as planned...

Don't you love it when a plan goes kerplunk kerplewy? That is how I was feeling a few moments ago.  Pups woke me up super early so I've had plenty of time to get the inside chores completed.  My brilliant self decided that I should get busy and get the outside chores done so that I could dig back into the business of the day.  I have a lot to work on after all. 

A few minutes into things, I realized that simply wasn't going to happen.  The grass was so crazy wet that my feet are literally soaking wet and for a change I am actually wearing shoes and socks.  Since I have to wait I decided to wrap up the great potato experiment of 20203.  I still had two bags to harvest. I learned a lot, definitely didn't harvest a ton of potatoes, basically two meals worth.  I think I got lazy and put far too many starts in each grow bag.  Shame on me.  I also learned that I am not so sure I want to grow potatoes, although I now know that if things get crazy, I can. 

judgy much?

I'm almost finished sifting through the dirt and will add in some coffee grounds, egg shells and epsom salt and plant the beets that I am trying this year. Fall planting is definitely underway.  The rain in July and the first few weeks of this month have stressed the tomatoes and most of the original plants are starting to finish up.  This weekend I hope to get the garlic bulbs that I am going to plant for the spring harvest.  So many new experiments in gardening.

As I was out there pruning and praying, I found myself thanking God for the blessing of the squirrels.  I can't believe I even just said that, but it's true.  I have about 6 new tomato plants that are growing like crazy, they are already starting to flower and will soon put out tomatoes.  I have no idea what kind they are, so it will be a surprise, but we will be blessed with more fresh from the garden tomatoes to grace our meals this year. 

As I was praising the blessing, I was pondering how many times God steps in and meets our needs. We don't see him working, we don't necessarily even know we have that need, and yet he steps in.  I definitely do not have the ability to feed a family out of my little garden. Shoot I will never even can from it, except for a few jars of jalapeno's or jalapeno jelly.  But all together the veggies have contributed to months of fresh, healthy food that we know what was used in it's production.  We know when it was harvested and how it meets our needs. Before I started dehydrating our tomatoes we were even sharing those with friends. 

God might not give us everything we want.  But the needs... are bountiful. Just yesterday I was telling Hubs to be a bit careful in the budget, my trip had dipped into our funds and we didn't want to make ourselves short.  Especially given that almost every utility had increased in the past month or so. God heard our concerns because when we checked the mail yesterday a refund check we had forgotten about showed up.  

sunbathing pup

How many times do we get wrapped up in the unnecessary and feel overwhelmed?  How often do we worry about needs, feeling humbled and lacking?  It isn't even always with finances.  Although I know many that are struggling. Sometimes it's in relationships or health.  It might be a feeling of being less than or struggling with depression, feeling overwhelmed with work, home, school, oh the list could be endless.  There are simply so many times that we have to make a choice between letting satan steal our joy, taking the blessings that are abundant and twisting it into a sense of lack. Mark 4:15 describes that so clearly.

Our words are powerful.  So is our self-talk.  I find in the silence I am finding wonders that I never knew were there. 

If the grass hadn't been wet, I wouldn't have had time to sit for a few and type, I wouldn't have harvested the potatoes today because I was weary. The changing of plans allowed me to space things a bit more, so that my body wasn't sore from the tasks at hand.  The day promises to be pleasant, so holding out for a bit isn't going to be horrible or cause heat exhaustion.  I am working on finding the blessings in everything. 

I find Hubs and I are both shifting into something bigger than us, we are both finding peace and joy in this transition.  By surrendering, we are finding something that has truly been just out of reach. We are spending more time stepping out of the secular world. More time in the Bible, in his word. As we lean harder into God and his word, we are both leaving so much man made doctrine, drama and destruction behind.  The feelings are indescribable. 

Well... I am getting cozy in this chair and could waste away the day, but the grass is needing mowed, there are a few random weeds in the flower beds and time is precious.  One more sip of hot coffee and I am back to work. 

love and prayers, b

coming home...

It is wonderful to travel, to be part of family events and enjoy your loved ones, even if it is a quick trip that only lasts a couple of nights. As I slid into my own comfy bed and pulled my weighted blanket up, just where I like it, I couldn't help but feel peace. Our trip to Arkansas was a fast one.  My baby sister is a care giver and needed to be able to get back and take care of her people.  It's all good.  At least we were able to celebrate with family for a moment. 

Sadly, families are often separated by great distances, time together is fleeting and often rare.  Each of us busy in our own bubbles, living our lives to the best of our abilities. For a moment as I was pondering where that thought would lead, I started to stay unlike in times past.  But truthfully, when you really think about it, families have always separated.  If they hadn't countries wouldn't have been discovered, migration would never have happened, shoot go back to the Bible, or further, folks have always been moving and changing.  It's simply life.

As I jumped back into the doings yesterday, it occurred to me that I have one month from tomorrow before my craft event.  I needed to stop being frozen by fear and really start working.  I dug around in the garage and pulled out the old fan blades, I still have a few that I need to strip the hardware off of so that I can clean, sand and paint them.  I have seven of them in progress at this moment.  Need to wrap those up first.  I simply ran out of counter space.  This morning I need to pull out the saw and do a bit of cutting, I am using up some old scraps of wood to make stems and hat brims.  

work in progress...

work in progress...

Waste not, want not.  

I also found myself stitching for a bit while watching a bit of television with my sweet hubs as we wrapped up the day.  Almost have another hat finished and ready to tag.  

It made me smile yesterday and today when my sweet hubs woke me with a cup of amazing coffee and asked if I was going to be working today.  He was being so supportive and sweet.  He knows that I work hard taking care of him, the pups and our suburban homestead.  It was his way of acknowledging my creative side, of supporting my dreams.  

Beau definitely disapproved of mom being gone

While I was in Arkansas, instead of relaxing and taking in a couple of movies and a few hours at the cigar lounge like he had planned, he spent his time making things easier for me. He cleaned up the cantry and added another set of shelves.  He rearranged the man cave and my work space to give me better access in a way that didn't cause me pain.  He cleaned up the entire house so I didn't have to worry about it when I got home. 

work room improvements

there is a middle shelf now

He started to put a light that he had gotten me into my sewing studio, as I had voiced a concern with how dark it was on the one side of the room. One step into the mayhem in there and he walked right back out, terrified of moving something, knowing that while it looks like a chaotic mess at the moment I know where everything I am working on is.  To be fair, I walked in yesterday morning because he was hoping to finish his honey do list and put it where it needed to go and even I turned around and said not today.  Sometimes, you have to honor your limits.  We both respected that. 

After all of that, he even got 11 clocks made for the event.  I am fairly positive he didn't get much rest in, I am equally positive that I appreciated all of that effort more than he could even imagine.  

I was catching up on the garden a bit yesterday and today, harvesting, cleaning, getting ready to plant a fall garden.  I think I am finally going to jump in and plant garlic.  It's been on the list forever, just never felt confident enough to try it.  Tomorrow I think I will harvest what is left of the potatoes, today was the green beans.  They are pretty much spent. All the rain of the past two weeks has definitely stressed some of the garden to the point that harvest season is just about over.  

We all know how sad it makes me to see the garden fading away each year.  Today I will slice up a few more of the masses of tomatoes and get them in the dehydrator.  We've discovered they are amazing as a veggie chip and that way there is no waste. I am also going to use the last of the green beans and add them to a mixture of veggies and make up a huge pot of veggie soup.  I'll can most of it, so that in the cold of winter we can remember the flavors of summer.  

I also harvested a fairly large amount of jalapeno's.  Not enough for cowboy candy, but definitely enough to make up a batch of jalapeno jelly.  And I am starting to run low on that.  The colors and flavors will pop, it will taste great and look so pretty.   

do you see him?

I don't know if you can see my little friend from the garden, this year has been full of surprises, including the baby copperhead snake I almost ran over while mowing last week.  This had to have been the biggest dragonfly I have ever encountered.  Easily the size of my palm. The green bean hanging beside him is over 5 inches long.  He was resting in my green beans as I reached in to harvest.  I'm not sure which of us was more startled. 

Belle deciding sitting on the humans
is okay...

Well, as much as I am enjoying sitting here being lazy, I am also deeply enjoying being back in my space working on all of my projects, taking care of our home and garden.  I love to travel, to visit, to savor the moments.  I equally love to come home again...

listening to the rain...

Anyone else struggling to sleep?  Or rather stay asleep?  These super early mornings are making me a touch weary.  I feel like I should celebrate not waking until almost 3:45 am, for me lately that has become sleeping in.  I guess my head is swirling.  So many things going on, so much that I am wanting to be a part of or have committed to doing.  I admit that I definitely do not know how I functioned before leaving the "real" world behind. 

This morning the rolling thunder woke up Belle, she might pretend to be a tough pup, but she frightens just as easily as her marshmallow brother. The bangs and booms were definitely not to her liking at all.  It's all good, I sat and enjoyed the thunder and lightening and even went for a super early ride with the Hub to look at the lot at one of his buildings.  The storm was beautiful through the windshield. 

I guess I am becoming one of "those old folks", as more than once as the rain fell heavy I caught myself saying to Hubs... well it's a good thing, we have definitely needed it. The pups on the other hand simply weren't feeling it.  They wanted to have their faces in the wind as we drove.  Silly babies, love swimming in the river, you can barely get them out of the water, but heaven forbid rain, showers, water sprinklers think they are touching them.  

 Belle, are you making up for lost sleep?

Waking up so early definitely gives me a few more hours in the day for a broad assortment of things.  Mostly for spending a bit more time in prayer. Who knows maybe that is the reason that sleep is hard to find lately. Maybe I am being led to spend more time reading the Bible and studying?  It sure feels like it. 

This morning I couldn't spend time in the garden, far too soggy.  So I finished up my Christmas/Cinnamon Pickles.  For the record, they are fantastic and definitely addictive.  Hubs tasted one late yesterday and immediately smiled and said his gramma used to make them. The memory popped into his head so quickly at the flavor.  The look on his face when I handed him a bright red pickle to taste was priceless and if I hadn't been busy at the time I would have snapped a picture.  You would have thought I was handing him a live lobster to taste. Geez! Where is the trust?

14 pints of Christmas Pickles

My calendar is clear until Bible study tonight.  I will heading to the crafting areas and to get busy, can't work outside, focus on inside.  I have a few sewing projects I am working on and I have a few crafting projects to work on.  Pretty sure I won't be bored at all today, even if I am not going to be playing in the garden. I find when I keep busy, I don't get so tired from the odd hours I've been sleeping.  

I should can up the potatoes, but... I am not really excited about peeling all of them today, so fairly certain that isn't going to happen.  Besides, I am going to make a beef stew and I'm not so sure how many of them I will use for that.  I have so much I have harvested from the garden that I don't want to waste and I love having it on the shelf to grab on those nights I simply don't want to cook.  We are rapidly moving back into soup and stew weather, the time to prepare is now.  

It's even lovely in the rain...

This balancing act I have stuck myself in the middle of is a bit precarious.  I just keep reminding myself, that these are all conscious choices that I made.  And frankly, I am in a bubble of pure joy, so please don't think it is complaining at all.  I cherish being a home maker and all that it entails. 

In my circle of friends there are many struggling with things right now.  From health, to careers, to relationships, to finances and fears.  Some are dealing with issues that feel far greater than they can deal with alone.  I've been there.  Pretty sure we all have.  Life is not easy, sometimes the struggle can be overwhelming.

Might I suggest Psalms 46. None of us are ever alone, unless we choose to be. We always have God with us. I am finding so much calm and peace in many different verses, in my faith that in putting on the armor of God, I am safe, secure and protected.  It doesn't mean bad things won't happen.  It means that I have the weapons to weather the storms they may bring.  

I also find much peace in knowing that I am surrounded by an army of family and friends, many of whom I know I can lean into at a moments notice.  And I will know that they are praying for me and supporting me.  I try to always be that person for others. If you ever need me to pray for you, know that you simply need to ask.  

Well speaking of storms... it's time for me to get busy that craft show is rapidly sneaking up on me. And I need to address some paperwork for damage to the roof and my chimney cap before it is time to let my creative side loose in the playrooms...  

love and prayers...