OUT OF WHACK BACK AND GARDENING

 

OUT OF WHACK BACK AND GARDENING

Well, my back went out Sunday evening while at a Bible School program.  It is not good to walk into the restroom, your back go out, and then wonder how you're going to get out of the restroom.

As you can probably tell, since I've written this post, I did make it out, and with my husband's help, made it to our vehicle.

And since it has taken me three times as long to do anything since then, I have wished many times I would not have taken it easy Saturday afternoon.  But, I can't change that now.

I did take a few pictures on Saturday.  My husband and Louie hit the computer hard while watching some fishing shows on television.

Louie is such a good worker!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, we're doing some remodeling.  Part of it is having some plumbing replaced under the kitchen sink.  One thing always leads to another.  And just as I get one area straightened up, another one gets messed up.

Because my back had gone out, I was unable to put everything back under the sink.  The last thing I wanted was to get on the floor and not be able to get back up!  When I came in for lunch today, I found that the wire mesh basket containing sponges, dishwashing liquid, packets of plant food, brushes and cleaning solutions had been knocked off on the floor and was scattered everywhere!  That wasn't what I wanted to see and I definitely didn't feel like cleaning it up.  I soon found the culprit in another room playing the innocence act to the hilt...

Chico had made himself comfortable in the den.  It's impossible to stay aggravated at him; he is so funny and lovable.  I just wish he could be trained to pick up after himself!

After lunch, it was time to check on my garden before settling back in to work.  This year I planted three raised bed gardens and also have herbs and tomato plants in several planters.  Hopefully this year will be a good year for the plants!  Two years ago we had too much rain and last year we had a drought.  I am more than ready for some homegrown produce.

Just take a look at this, though.  Around ten days ago, right after I got the raised bed gardens planted, I turned around to see Gracie had found a place to rest.

Evidently the freshly watered plants and cool dirt felt good to her.

The plants survived and are flourishing.

So far no wild critters have eaten the herbs.  I wouldn't mind if they would eat my volunteer crop of Vinca vines, though.

I am so looking forward to tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella sandwiches.  Yum!

In the meantime, I'll continue to keep the gardens weeded as best I can with a sore back.

Also, I'll pick up after Chico when he knocks something over.  You do those things when you love your pets.  They give so much more than what they take.  Providing entertainment is one of those things.  I snapped a picture of Chico taunting the beagles from behind the pet gate.

So, life goes on.  Weeds continue to grow when I don't feel like pulling them.  Mishaps happen when I don't feel like cleaning up a mess.  But, there are always things to smile about and laugh at. 

The good and the not so good go hand in hand on a daily transcendent journey.  Enjoy!



 

  





OUR ANNIVERSARY at THE TRACK

 

OUR ANNIVERSARY at THE TRACK

I look forward to our wedding anniversary for many reasons, but there is one reason in particular.  For the last several years we have celebrated at The Track.  Not just any track...

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Now, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the mother of all 'tracks' and we love to go there each year for Carburetion Day.  The Speedway has many activities going on there, some of which are practice laps for the Indy 500 qualifiers, a concert, a fun zone filled with games and displays, and the Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 race.

There is nothing compared to the thrill of watching racecars drive around that oval track at 200 mph plus!

The finish of the Firestone Freedom Lights 100 was one for the history books!  Four cars abreast at the finish line was AMAZING!

My honey and I had a wonderful time, despite the wind and cool temperatures.  It was great just to spend the day together.

We saw this awesome Camaro in the fun zone area:

What a beautiful work of art.  This next picture tells the story...

Beautiful!

Of course, something else I thought was beautiful was when I placed a pair of our company's
(Solar Bat Sunglasses) sunglasses on the back of a 2013 Indy 500 Pace Car and snapped a picture!

We had a wonderful time and are already looking forward to next year at the track.

Little Swirly didn't get to go with us, but she enjoyed reading all about it.  The excitement wore her out!  :)

There will be much that will happen between now and our next anniversary.  I'm hoping that most of it is good.  I'm looking forward to experiencing it all on this daily transcendent journey!





MID-MAY BALANCING ACT

MID-MAY BALANCING ACT

I love the marvelous month of May!  Leaves on trees, flowers blooming, and baby geese are beautiful sights!

Our geese are growing quickly and are so much fun to watch!  Chico, one of my beautiful cats, finds it more interesting to watch me photograph the geese instead of watching the geese themselves.

This past week has been extremely busy.  And fun.  And productive.  Last Tuesday included a trip to the Indianapolis Museum of Art with some very dear friends.  I am so thankful to Traci for opening my eyes to the amazing world of art!

The gardens on the museum grounds were in full bloom!

Just beautiful!

Remodeling continued this past week on our kitchen.  Progress.  We're getting there!  Just look at how Steve the carpenter displayed his talent!  He wrapped sasafras around the base of the cabinets.  Now, this is another form of art:

Just look at the beautiful woodgrain:

While the remodeling continued, I attended the  Daughters of the American Revolution Indiana State Conference this past weekend.  Meeting new people is always such fun!

And spending time with a few of  the ladies in our local DAR chapter was wonderful, too.

Now, this brings us back to Monday and the weekly balancing act continues.  Work to do.  Life to live.  Fun to enjoy.  Priorities to set.

As I write on this Monday afternoon, cousins are on our lake fishing...

Gracie is napping...

And there is still much work to be done today and this coming week.  Laundry, fundraising for projects and preparing my garden are all going to have to wait for now.  Just as there are shadows and light in this next picture from the museum...

there is as Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, 'a time to every purpose under the heaven.'  BALANCE.

I think it's time for me to take a bike ride on my daily transcendent journey!

A Daily Transcendent Journey: Mother's Day Memories

A Daily Transcendent Journey: Mother's Day Memories: MOTHER'S DAY MEMORIES I miss my mom.  A lot.  She was my best friend. I am so thankful God chose her to be my mother!  E...

Mother's Day Memories

MOTHER'S DAY MEMORIES

I miss my mom.  A lot.  She was my best friend.

I am so thankful God chose her to be my mother!  Even though a few years have passed since she left us for Heaven, I think of her daily and remember...

Upon waking this morning, this scene greeted me.

And this one...

The mist rising off the lake was beautiful and peaceful.  As the mist disappeared, it brought to mind how much our lives are like that mist.  We are only here for a short time.  We really need to enjoy all that life has to offer!

Too often it takes a life or death experience for us to appreciate life.  I can relate.  My mom related.  After her cancer diagnosis, what things were once important no longer were.  Life is good.  The little things in life are often the best.

Speaking of little things, the geese were out and about this morning with their little ones.

They are so cute! 

And so much fun to watch!  I just wish they would 'do their business' somewhere else besides in our yard!

The mother goose and father gander are such good parents.  So protective of their little ones.  It won't be long before the babies are grown and on their own.  But, only after they've learned their life lessons.

I'm so grateful for the life lessons my mother taught me before I 'left the nest'.  And I'm even more grateful for the lessons she continues to teach me through the memories I have of how she lived her life.

As I was cleaning out a desk the other day, I came across this lovely message on a greeting card from American Greetings:

Life is a Journey

Life is a journey

of sweetness and sorrow,

Of yesterday's memories

and hopes for tomorrow,

Of pathways we choose

and detours we face

With patience and humor,

courage and grace,

Of joys that we've shared

and of people we've met

Who have touched us in ways

we will never forget.

I love and miss you Mom!  I always will!

Wishing everyone happiness and peace on this daily transcendent journey!






REMODELING AND MUSHROOMS

REMODELING AND MUSHROOMS!

We are remodeling.  It is long overdue.  I am so excited!

A portion of the half cathedral ceiling has been covered in cedar and we are now working on the kitchen.  Beadboard for the walls with a plate rail atop, wood laminate flooring to replace the carpet, fresh paint and a brand spanking new dishwasher!  All of this is good, but also time-consuming and a lot of hard work.

Along with this comes cleaning out the pantry and cabinets and doing some rearranging.  I'm always looking for ways to simplify and to make things more convenient.  Pictures of the kitchen will be included in future posts.

In the meantime, I have chaos.

My father moved out of the house a month ago that he and my mother had built and lived in for over thirty years.  After my mother passed, we went through some things, but not everything.  Consequently, when the house sold I moved several boxes of things to my house to go through.  So, on top of the disarray we already had, I added more to it. 

I keep telling myself, "Everything will get done.  Things will return to normal".  That is a new mantra of mine.

Also, in the meantime, it is mushroom season in my little corner of Indiana.  For avid mushroom hunters that means for a few weeks the rest of life is put on hold and the quest for the 'gold' is on!  I am one of those people! 

Just when I thought the season was over and it was going to not be very spectacular as far as numbers of mushrooms go, I was pleasantly surprised.  Look at the treasures I found!

I found a total of 73 mushrooms, 71 of which were very, very large.!  Only 2 were tiny.  We weighed them at just a couple ounces shy of five pounds.

Here they are, all cleaned and debugged!

I can't take all the credit, though, for finding them.  My husband called me from his optometry office to tell me he had been talking with the air conditioner repairman.  The repairman said that people were finding mushrooms right and left that day.  Gary said to me, "Get your hunting clothes on and get out there!". 

Thank God for small towns where everyone knows what everyone else is doing!  If I hadn't heard the news, I wouldn't have gone out, and I would have missed out on these!  I had already decided it hadn't been a very good year for them.  Was I ever wrong!

Cleaning out the cabinets came to a halt and my plans for writing were put on hold for the day.  That was okay.  Mushroom season lasts but a short while.  Life happens.  It's important to not allow it to pass you by!  It's important to enjoy scenes like this after a trek in the woods.

And this...

Daily attempting to lay aside the disarray and chaos and concentrating on the important things is sometimes difficult.  But, it's truly worth it.  Despite the imperfections in day to day living, I am thankful to God for this daily transcendent journey.



IT IS WITH A HEAVY HEART...

IT IS WITH A HEAVY HEART...

     It is with a heavy heart I write this morning.  As the reality of what happened yesterday at the Boston Marathon sets in, my heart is breaking for the families of the deceased, the injured and their families, and all the others connected in some way.

     The images on the television haunted me last evening.  I can't even begin to imagine what it was like for the ones in the center of the war zone experiencing personally all the horror.

     But as it is with all of life, there were bright spots.  There were glimmers of hope for the hurting spirits and injured bodies.  People from all walks of life offered their assistance in myriads of ways.  One of the ways some people helped was by removing their belts and using them to help stop the bleeding of an injured fellow human being.  Residents along the race route opened their doors and their hearts to assist runners in any way they could.

     Yesterday was Patriots' Day in Massachusetts.  How fitting.  Out of what was meant for harm, God will bring good.  The spirit that lived in our patriots' hearts during the Revolutionary War period still lives in the lives of Americans today.  Let us join together and in the time to come in suffering with the hurt and at the same time rejoicing that no matter what gets thrown at us, we will overcome!  Evil will not triumph over the good that lives in each of us!