Gardening Pitfalls – Too Much, Too Many

I do enjoy my gardening as it reflects the beauty of God’s many colors. But this year has been a real challenge. The temps throughout the winter were excessively harsh and planting time for spring has been delayed several weeks with cooler than average temps and excessive rain. I fell sorry for the farmers who got a jump start on planting only to be drowned with rain when the ground was already saturated from nearly 2 feet of cumulative snowmelt. Then other farmers who waited are just now getting a chance to plant due to saturated ground. While my flowers are trying their best…..

The waterlogged effects are beginning to take its toll with rotting plants and dying leaves.

Then there are in inevitable pest that you fight that dig in your plants looking for food or raid you feeders for the birds.

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At least the shortening greased pole keeps him out of the feeder itself. But last night I had a new visitor….ate half of my strawberry plant.

Now I wasn’t getting enough strawberries from one plant to really do a whole lot but still it’s not there to feed the deer…good grief. So I guess I am being a good subsidizer for extra tasty morsel for the animal kingdom. Not really what I had in mind. These are the pitfalls and joys of gardening but still we strive onward and try to smile.

Smiling even in the midst of disappointments is how we can keep afloat. Always remember the effects a smile can have on someone. That one smile may be the only smile that person sees that day, so smile often and let the kindness of that smile spread all about you as you go through you day.

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Smiling… and Laughter

As you go day to day do you think about the things that make you smile? When heading to work today, I passed a car that had two dogs in the back seat and both of them had their heads out the window, tongues flapping in the breeze. Dogs are so funny. I know that if Mimi gets loose which has happened a couple of times, if I go after her in the car and open the door for her, she will jump right in. The only time she has ever been in the car is when we go to the vet. Does she love going to the vet? Don’t think so, she just likes riding in the car. Her silliness always makes me smile.

IMG_20190524_183923 — On guard for anything that may be on the sidewalk

Other things that make me smile is my flowers. They bring in that beauty of creation and they seem to smile when the sun splashes in their face.

Then there is the bulb that bloomed again this spring, the angel holding a flower pot …or the birds helping to grow sunflowers.

All of these make me smile…but what makes us laugh. Why does watching someone slip, knowing they didn’t get hurt, make us laugh. Or a clown throwing a pie at someone else can make us laugh. Silliness. I have seen women get so tickled and laugh so hard they are making no sound what so ever, just tears. I want to stop them and remind them to breathe. Too funny. Laughing people make us laugh. And how about the most precious laugh that there is…a babies laugh. I don’t know too much else as sweet. About a week ago my daughter and I went out to eat and while we were there a family with a grammar school age child and a baby were eating about 3 table over from us. The older child got the baby laughing and the baby was so tickled it got that end of the restaurant snickering and giggling. It was marvelous to have so many strangers all laughing at the same time without understand what the baby thought was funny. We took that joy with us as we left. Laughter a true release of joy.

In Genesis, Abraham and Sarah both laughed at the Lord. Not something I would recommend doing but know the circumstances, I can understand. Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100 and the Lord told them she was going to have a child. Wow. And when the child was born they named him Issac, which means ‘he who laughs’.

So I remind you to store up for yourselves the smiles of life and the joys of laughter and share them with others in kindness. Kindness shared with smiles can create laughter so smile often and be kind.

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Sun, Fun …and Doors

What a beautiful day today. Blue sky, bright shining sun, temp in low 70s, flowers are smiling, birds are singing, actually, they are raising Cain because I am out of food, I will fix that shortly. But the flowers and Mimi are happy as Mimi basks in her favorite morning spot.

But today is Thursday and Norm’s day for doors. I have been waiting since August of last year to be able to get out and look at all the marvelous older homes in our area. Some have some really interesting doors, so today, I am walking…

IMG_20190523_142246 — Not a lot of walking but some

I found interesting other things for later post as well but today is door day. It is always interesting how government building are these massive stone buildings with columns and such. Then when the building gets deemed no longer useful, they tear it down. Such a waste. We are fighting tearing down our courthouse. I didn’t take any pictures of it as its boarded up. But below is the county office building.

Then the side door to the bank which I thought interesting.

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Then I went down to the river front to see where I could possible set up face painting for the 4th. I took a couple of pictures to show how we on this side of the river survived Flood ’19 vs. the other side of the river, where I work. We built a wall in ’65 after a bad flood then during the historic flood of ’93 we were safe as we were this year, which beat out the flood of ’93. No wall still on the other side.

Even from here you can still see the flood waters surrounding the trees along river park that are still surrounded by water. They are expecting another rise with all this rain. Oh, well…on to houses and doors.

I could have taken pictures all day but I do have grass to cut so I didn’t want to wear out my legs. To start with, I think we should all have gargoyles on our front stoop…right?

IMG_20190523_130814 — Dare anyone to take the package from the front door

Other doors of neat vintage eras are below. Wonderful history and architecture.

I miss the era of big front porches and neighbors visiting while sitting in rockers and such. It was a more simple time I guess. But was it?

I don’t think the basic principle of love thy neighbor has ever changed. Jesus was over 2000 years ago and that was part of the great commission. So I challenge you to remember the gentleness of the seemed eras gone by and bring forth the gentle kindness that seemed to be more prominent than now. Let the kindness of Christ shine through you to brighten someone else’s day.

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Really…How?

This morning I created a post about our love for our pets and made the comment that some dogs are smarter than some people. Now I am not saying that some people are stupid, but I am saying a lot of people don’t think about what they are doing which makes us call them stupid. I also made the comment that I didn’t have a picture explaining that phenomenon…now I do! And I thought I would share, mostly because this is the second time in two weeks this has happened. Really?!?

Driving intellegence.image — See the flashing lights at the top of the picture…yea…

Last week was even more…interesting…as a big ole truck hit the bridge, put on his flashers as a warning because he was now attached to the bridge…got run into from behind…because basically he was a parked truck…really?!!?

Yea…dogs seem smarter than some people.

So remember while it is not kind to say people are stupid, it is not unkind to say people don’t think two feet of where they are going. So extra kindness needs to go forth to some people…to keep you from slapping them. God can only do so much when we refuse to use the intelligence he gave us.

So let us work extra hard at being kind especially when you have to shake your head. Some people really need it.

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Adverbly Stated, #SoCS

Birdly Life

Swiftly moving, delicately darting, where did he come from, did you see?

Brightly colored, radiantly reflective, there he goes hiding in the tree.

Buzzingly quiet, hungrily tasting, the sweet nectar of flowers below,

Lovingly feeding, protective parenting, the spring time young, waiting to grow.

Hopefully waiting, cameras are ready, as hummers and others begin to arrive,

Amazingly beautiful, peacefully enjoyed, the birds of summer we hope to thrive.

Even though the day is gray, the beauty of the birds help me smiles. I saw the goldfinches arrive last week and today, the hummers have been seen zipping through the evergreens looking for nesting grounds. I would love to be a small creature for a day to be able to go all through the branches of the evergreens and visit all the may birds I see going in and out of there as they come to the feeders to eat. So many types living or visiting in that wall of 6 evergreens. They all seem to get along fine, what a lesson for mankind. Now I know there are squabbles there as well but the image it paints is that all is well.

So I remind you on this day of gray, to rekindle the joys of kindness along you way. And may the brightness of the kindness you share this day brighten the day of another with kindness more to share.

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And if you have enjoyed my silliness with adverbs, then join along with Linda G Hill’s richness of Saturdays SoCS use of Adverbs.

For the Love of…Beauty

beauty

noun

beau·ty | \ ˈbyü-tē \

plural beauties

Definition of beauty

1: the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What an odd but very true statement. Which is why

we have so many types of visual art expression.

Then there is photography with just as many ways to take pictures. Art comes from the

heart of the individual which is kind of what the definition states, pleasure to the senses.

I love nature and see much beauty in nature whether it be in the form a painting or a

photograph. And the sense of pleasure can be from the massiveness of the art or the

delicateness of the art.

In my opinion, the best artist of nature is God. He can take moisture and heat and roll

them together to create a dangerous system that boils and billows in the sky until it can

no longer contain itself before it falls again to the earth anywhere from a gentle rain to

dangerous winds and hail that are destructive. I watch this upcoming storm today as it

moved into our area and was moved by its massive and fearsome beauty.

While earlier today I was enamored by the beauty of my miniature blooms in my

hanging baskets. So tiny and delicate but an equally beautiful creation of God.

And I think that bares in mind how he created us. We are all different sizes, colors, have

different likes, talents and gifts from Him to do His purpose. Even those who seem like

they have nothing to give or are trapped in a body that doesn’t function like others and

we have to have artificial means to be able to function. Praise God for those devices. The

point is, we are all valuable, gifted, needed and used by God. Regardless of our

circumstances or our mobility issues. Nothing is ever wasted by God.

So I remind you of your beauty so that you can remember the beauty of others and

always show kindness as a means of this beauty.

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Wordless Wednesday, Amazing

Waters starting to recede.

Winter Didn’t Kill Them

This past winter was brutal for a large part of the US. We had a week of -30 temps with wind chills reaching -51. Crazy, right. It’s not like I live with Santa or anything. But with the temps that cold,the heating systems in the area really struggled and so did my indoor plants. I though I may loose my violets because they are so sensitive but as you can see below, they are doing well. My thumb is more brown than green.

I love the delicate flower in rich purple with the bright yellow…stamens? I think that is what they are called. See, brown thumb.

Regardless of thumb color, I am enjoying the flowers inside as well as out. Once I finish planting, I will show my outside flowers, that last week were brought inside due to threat of snow…in May!!

I am also enjoying my bird watching. I guess its a retirement thing as I never had time before to really enjoy them. Saw my first Gold Finches this week. Awesome beauties.

IMG_20190501_185805_233 — Gold Finch, Wood Pecker and Cardinal

IMG_20190430_153843 — Wood Pecker & Gold Finch

If you are wondering what the white stuff is all over the pole of the bird feeder…squirrel deterrent…Crisco shortening. They can’t climb the greasy pole.

As we enjoy the fun, warmth and the beauty of spring, lets remember to share the warmth, fun and beauty of kindness. Kindness is God love shining through our action, even if its just a smile. A smile is a frown turned upside down and a smile can turn your upside down mood back into a light mood of love. Always be kind.

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Life Flashing By in 30 Seconds

Earlier today I posted a pictorial view of the flood waters in the Davenport Iowa area where we never really recovered from the snow melt flood to be now additionally inundated by spring rains with more to come. Today at 3:30 the levee barriers that had been erected failed and now flood waters are coursing through the lowers areas of downtown.

The cars pictures above had people in them as they were doing their everyday tasks when in a matter of 30 seconds, they are surrounded so that they could not even drive out of it and had to run to safety. the people in the building which is now apartments had to be rescued by the fire department rescue squad.

Fortunately no one was injured which is the most important thing but this is a reminder to never try to drive through water. There is just too much that could happen.

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More damage

The picture above is an area just north of us where you see the entire town is under water not from the levee break but just the flooding and you see the main highway just to the north has been totally been cut off.

If you could please keep this area in prayer along with other smaller towns along the Mississippi that are really suffering with over 38 days of major flood stage over 20 feet. Some have lost their homes and now business’ are also unexpectedly being affected.

Our 4 Legged Children Vs. Emotions

You know that look you see …or give when someone says something really…outlandish, (didn’t want to say stupid, oops, said it anyway).

The animal version…

This is the look I give people when they say animals don’t display love, kindness, naughtiness or other “thought of only as human” emotions. Below are a few of my favorite pictures that I repost from time to time as they are precious or hilarious and show a wide range of emotions.

As with all people, all animals are creations of God. God created the ability for emotions. Therefore… ‘Nuff said. But my fun post on this dreary rainy afternoon deals only with one animal in particular…Mimi. For those who may not know Mimi, she is my black and tan coonhound/black lab mix of a best friend. She was a rescue so she is very protective…and loud. When she sees the very idea of someone walking down the sidewalk, it is a high pitched reverberating noise from living room window, running through to bedroom windows then back to living room where I get this look…

IMG_20181210_104817 — Are you seeing this???

I assure her I see it and all is well. You can literally hear her sigh as gives up and comes back to the sofa until someone else breaks “her” rule of walking on “her” sidewalk.

But today it is raining and while she is welcome to go out at her leisure, she looks back at me when on the stoop and comes back inside. Heaven forbid our feet getting wet unless it is absolutely necessary for business. So now we look for ways to entertain ourselves. The rope is no fun, the sick is boring, the chicken bone is not right either. Lets see, oh look, mommy left her hair clip on the end table and left me to go wash clothes downstairs.

A lot of her shenanigans come from boredom or not getting the attention when others are in the room. Jealousy, just a human emotion?? When I came back upstairs, this is what I found.

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I pick it up and say nothing but show it to her. This is the look I got and of course the hiding pace where no one can see her. Dead give away that she knows she did wrong.

IMG_20190430_101643 — I am not looking at you, in my safe zone, so you cant see me.

I had another dog that thought the dining room table was a good hiding place. Guess she knows she is too big to get under the bed. Knowing right from wrong only a human emotion??

Do they take clues from us in guessing right and wrong, yes, but I think it is already there, just like children. If you don’t keep it in check, it gets out of control. But the majority of the time they are just loves, providing that they are allowed to share their love for us. They love us, they need us, they want us to know they are always there for us. And they want the same from us.

So look at your family pets with a different perspective in knowing they need you as much as they want you to want them. Share in their love and kindness and watch them smile at you when you do.

And remember to share the kindness with others…people and critters. Kindness is a reflection of God’s love so share it often.

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