Happy Birthday to my beautiful mother

We celebrated my mother’s 88th birthday this past week. She has been a blessing to our family these many years. Here she is with my daughter standing under a lighted Bradford Pear tree in bloom at one of our favorite restaurants in a town nearby our home.

She had a photo laid out in her condo the other day. It was a picture of her and her own mother when she was a young woman in her twenties. She is seated in the middle right beside her friend. Wasn’t she beautiful? I love her taffeta buffalo checked dress with its full skirt. Since the photo is in black and white, you can not tell but the dress was a beautiful shade of blue and white. My grandmother was also very lovely. You can see her on the left in the photo wearing a straw hat. I remember women wearing hats and gloves as a child in the sixties. Ladies looked so stylish back then.

Succulent Fails

For someone who loves plants, I am ashamed to admit that I have killed my share of succulent plants in my house. I am guilty of letting them go too long without watering and the light conditions are poor for growing. It is dark even in my southern facing room in the house because we are surrounded by woods.

Today, I attempted to repot those that are still hanging on. I replenished the pot with potting soil for cacti. They look fairly happy today. We will see what happens after a few weeks. When the weather is free from the threat of frost, I will bring them outdoors to see how they do on my porch. I know that my Christmas cactus loves it out there.

For now, the new transplants are sitting on my kitchen windowsill where I can keep a close watch on them.

Adding a raised bed to my garden

I have decided to add a raised bed this year to my garden. We have lived in our house for four years. I have been slowly adding plants around the perimeter of the property for some privacy and visual interest. In the front beds I have a variety of plants with color and texture. They are my focal point so I have worked to make it look its best.

My biggest fail is along the side yard. We had piles of gravel dumped there during construction. Try as I might, the soil is crummy. It is also on a fairly steep incline. I keep adding old dirt from pots and remove gravel that rises to the surface after dirt erodes down the hill. So far, the only things that have done well are hardy herbs, bulbs or perennials. I have a lavender and rosemary plant that seem happy there as well as some lemon coral sedum.

I purchased a cedar raised bed from Eartheasy.com. It arrived in two long boxes and sat on my porch for a week. My son helped me put it together. Actually, it was more like I helped him. I was hoping that it would be true to its’ name and the construction would be a breeze. I watched the video. It looked like a piece of cake and was put together within minutes.

Being a visual learner, I mostly rely on the pictures in assembly more than the actual instructions. I thought it would be like a jigsaw puzzle and that there was no way to mess it up. My son and I work well together as we have the most patience for such things in our family. It took a few attempts before we figured out the correct configuration for the bed. It was to go in a corner at the edge of our driveway.

We attempted to put it on the ground to assemble it but because it was on slope, the pins would not hold it in place and there were gaps in between the sections. Low and behold, in the instructions, we discovered it was best to put it together on a flat surface. After a few failed starts, we finally decided to move it, partially disassemble the crooked parts, and put it on the driveway. This made all the difference and it came together much easier this time. Live and learn. When all else fails, read the instructions.

This week I have added some cardboard to the bottom and am waiting to get some dirt for the beds. I will probably put compost in the bottom then layer with potting soil. Creating good soil is vital to getting good results. This is true for all areas in our lives. Are we preparing our hearts to receive what God is wanting to produce in us? Matthew 13:23 The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty or even a hundred times..

I plan to start with some vegetables and annuals. I can’t wait to see the results and will be glad to finally have a good spot to grow plants without such a struggle.

Attracting birds to my garden

I discovered a local craftsman on Facebook Marketplace who makes bird houses. Last week I decided to contact him and visited his workshop to see them for myself. They were made of cedar, were well made and even had a door to clean them out in the fall. They were reasonably priced. I decided to purchase two bluebird houses and two wren houses, one of each for me and for my mother. My birthday is next week and hers is next month. My daughter went with me to look at them and purchased mine for me as an early birthday gift. I will surprise my mother with hers in a few weeks.

The vendor was very knowledgeable. He told me to mount them 5 to 8 feet from the ground in either a south, east or southeast facing direction. He said that February is the month to put up birdhouses as birds look for nesting spots then. I had already seen some bluebirds scouting out nesting sites in my yard.

My husband put them up for me this weekend. I can’t wait to see how long it takes birds to discover them. The bluebird house is outside my kitchen window at a great vantage point. The wren house is on the other side of the house facing our garage entrance where we can also easily see them.

Welcome bird friends!

A Wise Old Owl

A wise old owl sat in an oak

The more he heard the less he spoke

The less he spoke the more he heard

Why can’t we be like that wise old bird?

As quoted by Edward Hersey Richards around 1875

Reviving an old hobby

For Christmas this year, I asked for a sketch pad. I decided it was time to start drawing again during the winter months when I am stuck indoors. I am beginning by drawing birds and woodland animals. Here is my collection so far.

What is God reviving in you today? There might be a former interest, a hobby you once enjoyed but have not revisited for a while. You might have packed up that sewing machine, those picture albums or paint brushes. Now might be the time to rummage in your closets and rediscover things you forgot you had. You might look at something with new eyes and a fresh perspective. We all have gifts that God wants us to use. They are not meant to stay hidden but should be showcased to be an encouragement or blessing to others. Who knows how God might use the gifts and talents in you? James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above…

An Art Study

I came across some artwork in boxes stored in my garage. I saved them from almost certain ruin as I found bug damage on the paper and signs of decay from exposure to elements in unfinished spaces.
The first is a print of James McNeill Whistler’s Symphony in White No. 1-The White Girl. My parents gave it to me as a gift when I was a teenager. They thought I favored the girl in the famous portrait which was painted in the late 19th century.

The next set of drawings are from a collection I drew while taking an art class in college at Chapel Hill. I didn’t get high marks on them yet am still proud of them since I had never drawn before.

In comparison to the master’s work, my drawings are crude. However, this recent discovery has rekindled in me a fresh desire to draw again and to try to improve my skills.