Long Ramble, and The Weekend

Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. Song of Songs 2:12

I was writing in my journal the other day and the Lord allowed some interesting memories to surface - about flowers. Sometimes it seems to me that I've become rather obsessed with blooms, that this is a new thing in me and where did it come from? But then I started thinking back...

 MK painted this yesterday

 As a 9 or 10 year old, perhaps, I can remember looking eagerly in the early spring for those first daffodils. At my growing-up home, there was a spot in the back yard by some large rocks where a little clump of daffodils always came up. Then there were a few along the back fence, and another small grouping in the front yard, close to the street. Most of these daffodils were yellow on yellow variety, but there were a few special, smaller ones that were white with yellow centers. I was always careful not to pick all the flowers, but I definitely brought a few in every few days to put in vases.

That reminded me that there were also a few lonely tulips that bloomed out front, too, close to the street. And how mom always reminded me to watch for forsythia to open up, and flowering quince, too, as they were the earliest bloomers of spring where I grew up.

After my mental tour of the yard of my childhood - which was an unexpected sweetness - my mind skipped to my Grandmom's house and yard. She had more daffodils than we did. Called them jonquils and she always had them in vases and drinking glasses in her house. When I went to see her, and jonquils were in bloom, she always sent me home with some, their cut ends wrapped in wet paper towels. And over the last few days, I remembered the way that Grandmom always grew tomatoes every summer and how she used her old "stockings" (pantyhose...knee highs, actually!) to tie the tomato plants to the fence to keep them stable. She loved to refer to her cherry tomatoes as "TommyToes." Grandmom had a spunky cuteness to her.

 View out of my kitchen window earlier today

All of that recollecting made me realize that my love affair with flowers is nothing new. It's just the taking photos of them that is a somewhat recent change. I used to go to my hometown's botanical gardens when I needed to escape and recharge mentally. Even got engaged there (did my guy know my heart or what?)! And here, we've found a hidden garden of sorts that we start visiting in early spring to see what's blooming. How happy I am that the Lord created flowers and allows me to enjoy them!

On a different note, I'm curious to know what you are doing these days to fill your heart and mind with Truth.

Right now, I'm still reading through the Bible, ever-so-slowly. This puts me in the gospel of Matthew. As I read, especially the words of Christ Himself, I'm trying to remind myself: this is GOD speaking. He came out of His heaven, down here to us, to me, and lived. He spoke and taught and loved and set straight and healed and redeemed....Emmanuel. God with us. Still with us, with me.

Oh, do persevere in eating up God's Word. It is the Food He has given us for our souls: Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Matthew 4:4

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Thanks for reading these ramblings...especially rambly today...as we near the end of the school year, my brain is indeed tired, gasping for a breath, a break! Here are photos of our weekend:

When I went to buy flowers for our front flower bed, I couldn't resist buying a few tomato plants. This necessitated a place to plant them. Learned the hard way right after we moved here that they wouldn't make it in our back yard soil. I was thinking 5 gallon bucket. Mr. Handyman was thinking raised bed. I'm so proud of him: he designed one, got the supplies and built it, all in like 12 hours or something.

The kids (ours, and a few extras from the neighborhood) had such a blast w/the wood leftovers, nails, hammers, and paint. Some of the neighbor kids even helped out. It was such a novelty to them to see BB out front with the saw and wood and later, with a trailer-load of dirt!

The finished raised bed, empty compost bins (all that stinky goodness went at the bottom of the bed), a helper, and a very excited MK to the left, who'd found a large number of roly polies and was putting them in a mixing bowl.

Planter box outside my kitchen window, filled with plants and flowers for the spring and summer. The long ivy has been there a year. It survived the fall and winter just fine.

Sunflowers, cilantro, four tomato plants, basil, hooray! And prayers, asking the Lord to bless and care for our tiny little garden...

27.5 weeks. Saw my shadow and decided to play with it. Had BB's cowboy working-outside hat on.

One more: MK loving on baby, headless me

Mercies everywhere:

141 a house to call home

142 food

143 clothing

145 able bodies, the blessing of good health for all of us

146 CA, who likes to "uncover the baby" and watch for movement inside my big, round belly...she runs the back of her hand back and forth over it, asking, "Yo baby moving?" and "Is yo baby awake?"

147 rhom-diss - this is what CA calls a rhombus shape

148 paint blobs on the kitchen table and the hands that made them (and yes, I fought some irritation when cleaning them off, but turned my thoughts to thank Him who gave me these little artists)

149 feeling my belly, trying to feel the baby...sometimes baby zips away from my touch, other times baby lies still and lets me love on him/her

150 the bluing of the morning...when I get up, it's dark, and every few minutes, I glance up to see the changing shades from black, to blue, to sunrise...

151 life in the backyard, growing, greening, hope and promise and "oh how will it all do?"

152 from Monday: They are out in the sunny sunshine, pretending Jack and the Beanstalk. School's NOT getting started. My helper dropped a glass mixing bowl. Ever pay attention to the pretty sound broken glass makes when you sweep it up? Cleaning that up got me started on a whole-kitchen cleanup, something I usually put off till school is done...this was therapy. God knew I needed it. Cleaned and prayed, cleaned and cried. Mom called. More therapy. She's so good to listen. They are playing and imagining and it is good. All is well. All is really well. Just a slightly weepy day, and that's okay.

153 MK's sunrise (photo at very top): she painted it in a crazy, creative whirl, using kitchen utensils like a silicone basting brush, and said,"It's a sunrise, with two trees, for when you don't have a sunrise to look at."

154 the days when I'm able to conjure up a warm lunch for the kids...just seems kind of extra special