Gardening

Hubby and i pretty much always have a tendency to dream way bigger than what we can accomplish practically . . . at least any time soon.  This year, we tried another approach.  Let's do more than we did last year.  Accomplishable.  Awesome.

Last year's little tiny garden was wonderful.  We ate a lot off wonderful fresh food from it.  But this year . . . this year we got to borrow someone's tiller.

Even awesomer.

Here are the first three rows that hubby has planted.  Pictures (at least when i take them) are so much less impressive than the real thing, but here it is.

Tomatoes and peppers and some herbs, so far.  

Already, our garden is double what it was last year, but we still have lots of room to grow.  I think hubby calculated that if we plant (we, meaning my hoe-slinging super gardener) all we tilled, it will be about 5 times what we did last year.   Go hubby!!!!

Sorry for the tease yesterday (ok, not that sorry; it was fun).  Maybe i'll try harder to get better pictures sometime in the future.  I love gardens.  They're so beautiful.  I'm so glad i live with a good gardener.

Stay tuned, ok?

I have a couple of very important blog posts to share with you, but they both require that my camera return home from a field trip it has taken.

That may or may not happen today.

Stay tuned, ok?

Then i will tell you about our new, and bigger garden -- and about possibly the funniest glasses . . . o.k., not ever, but in a long time.

Just a Bit of Thankfulness Early in the Morning

I was reading just now.

Proverbs 6:20-22
20 My son, observe the commandment of your father And do not forsake the teaching of your mother ;
21 Bind them continually on your heart ; Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you.

And i thought about how my parents' guidance has been tied around my neck (in a good way) all my life, how i've known the protection of their prayers and the wisdom of their reproof from my youth.  How i sometimes hear my mother's words in my head, from years ago, and they instruct me and point me in the right direction.  How they taught me to follow God.

How thankful i am for Godly parents.

Thank You, Father, God.

Thank you, Mom and Dad.

I know that raising your children in a holy way in our generations, in our society, cannot be easy.  

So i am in awe of not only my parents, but also my friends who are parents of little tiny children right now, and have chosen to raise their kids to be holy and upstanding and un-baptised in the world's ideas.

To know and love Jesus.

I know that God blesses it and honors it and will not forsake it.  I know it from personal experience.

Thank you.

Chariots of Fire and Dirty Socks

Have you ever seen the movie, Chariots of Fire?

I think i was five when it was in the movie theater.  I remember this because my parents took me to a matinee.  It was a very exciting occasion for the little me.  It was my first movie ever.  I slept through Chariots of Fire and then i woke up to see Bambi, after which i swore, in tears, to never see another movie as long as i lived!  If going to the movies meant that some mean hunter was going to shoot Bambi's dad for no good reason, then movies just weren't living up to all the hype.  I wailed, my parents comforted me and assured me that i didn't have to watch any more horrible movies, and i remember my dad commenting on how Hollywood was giving hunters a bad rap.

~~~~~~~

Chariots of Fire, which i eventually did see, many moons later, depicts the true story of a man who was a very fast runner, in some year long before my birth.  He was the son of a family of missionaries, if remember correctly, and his sister was criticizing all his time spent training for a silly race.  The man's response was, "when i run, i feel HIS pleasure."  He couldn't give his family a philosophical reason for his spending all this time training for a race, running instead of spending his energy making his way to some unreached people group in the jungle.  He only knew that when he ran, he felt the pleasure of God.

~~~~~~~

When i was in college, i briefly worked with a young woman - another student, whose work study job was in the custodial department.  Our job was to clean the dormitory buildings, including the dormitory hallways and the community bathrooms.  We vacuumed and mopped and  . . .  as i said, cleaned the bathrooms.  It didn't take me long to find a work study position that didn't require rubber gloves, but i have never forgotten this young woman who truly found pleasure in cleaning up after her fellow students.  She never came to work grumpy.  She never showed any displeasure.  She smiled the most beautiful smile, with mop in hand, and said that she really enjoyed her job.

~~~~~~~

Several years ago . . . i don't remember how many, but it was earlier than the other day . . .  when we lived in our little apartment in the city, i remember one day when i was preparing to do laundry.  I was collecting dirty socks that had been left at various stations on the floor--invariably inside-out--and pushing my hand into the dirty, sweaty, worn-by-a-manual-laborer-in-the-Texas-summer-heat, socks, to turn them right side out, when i heard something that stamped an indelible impression on my heart.  I heard God say -- it wasn't out loud, but it may well have been -- that it gave Him pleasure to see me pick up my husband's dirty socks.  I knew it was HIM.  I certainly would not have come up with such a thing.  But i felt His pleasure when He said it.  

Since then, i kind of look forward to picking up dirty socks.  And if i do it with a bad attitude, i am reminded that it gives God pleasure when i serve my husband.  When i wash the dishes or do his laundry or sweep the floor, or whatever i do with a humble heart, i know it gives God pleasure.  

Now i understand the fellow in Chariots of Fire and the beautiful woman who cleaned the bathrooms, whose names i can't remember, but both of whom made an impression on my life.  When you feel God's pleasure . . . well, there's just nothing better than that, no matter what you're doing.

Spirit Fruit

I saw something just now on Facebook that made me think you might enjoy it if i share this.

The other day (meaning some other day than today, but probably sometime in the last few years), my wonderful mother wrote a series of posts  that i have read over and over again.  They have become a wonderful tool for me to study the fruit of the Spirit and how they should be affecting my life.  Those posts start HERE.  You should go read them and make notes.  But if you don't have time for that right now . . .

The other (different than the one mentioned above) day, i wrote down a succincter (would you believe me if i told you that's a real word?) list of the fruit of the Spirit explanations that i could post on my cubicle wall at work . . . as a reminder.  Since i posted them on my wall at work, and i'm not at work right now, i won't get this exactly right, but i'll get it close.

The fruit of the Spirit is:

Love - like Jesus

Joy - is peace, dancing,

Peace - the kind that passes all understanding,

Patience - waiting with expectation, peaceful, knowing that God is trustworthy,

Goodness - in will of heart and in action,

Gentleness - strength under control,

Kindness - selflessness without pretense,

Faithfulness - just my response to His,

Self-control - the Spirit is the master; the flesh is the servant

My Idea Book

Sometime in the last year . . . i think it might have been my advent package in December . . . my mom sent me this cute little writing pad that is really pretty, and it has my name on it, and it's about 3 by 4 inches, and it magnets closed.

I know that wasn't the best description.

Up 'til now, i hadn't found a really good use for it.  But as it turns out, it fits perfectly in this little inside pocket in my purse.  I've started leaving it on my desk while i'm at work, and when i have a thought that i might blog about, i jot something down to help me remember later.

I don't know if i'm ready to blog about any of those things right now, but i thought i'd share some of what i have written in my notebook right now.

My idea book.

blinding headlights
my love of licorice
tomorrow i'm bringing my nose picker
tired evening bees
chariots of fire and dirty socks

These ideas may or may not become their own blog posts.

But this is how the "magic" sometimes begins.

Powerful Women

I don't think i have time to post all that i want to say here, but maybe i'll share a snippet.

Yesterday, my work-lunch hour with co-workers in our break-room, turned quickly into kind of a man-bashing session by a few women who, from all reports, did not have a lovely weekend with the men in their lives whose main flaw was having been "born male."

Now, i quickly assessed the situation and concluded that the odds of my survival in that room, should i pipe up with reports of a wonderful husband, were not great.  The girl who "thinks she has a perfect marriage" just doesn't fair well in that situation, and there is no appreciation for her happy life.  So i kept my mouth shut and ate my soup.

Beautifully, on the very same day, a co-worker (one who was not a part of the man-bashing ceremony in the break-room) came up to me and expressed to me (i'm not bragging, just reporting) with near-tears, how refreshing it had been for her to see my hubby and me interact at the garage sale this weekend.

That interaction was a great blessing to me.  A testimony to God's grace, really.  Our public interactions haven't always been so "refreshing."

My friend said that she could tell that we really love each other.

And here's my snippet on a subject that could take months to cover:

When women feel hurt, they like to go on about how powerful they are and how much unhappiness they can reciprocate to the uncaring man.

I'm not the perfect wife, and i don't have the perfect marriage (who does?), but i have learned this much.

Women are very powerful.  But a woman's true, and most beautiful, power emerges when she uses that God-given strength to humble herself and choose to love.  A woman has the power to be the thermostat in her home.  Not the thermometer.  The thermometer merely tells the temperature.  The thermostat affects the temperature, returning it to a pleasing level.  A woman has the power to gauge the situation, see through the displays of emotions, to the need, and to minister to her family . . . and her husband . . . and her home.  She has the power (should she submit to God's leading) to love through the possible turmoil, to tough it out, and see beauty on the other side. (Edited to add:  Since she's an intelligent thermostat, she also has the power to make it cold as ice or hot as hell in that house, and that's what we're trying to avoid).

Better to live on a corner of a roof than to share a home with a quarreling woman.

~ Proverbs 25:24 ~

Happy Monday!

I told you that i would try to blog every day.

I just don't have anything really good to say today.

I am brooding a good, deep, blog about dirty socks, but it's not ready yet.

It's Monday morning.

Happy Beginning of the Week!

Time for coffee.

Dejected Pajamas and Unreasonable Antiques

About spending Saturdays in pajamas . . .

Hubby had a long overdue eye appointment today.

And i was going into town to pick out glasses for my own eyes.

That would be a good time to do some shopping.

And then i was reminded about the county garage sale at the fair grounds . . .

You see where this is going, right?

We went into town early to check out the group garage salers' wares at the fair grounds. More about that in a minute. After we filled our car to the brim with other people's former stuff, we got some quick fast food snacks and checked out the eye doctor.

The eye doctor did the eye doctor's thing, and we did the pick out your glasses thing, blah blah blah.

Then we caught a movie and a cheap dinner, and headed for home.

The grocery store was skipped because we managed to leave our grocery list on the refrigerator, where it does the most good.

Before we made it home, we stopped to deliver garage sale gift wares to the in-laws, and hubby helped shave a dog (come on, i had to say that; how often to you get to tell people that "shave a dog" is in your daily list of have-dones?). Then we had to pass up home and go to the grocery store so we could have dinner. We made it home at 8pm-ish. Hubby managed to whip up a fantastic nachos (yes, this is our health food day) dinner in a very short period of time, and now that it's time to go to bed, we have eaten dinner, and everything is better.

This was my pajama-wearing restful Saturday, if you recall.

I've got to stop that! I'm exhausted!

My day's not quite over though. In a minute, hubby and i, now actually in our pajamas, plus sneakers, are going to go outside and rescue the bargain-possibly-antique table from the back seat of my 96 honda two door civic. How did we get this much larger than the opening table into the back seat of my car? I'm not sure i can explain that. However, i am happy to announce that neither the table nor my car (to my knowledge) was harmed in the writing of this blog . . . or the transport of said table.

A few minutes later . . .

The table is now in my house, undergoing a thorough photo shoot.

Why did we buy a table for our already quite-full-enough-thankyou house? Well, we loved it. And it came at  an unreasonable price. Unreasonable, in that the gentleman who allowed us to walk away with his table required a probably, unreasonably small amount of money in exchange for the privilege.

Yay us. At least we think so.

Since we aren't exactly antiques experts, we can't be sure, but hubby is very familiar with the crafts of wood and has seen a lot of good signs that this particular piece is old and hand made.

I'm having visions of appearing on Antiques Roadshow and having someone tell me that my table would bring $75,000 at auction, or something REALLY unreasonable like that. O.k. $7500 will be enough.

 In the meantime, it lives here 'cause we really like it.  And because it miraculously fit in the back seat.

Content a little

It's a little scary to write it out loud like this.

I think i might be getting a little bit content.

I mean in a good way.

I've been pretty weirded out by this whole working-in-an-office-again thing.  Praying that God would help me and make it better.  In my heart.

I think i might be getting there a little bit.

My beautiful little flock is doing a good job taking care of themselves and going out and taunting the predators to come eat them.  And they're laying eggs, enough to keep us going, pretty regularly.

They're keeping the dream alive, anyway.

Spring is here, and the forest is beautiful, and since the time change, i actually get to see it in the evenings.

And i have a good job, that i didn't have to try hard to get, during a time when many very qualified people can't seem to get any job, no matter how hard they try.

I am truly blessed.

I have a husband who spoils me, taking care of the kitchen and house things and cooking me dinner all week.

I think i'm starting to be able to sit back and wait on God and see what He's doing here.  Not that i can see what He's doing yet.  But i'm relaxing enough to be able to watch the show.

That's my update for today.

And also, Thank  God It's FRIDAY!

So i can be home all day tomorrow and be content in my pajamas!

In Case You Think I'm Getting Shallow

While i've been talking about myself these past few days, some really big things have been happening in the world.

Let me just say that i can't bear to watch the news about Japan for more than about 2 minutes, so talking about it is even harder.  I just keep praying that God will have mercy and let His name be glorified in all of this terror.  My heart is very much crying for the people of Japan.  I just don't have anything profound to say about it.

In other news, i just realized it's St. Patrick's day, so if you're going to be around those people who think it's cute to pinch people because it's March 17th, don't forget to wear green.  And please don't pinch people.  I hate being pinched.

In other other news, Happy Birthday to my Aunt Ruthie.

This Is The Stuff

I heard this song on the radio yesterday, and woke up singing it this morning.  It's not my favorite song, but it has a good beat.

It's all about the "stuff" that makes you nuts and aggravates you throughout your day and how God uses it to make you into His image.  Pretty cool message really.

Sadly, i was singing the song in my head in a completely different context this morning.

I don't know what it is.  But some days . . .

Some days i can wake up just feeling like someone bashed me in the head and implanted worms in my stomach while i slept.  And sometimes, that first cup of three day-old re-heated coffee somehow makes everything better.

That's what happened this morning.  Until about 5 minutes ago, i was feeling pretty bad.  It's Thursday morning, and my body (and my mind) would really rather just take an un-earned sick day today, but i can't.  I'm tired.  My stomach was doing horrible things, and i wasn't sure if breakfast was even a good idea.

But then i took that first sip of coffee.

Close your eyes and pretend with me.

Wait!  Open your eyes, silly.  This is a blog; you'll miss out on the rest if your eyes are closed.

Pretend in a minute.

That first, refreshing, comforting, everything's-going-to-be-o.k.-because-God-made-coffee-beans, sip, which turns into a long life-giving drink of perfectly warm, perfectly sweetened, perfectly creamed, i-feel-so-much-better-now, coffee.

Yeah, THIS is the stuff.


Thank You, God, for coffee.  Especially today.

Spring is nice

Today, my feet hurt all day long (from all the sitting, i guess), and when i got home they still hurt, so badly that i wanted to do nothing but go sit down (more sitting).  But when i drove in, i noticed the beautiful dogwoods that i had noticed blooming this morning.  So i had to get my camera.

Funny thing happened.  As i headed out the door with my camera, suddenly my feet didn't hurt.  Funny.

Jelly saw me with the camera and immediately posed.  She's an awfully stoic dog, isn't she?

Then the dogwoods.

Aren't they lovely?  This is the best i've seen them bloom since we've lived here.  Four different trees.

Happiness.

Today i was feeling cute.  And since i haven't felt cute and narcissistic enough to take pictures of myself, like a teenager on myspace, in several years, i thought i would share a couple.

Please keep in mind that the camera adds 10 pounds . . . mostly to your eyes when it's 5:30 in the morning.  I say this for the sake of my mother who will take one look at those eyes and tell me to go to bed.

The red shirt pics are from after work.  The eyes have lost some weight, and the hair has lost some bling, but i was still feeling goofy enough to publish pictures of myself, and i had the camera handy, so . . .

Review of Healthy-ish Cookies

First, i'm sorry i don't have a picture.

They're pretty good.  I only added about 2 scoops of protein powder because that was all i had, but the extra pure cocoa does a good job of covering the little aftertaste that protein powder has.  We both really like them.  I want to try them again with more protein powder and possibly substituting canned pumpkin for some of the wet ingredients.

Can you sub pumpkin for shortening?  I would like it if you could.

Anyway, yummy cookies.  I haven't calculated it yet, but they probably have maybe 2 grams of protein each?  I can do better, but for now, they're a tiny boost of protein and slow burn carbs (oats).

Next time i think i would also like to try some unexpected dried fruits in there.

Health Cookies

I don't know if this is a recipe exactly.  Or even if these qualify as "healthy."  But i'm trying something right now.  Something that i may improve on at a later date.

I looked up a cool recipe on allrecipes.com, but i didn't have all the stuff, so i had to work with what i have.

I took a basic oatmeal cookie recipe that i like.  I substituted part of the flour with chocolate flavored protein shake powder and straight cocoa powder.  It was pretty dry, so i added an extra egg, which made it too soupy, so i added extra oatmeal.  Oh, and raisins.

My health cookies are in the oven right now.  I'm hoping the cocoa will drown out the taste of the fake chocolate in the protein powder.  But the protein powder should help boost the protein content.

Might be interesting.  Hopefully it will be yummy . . . and somewhat more healthy than regular oatmeal cookies.

Dear Diary,

I would like to get back to blogging every day, like i used to.

Sadly, "getting back to" blogging every day will mean that you will have to probably endure some completely pointless posts.  It's part of the process.  I apologize.

I sit here, at 5:30 a.m., trying to think of something clever to say . . . quickly, because i should really be getting ready for work, and i feel kind of the way i did when i first started journaling as a little girl.

My grandmother wrote in her journal every day.  Stacks upon stacks of spiral notebooks, detailing the days of her life, are proof of that.  She was my example for journaling.  And my original entries were pretty bland.  (This isn't really a quote; it's just something like i would have written.)

March 4, 1983 

Dear Diary,
Today i had cereal for breakfast.
At lunch time, Tommy gave me a mean look.
Grandma braided my hair today, and i looked beautiful!
Beth plus Tommy equals love forever.

Those were the beginnings of my becoming a "writer."  Don't despise small beginnings, people.  Someday, i'm going to have something published that's interesting and helpful.  You just watch.  And it will all have started with my telling my diary what i had for breakfast.

So, today.  It's now 5:36 a.m.

I had scrambled eggs and a tortilla for breakfast.  I'm still finishing my coffee.  I have no idea what i'll have for lunch.  This is the Monday after day light savings, and i'm not looking forward to driving to work in the dark, especially since it sounds a lot like it's storming outside right now.
Thankfully, when i come home, my darling husband, who isn't Tommy with the dirty looks, will be waiting for me.  I love him very much, and i am very thankful for him (my husband, not Tommy; i have no idea who Tommy is; i made him up).

It's 5:38.  Time to go finish my coffee and see about some possibly truly clump-free mascara.

Mostly Inconsequential Ponderings

How should i cut my hair?

What should i wear to work tomorrow?

Does clumpless mascara really exist?

These are the kinds of ponderings that i have been blessed to be free of for the past 2 1/2 years.  Things that have everything to do with appearance, nothing to do with who i am, and things i would rather not spend a lot of mental energy on.  Since they, in the scheme of eternity, have little lasting consequences, i tend to avoid them.

Lately, however, i have been more aware of all the inconsequential matters of appearances.  Not because anyone pointed them out to me, but because being around people tends to cause one to consider one's own appearance . . . at least this one.

With all that fluff clouding my mind, as i guess it should a little, i have had less room for lovely things like crocheting and farming.

Today, i got to visit with a lovely person in my family who inadvertently re-inspired me to crochet, even if it's just whenever i can.  And i feel more relaxed already, just thinking about it.

My goal:  soon, i will, post an item for sale in my Etsy store.

No really.

I will.

Really.


*****

Meanwhile, you might be interested to know that gardening season has officially begun here on the wannabe-farm, and my gun slingin' super hero garden maker has been tilling his heart out.  Our garden is now about 5 times the size of last year's garden, and all of our living room and kitchen windows are filled with started plants, waiting to be planted in our garden.  It is a beautiful glimmer of brightness, both inside and out.

Speaking of gun slingin', the snakes are making their way out of their winter hiding places, here in East Texas.  This afternoon, while visiting with family, my nieces and nephews were accosted by a large water moccasin.  Said water moccasin was smartly killed and cut open to see what he was eating (it was a fish), shortly after his foolish transgression.

This is how we know that spring is here.

Sorry i don't have the pictures.  I know you would have loved to see them.

And yes, there are pictures.

Just sayin', walk loudly and carry a sharp hoe.

That's my advice for today.

About Sitting and Walking

This whole working-in-an-office-and-wearing-pretty-clothes-and-combing-your-hair thing, of late, has been more of a transition than i expected.  This surprises me, most of all, because i did the ...combing-your-hair thing for quite a few years before my leap into farmer-hood, and it never seemed weird or unusual or unnatural to me, that i remember.  There were times of longing to be able to take care of my home better, but i think that was about it.

One of the things that has struck me the most is the unreasonable amount of time every day that i now spend sitting.

Completely unreasonable.

I get in my car around 6:30 a.m., where i sit for 45 or so minutes and drive to work.  Once i get to work, i park my car in my assigned place on the roof of the parking garage (i'm not sure what the point is of an uncovered roof on a parking garage, but that's another story), and i walk, briefly, about a block's worth, to my office, where i sit.  I sit and type and shuffle papers and write on files and whatnot.  Every once in a while, i get my hands on an urgent file that simply must be walked across the street immediately.  I welcome those files.  We used to get more files to walk across the street, but management noticed we weren't sitting enough and provided someone to walk most of our files across the street for us, so we could sit some more.  I get an hour for lunch, at which time i usually take my leftovers to the break room, where i can sit down at a table with my co-workers and gab about something non-work-related, while i eat my lunch, sitting.  When i get done sitting and talking, i gather my things and go back to my desk, where i sit for several more hours, continuing my paper shuffling and hoping for emergency files.  At the end of the day, i walk back to the roof of the parking garage, and i sit down and drive home.  At this point, i have sat, with brief interruptions, for a total of about 11 1/2 hours.

Yikes.

To the credit of my office and its staff, there is a current trend, wherein employees are encouraged to take walks during their breaks and at lunch, to encourage a healthier lifestyle and so forth.  I commend this trend; i simply haven't coordinated the carrying of shoes that don't hurt for walking, into my daily routine.  I also usually forget to take breaks.  They interrupt my train of thought.

However, on Thursday, when i came home, i did incorporated an after-dinner walk, which was one of the most enjoyable walks i have had.  Like, ever.

Then, on Friday (casual Friday, wherein sneakers are part of the dress code), i took a walk at lunch and went shopping for a few minutes.  That was awesome too.

Then, today, i got up, after sleeping in sufficiently to provide recompense for the loss of sleep incurred during the week, and i (finally) cleaned out the chicken coop and brooder.

Awesome.

Physical movement is really good.

And the chickens rewarded me with four eggs today.

Even awesomer.

I feel like a new woman and am now considering how to incorporate sneakers into my routine.