I Chronicle 29:20 “then David said to the assembly, ‘Bless the Lord your God’ and all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the Lord God, and their king.”
The other day we came home from our day away, and my dear hubby pointed out these poor little flowers. Take a look at the yellow daffodils in the butterfly garden bed. We planted the bulbs two years ago along the edge of the wings. And this year the weather was so warm the first few weeks of March, that the green shoots came forth. Like some long awaited resurrection day, I thought it was so appropriate that they bloomed the day after Easter.
Bowing their heads to pay homage to the creator, the little blooms seemed to declare, “Oh Lord God thank you for this splendid day. Thank you for giving us air to breathe. Thank you for the warm soil, the cold wind, the moisture in rain and snow. Thank You Lord.” Really now, how could I blame them for choosing such a cold and windy day for bursting forth in color and song to the Great Creator!
Not many days ago I heard a message about being on resurrection ground. Rather than looking at the cemetery as a place where the dead are buried, we should consider the fact that there are many brothers and sisters there waiting to be resurrected. Thus we are standing on resurrection ground. It gave me a whole new thought about being out there placing flowers every spring.
How does this translate into my daily duties? Laundry, cleaning floors, dishes, and house up keep is so very tedious and not fun for me. Yesterday I tried to listen to Rich Mullins music while working only to get irritable and turn off the music. There I times that I think about the days that the music bubbled up inside of me like a spring. And sometimes like Old Faithful it would come gushing forth. I just could not stop the new song from happening. I too am a poet and song writer. The words and music just come. But when there is no outlet, no one to share it with, it begins to die off. Like a fruit tree that never gets pruned, eventually the weight of the fruit breaks the branches and opens the tree up for disease and then it dies.
That’s how I feel. Like a broken down tree over laden with rotting fruit on the ground all around me. The trees bow their heads in the strong winds. Perhaps it’s time to be uprooted once again and planted anew by the springs of living water.
Today is pack up and clean up and final preparations for being gone from home for the next week. So yes, I feel like an uprooted plant. All out of the normal. My greenhouse duties are so pleasant for me. I simply did not want to leave. I actually took a couple of phone calls while in the dome. Back at the house the laundry is moved and the body nourished. I just wish I had the energy that I use to have. Packing for the week might be a laundry basket full of clothes instead of a suitcase. It’s easier.
Saturday I witnessed a health care worker in action. I was both amazed at her quick decisions and her patience in turn. The fact that she is my niece and “watch” caring for my mother makes it only more blessed in my mind. While everyone is feeling the loss of the changing of seasons in my mother’s life, I am going to focus on the blessings. I want to taste God’s goodness during this season. One time nearly 24 years ago, I wrote a poem that I turned to song about these seasons.
The Spring of the year does not seem quite like the right time to begin seeing the autumn of one’s parents. But along with the fall comes the harvest. And Harvest is everyone’s favorite of gathering up all the goodies that God has blessed us with. So while my parents (all four of them in fact) are going into their season of fall in life, I want to focus on the bounty that God’s goodness has given them all these years.
Railings are such good help when we use them and when they are there. Our back porch and front deck went without such things for the first ten years or more while we lived here. The railing on the front deck was put up first. And we adjusted the steps to make them wider and more functional. The back porch “basket” was done a little later. My eyesight was failing in peripheral enough to make the railings necessary. No more running down or up the steps for me. So getting the railing down the basement steps in my mother’s house was a necessary item that we felt should not be delayed. My husband installed it on Saturday
Keeping aging parents in their home as long as possible can be somewhat of a hardship on the children balancing the watch care. Life becomes something of a juggling act as each one takes turns. There is no sense that life is on hold as the days come rushing by and things need to be done faster that one can think to schedule each day into the calendar. No one is particularly just waitng for the “big fall” rather we are all trying not to miss the balls as they fly through the air to us.
Knowing that my eyesight plays a pivotal role in me even catching one of those flying objects, I hope the others will be nice and roll the ball to me and let me know when it’s my turn to catch something. So here I go trying to schedule my greenhouse care and my doggie duties around traveling. And I’m not a very good traveler. I have already begun preferring to stay home.
I found this verse in my reading time the other day. Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me: Your steadfast love, O Lord endures forever, Do not forsake the work of your hands.” There are verses about us being the “workmanship” of the Almighty. This verse really brought me peace when I was thinking of the days that God has ordained for each of us to live.
My hubby found a little saying that was a gardener’s “ excuse me.” Many times in life for some no apparent reason something in the greenhouse or in the house, plants just dies. The saying was another persons take on the situation. “You are a really good gardener, that plant should have tried a little harder.” But plant’s aren’t like people. And while some plants tell you that something is wrong, most of the time the disease happens way too quickly for me to respond in appropriate care. Having bad eyesight in the gardening field can cost me a whole crop. Preventive maintenance has to be part of my routine. So this winter and early spring I found a dish soap insecticidal spray and cinnamon are doing their job well to keep away some pest issues in the greenhouse.
Of neglected plants… Here below the first picture on the left is a Kalanchoe that my mother in law was “not” nurturing well. The little thing bloomed it’s head off for over three months. Finally after not receiving water on a weekly basis it decided to start dyring up. Then there is all the tulips at our place that came up the first two weeks of March only to get froze off not just once but three or four times. The first plant to show stress of my mother’s lack of “time” concept was her holiday cactus. She did get it moved out of the house last summer to finish it’s slow death outside. Plants in distress can make such a mess in the house.
Leaving the elderly alone for the holidays is also a “slow” death process. I blame the pandemic for the “keeping everyone safe” mentality that left far too many people alone for too long. I think I’m going to adopt my daughter’s mindset that says life is for living not for trying to stay safe all the time. Most of the elderly I know would rather just see their family than NOT see their family.
This week is the Easter Season, or the Holy Week. I have not been able to focus on the Scripture study that I normally do this time of year. So I’m glad that our Pastor chose a familiar text for his sermons around the special holiday. The 23rd Psalm has been one of my focus studies many times. It seems doubly important during this season of our lives.
I use to ask people around me what “season” of Psalm 23 did they find themselves in?… And right now I find myself longing for the Shepherd’s tender leading as I try to find the right paths to take each every day. The words “lead me” occur twice in the passage, so that’s what I’ll focus on asking Him. Lead me softly, Lord, Lead me gently. Just Lead me!
Side note: Kona got his first professional haircut yesterday. He won the cutest dog of the day award. What an enjoyable little bit of goodness in this season of changing goodness!
“Lord help me to taste Your goodness through each and every day. Even if there are some bitter herbs, lead me through the entire path that You have for me Don’t let me miss anything You have for me to taste!”
It has been a very long time since I have done an update that is concentrated on one topic. My life is full and though I might find it hard to be content, there is one building on my farm that I can go to and loose myself. Literally. I just never really want to leave once I get down to my little dome greenhouse. Yes for Greenfield Greenhouse! I am very thankful. Note the little tree outside the door is one that the birds lanted at my daughter’s house a couple years ago. It’s been in that pot for a whole year now.
Geranium count is well over 300. The babies are at over 144 as the trays hold eighteen each. I counted around 84 plants that belong to someone as the greenhouse host program. These host plants are all tagged and will return to the owners over the summer. I am so grateful for the cuttings that I have received. This is truly how I can justify keeping the heat on in the greenhouse. As the cuttings that I take are my “cash crop.”
The snow and ice cap from “father Winter” was perfect for that cold snap last month. It truly does insulate the greenhouse from the bitter cold. I’m sure the melt is hard on the building. But It kept the building at a very steady fifty degrees Fahrenheit. The ice over the front door was rough, but Gavin got it thawed out with a heat gun. Then the little fan on the floor has kept it from refreezing shut.
Vents are opened up now. With these forty degrees days it has reached the mid 80’s. Which by the way is perfect growing weather. The humidity also stays really steady during the night and early morning hours. I am also so grateful for my remote WiFi thermometer. It has really helped my peace of mind during the cold days of winter.
So the pathway is starting to close in. There are thirteen large five gallon size geraniums around the horse shoe middle bed. While I cut them all back in the fall to get them into the greenhouse, they still take up a lot of space. These cuttings are how i get all those geranium babies!
The two pictures on the right below are a bit of the process. In the fall I put the cuttings directly into dry growing mix. The rectangular containers (or oval) work the best as the soil is just deep enough to encourage root growth. For two or three weeks all they get is some misting water. The tank is the best place for this delicate propagation station. The air is steady and the humidity constant because of the 1000 gallon water tank. The water tank acts as a heat battery, warming the greenhouse at night and cooling it during the day. And the temperature stays very stable in this central location. The dappled sunlight is also ideal. Each year it seems that I throw less and less rotted cuttings away.
I use to keep only two or three Bostons Ferns over the tank. This picture on the lesft shows the browning fern.. But since the price of the plants have gone up (anywhere from 30 to 45 dollars for this size seen here) I now have eight ferns total in the greenhouse. Three of them came from other people but as ususal the care that a plant gets prior to arrival shows up pretty fast once in the growing dome. Two of them look pretty sad. This one is a little too close to our heat source. So it’s time to rotate them all.
Movie list continues with watching “midnight in Paris.” Does it not seem like always that 20 or 30 years ago was the golden age rather than the present that we’re living in? And yes the movie is a fall apart romance that ends with another one beginning. There are so many lessons to grasp from the wanna-be-writer. It will be enteresting to see these lessons of life come out in my book about Cocoa.
While I’m busy writing about Cocoa in the past, I will focus on living now. Trying to remember the funny things that my husband says is one of my new goals for the year. For the life of me, my brain just does not work that way. I struggle with remember the “Gavin-isms.”
February is the second month of the year. I finally got my chapter two of Ecclesiastes read and found a gem of a verse towards the end. My cousin’s son in physical rehabilitation after his colon surgery has been on my mind so much. Surely, it is true that without God who can even eat? Finding enjoyment in food is also another one of my goals for the new year. I am simply not a foodie. Ecclesiastes two verse 24-25: “there is nothing better for a person to do than that. He should eat drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw is from the hand of God, for apart from God who can eat or have enjoyment.” ESV
Epilogue: yes I have been distracted again. Finally got my edits done. I employed my hubby the other day to help me with some seed planting. He got to see how very tiny those petunia seeds are. I only planted six cool whip tubs. They supply me, and a few others. Also finally planted some geranium seeds. This is a first for me. The cuttings have worked so well and are such little “work” that I have neglected to do seeds as the mosture control can be tricky. I’ll let you know!
2023 Crochet projects were numerous. From finishings to to beginnings to brand new things the yarn nearly flew off the hook! And the best is that there were far more than twenty three items done by the end of the year. This writing is only the highlights! No costs calculated… Sorry, not sorry. The regrets are minimal. I loved them all!
January crochet projects included finishing a beautiful mosaic poncho that went to the “holiday in June” gifting basket. Not really sure who found this one a fried. The other project was making a scarf to go with a hat and mitten set that I had made the previous year. It seems there was another mosaic off the hook that month, but I can’t seem to find it in my photo album.
February found me putting together another mitten and hat set. This time I used some homespun wool and an acrylic blend mix. The hat and mittens are my favorite “warm” set for when it is really cold.
In February and into March the GgQq blanket was completed. I love both the thickness and the mixup of the geometric or greek symbols
March found me getting back to the easy C2C stitch. I really love the fast pace of this stitch. And how the project gets done quickly. Make a children’s blanket that we have used a few times for the kids when they are here to visit.
April gave the chance to finish out the salsa C2C that I had started the year before. At some point I ran out of yarn.. Finally had the rest of the yarn to comlplete the project. It is also a new favorite blanket.
May of course was a very busy garden and greenhouse month, but I did find time to make this “handbag.” Then I took the bag to my mother for a jipper addition and probably won’t see the bag ever again. Ugh. Well, it was sweet and I can always make another one, right?
June found me making Bags or sacks or packs or purses. It became my next obsession. It began with one and soon multiplied. The two tone reversing pattern is so addicting to create. I had a blast making a dozen or more of these for the family holiday basket give away. And they ALL were taken. Not one left, so I began again.
Mixing up the colors soon became my favorite hot afternoon past time through the summer months.
July happened on quite quickly. And I received a commission project. Some lovely lady had a child’s blanket that suffered loss in a house fire. It was such a pleasure to replicate the siblings “Grandma crocheted” blanket with the best attempt at color matching possible. The original blanket that I copied was 25 or more years old. What fun to give back something once lost.
August turned out to be even hotter. So I decided that no more blankets were in order until the season changed from air conditioning to heating. Back to the doilies I returned. The pattern took on new finishing touches though. And we renamed the doily- “love multiplies.” I got a little hooked on the little hooks and made five or six of them.
September was busy with harvest and canning. I don’t recall making anything that month. I know I did some yarn shopping for future projects. But kitchen duties were louder than the crochet stash.
The end of September, the 27th to be exact I found a little six pound distraction. For more reasons than I can count, this little black Shih Tzu puppy caught my eye, my heart, my time, my energy and everything else for the next two months.
October and November the hooks remained silent except for my pattern attempt. Here he is sporting the little seven pound sweater. Now Kona is about ten pounds the temps are ready to go sub-zero and I am at it again to update the sizing.
December came with a flourish of activity as we anticipated the new little arrival. I made one blanket and scratched the project because the colors did not speak baby girl very well. So I went back to the store for some yarn that was more girl talk. And there she is! Our little star was born just before Christmas. The blanket was done about ten days to spare.
And finally the old year passed away and the new year began. So I decided to take out the 15 year old sea shell pattern and make my favorite C2C. The sea shell just seemed so busy always and I do so love the farm checked patterns. So another skein of jumbo aran yarn would do and and I was off into the new year and a new project on my lap.
“The shiney parts”…. The first week or so with Kona my granddaughter told me that at first she could not see his eyes. I know I replied he is all black and it’s hard to tell. Then she stated that now she could see his eyes just fine because those are the “shiney parts!” Like little black beads on a toy, they are very reflective of any light.
Doing chores every day is something I am used to. Part of living on a “homestead” with animals is chores. First there were dogs and sheep. Then the horse came along and there were cats added tot he numbers. The sheep have long since left and now the numbers of others is even lower. From nine cats down to three is quite the reduction. And the horse is gone also. One day not too long ago I actually heard the “phantom” whiney of the horse as I walked out the door. It had been awhile since that happened. Nevertheless, chores are a part of my everyday exercixe regimen.
Kona’s week nine and ten have gone by pretty fast. I was busy on a poncho and a baby blanket crocheting. So the writing took a back burner. I also had a few upkeep things to do in the greenhouse. We are still witing for baby to come along (grand baby number four),.
“Play nice” is the new saying I repeat often. The two indoor furries have been trying to make “flurries” with their rambunctious play. The other day the two of them finally decided to play and Honey knocked over the kitchen chair. Today they were running through the house after each other. I almost regretted my second indoor dog purchase.
Kona is still trying to figure out my pregnant daughter. The extra heartbeat has him tipping his head this way and that as she gets a few snuggles from him. I am just so excited to see what baby looks like.
I finished the canine psychology book on mirror feelings. There are times that I just don’t want my dog to mirror my anxiety. Her hyper jump up and down rather than settle is so unhelpful when I am trying to get a “frenzy” of activity done. Like cleaning the house or something. Especially when it’s time to walk out the door. Honey just will not settle and watch and wait while I prepare all of my belongings for “the go.” Kona tends to sit and wait a little better.
Physical feelings: cold, hot, pain, hunger, etcetera are not the same as ones emotional feelings. Trying to get in touch with my feelings might actually take some time. As a child I don’t believe my emotional feelings were ever validated. Physical punishment was used to inflict both pain on my behind and shame in my heart. I learned that my physical pain of asthma was not something my parents were willing to pay money for and get me medical help. I had to let go of all the “want” to be cared for in my deepest need for air. My mother would say, don’t cry, it only makes it worse. Stop crying because I could not catch my breath after the lawn had been mowed and the windows were all left open, and my asthma kept me up at night. I had to stuff my feelings down under neath something and just breath, which I could not do because of the asthma.
If my dogs are here to reflect my emotional energy and show me how to heal myself… then here I go. Let’s make a list of emotions first and then try to decipher when those emotions surface and why.
Emotional feelings: happy, disgusted, embarrassment, surprise, satisfied, love, frustration, envy, contempt, hatred, self confidence, annoyance, compassion, jealousy, pride, anger, fear, sadness, anxiety, shame, boredom, guilt, loneliness, depression. All of these feelings have been stuffed under for so long. There was a time that I felt free to cry and be sad. When I lost my drivers license and my previous Shih Tzu “Furbie.” But the sad just would not stop. I had help for a couple of years trying to turn off the sad and look for happy. Butthe feelings only got wiped off the heart monitor and finding happy was so hard.
I remember when we put the dog that doesn’t deserve a name down to rest, my heart just went blank. We had some major happenings in the next few months and I struggled to feel anything at all. Finding a happy place was so hard.
My green house became my happy place. Digging in the dirt and planting things was therapeutic. For me. It took me nearly three or four years of garden keeping to finally decide this was the new me. Garden Oma with all of my pets etcetera. I still struggle to “happy” in the house. The walls don’t talk back, you know.
Raising my girls was such a busy fulfilling time for me. Home schooling was the best use of all my talents. Now, I am just struggling to come up with who me really is. No one understands just how empty the nest can feel when it is empty of children.
And so the grand children come along. And then we see just how small our house really is. The “Tiny House” movement is such an impossible way of life unless there the OUTDOORS. And so that’s what coming here means to the children. Lots of time outside.
Putting practice into my learning or learning into my practice. Yesterday at my daughter’s I found it quite frustrating that Kona kept his nose to the ground so intently that he had no focuse for me or the task at hand. Like going potty on command to be exacta. In fact he spend so much of his out door time grabbing the bunny “scat” into his mouth that by mid afernoon, I knew that he had a tummy ache. Immediately upon our exit to head home in the evening, he lost the “lunch” on the deck outside.
thank goodness it was outside! It had been a rough day otherwixe and one more mess to clean up in the house might have put us all over the edge!
Today, I took a ball outdoors with us for a couple of the walks to get his focus back unto me. Of course, I’m not sure how this will play out through the week into next visit to the “bunny yard.”
Finally got Charlie to play for 2 minutes. He likes tug of war I guess.
Today feelings and Honey not bring frisbee back. Anger gets way up. Why does she play keep away? We never taught her that? The tease play is not fun at all. It’s like she thrives at full throttle and prefers us to be in total exasperation. So while this is a few days later… I have tried not saying any thing at all while tossing the frisbee. Does not hlep that I am usually cold also. So being out there is really a frustrating exercise chore.
Well, I’m going to quit. It’s only one week until Christmas. Time to try to tap into some joy, happiness, love, hope, and peace.
The heat is on- in the house that is, so far the greenhouse has not needed it. But I think next weekend is a different story.
Fall changes going in and out of the house. Finding the hats to go with that jacket is a good thing. Being cold is no fun at 45 degrees to take the garbage to the dumpster, now requires a jacket and a hat. The mittens will come later. And this morning my phone decided to revert to blind lady mode. And the speaking person is so annoying. What makes them decide to use such an awful AI voice for all of that data repetition. So frustrating for this technically challenged person. Changing the command applications on my phone overnight essentially means that I can no longer use my phone the way that I normally do. There went all my plans for making jelly et cetera for the morning.
Pear Tabasco Sauce Recipe 2023. 25 oz or so of chopped Tabasco peppers and 3 red jalapenos and 2 red pablano peppers in the food processor. ADD 1 1/2 teaspoons of canning salt, 1 1/2 cups white wine vinegar *one bottle, 1 1/2 cups pear juice concentrate to the sauce pan and bring to a boil. RETURN to the food processor and blend until smooth. Bring to a boil in sauce pan again. Put the entire contents through in a screen sieve to drip out for two hours. I covered with a saran wrap. Add 1 1/2 cups filtered water to the pepper juice concentrate. Finally, I used my empty vinegar bottle for Pear Tabasco Sauce. And YES it is very hot. I tested with a toothpick and it took my breath away. I am letting the cooked peppers drip awhile longer to get the rest of the juice.
What in the world am I making this stuff ror? The son-in-laws for sure, and a drop or two in my mac’n’cheese was pretty good. My brothers might like a little vile of the hot sauce, maybe.
Comic relief Thursday was the cat hanging on to the little dogs leash. Zucchi really likes Kona. They are usually not far from each other when outside. Or maybe it’s me that they both are so attached to. I thought it was pretty funny to see the cat chase the dogs leash. Zucchi is bigger than Kona. That’s also very funny.
Kona’s first visit to the vet was Thursday afternoon. I found out he was only 6.6 pounds. That would be about 6 lbs 9 oz. He won’t be much over eight pounds when full grown. Our first Shih Tzu Furbie was only suppose to be about 12 pounds and he ended up being 22 pounds of love when he grew up. We are learning with our history it is better to wait until closer to a year for the neutering so that size is smaller and more natural to genetics.
More comic relief is me trying to clean out the closets and redo our storage centers. In the moving of all those items, I found Honey’s first service harness. So we put it on for the day and ran through the “guide helps” again. She is so amazing on the harness. Off of it, she is a wild beast. Like jumping right into my hands to knock the phone, the leash, and the frisbee all to the ground. At least she did not break my nose this time, but it was a dropped call nevertheless!
So I though it was super funny to get a picture of the guide girl helping me take the little laptop out for a potty break. Honey finally made “Dog of the Week” at doggy daycare that she goes to on Tuesday. Funny thing how they don’t kow My Dog! She is so well behaved at day care. A model of good behavior.
I also tried to pick pears yesterday. And after an hour, I had 1 1/2 five gallon pails of pears. I as sorting them as I picked. There are still so many more on the tree. This really is not the job for blind person. I have to find them by feel a lot. Or I back away from the branch to bet a better view. Then when I come back in to pick a pear, the branch usually pokes me in the eye! Ugh. But they are so GOOD!
I am also trying to finish up my geranium cuttings for the next spring plant selling. There are still a few more varieties to trim back. And I really have not even touched the pelargoniums that have such jagged leaves. And their flowers are smaller with mostly two toned visuals. I might have outgrown the greenhouse last spring. BUT this fall I have definitely outgrown it. Some of the plants that do not like less than 50 degrees have already been brought to the house. But there are some succulents that still need a new home. Cutting the larger geraniums back is my only option for more space.
And just when I think the greenhouse is full someone calls with another plant donation! There were five more large plants to take in and an Hibiscus Bush / Tree. It was not quite the right season for propegating the hibiscus, but the cuttings had to be done for it to fit in the growbed. Center of the middle bed is its new home.
Meanwhile the closet rearrangement went pretty well. Decided to store the extra canned goods in our closet that has no heat source. It is always about 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house. The seven years of taxes are moved, the long dresses that I never wear are moved and the shelving in the closet is so much more accessible than stacking all the boxes directly on top of each other. Next project is clean up the house for an overnighter with the grandees.
I just threw my wet jeans in the dryer to dry off and so that I could warm up. It’s 11 am and we have had 2 inches of rain this morning. The lightening flash at 6:53 am woke me up. It was so bright, I thought surely it was later than that. No sunshine wake up vibes this morning. The lightening strikes continued for another hour. Need less to say, the pot of coffee is already empty.
What to do on a rainy day but catch up on everything in the house. There is a batch or two of tomatoes to process, but I’m waiting for a little more “light” on the situation. It was so dark, all the lights are on. That did not help much though.
The latest “back-pack” is completed and now it’s time for another project start. Crochet is the easiest thing for me to do when the sky is so overcast. Might be time to consider some lighting changes in the house.
Shortly after I began this entry, my sister who also has the RP gene and is just beginning to find “blind” challenges, called to tell me her lighting situation took a dive also. She has a perfect lamp for her work / office area, and the transformer or lightbulb quit working, and now she is hunting for a new lamp. For those of us with low vision finding a particular aid is often like looking for a needle in a hay-stack. We can certainly feel each other’s pain.
This morning or the radio someone was “advertising” his blog as a “running faith tal.” Or how to trust God on a daily basis. What does his blog have that mine does not? Well, advertizement for one thing. But yes, I would probably call this my “walking faith talk.” Or maybe it’s my journal on Deuteronomy 6:7, my journal while I sit in my house. And mostly about the way that I walk (in relation to the eyes that god has given me.
Maybe my rising up and lying down isn’t as exciting as someone else’s life, but this is my life. I am doing my best set the word of God before my eyes. No I don’t wear “frontlets between my eyes.” I can’t imagine looking at others and seeing little televised boxes displaying the words of their hearts, minds and souls on display for everyone to read. It makes one think twice about what is displayed on all the social media stuff.
Saturday morning was another rainy day and more tears. It is so hard to explain that moving things was not the problem. Yes, I know my hubby wanted to help. And yes, I know he could put stuff back. But just one little thing out of place, set my visual field in tumbles and suddenly, I was having “shock” waves when I did not now know where I was. The peripheral vision is so low for me, that If somehting moves, or someone moves, I get an electrical shock through me when I see the wrong thing. When what my little squirrel brain is expecting, and it’s not there. BOOM! No fun. After this happens two or three times in the presence of someone rocking my tree, I get a mad rush of anxiety. Not fun at all. There is no fix for this. Slowing down does not necessarily help. Sitting still is often my last resort, because I would rather be doing something.
I find myself leaving the presence of the offending movement rather than hanging onto the sides of the rocking ship. How do I keep up with the changes that are constantly coming my way?
On a better note, recently my little 22 month old granddaughter learned the phrase “What’s up?” She repeated it over and over with a very long drawn out vowel sound. Then, said in her own little matter of factness, “That’s so funny!” So here’s a little more of the “what’s up” category of my life
Book: on the fur trade and the making of America-that’s a lot of animals that are dead now. The numbers are staggering. Kitchen- processing another batch of spaghetti sauce made our stock pile full in the closet. Any thing else will have to be for giving away. People-can be a blessing and a challenge. Like the neighbor lady that does sewing for me. She is so wonderful. Like the phone calls when I trying to work with both hands and they have a headset of bluetooth device and just keep right on talking despite my attempts to hang up. And the garden…
Ahh, the garden! It is my happy place. I do love to dig in the dirt and watch things grow. The hydrant garden is getting a makeover. I dog up all of the irises last week and put them-in boxes until I could get back to them. Then I dup up some of the lilies on the north side of the vegetable garden. Those went right into the hydrant bed. Today, I put one box of irises back into the bed and put all of the tulips in that I had saved in the basket in the old house through the summer. I sure hope this makes the purple blooms far more numerous next spring.
This morning the day seemed just a wonderful slow day. I got up fought with the need for asthma aids, and got about my day. Then I went to the greenhouse for some plant “tidy” business and enjoyed a phone call with my cousin. As I went about my watering, my knee found the bucket left from last evenings tomato washing stand. Bucket: One, Me: zero!
A half hour of tears, twenty minutes of ice, and some devotional reading time, Here I Am…. That hurt. And I had just been super happy to go a whole week without running into anything, or dashing my head on anything, or falling over something. Wha-Lah! I found the bucket to kick today.
About a week ago the tally was with the tomatoes. Tomatoes: 8 quarts 9 pints, and 18 cups, Me: no cuts, bruises, or hives. That was a pretty good day. Today might be another story altogether. My right knee is smarting quite a bit, and just does not want to bend. Bother for these eyes that don’t really do the job.
The Bible has a lot of verses about not stumbling, and walking with Jesus, and having the Lord guide us with His hand. Some days, it seems that the Lord has abandoned me to go astray continually. This blind thing sure eats up a lot of the “promises” of scripture when you look at things in a physical mindset. I am glad that the Lord is using these metaphors to teach us spiritual lessons. If the Bible were taken literally (physically) much of life in this world would be so depressing. Of course I cried when I was hurt. Did I feel led of the Lord when the bucket interrupted my path with a blow to the knee? No, not really.
The next day or so later, it was Wasp:3, me 2. Picking through the washed tomatoes, if found a wasp instead of tomato blossom. Then the was was mating on top of it all. So one sting, two bites later the wasps were dead. Then, into the honey went my offended finger to heal from the bites or whatever. It did not make me very enthusiastic to continue my canning expedition. I was glad that the wet wasps were easy to kill.
Do I feel like God is holding my hand as I run into the bench and fall flat on my face? No, not at all. Being blind is a physical distress for me. It adds a lot of difficulty to navigating just about every daily activity that I do. But I refuse to just sit and do nothing. God did design out bodies to WALK>
This morning I made my helper “doodle” dog walk me out to the mailbox. She heard vehicles coming and stopped us at nearly four car lengths from the road. I thought it was a little over cautious, but I still praised her. She stopped again at the road just to double check. I really with that I could have the mailbox on our side of the road. Maybe there is a petition for that because I am blind. Maybe
The tomatoes are shelling out the produce. There are four baskets just waiting for me. So here I go. Probably have to ice my knee in between tasks.
Harvest, canning, too many pickles, and zucchini gone wild. This week the canner came down from it’s lofty perch on the laundry cupboard. In some ways, I love this season and in other’s I struggle. But more about the happenin’s as we go along.
The sweet corn lasted about five days. We managed to freeze seven bags. The weather turned rainy and was not comfortable for blanching the ears et cetera. I know it’s always a disappointment to the folks when everyone doesn’t take more. But this “work-a-day” world is not the friendliest for drop and do corn days like we did in the past. And the large family hubbub does not do them any good at their half past an hour age. So there went the corn. My allergies were so angry during the tasseling that eating it seemed against the rules.
The zucchini is going hog wild this year. Of course we planted too many, but I just love the pepper relish. I wish the other things like zuch noodles were more appetizing. But the zucchini chocolate cake was good! Oops. One row is a piece, right?
This is the year of the cucumber apparently. I’ll be doing another batch of refrigerator pickles as soon as hubby brings me another bag of sugar. They are so delicious. And this year I made them zesty with some ground hot pepper and pickling spice. OOOH!
We have been enjoying the zinnia colors this year. Took them into the house several times. And shared bouquets at church a few times. My attempt at the Market on Wednesday was a fail. Only three of the ten sold. The other seven went to the local nursing home for enjoyment. Oh, well. Will change it up next week and see how they sell. (Note also that picnic tables at that shelter are larger that I expected. The twin xl sheet did not fit, now I have to buy another cloth!)
We are still watering Cocoa’s tree as the skidster is in repair mode. The gas tank was not pumping the gas into the engine and it kept stalling while in use. Very annoying. So the Maintenance Man in the marriage took it all to pieces and is trying to find a pump for the tank now. And since his day job keeps him busy during the week, the repairs will wait until next Saturday.
The kittens are growing up and still finding plenty to amuse themselves with. Zucchi found a frog the other evening while I grilled the steaks. It was so funny to watch him jump just inches from the little frog. Pepper snook into the house the other day before morning rounds. She was in the house for nearly an hour by herself. The only damage I found was a little canister of marbles she had fun playing with. Of course they were on a window sill that she tried to be on watching us outside. Charlie is still quite the barkiest dog ever. He has taken to barking at EVERY vehicle that goes by. Uff day. Take a rest, boy!
My book reading took a time-lapse. But I am trying to find another. I listened to one that was such a “worldly” metaphorical mystery, that I thought it was time to get back to my spiritual foundations. I tried an R. C. Sproul and sped it up. I found a John Piper and nearly fell asleep. So no I am trying one of Jodie Berndt’s “praying the scriptures.” It is also much predictable, but so far all good remixers.
Still crocheting the backpack bags though I keep thinking of other things I could do. Making a list to refer to later. Maybe my interest in the same old thing will wain and it will be time for a new pattern in my brain.
The eyesight loss continues to be irritating. Recipes are now mostly google reads. Trying to remember more than two ingredients at a time is a chore. The spices are indecipherable. The lid labels are way too tiny and finding the right one has gotten me neither canned from the kitchen duties. Ground Cinnamon and Ground Cumin might have a similar labels but are not the same at all! I have not broken any jars yet this season. Hitting my elbow on the canner as I aim for the microwave above has left me a permanent bruise mark on the right arm. And I still can’t find those veggie hidden in all that dark foliage.
Nothing like a bunch of addendums to the writing. However, the allergy quotient is full up and am now on the steroids to make it through the fall season. So there’s that. And once again the discussion of how the acreage is getting to be too much for us to take care of. Doesn’t help that hubby works so many hours and then the entire weekend is spent on acreage clean up. (The ragweed and other weeds are in their full potential and causing much air pollution.). Well, enough is enough and on to the next topic.
