green thumbs of hope

rain... rain... and more rain.... this week has been a disappointment after the lovely weekend.

 

We did play and putter in the greenhouse this weekend though! 


We ordered some seeds from a local company called Uprising Seeds. Just a few to start.

Cilantro, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, swiss chard...

we are planning to try some 'square foot gardening' this summer too. 

 

we have green thumbs but not in the 'we can grow anything' way. more like green as in greenhorns who bumble through the planting process and learn lots about what NOT to do. LOL. We just have fun regardless of the outcome!!

this old door is just one of a few we have tucked away in the back storage area. And I have plans for them! I have an old wrought iron bed frame and some old windows. I would love to create some fun garden art with this stuff.  so we'll see what develops this summer.

meanwhile, today, even as the rain beats against my house and home, I feel like my cat who earlier this week did what I wish I could do today:

if I could find a little patch of sunshine, I would SO stretch out and nap!!!

still sniffling

Aaa-CHOO!  Oh, sorry, I hope you won't catch this. It's been quite some time since I have been way-laid by a cold. (thank you Airborn and NetiPot) While it is usually my husband who falls the hardest when a bug comes along, it looks like this time it's my turn. I suppose the busyness of the week has helped increase things. I just haven't had much time to rest.

Last night we attended a Money Management Class at our church. While the teaching is excellent, the material great and the principles all make sense, AND we will not regret taking the class, the simple fact is, if we had a more steady income, we wouldn't struggle with managing the money!!  (construction for the small business owner in this present economy coupled with moving into what is traditionally known as the slow season really compounds things)

When we got out of the car to go to class Bruce picked up my purse for me. Usually he won't touch my purse. (If I ask him to get something out of my purse for me he brings me the purse-- says trying to find anything inside intimidates him! lol) So it surprised me that he grabbed it. And, in my effort to NOT act like a control freak and yank it from his capable hands, I let him carry it until we met up in front of the car. I typically use my little Ameribag (full of pockets and hide-aways, guaranteed to truly intimidate a man!!) So as I took my purse and began to sling it over my shoulder, I automatically checked the outside pocket where I tucked my cell phone. It was empty.

I thought for a moment and realized that in the shadowy light of the parking lot, as Bruce had approached me with my purse, it had looked like my purse was kinda upside down. Which means things can fall out. Being a man who won't touch my purse means he would not have a clue about HOW to carry my purse. Still trying to not act anal I said as nonchalantly as I could "Oh, my cell phone must have fallen out of the pocket."

"Oh. Is that what I heard? I thought maybe a pen dropped out."

I looked back at the now locked car. I don't need my phone with me for this class. In fact I would have put it on silent for the class. So leaving it in the car , on the floor of the car, would be fine and as we were late for class, just leaving it where it was worked for me.

It never occurred to me that the pinging noise he heard happened OUTSIDE of the car.

It was raining last night.

We were in class for 90 minutes.

When we got back to the car, the first thing I did was cast around inside the car for my phone. When I did not see it on the floor of the car I exclaimed.... sweetly, calmly   "Is my purse on your side of the car floor????"

before he could answer I was looking under the car... in the dark.... in the rain.....

Have you ever tried to find a small black object on a black surface without any light?

Still, I found it. My poor little cell phone.

It was still on. It was wet but it was still on. I dried it off and dialed a number. ring. ring. ring.  it sounded a million miles away. when Bruce's voice mail came on the words sounded like they were under water. I turned it off and set it on the dashboard of the car and we drove home with the heater/defroster going.

and had another *lively* conversation about a woman's purse and why didn't he say the ping he heard was OUTSIDE the car and how could he have thought I went back and got it when I never left his side and there's a reason he doesn't like to touch my purse and so why did he and shouldn't I be commended for not acting like a control freak and do you think my phone is going to be alright?

it's not like I value the phone more than our relationship. Look, we just came from a money management class! Do you really think I want to have to PAY to replace the stupid phone before it's time for the free upgrade???

then silence reigned in the car and aside from the windshield wipers it was just me sniffing all the way home.


A night nestled in a bag of uncooked rice has my phone working  just fine today, and my sweetie with his short term memory and long term grace has no recollection of any crankiness displayed by his wife.

I know. It makes me sniffly too. But he still won't touch my purse again.

just waiting

Sunday morning. Coffee. Breakfast. Shower. Dress. Wait.

We are going to the 11 am service at church today and we awoke fairly early for a Sunday morning. The rain drizzling outside was what woke me up and then the heavy pressure on my legs followed by gentle kneading. Yes. The cat. >^;^< telling me he wanted breakfast. now.

So once all those little morning chores were out of the way it was only 9:30.... more than an hour before we need to leave for church. Kind of nice to not be rushed. To have time to think about where we are going and why. A sort of spiritual inventory and reflecting time. 

There is a church picnic in the park after second service. Our good bye to the summer season and the kick off to all the fall programs. Youth group, small groups, new sermon series, adult classes.... And it's raining. Not a very nice thing to do on a picnic day! But as I wrote on my facebook status this morning: who needs the sun when we have the SON shining down on us.

so true. so true.

and look.... I think I see a break in the clouds!

Rainy Days and Mondays

What about Rainy Mondays? And a day that starts with no water? Well, there was water-- my sweetie got his shower and we did get coffee and I was just thinking I should get in the shower because I knew yesterday that there was a leak in the town's water pipes and we lost water for 4 hours on Sunday while they worked to repair it (and our local guys deserve a standing ovation for what they do to keep our little town supplied with clean safe water-- they do it as volunteers!) and at the risk of a very long run on sentence, before I could get in the shower I discovered the water had already been shut off!

So this is the start of my week: water, water everywhere and not a drop to spare. I am watching the rain outside and super grateful for the sunshine I got to soak up yesterday. I am still in my jammies and because I don't have to go anywhere today, I might just stay in my jammies and pretend to be celebrating the fact that I don't have to go anywhere... but truth be told, I am still just a little lost over not having a job to go to this morning.

I don't want to sound whiny and I'm not really. I mean, it is nice to just relax and feel no pressure... got my hubby out the door with a well fed tummy and a nice lunch packed. I have a list 'yeah-long' of things that need attendance after being shelved all these months. Important things (though not life changing) like cleaning clutter. My husbands side of the closet looks like a tornado struck. My tupperware drawer is upside down and backwards and makes for a frustrating time when I want to match lid to bowl. There is a stack of things that need ironing (my favorite time saving device for his shirts is to throw it in the dryer with a damp towel for 5-10 minutes and then shake it really hard-- it works in a pinch-- and a pinch is what I have when I am working)

I have my goals list too. The novel (1st draft) that needs the re-write. The search for schools and a literary adviser. And there is my mother's needs to see to.

But today there is no water for a shower and it's raining again and my jammies and blanket feel very warm and comfortable. And it is after all, my first official day of being unemployed. So, sitting by the fire is really quite nice.

Now, if only I could make another cup of coffee....

sunny memory of yesterday... my beautiful Camilla bush.

Rainy Wednesday

Went to sleep listening to the sound of the rain pounding against the windows, woke up to the sound of the rain pounding against the windows... I guess it's just going to rain!

Sitting in the living room with my morning coffee in one hand and my bible open on my lap, I could hear the rain trickling down the drain pipe right outside my window, only offset by the crackling fire in the wood stove. Thank goodness for the wood heat in a day like today!

Flood warnings are in effect for this week. The sky is the color of ash and the soggy ground on which the rain lands is taking a beating. Yet above the beat of the rain is the chirping of birds... hope in the midst of a hopeless kind of day.

That is how I feel about God. No matter how gray my day, no matter how depressing or hopeless I may feel, there is always, always HOPE.

~~the promise of better days spoken to me in the buds of the pussy willow tree~~

Wishing you HOPE, boundless hope, on this rainy Wednesday~~