may need to borrow her rescue dog if we really get all those inches and it stays cold (giggle giggle giggle).

Off to the day. Have a good one - take a moment to thank the Lord for all your many blessings!

Almost gone - February

I am finishing the things on my January list

• maps
• socks
• working on sweater
• diet and exercise
• being of good cheer

So I am glad I had things to accomplish and for the most part I am happy with myself.

Now if I could get my socks for February to post on the SAM5 blog I would be even happier.

I checked the rice link and played the game for 800 grains of rice... fun stuff if you have not played...

Sleep beckons - Thursday and Friday and it is the weekend again - and a concert to see again this weekend - seems my #2 granddaughter is in a honors concert with some local choirs - I love concerts - how fun this will be to watch - reviews after the week ends....

February - Saturday - Get 'er Done!

SATURDAY
I am tired of February.

Off to trim toe nails on Itty Bitty Cat who is quite the feline!

I am teaching Sunday School and we are making prayer beads Episocopal style and I love the whole hour I spend doing this. Prayer is my stronghold and always has been. I pray a lot during the day and church has never been my singular spot for prayer. I pray always in traffic. I pray when getting on and off the Interstate. I pray in the garden the best as I compost a lot of stuff into the soil.

Currently the soil is buried under too much ice.

Oh and there is an adventure tonight - we are off to see Larry the Cable Guy! Get 'er done!

Confession is good for the knitting!

I had put Lori's sweater in Hiatus for a year. I needed a year to clear my head.

Now I know I proofed the pattern when I laid it out - I know my pattern could not have purposely skipped a whole column - but I did - so even last night when I was exhausted and after reattaching the shoulder saddles to the front for the third time - I just stopped and looked and counted and looked again - - - in all my sorrow from all the things that went on about me - - - - I simply did not add in the filler stitches on the left side of the pattern - so I was unable to get the start I needed...

So tonight on a clean sheet of paper I have laid out the neck front again and this time - with a few added stitches in the ditch between the cables - I will have even numbers on both sides and life will go cabling along - - Oh Lord of Twisted Stitches I Pray!

TomorrowI will be teaching Sunday School - the lesson is Prayer and we will be making Prayer Beads - so I will practice my prayers while I stitch - you do realize that both knitting and cross stitching are my deepest form of prayers - all my stories are placed there and woven neat - unlike the reality that we traverse each day.

Healing prayers to my daughter and my sister - they both have big ouchies!

Dear Lord - father and mother to us all - be with my daughter and my sister as they heal - give them your patience - give them the energy to mend and knit the bones and tissues back together in wholeness and health. Oh we do indeed pray.

Rest up - Monday cometh!

So, I was walking the dog

The weather was actually balmy outside. There were pockets of fog that you walked through and the fog made the night not so dark, almost grey like.

I was thinking about how a year ago it was 10 below zero in Cleveland and we were staying in a hotel having just buried my Dad. I was thinking how BK died today and is in heaven now, at peace with no more pain or struggle. I was also thinking how much my daughter will miss her and I was glad that it was not 10 below zero tonight.

My next thought was how Dad would walk Charlie every night.

Then, something very strange happened. Jackson stopped and started acting like someone was there petting him, tail wagging, head up, happy to see someone. I did not see anyone in the area or on the street. It was calm and waves of fog were about me. I felt Dad’s presence and then I heard these words in my mind:

“BK is with us now. She is fun to be with. She loves music and art. She is perfect. Thanks for sending your very best to us. We will be gone for a while now travelling. We will be OK. We have museums to see, great Symphonies to hear and trails to hike. We may even teach her to like Jazz."

I heard Dad chuckle and the conversation was over.

That quick Jackson went back to walking like no one was near.

The weather started to chill, the fog lifted, and the wind started to blow.

We were home and the peace inside from those moments will be palpable for a while I am sure… I think life will be grand now. I think everything is going to be OK...

SUNDAY - FEBRUARY - NEW THINGS TO LEARN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SISTER

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

My sister is on Vay-Kay and I think it is the best gift she decided to give herself.

My neice posted a great poem for meditation on her blog spot A LITTLE LIFE

I am going on another long walk with the dog and Mister today

We are trying a different service for church today - a U2charist.

My feelings on that will be reviewed after we try it out.

I can guarantee it will either keep us young or make us feel old.

I am hoping for the first.

The cause I support - just not sure about the venue - I need a certain amount of silence in my prayer - but maybe I can learn a whole new way to pray!

I am open and willing that is for certain.

OK, then, off to conquer the great day....