Yard in Bloom

Here's what the yard and porch look like at the end of July. My house plants are thriving on the front porch where they get morning sun and afternoon shade. The two hanging chimes are new; my old one finally bit the dust. I just love the sounds of these guys; they are manufactured in the keys of E and C. They sing to me.











Here are the painted rockers again. I just love the color.















These lilies were a gift from a friend because she doesn't like this type; her loss, my gain. Note, they are so tall that they come to the top of the deck rail.













This is one bed with chard, green beans and herbs. I let dill and cilantro go to bloom so I had to pull them up and start over. I really miss the cilantro.














This bed just has beets right now. I had just pulled out spent green bean plants.














And finally, tomatoes, bell peppers and yellow squash. I am really disappointed in the pepper plants; they bloomed but have not produced peppers yet. I have cherry, plum, heirloom and yellow tomatoes. YUM.













My roses and crepe myrtle are showing off. It's okay, beauty is hard to hide.














These guys are volunteers. If I had planted them they would not have done well. Normally, I sow cosmos here but I didn't get to it this year.











I love my yard. I am so blessed to be surrounded by beauty and bounty.

God is Up to Something

A few months ago I started this blog with a number of the initial posts concerning scriptures. Well, that theme is returning. Not to say I won't write about my garden, my daughter, a birthday cake that took two days to make or some other random thought. But today, it's all about Him.

Last week during church service, I went up on stage during praise and worship to seek permission from my pastor's wife to give a word I believe the Lord wanted me to share. It concerned His name, who He said He was.  Remember in Exodus when Moses was talking to God and he asked God how he would answer when the people of Israel asked who sent him (Moses) to rescue them? God said tell them, "I Am." Well, that's what I encouraged the congregation with...to remember that's who God is. He's not an I Was God, although He was; He's not an I Will Be God, although He will be. He is an I Am God, ever present. Later, as church was letting out, my pastor's wife announced I would be speaking on Wednesday night. You could have scooped me up with a shovel!

Well, on Wednesday, I just shared how simply God communicates with me and gave examples from over the last 24 years. So many people have told me, giving specific examples, of how the message helped them.

Well, today, I felt He wanted me to exhort the body once again. This time the message was on how we would behave if we really believed what God says in His word. I related it to a frustrated and easily riled co-worker who vented about dealing with long delays in refinancing his mortgage. I went over to his desk and just said, "you are getting upset because you don't believe you'll win." He got the message instantly. And the congregation got it today, as well. When God says, the battle is His and the victory is ours, it's the truth. Christians have to start behaving like victors not victims.

I don't know specifically what God is doing but I definitely know He's up to something. As my friend Sam said, I went for years barely speaking in church and now I've spoken three times in a week. Wonders will never cease.

A Good Deed

My sister usually cooks and entertains during all holidays but now that her nest is rapidly emptying out, she is painting rooms instead of cooking. What? Alas, I took up the charge and took dinner to her today. I made roasted pork loin, which I had dry-rubbed with a brown sugar mixture, mushroom sauce, pasta salad and dessert pizza. The dinner was a hit. There was way too much food for me to bring home (she claimed she didn't have room in her refrigerator) so I packed up some for me and some for her husband's secret fridge (it's in the man-cave). The dinner was a hit and well-timed since they both needed a break from painting and staining quarter-round.

Here are some of my knockout roses. They are such a show-off.

My Daughter's Graduation Ceremony

Here's Rejane clowning before the ceremony begins. I had her purse and she had forgotten to apply lipstick. Ever the diva!!
Here she is on the second row at the bottom of this shot just to the right of the man snapping a pic in the blue shirt.

Here they are marching in to the arena. Re' is about
10 rows from the front. Look for a short person.


She has just received her baton. Sorry, I'm still getting used to this hand-me-down camera from her.

Rejane and a friend Wendy Cruz after the ceremony. They both had donated their gowns and were required to turn them in right away so I didn't get a close-up of her in the gown.




We (my niece Dani, Re' and I) went out to eat afterwards at a place called Charleston's Restaurant. It was late and one late arrival demanded we rearrange the tables to accommodate her family. She then relocated her family to another room!!! We were tired. It was about 10:30 p.m. in this pic.

Front Porch Revitalization

Here are two before and after photos of my front porch. The rockers are about 6 years old and were showing the wear of being out in the elements, albeit sheltered, for those years. I decided to spray paint them (the color is celery) to give them a face-lift; I like the result. Don't you?

Gardening Update

I thought you'd like to see how my garden in growing. In this box are the leaf vegetables(swiss chard, spinach, mesculin mix and romaine) along with herbs. That's dill and cilantro to the left of the lettuces; just below the cilantro you are not able to see basil and parsley but they are there. My photographer is a novice but free.







Tomato and pepper plants are in this box. I am considering planting zucchini here also.

To the left of the box are red knockout roses which are just beginning to bloom. One week from now, they are going to be absolutely gorgeous.

A Little of This, a Little of That

For you few people who read by blog, I offer my apologies. It has been a month since I last confessed, er wrote. Forgive me.
I fell off the raw food diet. I was enticed by my need for variety. I still eat raw foods each day but not exclusively. I noticed a change in my fingernails, so I am continuing to experiment for optimum health.
I now swim 35 laps at least four days a week and strength-train 2 times a week. I am amazed that at 59 years of age that I can swim for 45 to 50 minutes continuously. Last week a woman in the next lane called me a "swimming machine." I was flattered especially considering I was swimming very slowly that night.
My garden is coming along well...just tiny lettuce leaves and herbs. Can hardly wait to eat from my garden.

I am posting pictures of the redbud in the front yard along with the matching tulips beneath it. One of my neighbors loves these tulips so much she took a picture and put it in my mailbox. She teases me about selecting tulips to match the tree.
The first picture is of some tiny bulbs I planted years ago; their names are so complicated that I saved the labels in case someone ever asked me what the were. Well, wouldn't you know...just this week my neighbor to the back asked me what they were. I had to trek back to the garage and find where I had hidden (stored) the labels.

Later today I am experimenting with drying cranberries. Anyone who knows me well knows I always have frozen cranberries on hand. I buy about 10 bags around thanksgiving, throw them in the freezer and use them in recipes throughout the year. They usually end up in muffins. Today, I am trying something different. I buy dried,sweetened cranberries to sprinkle in salads or oatmeal. I suddenly thought I could make my own. I bought a dehydrator a few months ago so I am going to put it to good use today. Stay tuned for the result of this experiment. I guess I am still a scientist at heart.

My next post will probably cover decorating my front porch. I have houseplants ready to go, I am planning to paint the rocking chairs and I need a new wind chime. The old one is falling apart.