Lionel

Meet Lionel, Gus’ and Fern’s cousin—ok, maybe they are not so closely related and there are 1000s of miles between the three. When we last saw Lionel, he was about 15 feet up in the air and he was probably the size of my hand—maybe larger. 😯 We were on the farm looking at crops. My daughter saw Lionel first. His web spanned the entire field road (the black spot to the right of him is something in his web). 😮

Lionel is not some little spider and I will be quite honest…I do not like spiders…even the smallest. There was no one for miles but the closest person probably heard me yell and scream. We took photos and then backed down the road very carefully so as not to disturb him. 😐

By the way, if you wonder where these names come from…I have no clue. 😀

I wish you a very happy and a very safe Halloween! 😀

And, Happy Gardening! 😆

 

 

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Good Morning!

I have a thought (sometimes more than one at a time 😀 ). What if people woke up and decided to not oppose one another—to not be against—to not find fault—to not criticize—to use positive reinforcement, etc. Is that a doable feat? Is it possible for us to work together? Is it possible to help one another?

 

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Something has to give! We can’t keep complaining about everything. The more people yell at each other the more yelling they will do because no one can hear the other and what does this all do???? It just makes us angry because we aren’t being heard and people quit listening. We can’t keep taking advantage of people. So…please…I’m asking that we try to spend one day finding the good in everything and if not the entire day, maybe just 30 minutes will help and then build from that.

 

We all complain too much, including me…so please help me out. Thanks. By the way, GOOD MORNING! 😀

 

Happy Gardening! 😀

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“Fern”

Gus (his story here) was a roa__ … bug that I found the last day of my mini vacation back in August. I thought he was dead but when I reached to pick him up, he waved at me. A blogging friend joked that maybe Gus wanted his belly rubbed—cute, right? 😆 I wonder if he may have been saying, “Help me. I can’t get up.” 😀

 

While away to see my youngest daughter last month, I took this photo. Meet Fern. Isn’t she adorable? She wasted no time in getting around. She was traveling almost as fast as we were that day. 

Fern and Gus have a cousin I want to share with you later this week. Life is filled with all sorts of treasures and so is the garden. May yours be eternally blessed! Happy Gardening! 😀

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Romeo & Juliet

Once upon a time—sounds like fairytale doesn’t it? It was, but it was so long ago. It was like many fairytales…a guy and a girl…each tickled the other’s fancy. When they met, she wasn’t looking for anything. She had gotten out of a relationship and was not really keen on guys too much. A few months earlier, she started a part-time job on the weekends just so she would be busy.

 

Something happened when they met. He was taken by her, her looks, her attitude, and the fact that she was still a bit shy at times. I’m betting the biggest thing that drew them together was their sense of humor and the way she laughed at his jokes. They were attending a seminar for church camping programs. The trip was her birthday gift from her mom.

 

There are lots of details (cute ones) but nothing overly important—well, to the reader that is 😉 . During this short time, she fell for him and remembers the moment she did. It wasn’t one sided by any means. Her heart began to do funny things and she became hesitant. They lived far apart and had lives to live, so it didn’t work out…well, not the way she had hoped. OK. I left out a good bit along with bunches of emotions. She’s crazy that way.

 

Fast forward four years and they were back in touch. They wanted to know if they still had feelings for the other so he bought a plane ticket to come see her. Put an asterisk here—a big one. * It’s important. And, here is where you are going to think that the girl is quite fickle. She had been dating after a breakup (playing the field—I hate that phrase) but a certain young guy wanted them to be serious. She called her Romeo and told him not to come see her. He asked her if she was sure and she said yes. She knew then it wasn’t true. When she hung up the phone, she wanted to cry—and she did.

 

Spring ahead about 25 years and after another breakup—see, you do think she is fickle…she really isn’t but sounds like it sometimes—they got back in touch. She contacted him not knowing if he would remember her—she wasn’t sure if it was him and she wasn’t looking for anything…again. She had been in the process of contacting old friends and before she knew it—in less than a few hours of sending the message—she had become … Juliet 😉 .

 

While they talked the first night, he was in his words “plotting” or making plans for him and her if she was interested. It was magical and something she always wanted with him. It was to start a new journey, a new chapter in their lives, the one they never got to years before. It seemed like it was the right thing but she was hesitant in some ways. It was too easy—felt “too” right. Things like this didn’t happen to her but she has always cared for him ever since they met. There have been other boyfriends but he was the one. To him, she was the one that got away and this was their time. He wasn’t letting her get away again.

…  …  …

I wish I could tell you that they lived happily ever after but I can’t. I have to leave the story here. It isn’t that type of fairytale. She didn’t know how she felt for him when they got back in touch—how much she cared so she went to visit. What she realized was that he had stolen her heart because she had fallen madly in love again.

 

I don’t know what happened. I can’t explain but I know she still has feelings and I am betting she will. Remember the asterisk? * I have always regretted telling him not to come see me. I still do.

—     Juliet 😉 

 

I write from the heart and boy is this one from the heart!  This is not fiction by the way–this is real.

Happy Gardening! – Amy 😀

* 🙂 *

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Walking Through Fire

Thunderhead (2013)

I applaud anyone who can let go and walk through the fire. I have trouble. This week…my daughter who has a lung disease has been having trouble breathing. She doesn’t really have insurance so it is a tough and painful road. Also, a friend was stabbed in the neck and could have been killed. I was talking to him when I took a call about my daughter. And, I have hit brick wall after brick wall in the effort to secure a divorce. Sure, it could be worse. I know that. I am so thankful for what I have been given. Blessings of greatness sometimes arrive in the smallest of packages and if it weren’t for the valleys, the mountains would not be as beautiful.

 

I wanted to do everything right. I don’t want disability and I seriously doubt I can qualify if a lady who was dying of cancer and could not work was only approved right before she died. I am having pain and paralysis issues as well as romance ones-what romance? 🙂 I feel inadequate….so many words….even unloved at times. I know God loves me and I know this is all temporary but every time I think I get somewhere, where I think I am standing on solid ground, I get pushed back to “GO.” It shouldn’t be this difficult. A friend wondered if the partner in my marriage knew how bad he tied my hands. I said he didn’t care because I told him how bad it was.

 

I have a loving heart. I am as loyal as they come…no, more so. I wish I could say I can do this with no problem but even with God’s help, I’m struggling. May you find the small packages with great blessings everywhere you turn. Don’t give up on God. He won’t give up on you—us 😀 !

 

Happy Gardening! 😀

 

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Turn it down, PLEASE

Do I offend you? Do you not like the way I believe? Do you think I am wrong in my choices? Perhaps you think I could do better.

 

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We are different…men, women, boys, girls, and that’s just the humans. Should we all strive to be the same? I think not. Do you want me to be like you? Whatever you believe, it’s important to you and whatever I believe is important to me. When you trivialize my beliefs, feelings, background, etc., you devalue me. I don’t like that. You may think that you are right and that I am wrong. That’s your opinion.

 

We can’t be the same and I don’t want to be the same. Sure, I think there are people who do not exercise all of their brain cells but I don’t either all of the time. I can’t find fault with you just because you are different. Why am I a little upset about this? Probably because I am tired of being bombarded by people who assume I am a republican or a democrat—that I am a conservative or a liberal—that I believe in certain things because I believe in God. I could tell what assuming does to people…ASSUME…but I’ll let that lie. 😀

 

I get tired of people passing on information they call important when it is more drivel. I am referring to making fun of a certain party, certain beliefs, etc. I don’t pull for one political party over the other. Personally, I think they are both fools. And, anyone who chooses to make fun of someone needs to look in his/her own sandbox before he/she starts to throw sand. It’s not that clean and we shouldn’t be engaging in such utter non-positive behavior. Yes, I’ve gotten fed up and that is not a place I like to be.

 

I value you and your opinions but … we need to stop hurting others. Remember that we can get a lot further if we work together. And, to let you know just how far off things get in life…

 

I am a registered democrat in my state for reasons I am not sharing here. However, I do not vote either straight party ticket. When I say the candidate’s view is what is important—I mean it. I used to be very conservative but found that I am a leaning liberal…ON SOME THINGS. I like the middle of the road more than either side. I don’t like to oppose something without hearing what you have to say. If someone tells me one thing, I don’t jump on the wagon just because it sounds good or 10 million people have already done so. Just give me some facts and don’t give me some rose-colored glasses. I can determine what is important to me.

Now. Could everyone please turn it down a few notches? We all want to be heard but we need to be kind to others. 😀 And, please quit repeating the same thing. I get it. I understand… May your day be so very blessed and may you find peace–always. 😀

 

Happy Gardening! 😀

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A Miracle

I thought I had things under control with my issues in the background of life. I opened a letter today and found out differently so I am back to square one…no…I’m so far back that I can’t see square one. It’s funny in a way. I’m the one who is about to be without but have so much because God is with me. I have no earthly clue what is about to happen. I have no idea I can save anything. I don’t know what to do. God always gives us doors but time is running out and I’m not talking about my plan. I need a prayer and I need a miracle. May your dreams become all that you want and desire and if you need a miracle, I pray that you will get what you need.

 

Happy Gardening! 😀

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Change of the Wind

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I started this blog in June 2010. Since that time, we have gone in all directions. It has been an outlet for me but was also a learning medium, too. If anyone else learned anything, more bang for the buck I say. Oh, you say you feel a change of the wind as the phrase was used in Mary Poppins? You would be correct. I have flourished and floundered finding myself – where I fit in, where I am going, what was real and what isn’t. As time went along, I examined from where I came. Carrots—more like jewels—have dangled in front of me but the one that keeps coming back for so very long has to do with death and dying. I’m ok….really! 😀

 

Being Called  God calls us to do various things, some are big, some not so big. We accept or we don’t. I didn’t understand what all of the turmoil was about a couple of years ago when my world was rocked. A few of my minister friends said that there must be something coming—something big. They meant that I was being sifted. I’m no saint (sifting of saints). I’m very miniscule in the scheme of life so I wondered what it might be. Sifting is a lot like what I tend to do when cleaning—take out everything, clean, polish, mend and put back what I want to keep. Then, throw the rest away. Sifting is getting rid of the impure, not needed, etc. Along with that sifting came a lot of trials. It isn’t over…

 

Some years ago, I was called to help find ways to reach the shut-ins…called by God and the church. Members of my church family and I came together to reach out to those in need. I accepted that call. I didn’t want to be the leader for us but I did and we did great things. Then my world started to crumble. Evil was at work in my church and in my family—my minister, my husband,… I don’t know why but when one steps out of the bounds of marriage and willingly hurts the one he is supposed to love, that is so wrong and that happened with my minister and with my husband. I have wrestled with this and it has taken my eyes off my calling. People have needed what I have to offer and I missed those opportunities.

 

For the past several months I sought out what I was supposed to do. Was a new calling in the works? Nothing has really changed I find except the degree to which I am to get involved. I don’t have a magic wand, a Barney bag, or tricks up my sleeve. I have been being drawn to those who are suffering and dying. I didn’t want to accept that as a calling. I have had to deal with death all of my life. I detail a lot of that lately in my blog. I still don’t know what I can do for income or if I can hold a job due to my physical issues which are getting a bit worse.

 

This is my calling … to give life to the dying … to help them live again and want to live up until it is time to leave this world—to have hope. That sounds crazy. I know. But, have you ever watched someone die? Really watched? I have – too many times. Too often there is little joy in their lives because of pain, loneliness, all kinds of issues. I want to put myself out there to help them. In reality, it is no more than what a hospice volunteer would do but I want to touch peoples’ lives. I want to let them see through my eyes. I want to give them hope for another day … and for the unknown. A shoulder, an ear, a hand to hold… And, I want to help families embrace the transition of death.

 

Friends didn’t want me to pursue this avenue for fear that it will be too much for me to handle but I have been preparing for this all of my life. I have experience. 😀 Maybe I should say God has been preparing me all of my life.

 

God told me to feed His sheep and when I asked what He meant, He said to follow my heart, that I would know—that my heart would show me. I have been trying to figure out exactly what He meant ever since and in that time I have grown tremendously. I was broken in the worst way. I am not completely healed but I know what was missing and that was my purpose–my purpose in life. I have a ways to go and I don’t know if I can handle death again. If this is a true calling, I will be fine.

 

I accepted my call yesterday–I committed to God. I don’t know where I will go or what I will do or how I will live but I accepted with open arms. So, the change of the wind is coming. The more time I spend preparing and working, the less time I have to spend on my blog. I don’t want to lose this connection, the people I have met, there is so much… I pray that I will be able to do both. So now you know. I still need a mate 🙂 but I have a feeling God will take care of that–in time. 😀

 

Happy Gardening in all that you do! 😀

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