week end musings

the weather is simply fantastic with promise of more up into friday...

everything is putting on a mad burst of growth!

saturday we had the annual church picnic

(no pics).

last evening we had friends over

and ate on the back deck.

i used lime light flowers around the light fixture...

and lighted candles wherever i could.

'twas a lovely, lovely evening,

and we chatted around the table til 9:30.

  one of my house rules for company is...

we visit - the dishes wait!


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- from the pulpit -

We are not humans having a spiritual experience -
we are spiritual beings having a human experience.

...Blessedness!

ox

picture of the week

Morning Light

Sycamore tree at the Stoltzfus home.


...blessedness!

ox

pitiful hydrangea

When I bought this hydrangea, it was gor-ge-ous! I was lured by the purplish-black stems and by its dusty rose-pink flower. I found a place for it by the millstone bubbler, but  wanted it behind the bubbler and moved it again.

This spring I moved it over to the fish pond, splitting it into three, envisioning a glorious background of hydrangeas. I knew I was taking a chance by planting it in the sun, but the info did say 'sun to partial shade.'

WELL!

It soon looked like this...really, really suffering from tooooo much sun! Today I moved it the third time. It's now over on the east side of the gazebo, after giving away the hostas that were there. I'm hoping it will get enough protection from the afternoon sun and will fill my expectations.

                             

My theme song is...'There's always next year!' I'll give this at least one more summer and hope it will produce more than a few pinched flowers and burned, ugly leaves! Hydrangeas can be a rather complex and confusing plant to care for and I will be posting more about them in the near future.

...happy gardening!

ox

featured house

this summer, for six weeks, due to the owners absence,

i was responsible to keep only the flower beds clean

at a privately owned residence.

others were responsible for the edging/mowing/general upkeep

of the property,

and i felt honored to be able to do this.

 they did a fabulous job of mulching and other prep work

before they left that it felt more like taking a walk in a park,

and pulling a few weeds now and then,

than it did actual work.

this is taken from the street and when they bought the house,

it couldn't be seen from the street due to an enormous amount of undergrowth.

it's a three-storied house with elderly residences living on the third floor,

whom had already been living there before they purchased it.

they've also recently remodeled the basement into vacation rentals for families.

 the design of the grounds are beautiful

and the owners are in the process of renting it for outdoor weddings.

at this wedding,

the bride chose these steps for the bridal entrance...

walking down to this!

 a ceremony by the creek in the back of the property.

pure romance!

notice the house on top right corner of the steps picture...

this area is the third level of the property.

the tent was set up on the second level.

the Stoltzfus' did a beautiful job of transforming this old Victorian home

into a livable, lovely place of beauty!

...blessedness!

ox

week end musings

friday evening i had a tea for the girls.

cute but a little cheezy! :)

they fed the fish...

played dress-up...

and hugged grandma!

we ate fruit,

and cupcakes.

the big girls were here as well but failed to take pictures of them!

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there was a local hot air balloon festival on saturday evening.

i babysat B while his daddy was helping with a fire fighter activity 

(his mommy was at the beach).

watching the balloons going up...love that look!

train intensity...love that look, too!

there was a 'to scale' train there, giving children rides,

but B wasn't impressed with that at all...

he liked the balloons and the no sugar papaya popsicle better!

night time light-up.

fun evening!

***********************

- from the pulpit -

Temptation is not sin -
but a call to a battle...
a test to strengthen us
so we can grow.

...blessedness!

ox

picture of the week

The Web

...blessedness!

ox

around the gardens

Remember this post and this post on rooting roses? Of the many advantages in starting plants this way, one can 'do it and forget it' which is what I did. One day, walking past it, I noticed a tallish plant inside the cloche and, sure enough, a cutting was growing...so exciting! Now one can brag for years to come about a plant one started!
Seriously, it is a satisfying feeling! :)

Two out of three starts...wonderful! Now I have two thornless Zepherines roses to plant or give away. The hydrangea cutting is still alive but not any bigger than the day I put it in. The New Dawn rose has produced two new shoots that look great, but I did think more than that would root. (oops...never mind my lovely toes!)

The Nelly Mosier clematis I trimmed back to six inches is blooming again.

And the water iris' are loving the heat and blooming like mad!

And this? Well, it's a gift that keeps on giving! I'm pulling this away about every ten days. And check out the roof! Remember I said it would grow into your house?! Wisteria LOVES heat and it grows QUICKLY in it...it will need its third haircut but only because I didn't give cuts earlier so technically, it should be its fourth or fifth. Never mind all the growth coming out of its foot! But it does give nice shade and the flower pods turn into a conversation piece and every now and then it throws off another flower. 

Am I whining? Complaining? KINDA! It's still in a love/hate relationship!

After the twilight tour, I went into a kind of gardening slump coming from a bag of mixed feelings before and a 'now-its-over' hangover. It was hot and dry, my yard looked terrible from the fungus and just a general feeling of 'garden blahs.' Yesterday, I ran an errand down to DIL M and Shawn, bless his heart! wondered if there's something he could do for me. He mowed the grass which hadn't been mowed since the day of the tour and moved the sandbox back. Thank you, thank you, Shawn!

We've had beautiful rains after three weeks of hot and dry, the grass is over seeded and I feel inspired again!

The sparrows are gobbling something in this area...hopefully it's bugs and not the grass seed! :) Such is the life of the a gardener! :)

...happy gardening!

ox

chalkboard easel

remember this lovely easel i found at Cottonwood House?
i wanted to use it on the twilight tour
and decided to make a chalkboard to fit the size of the easel.
i started with a stray piece of floor underlayment.
(i think i'll create a sign from the warranty section!)

i primed it with kilz,
then spray painted it with chalkboard paint.
using moulding and scrollwork from HD,
i made a frame for it.
because of the obvious marks from the clamps,
i poked random 'pinworm' holes in it, using an icepick.

after finishing it i discovered the scrollwork
 interfered with the scrolly top of the easel...

so i flipped it upsidedown.

i finished the back off with burlap

(should have primed it first - it would have stuck better).

i used it for the tour to post the credits.

and the menu for the give-away tea...

...which was a fun-filled evening!

when it's not in use otherwise,

it's back in the corner of the livingroom,

with quotes on it to give me food-for-thought reminders!

...blessedness!

ox

linking up to Beyond the Picket Fence under $100 party

.whisperwoodcottage chalk-talk-linky-party-april-16-30link.html

I've been thinking...

A good marriage is hard work! I don't know how to word it any other way. It's so easy to lose the way! It gets lost in child-rearing, jobs, the mundane-ness of life, the 'outside-of-the-home' responsibilities...the list goes on. We are easily offended, allowing our imagination to run away; we use the silent treatment to show our hurt. We fill our lives with 'stuff' to fill the emptiness within ourselves, or worse yet, to keep us from dealing with the issues which we 'hope will just go away'...yes, it's sooo easy to lose the way!  

I've been thinking about this a lot, mostly because of where hubs and I were at. In this past month, I heard a message on relationships within the Church but applied it to marriage because it fits well to both. Several days later a blog I follow threw this challenge out from a book he was reading...please, take the time to read it...it's worth it!

These are the points from the message:

- marriage is always at risk

- love will always be tested

- commitment goes far

- use respect

- it takes effort to keep it alive

- Satan will never let up

- my personal issues will affect others

- there is no room for personal pride in resolving issues

- focus on how to turn the 'heat' down so life can be enjoyed

- am I a builder or a destroyer, an encourager or a discourager?

- check my own spirit and let God fight the battle

None of the above are easy to do. We want so much to live out of defense instead of allowing Jesus to be our Defender. Will we always come out vindicated? No, we won't. But can we at peace with the outcome? Yes, I truly believe we can if we live in the power of the last point.

My prayer for you is...

...blessedness!

ox

jams and pickles

last week i won my first give-away at Old Charm.

Michael makes jams...not merely any kind of jams,

but new combinations to experiment with.

the jams in this give-away are

Black and Blueberry and Blueberry.

four delicious smelling candles from Bridgewater were included.

Michael dressed the jam jars up beautifully!

and, of course, i needed to sample the jam!

de-lish-ious!

thank you, Michael!

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today, i finished three batches of seven-day sweet pickles.

this recipe is simple and delicious and comes from DIL M's family

and are hubs' favorite.

winter goodness!

...blessedness!

ox