A Little Bit of Heaven

There's something about sharing a garden that makes it even more special, more beautiful. It's February - almost March - and you would think that there isn't anything to share right now. The garden is dormant. It is asleep under a layer or rich taupes and grays, under sleeping earth and grass gone to browns. The vegetables beds are waiting with their rich covers of deep, dark earth for the seeds and seedlings. But there is promise among the quiet slumber.

Yesterday, my friend Annette (of Annie's Gleanings - the link to her blog is at the bottom of mine) came over. When she got out of her car, I took her on a tour of the yard and showed her the progress we'd made on the vegetable gardens. We walked back to the area. The beds, with the exception of the last large 12 x 12, are filled with earth and waiting. She asked me what I wanted to plant, and suddenly I was painting pictures in the air of the wonderful plants I would grow. Corn, beans, spinach, Swiss Chard, lettuce, radishes, and herbs...wonderful herbs...an entire bed of herbs for tea, healing and flavoring. Strawberries and melons. Broccoli and Brussels sprouts. She told me of the merits of owning a dehydrator. I've been on the fence about getting one, trying to wait until the organic fruit orchard began bearing. I know we'll need one to dry apples and other fruits, since there's no way I'm going to be able to preserve the entire harvest. I usually sun dry my herbs, but Annette convinced me to get a dehydrator. I could also try some of those raw food cracker recipes....we also talked about the wonders of sprouting seeds, how delicious sprouts are and how healthy, too.

Next, we turned back to the house. I described the two new flower beds John wants to put in. We hope to finish the patio this year, and then the area between the patio and the kitchen will get a flower bed. My secret desire is to put a pond, fountain, and a statue there - I want a serene water feature so that I can sit on the patio and listen to the gurgle of water. I've always wanted a fish pond, but I'm not sure how wise that would be out in the country. I have a feeling I'll be feeding the local wildlife more than enjoying my koi or goldfish!

As we turned to go in through the front of the house, I showed her the new porch railing. Her son, Philip, is the one who helped my husband put up the railing. How gifted he is, I murmured. How talented.

The area next to the walkway will get daisies. I collected seeds last year, and they're growing like mad.

I forgot to give Annette some seeds before she left. There is nothing closer to heaven on earth for me than sharing my garden, even in the dead of winter. And sharing it with a friend is even better.

Satire or Reality?

My brother in law loves to post wacky stories from The Onion. These satirical pieces often skirt quite close to reality, but with a twist. While I sometimes chuckle at these pieces (today's topic - video games are preparing kids for the apocalypse), I wonder how many people take them seriously. I'm always appalled at how gullible many people are when it comes to the news. It's as if an anchorman or woman reads the teleprompter and all common sense flies out the window. Stories are slanted to praise or denigrate; rarely are serious issues explored. Perhaps television can't do that. I'm not sure. I'm not a huge television fan and I don't watch all that much, maybe an hour or less a day. I just wish people could be more discerning with what they hear.

Oh, and economics needs to be taught at school, starting in kindergarten. It's really an amazing lens through which to view the world, and highlights so many fallacies in public policy. So many people are like rats in a maze, blindly following along until they find cheese.

Off to spend time with a friend this morning, then hopefully will write more for my clients later today. One of my new clients is very happy with my articles, and I'll be posting a link to them here. They are all about raw foods, natural weight loss, and similar topics. I'm a bit tired not just from being out late last night at Mass, but also because Shadow was crying and scratching her ears again at 1 a.m. It took us a while to figure out the problem and find the ear flush medication from the vet. Today she seems better. She has one floppy or "lazy" ear as they call it, and it gets infected periodically. I'm convinced that for whatever reason, the floppiness adds to her problems. Poor dog walks around with her head tilted to the side, shaking it, and it takes us a while to get whatever gunk is trapped in there out. I wish I could tell her in a way she understands that we want her to feel better and that flushing her ear out will make her feel well again.

Peppermint Candy

Today is Ash Wednesday, where Christians around the world mark the beginning of Lent. Catholics are required to fast today - only a little bit of food before dinner, no sweets, no eating between meals.

I'm about to be done in by peppermint candy.

I always have peppermints at my desk. I have never been without a peppermint candy. As a teenager, when I began riding horses, we used these candies as horse treats, so I carried them around in my pockets. Later on, I'd have an occasional mint. Soon it got to be a habit. At every job, I'd keep a small dish of Starlite mints on my desk. Now that I'm self employed, I always have a bag of them in my desk drawer.

But it's Lent, so I banished the candies to a jar in the living room, away from my office and out of sight. I gave sweets up for Lent. Now I sit here and pine for them.

Out of sight, but not out of mind.

It's amazing how I can barely function without thinking about a piece of candy. How much has this candy ruled my life? Why am I giving such power to a small disk of sugar?

How can I complain about this when people are starving?

What power our cravings have over us....

Working in a Zoo

I'm so far behind in my work that by necessity, I can only write here a bit, and then I must get to work on some client projects. My fault, really - I was so distracted yesterday I closed up shop early and went downstairs to read my book. I never read my book. I took Shadow and Pierre outside and we played for a while. Then we all enjoyed our Mardi Gras supper, which turned out great (thanks for the recipe, Patty!): beef short ribs, potato salad and corn. My father in law never compliments my cooking, but he told John (after I left the room of course) that he loved the potato salad. I felt like I won the lottery.

While I work, the pets are playing all around me. They were laying quietly by the heater for a bit, but now they are chasing each other all around. John said yesterday, "This isn't an office, it's a zoo!"

We often say "work was a zoo today!" Now I really do work in a zoo!

Off to write, and fit some cleaning in between, before heading out to sing tonight. I managed to sit down and practice a bit of the harmonies last night, so hopefully I'll remember them later.

Now for some photos of the zoo - Pierre, with the new porch railing, and Shadow playing ball. They bring so much joy to my life. Crazy little pets!

Visiting Sunday

Yesterday did indeed turn into a super Sunday. When I was a child, Sundays were 'visiting days.' My grandmother (Mom's mom) lived with us, and she was one of eleven children, with most of her siblings alive and living nearby. Each Sunday, cars would pull up to the house and my aunts, uncles, great aunts and great uncles would visit, or if no one came, we would pile into the car as a family and go to the duck pond to feed the ducks, or play in the playground. Sundays were family days. Mornings were filled with church, then a big fancy dinner at 1pm, then visiting or family time together.

Visiting Sundays were my favorite, though. I'd sit at the feet of all the greats - Aunt Flossie, Aunt Alice, Aunt Bernadette, Uncle Gene, and Uncle Clarence, when he came in from Florida or Cutchoque. Sometimes Aunt Lucille would come too, or Aunt Mary, my mom's sisters. Coffee and cake, lots of stories, and some fun. And the stories! I loved to listen to the older folks talk, especially Aunt Flossie. Boy could she tell a good story. Just thinking about her now, I can hear her special laugh - gleeful - "hee hee hee!" - she was one of the happiest, most joyful people I ever remember meeting in my life.

The activities yesterday reminded me exactly of those magical Sundays from my childhood - and later on, my sister mentioned them too. After church I stopped by Patty and Ron's house. Patty surprised me by having her good china out and a pineapple upside down cake on the table. I was overwhelmed by her generosity and we had a wonderful time just hanging out and chatting about our animals and the farm. Ron was out spreading manure, but he joined us later. It was so warm and cozy in their beautiful dining room, and we sat and talked for a wonderful long time. As soon as I got home, the phone rang - and it was my oldest sister, Mary. Soon we have an hour of "visiting" by phone. Mary said, "Do you remember when we were kids - visiting Sundays? Now we do them by phone." It was like getting warm hugs all through the phone lines. She also made my day by saying she was planning to visit us over the summer. That made me so happy, more happy than anything. My mind was spinning with all the things I want to share with her about my new life here in Virginia.

The rest of the day was pleasant but uneventful. I began reading two new books. I have two already going, the original writings of St. Francis and St. Clare, and a book of Medieval Poetry in modern translation. Both are kind of heavy going, so put them aside - there's only so much Medieval writing I can take, even if it is Saint Francis and Clare, and most of the book is actually commentary on their writing, which is okay, but I'd prefer just to read the saints' original thoughts.

One of the new books John thought I should read and gave it to me. It is called "Economic Facts and Fallacies" and spells out all the misconceptions the media spreads about the economy. It's heavy reading for me, but he enjoys explaining the economic stuff to me (that was his major in college). The second book is G.K. Chesterton's "The Everlasting Man." It's the book that convinced C.S. Lewis to turn from atheism to Christianity. I'm enjoying that more, although Chesterton is taking his time spelling out his argument.

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Deacon Peter preached at church yesterday. He always looks like my mental picture of the prophet Isaiah - I described him to John as "thundering, like Isaiah must have, when he really gets going". And strangely enough, he focused yesterday's homily not on the gospel of Mark, but on the first reading, Isaiah 43, specifically verses 18-28.

You know a homily is good when not only do you pay attention, but the gist of it sticks in your head. I can't get this one out of my head. The past couple of weeks, the readings all focus on Jesus' healing miracles, with his emphasis on forgiving sins - and then people being healed. I'm probably not going to explain this right, but Deacon Peter preached not on the gospel of the paralytic lowered int to see Jesus, but on the true conclusion to forgiveness of sins: forgetting the sin. His point about the gospel story was that Jesus asks the assembled crowd which is more difficult - getting a paralyzed man to walk, or forgiving a sin? Unfortunately, truly forgiving one another is actually harder.

Deacon Peter pointed us to Isaiah 43: 25 - "I, even I, am He Who blots out and cancels your transgressions, for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins."

We say we forgive others, but if we keep remembering it, and turning the hurt over and over in our minds, have we really forgiven the other person? When we confess our sins, and we ask for absolution, it is freely given - but do we continue to hold that sin to our hearts and beat ourselves up over it, or do we forget it? If God forgets our sins, shouldn't we forget others sins against us and move on and away from our own?

All through Mass, all I could think of was a long list of people who I supposedly have forgiven. But I knew I really hadn't, because their stories - their transgressions if you will - rattle around in my head. A friend of mine used to say about someone who had wronged her, and who she couldn't get out of her mind, "That person is taking up way too much space in my head". I wonder how many people I haven't really released the way I want God to release me from my faults? They've not only rented space in my head, they've moved in and built four bedroom houses to stay for the long haul. I think I need to evict them. Help them move on, if you will. Maybe pack their bags and show them the door.

If we look back at Isaiah 43, God is saying essentially - look, it's not the great things you've done (the offerings you make to me) but I'm choosing to forgive you. And I don't look back on what you've done. Once you're forgiven, that's that.

So if God doesn't look at our pasts, but once we are forgiven, He only looks at now and the fresh possibilities...shouldn't we do the same with our brothers and sisters here on earth now?

I think I've got to revisit my mental "list" this Lent and let some stuff go....

Have a beautiful day!

Super Sunday

Quick post today as I'm running behind. I overslept, which is really unusual for me...I'm usually up with the dawn. Shadow, my German Shepherd, woke me up at 4 am, then I fell back asleep around 5 and didn't wake up until 7. I quickly raced her outside for her walk, made my father in law his Sunday pancake breakfast, and hurried to package up some seeds for my friend Patty. I'll be heading out to church, then stopping at Patty's on the way home. I'm giving her a whole bunch of seeds I collected last year - marigolds, coreopsis, gaillardia, and yellow and white daisies. The daisy seeds are wonderful. I started a tray of them and they're all sprouting. Patty's got more free range eggs for me and booklets she picked up on tree farming. The picture here is the last group of eggs she gave me - they were so pretty I had to take a picture!

We're trying to figure out how to care for the rest of the loblolly here and whether or not we'll eventually cut it down and put in more pastures and a barn. We just aren't sure. We love our woods so much, but if we have a choice we'll probably plant more hardwoods to get some mixed forest in there. More birds and wildlife. Speaking of wildlife we had about a dozen beautiful deer in our driveway this morning. They raced onto Janelle's property next to us, which is still undeveloped woods. I hope hunting season is over and they are safe.

After I get home today I'll probably catch up with my New York friends by phone. Katie is recovering from surgery. Sue I haven't heard from in ages, which probably means her kids are alternating various sicknesses. They're kingergarten and preschool and pick up every bug known to creation at that age...and then there's Eleanor, who's been on my mind. I miss her wit and wisdom and her warm hugs, but I'll have to settle for some via email.

If time permits, I'm working on a Lenten cookbook that I plan to self publish as an ebook. I've collected all my recipes I've come up with for meatless and vegetarian meals to eat during Lent, and I want to publish it and offer it free as a download, with some donations accepted. Not sure yet where I'll donate the money to if anyone donates....got to think about that one! But the cookbook has been something my family has asked me to do, and others have expressed an interest, so I'll try to work a bit on that.

Enjoy your Sunday, whatever it brings you!

S

Waiting for Spring Part II

This time of year always gets to me. I'm in a sort of weird doldrums, a holding pattern. It's as if some part of me is hibernating through the last part of winter and another yearns for spring. The closest I can get to describing this feeling is that which I get when I'm in between good books. Do you know what I mean by that? It's when you put down a spine-tingling, page turning book...or one that at least holds your undivided attention, so beautifully written you don't want it to end. But it does, and you're left wandering around the house seeking the next book to read, and nothing comes close to the one you just finished, so you kick the sofa like a petulant child, watch endless cartoons because the news is so depressing, and hope your next order from Amazon comes soon!

Wait...that just described last evening. I live in a house full of books but couldn't find anything to read, which probably speaks more to my state of mind than anything else. If Monk hadn't been on, there would have been nothing to do (and darn it but they are ending the show! Another quality program gone...what am I going to watch now?).

Seriously, I can't watch the news, even my friends over at Fox. It's too upsetting. Nothing makes sense anymore. The expression "the lunatics are running the asylum" comes to mind. I feel like I am living in a George Orwell novel. Here are my top crazy-making news stories this week, leaving out the stimulus package and Owe-bama, as my brother in law calls him.

1. The Chimp Attack. Horrific. I can't get the image of the poor woman who was attacked out of my mind, and thankfully the media has spared us any photos of the crime scene. The crazy moment: One of my former coworkers felt so sorry for the chimp she had to email me at great length about the poor animal and the mean police. Um, what? I'm an animal lover, sometimes vegetarian, and passionate about compassion to animals BUT...people come first. What about the woman who lost her face and her hands? Why was I not sent any "ban wild animals from people's homes" petitions? Craziness is putting animal rights before people rights. Craziness is keeping a wild beast in your home and just because he's cute, think he's tame. Animals behave as animals are meant to behave, and chimps apparently have 10 x the strength of humans. Yes, I feel sorry for the chimp, but not half as sorry as the lady who's life is ruined by the selfishness of someone who just 'had' to keep a wild animal as a pet. Keep a goldfish. They are less likely to bite people.

2. The Octuplet Mom. I want to throw up every time I read this story. First we have an unwed mother who can't work, so she is on welfare. She had six children by in vitro fertilization. She is on disability because of a work related injury and got some sort of settlement money. Lives with her parents crammed into a three bedroom home. Some of the six children are disabled. This woman already has problems on top of problems. Instead of focusing on her six kids and getting her life in order, here's the kicker: she wants more kids. She shows up at this fertility clinic waving a fistful of dollars. A doctor puts eight embryos into her. This same doc, mind you, who doesn't mind taking her $100,000 for the task, told his own assistant to abort her baby because 'she couldn't afford to have another kid'. Are you following this? He also violated some sort of ethics rule by implanting eight children. Now we have the eight little babies born prematurely. Mom can't handle it. Who could? Nobody can handle having eight infants at once. That's why God gives us one, two, and once in a blue moon, maybe three naturally. NOT EIGHT. Now mom is 1) on welfare and living on our tax dollars 2) overwhelmed 3) has 14 mouths to feed 4) her poor parents are facing foreclosure for some reason and oh, don't forget the smirking doc who's laughing all the way to the bank.

Oh but wait! She's hired a publicist! Book deals, movie deals, television appearances...that should fatten up her bank account quite nicely.

I am so overwhelmed every time I hear this story I don't know which way to turn. I alternately feel angry at this selfish, crazy woman; sorry for the babies; and furious at the doctor. And then I just feel depressed by a society that breeds this madness.

Before people start ranting that I'm suggesting she should have aborted any of the fetuses or unborn embryos: No. What I'm saying is that if she yearned for children she had many options available to be around children, foster children, and love children. Her actions were selfish. She is denying her children a father. On top of that, if she is unwed, on welfare and disability, and living with her parents. She is selfish all around. Selfish towards her parents, who now have to shoulder this burden they did not want, and selfish towards her babies. If she so yearned for children there were many options for her to care and nurture children that did not involve bringing fourteen people into the world that she is in no position to care for.

3. Nancy Pelosi and the Pope. Here's another one that's made me nauseous, not for actions by the Holy Father, but Ms. Pelosi's amazing chutzpah. She goes to a meeting with the Holy Father and shows up with pictures of her grandchildren as if this somehow mitigates the thousands of children who are dead because of laws she's supported. It's as if she's say, "see I like kids!" Is this supposed to impress him or change his mind? If you are a Catholic, he is your leader. He supposedly gave her a warning about her behavior. Goodness, Ms. Pelosi, are you awake? Don't fluff this one off.

Now here's the kicker: Troll the backwaters of the internet and look for the dialogue surrounding the Pelosi-Pope story. Make sure you do this with a roll of antacids in hand. Aside from the usual crazy vitriol launched at Catholics and Pope Benedict himself, if I hear one more person use relativist nonsense to defend Pelosi I'm going to scream. Relativist nonsense goes like this: "Nancy Pelosi is a servant of the people, and therefore she has to vote what the people want, so if the people want abortions on demand, it's her duty to vote that way."

We cannot be cafeteria-Catholics or cafeteria-style-whatevers. We cannot pick and choose beliefs like food at a buffet, following ideas which we like and leaving behind those we don't. If you say you're Catholic, be Catholic. If you say you're whatever, be whatever. Jesus didn't give us the option of picking which of his statements to follow like we can pick green beans or peas at the buffet line at Golden Corral.

In today's selfish, moral relativism, crazy feminist and me-me-me society, standing up for what you believe as a brother or sister in Christ, as a Catholic or whatever religion you are, is really hard. But we cannot allow ourselves the luxury of moral relativism. There are some truths out there that transend all religions too, like a respect for human life and dignity, and we must uphold these at all costs if our society will stand.

See what happens when I let myself post what I want? Bet you wish I went back to waxing poetic about my seeds, huh?

Gratitude

Some days, I wake up just so grateful for everything that I don't quite know what to do with it all. Yesterday, John and Philip finished off the front porch. The weather was frightful, a cold, wet mixture of sleet and driving rain, coupled with wind, yet the guys worked tirelessly from 9 to 4 and finished up the beautiful porch. It's like I now have another room to the house. With the wide porch, ceiling fans, and railing in place we can easily entertain out there this summer. We're going to let it weather for the first year, then paint it white. I am so grateful to both Philip and John for their hard work. It looks beautiful and is really my 'dream' for the front of the house.

Yesterday morning, I got an email from my Aunt Janice in Maryland. Janice is married to my dad's brother, Arthur. He has been very sick this year, and she said he is not well at all. He cannot recover and is in heart failure. He has had many bypass surgeries and everything modern medicine can do for him, and all possiblities are exhausted. She asked for prayers, so I sent out the call for prayers to friends over at New Life Assembly of God, Trinity Mennonite, and into my own church, St. Theresa's. I was so surprised when my pastor called me not half an hour after I emailed into the main church mailbox asking for Uncle Arthur to be put on the prayer line. Why was I surprised? In New York, our pastors never knew who we were, much less called us when things were going on. Yes, in Floral Park, it was a little different, but I think that was because both of my parents were so involved with the church that the priests knew us. I don't blame the priests back in the churches in New York. With two or three full time priests and huge parishes with seven to ten masses on Sundays and thousands of parishioners, they were lucky if they knew you by sight...it's just sheer numbers. Nobody can keep up with that. I'm grateful that our pastor took the time to call me and talk to me a bit about Uncle Arthur. I was a bit embarassed at how my voice kept cracking. It was mostly because Uncle Arthur brings up memories of my dad, and that's sometimes too painful for me. Arthur and my dad did not get along, and they fought about religion, mostly. Arthur left the Catholic church and is now anti Catholic...to say the least. My dad and he fought about many things and were never really reconciled. My aunt has been great at trying to reconnect, and to tell you the truth, none of us kids - neither me nor my brothers or sisters - ever blamed or disliked that branch of the family. We always thought my dad was stubborn and irrational about their fight, and we were glad when Aunt Janice contacted us to reconcile the branches of the family. But now Arthur isn't doing well. We are praying, but my prayers are for some peace for him, and for my aunt. She loves him very much and they have been married a long time. It's very hard.

Sometimes I think about how my parents died. That may sound strange. My mom was sick for many, many years. My dad died very suddenly - I was talking to him on the phone, and five minutes later, he had a massive heart attack and died.

Which is better? If I had a choice, I'd go like my dad. I used to think that the way my mom died was easier on the family - we had more time to say goodbye. But now I realize that no matter how people leave us, it hurts no matter what.

I'm really grateful for the care and support from my local friends, my church, my family and friends far and near. The older I get, the more I recognize how much good there is in the world. Despite all the nonsense in the news and around us, there are good, honest, true people left.

Send a Gardening Care Package to Iraq

Hobby Farms magazine featured in the last issue a really nice story about one of our military bases in Iraq. Some of the soldiers really missed their farms and gardens, and so they planted their own tiny plot of earth in the desert sands. Their stories were funny (apparently corn grew fine but watermelons do not like Iraq!). They welcome care packages of seeds and supplies. If you'd like to send a gardening care package, it can be sent to: CW4 Charles Branson, HHC 3-10 GSAB, COB Speicher, APO AE 09393. They can use seeds and small tools, like trowels and watering cans.

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I enjoy reading blogs by other people, and find posts from fellow Christian women especially motivating. Today I had a good giggle. My friend's blog, Annie's Gleanings, is linked off of here. She posted about her Sunday services and the fine uplifting messages she gleaned from it. We were treated to stories of leprosy, for you guessed it - Sunday, February 15th, all the readings, both old and new testament, dealt with leprosy. Nice contrast! That is what made me laugh - the contrast between my day and hers. This Sunday's set of readings in a Catholic church generally induces a big yawn. If you watch carefully, you can see everyone settle back into their pews, eyes glazing over as they prepare to nap through the usual Leper Sermon: 1) today's lepers are [fill in the blank: AIDS patients, the poor, etc] 2) Jesus teaches us we should love them and 3) we should love them. People fall asleep because everyone, no matter what Catholic church you go to, has heard this preached about a billion times before. It's one of those cliched sermons that many of us could probably write if asked to because we've heard it all before. Not that it's not important...but it just falls into the realm of the obvious.

Fortunately, our pastor has enough of a sense of humor that he pointed out this outline, specifically said he would NOT use it today, then he went on to deliver another great homily, moving in an entirely different direction.

Did I tell you how much I love our little stone church on the hill?

If you don't read Annie's Gleanings, I highly recommend it - both for her insights into the Bible, but also for the warm comfort of hearing about a large, extended family, many friends, and lots of days that shine with the luminosity of love.

Seeds are Sprouting

The crepe myrtle seeds are up! I am so excited. I saved these from little bushes we bought at Rose's, a discount store in Farmville. The plants themselves were only a few dollars and are doing great in the small island flower and shrub bed in front of the house. They had so many seeds, I saved some and planted them in a little pot. They came up! Also a few of the white and yellow daisy seeds I'd saved came up, and now my cinnamon basil is sprouting too. I'm eager to grow cinnamon basil again. I grew it in the flower beds in Huntington, New York where we used to live. Even though it was an herb, it had such pretty bronze foliage and tiny white and purple flowers that I planted it among the little flowers I tucked in around the hedges. The leaves do indeed taste like cinnamon. I'm hoping to use it a lot in cooking.

Yesterday was a wonderful Valentine's Day. I had no expectations for the day, which is probably why we had so much fun. John asked if we could drive into Farmville and look for material for the dining room drapes and chairs. We visited a lovely fabric store near Greenfront, but the prices were really expensive and nothing jumped out at me as 'perfect.' I think poor John was afraid of disappointing me, but when we got the parking lot, he told me he really didn't want to put up drapes and cover up all the beautiful window trim Phil put in when they built the house. When we got home, I looked all around the dining room. It's one of our favorite rooms in the house, but we have a lot of details in there...from the woodwork to the new picture we bought. I agreed with him, and now we are thinking of going back to look at fabric we saw in another store. We are going to recover the dining room chairs ourselves. Now we have to find a little touch up stick for the wood furniture. I love the dining room set. It was John's grandparents. It's nothing fancy, nothing expensive, and now it's 60 years old at least, but I love having furniture from his grandparents, and I really love the cherry wood color.

So for Valentine's Day John finally bought me my new mixer - in nice screaming red of course, my favorite color - and it has dough hooks, so time today to try them out. Jack (John's dad, who lives with us) has been asking us to get him some cinnamon raisin bread but we haven't found any he likes in the stores and it's very expensive, so today I am going to test my new mixer and make some batches. I can't wait! I love to bake. It's one of my favorite hobbies, and if the guys here would eat more I'd bake every day.

Diet is going well, and I've gotten a ton of comments on my articles online. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to anyone who stopped by to read my articles and posted comments, especially on Suite 101. I really appreciate it.

Well, time for church, choir, and then baking today. This week looks to be quite busy with writing work, as I have one new client and two others who are close to signing aboard with my consulting business. A publisher expressed interest in my non fiction book, and I am also continuing work on my novel. I think 2009 is going to be a great year for writing.

Enjoy your day!

Garden Progress

The wind was fierce yesterday and we lost electricity around 2 pm. I quickly changed from my skirt into jeans and gardening sneakers, and we hurried outside. We carted wheel barrow after wheel barrow of mulch, manure and topsoil, and put down more landscape fabric in the first of the two large 10 x 10 beds in the vegetable garden. It's nearly done now. That leaves just one more bed and a few finishing touches! I also managed to get the pepper, tomato, broccoli and Brussels sprouts seeds into their little seed starting trays. The lights had come back on well before that, but once I start gardening I can't seem to stop! I walked around the vegetable garden area a few times too, planning where I am going to put the strawberries, the melons, the corn and beans.

My friend Annette emailed me and said that this blog inspired her to start her seeds too. She's got lettuce seeds in her kitchen windowsill garden. I love her kitchen - it is so homey - and I can just picture that little tray of promise on the bright windowsill. I hope it inspires you too to go play in the dirt!

Attracting Birds to the Garden

It was so warm last night that we kept the windows open in the bedroom. The soft night breezes brushed my cheek with the scent of spring, of warm earth. Around dawn, I heard birds singing; they sounded like song birds. Oh I know it is too early for them, but I am inspired now more than ever to cultivate my garden to attract more birds. Because the farm is planted with mostly loblolly pine, it lacks the diversity to attract many of the songbirds. We have the tiny gray juncos and golden birds that love the pine seeds and weed seeds, but I long for the bluejays, robins, cardinals and others. And my bluebirds! Last year was the first time I'd ever seen a bluebird up close and in person. We had some that liked to sit on the ridge just outside of my office window. How sweet they are! John and I walked the property this weekend and talked about what other trees and shrubs we want to plant, all with an eye towards attracting birds. Birds are wonderful for organic gardens. They eat pounds of insects, keeping in check the ticks, mosquitos, flies and all sorts of nasties. I remember last year when the ladybugs were swarming on the house. Suddenly we heard a big thud from the roof over the garage. A huge black culture sat on the ridge, beady eye scanning the roof. Suddenly his great beak darted forward and he began pecking up the ladybugs off the roof like he was eating M & Ms. I love birds, even the vultures. They are magnificent creatures.

Another Seed Fan

When Pierre disappears from his regal spot perched at the foot of my bed, I know there's a mouse in the house. He's caught two so far in the basement. Last night, he disappeared after saying goodnight to Shadow, and he didn't reappear until 4 a.m, when he climbed into bed, purred in my face, then snuggled down on the comforter next to my feet. John discovered the evidence this morning. The mouse, or more likely mice, came into the basement again. This time they found all my seeds. They ate through the plastic bag where I'd saved my pumpkin seeds, leaving a trail of shells, droppings and urine on my plant shelves. Luckily they didn't seem interested in the other seeds. I have old coffee cans saved for various uses, and I spent about half an hour this morning securing all my seeds and scrubbing down the shelves. The little critters also ate some of the dry wall. This upset me more, as it seems like they are coming in from the garage, going down the basement stairs, and gnawing at the dry wall to get in. With Pierre on patrol, however, and their food source removed - I'm hoping the problem will be short lived. Looks like I have other fans of seed starting, albeit for different reasons!

As for my seeds, nothing is sprouting yet. All right, did I really expect them too? No but every day I go and look. This week I will get the pepper seeds in and more perennials.

I've been looking at plant tables, plant stands, and window boxes. We want to put windowboxes over the porch railing. I keep picturing pink geraniums and bacopa spilling over the sides. We're dreaming of more improvements to make to the home.

In the meantime, my writing work has picked up - let's hope this is a sign of things to come!

Now is only that mouse doesn't eat all my seeds....!

Sunshine and Seed Starting

Today was the day....drum roll please...the seeds are in! Okay, less than a quarter of what I bought, I planted today. Indoors, I started a bit of the crepe myrtle seeds I'd collected. I planted pansy, Echinacea and daisy seeds I'd collected and hibiscus from my butterfly garden. Next came the herbs: row upon row of sweet Genovese basil, cinnamon basil, sage, stevia, and curly pasley. I love curly parsley. It tastes the same as regular pasley, but it looks so pretty, all frothy and green. The stevia seeds came from a clipping I purchased last year through mail order. Stevia, when dried, can be added to tea to sweeten it like sugar. I kept the stevia plant inside and grew it like a houseplant. It decided to flower and set seed, so I quickly scooped up the seeds. I'm hoping to have a little patch in the herb garden and dry a lot more to flavor my teas (and I'm growing a lot of herbs for teas, too!). I also started nine eggplants; we'll see how they come up. We're not huge fans of eggplant, so I have a feeling my friends are going to get quite a lot of eggplant. Everything is nicely covered and under the plant lights in the basement.

Pierre took the occassion to get into trouble, of course. He discovered the shelves we put in the basement. They are in a corner by the door and of course, he jumped up onto the top shelf. I saw him up there tugging on something. It was the pipe and equipment for our water well pump and he was tugging out the insulation. That cat can find trouble no matter where he is!

Next week - the peppers are coming! I bought seeds from Burpee for my favorite, "Carnival". These are red, orange, yellow, purple and green bell peppers. I love cutting them up for a stir fry or a wild pepper steak. I love vegetables that are beautiful as well as delicious. I've also purchased "California Wonder", the old favorite bell pepper. And one of the seed companies send me a free gift with purchase, banana pepper seeds. I have no idea what a banana pepper tastes like. They do look like bananas in the picture. I hope they aren't too hot - sweet peppers are our favorites.

We moved more wheelbarrows of compost and manure to the vegetable gardens and tomorrow, we should finish up the last two 4 x 10 raised beds. The big 10 x 10 raised beds still need landscape fabric, soil and compost.

Lastly, we planted redbud seeds. We kept them in the garage all winter in in a Cool Whip container, hoping that would be enough to mimic Mother Nature's touch. We walked the entire perimeter of our open field, planting them two by two. I hope they come up. We loved the Virginia redbuds.

We also talked about our plans for the farm. We need to get someone in to evaluate the timber before we do anything else. We aren't sure whether we're going to have to cut down the loblolly in big patches or whether we can just leave them there. Our preference is to allow the forest to return to its natural state. To me, that's the most beautiful thing of all.


Today I also changed around a bit of the indoor decorations. I have a shelf over my stove and I like to display pretty things there. I had a wonderful tea pot from John's grandmother. It was shaped like a black cat - my beloved black cat died last year, and that tea pot always made me laugh. We found the yellow and white tea pot from John's mom's side of the family, and a blue one that was his mother's, and so I now have a little tea pot collection going in the kitchen.

I don't know about you, but I hate putting beautiful things into drawers and dark closets and not using them. All these beauitful slivers of china, bits and pieces left from sets long ago lost to time, tea pots, cups and saucers...I will find a use for them somewhere in the house. I love having pretty crystal on display behind the glass front cabinets in my kitchen, and the lovely Japanese tea set Jack brought home from his time serving in the Korean War in my dining room. Sure, they take longer to dust, but why have beautiful things if you only save them for company? Why have them if you're only going to keep them boxed away? Enjoy them!

Like Pet Like Owner

Thanks to the concerned comments and emails from friends worried that Shadow has some sort of dreadful doggy-virus or condition. She doesn't have bloat, diabetes, worms, or stomach cancer. She has excellent veterinary care at The Ridge Animal Hospital from Drs. Gates and French, and we were told that her stomach issues are nothing to worry about.

What Shadow suffers from is simple: greed. Compulsive overeating of things that aren't good for her and a sensitive digestion. Like dog, like her mom. Or maybe vice versa. Why else would I be battling the same forty pound weight gain? It's because I never met a cookie I didn't like. Shadow never met ANYTHING she didn't like. And hey, it's up to me to bridle my impulses and parent my inner child so I don't turn to food for comfort. Shadows eats anything. My vice is cookies. Are we so different? We both need to watch what we eat to stay healthy.

Eating more raw, natural foods helps - it helps quite a lot, actually. If I'm full with good stuff like fruits and vegetables, I don't have much room or desire for junk. Yet every once in a while, it's tough to battle temptation.

So that's the scoop. She's not dying. The dog is in fact quite recovered and back to normal, enjoying her breakfast of special dog food that doesn't trigger her allergies and freshly steamed carrots. And as for her mom, I managed to get in a healthy week of eating on my food plan, hikes every day, and a few extra sessions of yoga in front of the TV, so we're both in good shape!

Runaway Dog

Shadow was a bad dog this morning! When we returned from her walk, she had so much pent-up energy that she grabbed John's work boots and started tossing them around the entry hall. Afraid that she'd hit the grandfather clock that my grandparents brought back from Germany (irreplaceable!), I said to her, "Let's go outside!" We went outside, where the mercury hovered at 19 degrees. I was wearing only a hoodie, yoga pants and a t shirt and clutching my rapidly cooling coffee like a life preserver. I grabbed her tennis ball and tossed it out for her to chase. After two throws, she suddenly took off! She ran straight down the driveway pell-mell. By the time I got to the driveway, only her tennis ball remained in the gravel. I shouted, called, and ran back to the house for her dog whistle - but no Shadow.

After forty minutes tramping up and down Hixburg Road, blowing the whistle, calling her, and generally searching the woods for my errant German Shepherd, I gave up and returned to the house. I stood by the dining room window staring towards the place where she'd disappeared. "God," I prayed, "Please tell my stupid dog that it's time to come home now."

Less than a minute after making that request, a very happy German Shepherd streaked back down the driveway - 45 minutes after taking off - grinning and panting as if she'd had the time of her life.

Lesson learned: ask God first, THEN go out and look for the dog!

Spring Dawns Slowly

Where is all the snow they promised us last night? I was as excited as I was back in the first grade when the weatherman predicted snow. My sister and I would sit on the couch, eagerly pressed against the window as if we could see the exact moment when the town would blow the old World War II air raid siren at 7 a.m. - the town-wide signal that school was closed. Then, much to my mother's dismay, we'd scream with joy and run around the living room. Hot chocolate and games of Monopoly would be in the day's forecast, along with lots of reruns of the Brady Bunch, The Monkees, Gilligans Island and whatever else the television had to offer. Those were the days. It's not as if I can take a snow day now as a grownup. I work from home! But still, I love snow. The storm appears to have completely passed over Prospect with nary a flake. Temperatures predicted for this weekend are back into the 60's. More gardening is in the forecast, that's for sure!

Shadow is sick again. More runs out to woods at 1 am, 4 am and 7 am. We can't figure out what is upsetting her stomach so much and the vet just chalks it up to her breed (German Shepherd). He says they have the worst digestion of all the dog breeds. He's tested her for parasites and everything else but she still gets these periodic bouts. I put her back on dry dog food and brown rice only today, so hopefully she'll feel better fast. In all othe respects, she's fine...playing, running, drinking, eating, happy.

I hooked up the timer to my plant lights. I'm so proud of myself that I figured out the silly timer directions, you'd think I just invented nuclear physics. Really, I find anything purchased from a hardware store a bit daunting. My lights now work. Patty gave me orchid cuttings last weekend, and Pierre the kitty kept pulling them up when I had them in the Florida room at the back of the house, so I moved them down to the plant lights. So far, so good - kitty hasn't found them yet.

Looking at my seed starting chart, I think I am going to plant crepe myrtle, hibiscus, and some of the perennial seeds today. I collected most of them last fall, including pansy seeds. Peppers and broccoli look like they can get started now too, along with parsley. I pulled all of the seed starting trays out from the crawl space on Saturday, so I'm all set. Just got to get into the garage where I've got everything stored and get gardening!

I've also been working again on my needlework. I used to love doing counted cross stitch. It's about the only needle work I've ever mastered. I can't sew to save my life. I took a class in the adult education division at Sewanahaka High School before I got married, thinking I would like to sew. My mom and my sisters are amazing seamstresses...my mom even made my sister Mary's prom dress, and my sister Ann won several first prizes in the New Jersey State Fair for her needlework, including a beautiful dress she'd made for her daughter, Elizabeth. It was just perfect, with smocking and embroidery and everything. Everything I try to sew is a disaster, but I taught myself cross stitch and I enjoy it. Last night I lit the fire in the family room fireplace, turned on my old stereo, and sat stitching up a pillow case while my old records played and the pets dozed by my feet. I was so snug and happy just to sit there and stitch. It's been so long since I indulged in my hobbies! Winter is the time to do that for sure.

Snow

I love snow! This morning we

awoke to a winter wonderland. The pines were covered in frosting. The country lane where we live was breathtaking....even snow on barbed wire looks beautiful in the country. We found tracks from our friendly resident skunk, and enjoyed a gorgeous sunrise over the snow covered fields. Without further ado, here are a few photos.

Organic Eggs and Vegetable Garden Planning

My neighbors here in Virginia who read my blog are going to think I'm nuts for posting this picture, but I was so excited when Patty, my friend who owns and runs Shady Acres Farm here in Prospect, gave me two dozen free range eggs! Talk about fresh and organic. This photo shows the beautiful colors of the eggs. She said she got an Aracuna rooster who crossed with some of her regular hens. The results are these beautiful eggs, all shades of green, pink and peach. They are like works of art. The colors are just amazing. The second set of eggs are strangely shaped, small and pointy. She thinks one of her hens crossed with guinea hens that guard the farm and flock. Whatever the unusual love affair produced, it definitely produce delicious eggs. Her hens roam about the farm, free range, and enjoy their days as chickens were meant to do. The guinea hens afford great protection and guard the flock. If predators arrive on the scene, the guineas cluck and chuckle and shoo everyone back into the safety of the coop. Even her goats alert to the sounds from the guineas, and any cry of distress alerts all the farm critters that a hawk, vulture, fox or other predator is nearby.

We finished the last of the raised vegetable garden beds yesterday, screwing together the frame and laying down the landscape fabric. I hauled wheel barrow after wheel barrow of cow manure from the major pile the Hertzlers contributed, and then John and I both hauled more compost into the beds. I think I ran wheel barrows back and forth for two hours. Talk about tired last night. I dropped off to sleep around 9 amd slept like a rock until Shadow and Pierre work me up around 6 for breakfast. It was so beautiful yesterday, I worked outside in just my t shirt and jeans. My workboots got all muddy and my heavy work gloves too. The sunshine was warm, the air smelled soft and of good earth, and a breeze stirred the pines.

Someone asked me how to plan a vegetable garden. One of the tricks I learned along the way, this one from my old neighbor in Floral Park, Mr. Hoffman, was companion planting. Mr. Hoffman was a retired high school chemistry teacher, but more importantly, he was of the Rottkamp family, one of the respected old farming families that used to farm Long Island, and he was like my adopted grandfather. I used to hop over the hedge separating our properties and as a little girl, I tagged along at his heels as he worked his backyard farm. When he'd purchased the land in the 1940's, he'd bought his house lot and extra for a mini farm. It was an oddity in Floral Park but I loved it. He grew long rows of sweet corn, spinach, rhubarb, and many other vegetables. He taught my how to blanch celery with big boards and why leeks are hard to grow. When he'd plan his garden, he showed me that planting marigolds keeps away many bugs, and basil and tomatoes together not only taste great, but also work as natural insect repellants. This is organic gardening at its finest, using plants to ward off plants that trouble other plants. Marigolds saved the day for us here in Virginia last summer when my tomato plants were attacked by those hideous green tomato hornworms. Ugly, nasty things, but as soon as the marigolds went around the tomatoes they all skeedaddled back to wherever they come from.

Enjoy your day today! This is the last warm day for a bit, and tomorrow we are expecting more winter slush and rain, so I'll be heading out to deadhead and clean up the perennial garden.