Flowers and planting

When I do decide to purchase a plant at the local nurseries, I always look for 

a good sale and I usually only buy one or two..........as

you can see........I  purchased a whole cart full.  The local store had

their potted plants on clearance sale for only $1 each......(the yellow daisy pots in the photo)

and large containers that had 3 plants were only $5 each! 

When I peeled the clearance sale tag off, each of these plants had the original price 

of $18.94 each.  I paid $20 for what would have been $151 for plants.

Now.........to try to keep them alive and healthy in this west Texas climate.  In March, we have already had days in the temps of 100.

This year I wanted to purchase flower seed packets of flowers that I have 

never tried to grow before.  Also, living out in the country, we have a large mouse, rabbit, ground squirrel, and deer problem. Anything I plant in the ground.......I either never see when it sprouts or after it has grown a few inches, it is all eaten .  This year, with the different packets of seed, I have used the sunny windows of the house in different areas to sprout and grow the plants. Once the plants get big enough, I will plant them in containers and either cover them or keep them high enough off of the ground , safe from varmints.  I am thrilled that 

Nasturtiums have sprouted and grown well.

I love the way their leaves look. 

I have also gotten marigold, bachelor buttons, Shasta daisy, and sweet peas to sprout. 

One thing I have found perfect for indoor sprouting is the plastic cupcake holders.

I had a lot left over from recent baking projects. These hold the little  seedling cups

and the cover keeps them moist........just like a tiny greenhouse.

Once the seeds sprout and grow about an inch, simply remove the top and the trays 

hold the seedling cups well. 

I have plenty of plastic containers for transplanting, but.........

my son loves these crackers that come in a gigantic size tin. 

Instead of letting him toss them away, I have him save them for me

and I have decoupaged, painted, and stenciled them into 

plant containers. 

I hope this finds pleasant weather upon you and lots of wonderful things

sprouting and growing for you

I wish you all a blessed Easter.

My heart sings with the robins in the rain.

For I remember it is Easter morn,

And life and love and peace are all new born,

And joy has triumphed over loss and pain.

Alice Freeman Palmer (1855–1902), "On a Gloomy Easter"

 

Stop Caring

 

We waste so much of ourselves on things that don't matter and we don't realize this until we face the end of our lives, it is usually only then that we make decisions of what we let go and of what we hang onto.

We think about the things we wish we had done differently. 

and at the end , none of this is what really matters in what we want..........

So....starting now......

1. Stop caring about always being right. Truth does matter, but not when small arguments create large silences and robs you of your peace. 

2. Stop caring about being understood. Do not exhaust your energy on people who form wrong opinions of you. 

3. Stop caring about how your body looks. Don't torture yourself over on whether you look acceptable to others.

4. Stop caring about keeping up with world topics. Not everything requires your attention and not everything is urgent. Pick what you care about and pay attention to that and let the rest go. 

5. Stop caring about old grudges. Don't hang on to resentments. Get rid of mental lists of the wrongs people have done to you in the past. Forgive and let go. 

6. Stop caring about what your adult children think of your choices. You have raised your children, sacrificed for them, worried for them. They are now grown, and maybe sometimes they try to control your choices of out of worry and concern for your well being.  You can still make your own judgement about your own life.

7.Stop caring about not being productive. You have worked, you have lived, it is okay to rest. 

All in all, stop caring too much for the wrong things for too long, giving precious energy to battles that do not matter, 

to appearances that fade, to grudges that only poison ourselves, 

to opinions of people who barely know us,

to an endless treadmill of keeping up with current issues, feeling guilty for not being productive.......

At the end,  we really want peace, to have those we love around us, to know that our life meant something to someone and to not feel that we had wasted it.

We do not have to wait until we are dying to start letting go. 

Don't waste your energy, your attention, and your heart to that which  is going to something that does not deserve it.

Let it go, stop caring about it,  save  yourself for the things that will still matter in the end. 

Life is short.

***(this is a narrative of a video of an elderly lady whose thoughts touched my thinking about how I want to live the rest of my life)

I hope you find this inspiring on how you want to spend the last precious years of your life.   

Happy Valentines Day

 

So I'll sit and rock and be happy,

And meditate mostly on love!...

Love for my mother and dad...

And love for the friends I have had!

Love for the blessings God gives me,

Love for the sunshine and showers,

Love for the creatures God put here,

And love for the trees and the flowers...

Gertrude Tooley Buckingham (1880–1971), "To Ruth Ann"

Reflection

 Every morning holds its own beauty. For me, it is that moment of time when the dark still lingers, yet it is light enough to see the surrounding grounds and the woods...just before the sun makes it's full announcement of another day beginning.  I can never say which morning is more beautiful........just when I think to myself..........

"Ahhh, this is the most beautiful morning sunrise I have ever seen!".....the next morning introduces me to another breath taking beauty!   I witnessed the most beautiful sunrise this morning.  I was greeted with a solid band of soft yellow/orange, darker tangerine, and a layer of red with a hint of blue.  I just stood in in quiet wonder........with not a sound around me, absorbing this gift of a new day starting. 

Our winter days have not been acting as winter days.  We have sunny, warm days, with temps in the mid 60s to low 70s. 

The nights have dipped down to cold........but as of yet, no ice or snow.  With this usual Texas dryness the wind picks up........sending the dry fields dust into the air and making the sky a light brown.

I look back on the past year.....so many issues and situations for us personally have caused me to be glad that we got through the year and it is now behind us. Some issues and situations left us with a loss that , without, getting too heavy and personal, I pray no one knows the feeling of. Yet, within some of this "loss" a lift of the burden of stress was removed. For me, situations like this are bittersweet.  Though the trials and defeats we faced were unsettling, we had so much more of the year with peace, happiness, and goodness in the days. 

And now....a new year.  When once I felt I had to have new plans, new lists, new expectations to be fulfilled.....I now only greet a new era of our life with hope.  Hope that I may have learned from the good...and the bad... from  the year before. Hope that I can handle and accomplish things better, hope on  how to not allow situations to rule over values of what I believe to be............good. I don't need greatness, over performing expertise, admiration or attention .......I just want goodness in all things and in how I live each day.  For me, goodness brings peace. It eliminates drama, stress, insecurities, and grief.  I have the hope that this year will be filled with calm, goodness, and peace.  That is pretty much all I can ask for. That is all I hope for ,as well as for my children's and family's lives and for those I hold dear. 

And now, I send this wish to you.  May this new year, this new chapter, this new era, be filled with simple goodness for you.

Wishing you a very happy New Year!

 

10 Best Heartwarming Christmas Commercials......To wish you a very Merry Christmas!

A Story About Aging - AI Video

Wishing You A Blessed Thanksgiving

 

Taboo Has Found The Path To The Rainbow Bridge

 

He drifted into our lives on a hot Texas day in April, on our 32 anniversary. He was sitting in a wire cage at on outside flea market along with his sister.  I scooped him up, and the man who was giving the cats away warned me......"that one is a diablo".... smiling as he spoke those words. 

I brought him home and named him Taboo.

He was tired and weak and slept all night..........but the next morning, that man's words ran through my mind as a small black fur ball latched onto my wrist and would not let go..........

He was full of spunk and aggression, his claws and teeth sharper than a Texas cactus

He had no fear. He was brave, curious, and very mischievous .......and lovable and sweet.

(cartoon found on Facebook)

I believe this is how he saw himself

For 10 years, no matter where I was, that is where he wanted to be. 

He was my shadow, my source of laughter,

my sweet companion, ...........my angel.

 On this beautiful balmy Autumn day,

I held him close on the vet's table and  within seconds, this beautiful creature with such a strong spirit, drifted out of our lives........ his head gently lying down.....he was gone.

How my heart will miss this bright eyed angel. 

The Most Lovely Harvest Moon Tonight!

 

And Now It's Autumn

 

Although summer is still lingering with it's hot days and the green color that fills the woods, autumn has eased in with the dark of night coming earlier, bringing with it a cooler breeze. 

Commonly growing on the grounds is this sagebrush and each year at this time

it has the little puffy balls.  I was surprised to learn that these are like a puffy tumor caused to grow by the sagebrush because of an insect known as sagebrush galls. When small insects start to eat on this brush, the plant grows these balls surrounding and enveloping the larva of the insect. 

You can read more about this amazing brush/plant at this link

The Amazing Story of Sagebrush Galls 

While the morning glory, zinnia, mandevilla and other flowers are still in bloom, 

the golden orbs of pumpkins can be found at every storefront ............

it is autumn.

The hummingbirds are here feeding and storing up for their long journey to Mexico.

Two bobcat kittens have been entering the yard to snatch a wild bird or some unsuspecting creature during the early morning and then returning to romp and pounce with each other around the water trough in the late afternoon.  

They play just like domesticated kittens do and are fun to watch. The mother bobcat  has come with them to drink while her kittens  play . I can't seem to catch a good photo of the kittens, they are too fast for me. 

I have taken aside a week each month to read through my collection of cookbooks. This past week I focused on cookbooks that have been gifted to me by our children. So many good recipes to choose from.  I selected and marked each recipe that I want to try and have gathered all the necessary ingredients for the pantry and plan to spend the remaining days of the month trying the recipes. 

So far I have cooked a very moist and wonderful meatloaf that has a gravy topping instead of the regular tomato/ketchup topping, with a side of seasoned roasted potatoes and a squash tian. For dessert, the peach cake above.  All has won the approval of my family members .......so those recipes are marked as "to make again"

I have cooked well over 40 years and in all of those years, there are still spices that I have never used.

With some of the selected recipes, I will now be trying cardamon, horseradish, smoked paprika and chipotle chili pepper.  The chipotle chili pepper does cause me some concern.......but it is mostly for just a rub for grilled meat.......so maybe it will not be too intolerable. 

Cardamon is for some baked sweetness and the horseradish is for sauces.  

Have any of you tried any of these spices?  If so, what for and what do you think of them?  I would love to know. 

Here is wishing you pleasant autumn days ahead!

Falling and whirling, and fluttering down,

Beautiful leaves, all crisp and brown;

Decking the grave where the Summer lies,

Under the grey of the Autumn skies...

Lizzie Marshall Berry (1847–1919), "Leaves," Heart Echoes: Original Miscellaneous and Devotional Poems, 1886

 

Do not take anything for granted — not one smile or one person or one rainbow or one breath, or one night in your cozy bed. 

Terri Guillemets, "Ill & well," 2009

 

Days Of Late Summer

 I rush in the early mornings to get as much outside work done before the intense heat of the day begins.  It is beginning to be that I only have a short amount of time to accomplish much of anything as I quickly surrender to the sun and to the heat as I make a quick departure for the coolness of inside.  Because of my lack of tolerance , the weeds are starting to overwhelm me and the garden spaces .  It is an ongoing battle for me with weeds and grasshoppers.  One grasshopper can chomp through a stem and devour a stalk of leaves and flower petals with great speed. 

Yet, through all of the high heat, strong hot winds, strangling weeds, and munching pests, 

many of the flowers stand lovely and strong.

For the time that I am outside, I find much joy walking and looking over the beauty of the gardens and what Mother Nature brings my way.

One morning, during one of my battles , I was whacking away and was startled by movement with what I thought was a snake.  Instead , I was amazed to see this 5 line skink catching and gobbling down grasshoppers that were trying to escape my whacking and were hopping right into it's happy grasp. 

 I have often seen skinks here on the grounds, they are usually small and shimmering gray.  This one must have a great hiding place and has been enjoying the bounty of insects. It was incredibly large.

The moonflower this year have done so well and have made a lovely hedge along the front yard. 

These late summer days are perfect for porch sitting. It is so quiet out this way and all one can hear while sitting out, is the call of the mourning dove and a distant howl of of coyote.  It's a great way to spend time and to gather one's thoughts.

After outside and inside chores are finished, I once again turn my attention to my needle. I finished the crochet flower I posted in my last post and these past days I cross stitched a rose design onto a shirt.  

More about this shirt and the rose design on my embroidery blog

Yesteryear Embroideries

Thank you all for your prayers for our state of Texas and the horrific flooding that took place. Although our area was not impacted, we all are saddened by what has happened. 

So tell me, are  you enjoying these late summer days sitting out on  your porch or tending to your gardens?  Are you taking the last trip of summer or are you getting ready for another school year? 

I always love hearing from your corner of the world. 

Here's wishing  you pleasant days as this summer comes to an end.

 

PLEASE KEEP TEXAS IN PRAYER

 

Hello Summer!

 This year has gone by so quickly..........here it is already summer! I hope this finds that you are enjoying fun summer days and that, hopefully, the severe storms have not placed damage upon you.  Here, in our part of Texas, the weather has been hot, dry, and the damage from surrounding storms have not reached us, for which we are beyond thankful.  At this time of year , I busy myself outside, battling the weeds, the ever hungry grasshoppers and rabbits. 

This munching youngster was not worried about me as it lingered outside the fence of my flower/pumpkin garden area.  I was surprised at how close I was able to get to it before it would slightly hop away. I think I have the fence secured now, as I have not seen a rabbit inside of the garden for quite awhile.

It is also the time of year that I busy myself with organizing the pantry and kitchen cabinets and defrosting the small upright deep freezer.  This deep freezer.....what a friend to my kitchen!  This is the first major thing my husband and I purchased when we were newly weds...........42 years ago.  I am still in awe that it has lasted us this long.  We bought it at the Montgomery Ward store....does anyone remember Montgomery Ward? In our 42 years of marriage, we have gone through so many appliances.  Stoves, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, televisions, computers, but we have only had this one deep freezer.   I always unplug it during lightning storms and I defrost it twice a year.  Tell me, do you have an old appliance that has lasted along your path of life?  

In the flower/pumpkin garden I have mentioned, I have new flowers that I have never grown before.  They sprouted up from wildflower seed packets that my children have gifted me. 

I thought this yellow orange beauty was an English daisy, but have discovered it is a Calendula. A very lovely thick growing flower and as you see, I have it surrounded in chicken wire and dusted with seven dust for protection from pests.

This is Bachelor Button, Coneflower

and this is Sweet Alyssum, White Knight.

There is a large section of cosmos.....there are some remaining zinnia that have not yet bloomed. 

I am thrilled that I have finally gotten Bluebonnet to grow and bloom.

and then..........there are the pumpkin vines.  I am delighted that I have a few small pumpkins now growing. 

In early spring I bought a Mandevilla plant on clearance.  At the time it was only about 4 inches high. 

Now it is full of scarlet blossoms. 

So tell me..........what is growing and bringing you joy in your garden or backyard?

I would love to hear! 

In the late afternoon I retreat to my sewing corner and spend some time with my needle. 

With so many pretty blossoms growing on the grounds, I am inspired to make some from fabric. 

I found so many wonderful YouTube videos on making fabric flowers from scrap material.

And I just got a book in with lovely crochet flower patterns .  I am currently working on what the book refers to as a daisy, but I think it looks more like a zinnia.....do you think so?

Are you busy gardening, working on a project, or maybe traveling?

I wish you pleasant of summer ahead!