Thought you could get rid of me, right? Uh, huh, I’m like that bad penny that keeps coming around.
Actually, my dad warned me about being busier after retirement than before. My gracious! Right now I’m sitting on daughter #1’s back porch in California as her daughter #2 is getting ready to make her world debut…the sooner the better as far as mom is concerned. (Remember those days, ladies?)
From here I fly to upstate New York where my own daughter #2 is recuperating from recent knee surgery. All this after returning from seeing daughter #3 and fam over in Scandinavia earlier this summer.
Has anybody got the time?? My body’s not sure anymore.
Oh yeah, then there’s this manuscript I’m trying my hand at writing, like half of the world also does. But hey, it’s retirement!
Now, both of my sons-in-law are gardeners at heart, and I like to take cues from them. Sitting out here in the beautiful southern Cal morning, I’m appreciating some of Mike’s creative handiwork remembering how we talked about improving our dirt—his is clay-ish, and mine back in the Midwest, who knows. As I walked out to the porch this morning, I note bags of nice brown mulch. He has plans!
It reminds me how the top of my wish list for any gifts for the past several years as been: dirt. Bob, however, does not find that particularly appropriate or romantic, as in…
“No, honey, I don’t want to buy you dirt for our anniversary! Can’t you think of something else?”
“But”, I counter, “you like to eat the things it grows, right?”
It doesn’t work.
So, I continue to buy myself dirt, the good stuff, to improve the soil in my gardens so I can improve the crops I plant.
My sons-in-law and I also enjoy talking about compost, how to make it better, how we create our areas, all that. It might not make for engaging conversation at a red-carpet party, but nonetheless.
As the old saying goes “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. So true. How often is something I initially see as unclean or unworthy of my attention actually show up as foundational to what God is trying to accomplish in my life? My vision needs to be renewed.
“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!”
Now there’s food for thought, but first the food must be planted in the dirt.
Okay, family’s waking up soon and grandma is going to be on duty. Hope y’all are fine and I’m still here. God bless!
1 Corinthians 5:16 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
It’s August, and we’ve finally gotten a little rain. My lack of gardening prowess is showing of late. Part of it is not my fault—the flowers look considerably scorched because I’ve reserved most of the watering for the edibles. 
You know that saying “so many books, so little time”? I’m considering an audio-book app for my phone. It’s that time of year where I spend a considerable amount of daylight in the garden, which means my mind just kind of wanders, I suppose. 
Week #2 of what has turned into a nasty sinus infection. The cough is so persistent that REM is a luxury, and of course, lack of sleep sets me up for another migraine, which greeted me this morning when I woke up after a few hours of rest. Bob was about to drag me to the doctor (nurses are such good patients, you know) but I betook myself yesterday and was first in line. 
My tea is now gone, and thankfully, so is the migraine. Time for a little gardening. (Shhhh…don’t tell Bob.)
I was out raking up the sweet gums balls in the yard…again. I never realized what an arboreous pain sweet gum trees are; beautiful, yes, but there’s nothing sweet about stepping on one of those blasted seed balls that drop in the spring and fall. The little buggers can be downright treacherous! 
I put in this new garden two years ago, by hand, meaning without much help except for the big farm and home truck that dropped everything off next to the driveway. And let me tell ya, those railroad ties are heavy! (I think Bob helped me with one of them, but he had previously hurt his back, so I sent him back indoors.)
At this writing, my back is still sore from hauling dirt to the garden and turning the two big compost bins with my American Gothic-esque pitchfork a couple days ago. Sad commentary on my current level of fitness. I’ve also been neglecting the compost for most of the winter, unfortunately. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to warmer temps coming back more consistently to my part of the planet, and I want to take advantage of them. 
A gruesome site greeted me when tending the garden after being gone for a week of family vacation. Sure, there were the typical weeds and such, no big deal, just hands and knees stuff. But what gave me a drop-shoulder-roll-eyes kind of pause was the leftover feathered carcass of a bird that had obviously been trying to pilfer my blackberries, but had gotten entangled in the netting.
not like I could put up a “No Trespassing” sign, although my dad suggested I could hang up some brightly colored ribbons. That could help them at least see the netting, but the berries are just so inviting, I’m not sure it would divert them enough. 
Oops, I picked this melon before its time:
This place is a wreck. Sitting out here on the patio in the early morning Missouri summer humidity, I’m looking at the weeds resolutely poking through the already treated pave stones. There’s some unwanted green stuff growing amongst the begonia pots, and the garden hoses are in dire need of mending. On top of all of this, a brown leaf just now floated gently down (to meet the weeds on the pave stones, I suppose.) 
INSPIRATION with an ATTITUDE 