What's Up!!!

Living God - stand by me. Hold me up. Be my strength when I am tired, my inspiration when I am bored, my life when I am listless.

Living God, I cannot always meet the standard expected of me, cannot always be the personality I am known for. Abba, when I fail, Abba when I stumble - stand by me.

I ran across this today and thought, how perfect! 

I have missed not posting... My job has made me sad and too tired to write. But there is light at the end of the tunnel and I can smell freedom, so I thought I would write a little.

Oh! Pickle season has started! These are some of my cuke plants. All those yellow flowers will hopefully be turned into cubes, which in turn will be turned into pickles! We have had so much rain that I'm worried about rot and disease getting a hold of everything. I'm thankful that we have sandy soil that drains well, but enough is enough with all this rain.

I have also been making pesto! Now that is some yummy stuff that you can spread on just about anything. It's so easy to make, here let me give you the recipe that was given to me!

In a food processor put the following:

2 cups loose basil leaves (clean)

1/3 cup pine nuts

2 medium cloves of garlic (more if you love it like me!)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Blend till rough paste

Add 1/2 cup virgin olive oil (extra virgin is best)

blend...with 1/4 tsp salt and a good grind of pepper

put into small container - freeze or eat. Good on chicken, pasta, cracker's with cheese, a spoon, your finger, you name it, it's good on it. It also freezes well and thaws fast an easy. 

We also got gravel, or as Preacher man calls it, rock. This was put down before we got this...

It looked like this....

Here's Preacher man! Oh, look behind him to the left, it's the garden! That wad of green, see it? Not the trees, look lower!

We also did this...

Yes, new driveway! All in all a busy day or 2.

So that's about it, your caught up on this side of the yard. I hope to have more time very soon to post and muse on what's what. Until then, thanks for stepping back into my life!

Peace! 

Random

So, did I tell you it's started?

Yes, we've been invaded by giant jars of pickles! Ok, not really, but the cuke's are starting to come on. Last week we had surprisingly cool weather for July. I think one morning it was 58 degrees, which, by the way, doesn't happen in July in Arkansas! Or at least it didn't use to happen. Just when the plants were kicking into high gear, it get's cold and slows everything down except the mosquitoes. I hope that everything recovers and we start kicking it again real soon.

I got a job,did I tell you? I'm a cashier at a convenient store. I have to admit this is the first job of it's kind for me and I'm excited to add it to the other 986 thousand things I've done to earn money in my life time. Yes, I'm over qualified for this but, what's a girl to do? I'd like to give a shout out to April and Anne..."You taught me everything I know about up selling!"

I ordered a new pair of running shoes on line yesterday. I know right! What am I thinking ordering running shoes on line? Well, it's like this, I can't find anyone to take my feet and go try some on! I was wondering why my feet were hurting me after I ran and then I looked at the bottom of the shoes... They are fixing to turn into work shoes.

Things have truly been calm around here lately! I think it's because my 20 hour a week job is working me close to 38 hours every week and all I can do is fall into bed at night and sleep. Through it all, this is still how I look at most things!

Little People!

Things have taken a strange turn around here and I just have to remark...I got a comment on my last post...and I almost started crying. I feel not only seen, but read! Jan and Roger, you are sorely missed by the Workman's from the earlier day's of Emmaus. 

OK, I'm back! 

Listen, the cuke's are gone. I don't know how else to say it. They got a mildew and poof they were gone. Preacher man and I took them out in bags last weekend and then look what happened!

  

That's what the city refers to as Yard Refuge!

What do you think?

Here's another shot.

See how far it is in the grass?

How do I mow under this?

Wow!

This is me walking, pretty cool huh?

So here's what happened, little people moved these limbs from their yard to my yard. You can bet your bottom dollar I already talked with said little people and they have been warned to keep it on the asphalt.

Dang ole tree limbs in my yard anyway...

  

I did this yesterday! 

Roasted Tomatoes!!!

The woman that gave birth to the little people, as infants, instructed me in this loveliness. 

What's a neighbor to do? 

Neighborhood Watch!

The neighbors are gone to Branson for the week and while they have someone taking care of the place until Thursday at 10 am, which is when our time starts, I still have to keep an eye on things. 

You have to understand, there are more animals at that house than there are people! Let's see, we have Mattie and Dot, which are the 2 dogs, Loki, Scout and Sally which are cats. Wait, disclaimer, Loki is a cat, the other 2 are kitten's. We can't forget my 15 chicken friends, who have names I'm sure, I just don't know them yet.

Part of my job as a neighbor is to take veggy food scrapes to the chicken friends about twice a day, if I have it. If I get there first, I let the girls out of the hen house and almost get stamped with chicken feet as they scamper to the scrapes. 

The other day, we had over an inch of rain fall in like 30 minutes. Both Sally and Scout were outside and Scout literally doesn't have enough sense to get in out of the rain. Sally was under a car. However, these kittens do come when they are called and if it sounds like fun.

Sunday after service, I was standing in the Narthex talking with some folks and I saw Sally run up to the front doors of the church, and kinda stretch on the windows. I thought, Sally... Do you need you some Jesus?

I didn't take the opportunity to explain the Roman Road to Sally, however, I did pick her up and carry her back to the yard she is suppose to be staying in.

On a sad note, my cuke's have mildew and it looks like the pickling will be coming to an abrupt halt.       

Lesson's from Ava!

I was watching my friend Ava the other day, and I asked myself the question; When did I stop believing in myself? What happened and when did it happen? All I know is I started believing what others thought was right and what I knew was wrong? Ava has a song going on in her head at all times. She talks to flowers, dogs, chickens and people in a way that makes them all feel special. Then, she turns and does a little leap with a few circles, and off she goes.

I can do that, but at times, it's hard, because I've believed the lie that I'm wrong and they are right. It's like my self worth is wrapped up in what people think. The killer is they are the unimportant people in my life! So why and when does this happen?

I guess I heard it somewhere, Oh what do you know your; too young, a girl, unset, immature, too old, uneducated, too educated, new, too emotional. The long and short of it is, yes, at one time or another, all of these things have been or are true. Then I remembered something, I am the beloved! The most precious child of the King! The only thing that matters is I listen to His voice and what he has to say about me.

It's hard at times, cuz everyone else's voice is louder and their remarks are not nice and it just hurts. So, I'm having a small pity party for myself, but it started last week. I'm thinking it's time to be done with it and get on with the real matters at hand. Picking cuke's making pickles, changing the sign, having a lunch meeting, and meeting a friend after work. I need to decompress and talk to my dog, my plants, feed my chicken friends, do a little leap and a few circles and off I go!  

Game Changer!

I've got a list as long as my arm of things that need to be done, and then I remember I have to change the church sign! Oh bother! I'll just run through the garden before I do that...

This is a game changer people! Let the craziness begin! I just bought all the dill that Wal-Mart had, must get to Kroger's.

On a side note folks, Posts may be few and far between for a while, or I might just have to share in this crazy pickle making time!  

Canape'

It's happening again! I say that like it happens all the time, when in-fact, I can't remember the last time it really did happen. Let me think on that a minute... Wow, I guess it never has happened like this so maybe I'm just saying it's happening again to sound like I know what I'm taking about. Let me splane.

I've been growing things for a long time. When Preacher man and I left Colorado, I had to leave behind plants I had been growing, longer than I had known him! It's just something that I love to do and the fact of the matter, I'm good at it. Let me get back to what's happening.

The canapé! When you plant in rows, there comes a time when the plants start to cover up the row where you would walk. This is good, because it cuts down on the weeds, and water needed. When you grow in a raised bed, this isn't a big issue. 

This is the raised bed garden Preacher man made for me in Wilmore KY. No real canapé issues going on here, cuz the plants are growing up the fence.

 This is the garden a few weeks ago. See the weeds and the space between the plants?

This is the garden this morning! I know, your impressed huh? In the middle pic, do you see the fences posted Preacher man put up for me? The precious cucumber plants will grow up the fence and I will TRY to direct them to the back of the garden, towards Sonya's house, and from there onto another fence that runs around the yard. What's the point again? Oh yeah, canapé! See in the last picture where the cuke's have climbed up the fence? This is two rows coming together and they have created a canapé. I will not have to weed there until the plants die in the winter!

What I started out saying about it's happening again is also about how the cuke's are reaching out to the beans and the tomatoes, and if I stand there long enough...ME!