Today I am replanting what I have been able to salvage after th
Funny thing. I am still restrained from buying anything. I am not to replace my yellow tomato plants with ones from the store. Should I replant from seed? Kinda late, isn’t it? BUT, we do seem to be going through a climate change. Maybe not too late……
In an effort to participate in the salvaging of a severely damaged relationship, I followed some bad advice. I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, this person would be right. He wasn’t. The result is that most of my garden is dying.
So I am digging up the tomato plants that can be salvaged and I will transplant survivors into another part of the garden.
I am sorry because the garden was doing great since I was using my compost this year.
The blessing is that the Spirit restrained me from buying anything for the garden, as by now I have usually spent at least $100 on plants and new seed. What I planted this year was seed I’d had around for a while, and volunteer tomatoes, cucumbers and squash from the compost heap. I did spend $6 on unusual tomato plants and those look like they just might make it.
But I am grateful for …..
….the fact that my son, Patrick spoke in church, as one of the seminary students, on what he learned in Seminary this year and how it affected his testimony. He spoke of coming to truly know of the blessings of modern day prophets. He recited the Joseph Smith History scripture mastery, verses 15-20,
15 ”After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was aseized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick bdarkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
16But, exerting all my powers to acall upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into bdespair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of clight exactly over my head, above the brightness of the dsun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17It no sooner appeared than I found myself adelivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I bsaw two cPersonages, whose brightness and dglory defy all description, estanding above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My fBeloved gSon. Hear Him!
18My object in going to ainquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.
19I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all awrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those bprofessors were all ccorrupt; that: “they ddraw near to me with their lips, but their ehearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the fcommandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the gpower thereof.”
20He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself alying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, bmother inquired what the matter was. I replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.” I then said to my mother, “I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.” It seems as though the cadversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the dopposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy?”
I am grateful for the lady who came up to me after church, saying, “You have such a wonderful family. You’ve done such a great job with them.”
I am grateful for the way the Lord looks after the widow and fatherless and I know that I can find safety and comfort in the crook of His arm when I feel weak (which is every moment of my life).
I am grateful for 
I am grateful for
I am grateful for the blue footed booby 
I am grateful for 
I am grateful for…
I am grateful for spanakopita
for
definitely the Christmas season which starts Sept. 1
and mad science cooking
Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!
This makes me very angry, very angry indeed!
-- Marvin the Martian --
Today we’ve received some much needed rain, if you can believe that, after all the storms, tornados and flooding we’ve had here, but it is true, my garden needed some good, fresh water, straight from the cloud.
I grabbed my black umbrella with the red satin roses sewn on, and just stood on the edge of the garden, looking at everything..
…taking in all the deep greens and the dark brown of the wet soil.
It all just looks so pretty,
and new, soaking in the rains.
Purple zinnias are starting to bloom.
I love the tall marigolds here at the edge of a bed of green beans.
Chinese Red Noodle beans were the first to sprout.
The whole picture as of 5-20-11. Can you believe its the 20th of May already?!
I’m trying something new in the garden this year. I got the idea of painting old tires from a magazine I bought, where the tires were turned inside out hand painted with designs. Well, turning tires inside out was not going to be a happening thing here, as my tires are tougher than I am. I liked the idea of maintaining the tread design and decided to just spray paint them. Voila!
Terra Cotta spray paint with a dusting of “Sparkling Canyon” (kinda bronze)
Dark Green spray paint with a dusting of Aluminum, holding rescued tall zinnias. I love zinnias in the garden. They’re so cheerful.
Dark Pink with a dusting of “Sparkling Canyon” This foto does not do it justice. This one is holding a yellow tomato plant
Periwinkle spray paint with a dusting of Aluminum. This one got a base coat of white first. This one will probably hold Cleome flowers.
This year, with the odd weather, and the rains coming early, I started planting tomatoes in pots. Not sure what 4 of them are because they were just labeled, “tomato” and at 50c each, I decided I would try these mystery tomatoes and see what happened. I also have a yellow cherry tomato in a pot.
I have lost all my Lemon cucumbers and am about to lose the ones I bought even. I have more seedlings growing. Can’t have a garden without Lemon Cucumbers.
What’s really fun is that I have volunteer cucumbers and volunteer squash coming up in the compost I used to transplant the volunteer tomatoes into the garden. What gets transplanted out of there, the Squash or the Tomato?
All of Katie's fans know that she has a love for all things small
Lady Bugs and a Turtle
It’s all in the details for Katie…..
……including the underside
Darling Lady bugs
After having been to Vilonia to help with the clean up, I’ve been pondering some things, what I saw, what we did.
Driving through Vilonia was devastating for me, seeing all the damage, mangled houses, pieces of houses in trees, trees in houses, massive trees uprooted, flattened trucks in yards….I just broke into tears.
Mormon Helping Hands was assigned to Church street, north and south. Well, there was nothing there that needed doing. All the damage was east. We broke out into smaller groups to search out the people that needed help.
Our group ended up on a side street where a lady gladly accepted our assistance to pick up trash in her yard. A big piece of her roof had been temporarily replaced with the blue coverings that are used until permanent repairs can be made. I was mildly disappointed, as there really wasn’t much trash to be picked up, considering the devastation we’d seen. The big stuff was already on the curb. She said she’d called three times for help and didn’t get any. So we began picking up around the yard, looking, really, digging the small pieces of insulation out of the flower beds. We were looking to do big things, get down and dirty. Did no one really need any big help from a big group anymore? Was it all done? Bits of trash.
FEMA was making their rounds, talking to residents.
The house next door needed more help, with large pieces of twisted metal needing to be loaded onto a truck for hauling, damaged appliances to be loaded also, broken glass to be raked up, shingles set on the curbside. It took me a while to realize the open area where the man in the wheelchair was sitting used to be his garage. It had exploded in the tornado. That explained the small bits of brick in the yard.
Mary doing….something
The next house really had lots to be done, but no one was around to ask. Oh, the front door was gone. That ‘splains it.
The next house was nothing left but a shell of three walls, front was completely gone, frame still there.
But were we really needed? I mean, we were just picking up small trash, doing jobs that didn’t take long to do.
We learned from the FEMA rep about areas where people desperately needed help. Nothing had been done at all. These places were a distance from the center of town.
We found port-a-potties along the road sides at intersections. Oh. (thankfully, tho, really. We needed to use them, as did the residents and maybe the FEMA reps as they went through)
We ended up at a trailer home on what used to be a lovely piece of property. A tree had fallen clean through one end of the house. That tree had been cut up, but there was really so much more to be done.
The owner accepted the help of our group, moving metal and wood to the curb. Moving huge pieces of twisted metal that used to be his porch roof. Move 2 huge pieces of twisted metal that used to be his carport.
In between trips of carrying things off, he told his story. I listened, when I was around, slightly impatient, wanting to ask what he needed us to take next, but when my brain kicked in, he just needed us to listen to his story. Trees were down, one on his now ruined swimming pool. The Gazebo was twisted around the root ball of the tree that was on the pool.
The man was reluctant to have us move some things because the ground was wet and didn’t want to send us out into the mud. “Well,” I said, “ We did bring our 4-wheel drive boots, so we don’t mind.”
Another part of our group showed up with chain saws, so we cut the fallen trees in the immediate yard and carried off, or stacked usable firewood. This part of our day was most rewarding. We were really sinking ourselves into this big job. Lots to do and lots of people to do it. We ranged in ages from 8-70.
We were hot, we were sunburned, we were dragging branches off. Water, need water.
Then, I began to think about the woman who complained about having called 3 times for help when it was just a little bit of trash in her yard. What a little job. Really. Hardly worth calling for help 3 times for when there were so many big jobs needing to be done. Hardly worth accepting help for when the job was really done.
But later, I saw the big picture. Everything I’d seen on her street came together. When the tornados lifted, when it was safe to come out, this woman would have noticed a strange emptiness across the street. Two houses right across the street from her were gone. Just gone. Only the foundations were left. And stuff in the yard. A piece of her roof was gone. Houses just gone across the street. Her neighbor’s garage was gone, extensive damage the next house down. Front door gone. Those two houses across the street just gone.The front of the house on the next. Everyone’s missing rooftops were in the trees and field behind them. What is this book in the yard? The tittle, “We Survived.”
Yeah, she needed help, all right. Two houses across the street were gone. After what she’d been through, she needed to know someone cared to help, even if it was just to pick up a little trash and tidy up what was left of the flower beds. People out there cared about her changed world. We did a big thing there.
Patrick has been learning to cook and seems to have a knack for baking. He is pleased to know it is in the blood, as his ancestors on his father’s side owned a bakery. He was not too proud to wear the flowery apron. (I offered the patriotic one that I was wearing, but he is secure in his masculinity.)
Biscuits
2 cups Self- rising flour
1/4 cup butter flavored Crisco
2/3-1/4 cups Rice milk or Almond milk
