Flowerbeds, Gardens and Rain, oh my

Flowerbeds, gardens and rain, on my!, flowerbeds, gardens and.. . ..

RAIN!

oh my!

I am not the most patient of people, just ask my husband. It seems that with all the rain we've been having I've learned a few lessons.

Lesson 1: After the rain, do not attempt to weed the garden as your boots can and most likely will get stuck in the mud.
Lesson 2: Do not mow the lawn immediately following the rain as it leaves horrible large clumps of grass all over the yard. {which then need to get raked creating even more work}
Lesson 3: Do not leave clothes on the wash-line during the rain. Not only will it not dry, it will also wrap itself around the line making it quite difficult to remove.
Lesson 4: Do not ask your husband to get things done before the rain, cause he might get caught in.

Lesson 5: Be patient. Because even though I have a list of things I'd like done outside, I need to wait until a) it either stops raining or b) it drys up enough from the rain.

I have a Type A personality, which Wikipedia describes as "Type A individuals can be described as impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about their status, highly competitive, over-ambitious, business-like, hostile, aggressive, incapable of relaxation in taking the smallest issues too seriously; and are somewhat disliked for the way that they're always rushing and demanding other people to serve to their standards of satisfaction.[1] They are often high and over-achieving workaholics who multi-task, drive themselves with deadlines, and are unhappy about the smallest of delays. Because of these characteristics, Type A individuals are often described as "stress junkies." ouch, that was a little harsh, and unfortunately true ^.^

It's a little easier to understand then why this weather has been so frustrating for me. I have my lists of things to do and a timeline to have them done and the weather is totally not following those plans.

Lesson 5 is probably the most important one and I figure I better learn it quick, cause I am not enjoying all the opportunities presented to me to learn it.

Blessings

Pampered

This morning as I was waking up and slowly getting ready for the day, I heard my son in the kitchen. Figuring he was getting himself something to eat I really didn't pay that close attention to all the noise he was making. Imagine my delight when he came up the stairs with breakfast. Lately we've discovered how much we both like Eggs Benedict and have made them together a few times. These are alot of work {I guess that's why they can be so expensive in a restaurant}, so I was quite surprised that he made me Eggs Benedict, and served it with a glass of Orange Juice. What a GREAT way to start the day! Thanks Darcy, what a blessing you are to me.

Blessings

Bride to be

This afternoon I was at my niece's bridal shower. Marcia & Brennan are to be married in July 2011. Watching her open the many gifts reminded me of Krystle's bridal only one year ago. The support that the brides from our church family receive can feel somewhat overwhelming. Not only do you get alot of great gifts, you get the love & encouragement from such a supportive large group of friends.

These days many brides & grooms create their own wedding website click here; and you can read all about their engagement story, where they are registered and to RSVP. Plus it gives a countdown to the big day. So with only 63 days left, I'm sure there are many final preparations moving from the back burner to the forefront to get ready for the big day.. . ... we're so--o-o--o looking forward to it!

Blessings

Country Living

Wayne & I were extremely fortunate that we were able to raise our family in the country on the family farm. Now that the kids are grown, I will admit that there are days when I think I'd like to move into town and enjoy all the luxuries that that can offer. But then I realize there's nothing quite like the quiet of the country. Without neighbours in our back yard, I find it to be a restful place that's a little more tranquil to spend a prolonged amount of time. Which allows me the opportunity to get a clearer perspective on my life and those that I interact with.

Blessings

On this day.....

in 1987, God gave us a beautiful little girl whom we named Krystle Ann-Marie. At her wedding to Gerard almost one year ago, we played a DVD slide show of pictures of Krystle growing up while playing Tim McGraw's song "My Little Girl"

We found the lyrics to be very appropriate in expressing our thoughts.

As I sit here trying to write about all the thoughts and feelings about my daughter, I find myself overwhelmed with such emotions. So before I start blubbering, I guess I`ll just say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY! dear daughter, may your day be full of love and many blessings!" Daddy & I are tremendously blessed that God gave you to us.

Blessings

Wet Paint!

With the beautiful summer-like (finally) weather, I was excited to get outside and start setting up the yard. I brought out the BBQ, the patio furniture set, the hammock, and then the white plastic lawn furniture. ugh! This old furniture has seen better days. It wasn't broken so I was having difficulty with just throwing it away, and yet, it was too unappealing to set it out.

Then I remembered we had a can of tremclad paint, and thought I'll try painting the furniture. I figured if I don't like it afterwards, I can still throw it away. But wow'zer's - what a difference one can of paint and countless hours of painting can make. It transformed the ugly old white lawn furniture into beautiful new blue lawn furniture. It adds a splash of colour to the front porch. I'm looking forward to many afternoons sitting on the front porch watching the incredible sunsets.

Blessings

Field Stones

One of the many tedious jobs that a farmer has is picking stones. Each year we tease each other that if we'd only pick all the little stones we wouldn't have to pick as many the next year.

You see it's a joke around here about whether or not stones grow. As a young girl with two farming uncles, I was told that stones grew. And yes, I believed them for about 20 years - no that's not a typo. It wasn't until after Wayne & I were married and we were picking stones that I mentioned, if we would pick all the little ones, we wouldn't have as many to pick the next year. Well, first he just looked at me, then he laughed, then, he tells me in no uncertain terms "that stones do not grow". Of course knowing that my dear uncles would never lie to me, we argued and disagreed for quite some time.

A few years ago I found an article in the "Rural Voice" about stones.

Stones multiply and grow. It is not known exactly how, but it you leave a stone long enough it might become a boulder. Stones are probably male & female - the male stones would be the darker heavier ones and the female stones the sparklier pretty ones. How they mate is not known for sure.

As I show this article to him, I declare that "HA, I was right!" with a mischievous grin on my face.

But in all sincerity, I really do like stones. In fact, as the boys grew older and helped their dad pick stones, they would begin to see which ones I would like and began saving them for me. So while my stones might not grow any bigger, I keep collecting them and find it amazing how becoming the landscape is when their put all together. Blessings