Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Let's Chat, Shall We?

I've been missing you all, feeling unexpectedly busy during our slow time with the girls on a break from the theater where they work and our store having winter hours.

Today I took young friend driving, and then she came here to fill out some online applications for work.  We also did some school, Emily took my Mom to lunch for her Christmas gift, Lindsay and my Dad went to the local sportsman's club and did some target practice.

We are also doing laundry this week for some dear friends, whose Momma is out of the country this week.  Actually Emily and Rachel have taken care of that quite handily, popping in a load here and there and then folding it all and having it ready at the end of the day.

We had a guest for dinner tonight.  Our associate pastor Jack came over for dinner and a movie - his favorite, "My Fair Lady." 

 www.allposters.com
 
 It was a lot of fun to watch as he knows all the songs!  He is in his later 80's and has been a marine in WWII, a Veterinarian, and a pastor.  He's also a writer and a poet.  I'll try to show you what he brought me as a hostess gift.  His wife Anne has Parkinson's related dementia and lives at the same retirement community they lived in together, but now she is in more skilled care.  Her building is on lock down due to a minor epidemic of influenza.  She is well, and the lock down is to try to keep her and others from becoming ill.  He loves her dearly and misses 'my Anne' - as she is not herself anymore.

I love for my children to have the opportunity to get to know honorable men and women and to learn from them.

So far we are well, other than a bit of a sore throat here and there, and sinus.  We feel thankful as many of the families we know have had a bit of tummy bug happening.  We know it could happen to us, too, but praying it doesn't.

   I have been working on our seed order for this year.  We are going to be trying some new to us ways of preparing soil.  Have you seen the Back to Eden film? 

I watched it last year, and want to watch it with the family.  Our local township has tons of wood chips for free.  We want to cover the ground, where we intend to have a garden this year, with wood chips and get the soil prepared.

I feel as if I learn new things every year, and I am thankful for the opportunities to do so.  God is so good to teach us what we need to know.

How many of you are gardeners?  Do you grow vegetables or flowers or both?  Where do you like to get your seeds?
  


8 comments:

  1. Every year when we take our summer school break, I wonder how I ever find the time to homeschool the rest of the year! It seems that time always gets filled with something or another.

    I suppose what really matters is with what we are filling our time...with temporal things or eternal things? It sounds as if your time is being used for things eternal.

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  2. What a sweet way to spend the evening:) We have a garden but buy plants instead of seeds! I think that is the lazy way but it works for us! I also love flower gardening! Have a blessed day dear friend, HUGS!

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  3. We're planning to expand our garden this spring. Every year I learn from my failures!

    Sharon Lovejoy says professional gardeners learn the same way so that helps a little.

    It has always made me sad that getting closer to the land, organic gardening, and "natural" ways of living have been more associated with pagans than Christians. If anyone should care for the earth and food and such, it is Christians.

    Okay... back to the sofa. ;)

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  4. Oh good...a chat! Nothing finer!

    How I love what you had to say about having your children know honorable men and women! Your guest of last evening sounds like just such a person. What fun that he knows all the songs to that musical. What a sadness his loss must be to him, yet he knows that it is temporary. Praying that his wife stays well in lockdown. Praying that you all remain vertical,too. Echinacea...

    No, I have not heard of that video, but my thinking about soil prep has evolved since reading at Sharon Lovejoy's...she is a "no till" gal.

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  5. Yes, I saw the film. I did put some wood chips around my little trees in the orchard but that was from trees we had taken down. I don't know if I would get wood chips from the my city. I did once for a bed in my front yard and there was all kinds of trash in it. Hopefully your town is better about chipping stuff (but really it's what people put in their lawn bags etc).

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  6. The seed catalogue arrived yesterday and I'm going to sit down with it soon, with a cup of tea, and plan my garden. I have three raised beds and love growing our own vegetables. We're putting in some fruit trees this spring that were ordered last fall, and since our raspberry canes died, we'll put in a new bed for those. I just LOVE growing things to eat. The height of luxury on a summer day is to go out and choose dinner from the garden.

    Your assistant pastor sounds like a lovely man. How he misses his "Anne" - so sweet.

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  7. A beautiful post Deanna. I love that you speak of the GOOD things in life... things of value. Erin is in charge of the vegetable garden this year and is very excited. She's always been the one most interested but she's never been in charge. I'll watch the video with her! Thanks for the link. :)

    Blessings, Debbie

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  8. That is a sweet story about your friend, his hostess gift is so sweet too!

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