Great Gourds

At my favorite Indiana farm market, I found a vendor who grows
and oh-so-casually sells the most mind-boggling variety of pumpkins and gourds.
She loads them in the back of a truck before dawn, crosses the miles with
a thermos of dark coffee, and dumps them on the market ground in glorious piles of color.

"How much for a blue pumpkin?" I tried to appear equally casual.
"Two dollars," she said with a flannel-shirted shrug.
Yes, ma'am! 
I couldn't get my dollars unfolded fast enough.

The small gourds in these photos came from an ordinary grocery store.
Yet the craftsmanship in every detail is nothing less than amazing. 

Will you take time to pause as we hurtle into the fall season, for just a few 

moments, and let the wonder of the changing natural world inspire something new?

Bleak January

Bleak January is one of the best parts of the year. 

After the often-clamorous Christmas season ended, the first month of 2019 

had a solemn, spare beauty that I truly enjoyed. 

Our small acre has no single hint of green—

in fact, it's been dusted in white all month.

Except in my windowsill. That's where the action is.

For less than the cost of a hot coconut milk mocha macchiato, I'm enjoying just 

enough spring to hold me over until the real thing arrives. 

Thank you, Aldi.

The packaging on this, the LAST amaryllis bulb in the store, just said

"amaryllis bulb."

yawn

But, friends, I know it must be a Red Lion Amaryllis, even though I haven't 

seen its face yet. I'll let you know what it turns out to be.

Those tiny leaf blades just peeking out prove that this one has barely begun its work.

Clearance hyacinth bulbs in glass vases were already messy looking with flopping, 

heavy blooms. I chose the best one and pinched off the frowzy 

blooms in the paper goods aisle because two new bud stems were 

already emerging. An observant fellow shopper took the time to point 

out that the bulb I'd chosen had broken blooms. 

Wasn't that kind? 

She did look shocked to hear I was the one who'd done it. 

Isn't it a wonder that the tissue-like paper on the bulb matches the bloom? 

In Kentucky, February brings hints of true spring. Glimpses of green 

will soon dazzle now that austere January is over for another year. 

I believe it's the same change of seasons referred to in 

that great song of songs—

"Behold, the winter is past ... "

Hot Juices

Do you enjoy finding once-beautiful things gone shabby and ragged?

In those moments of discovery, 

(at a thrift shop, in a yard sale box, even in a pile of free-to-a-good-home stuff)

 the excitement of what "could be" nudges my elbow, and I'm a goner.

(some of my favorite materials)

And contrary to what you may think - 

"All of us were made to be creative people. Creative juices run hot through our veins."

- from the Desiring God website

If you need more convincing, here's Chuck Colson's Breakpoint article.

He says that in every area of life, creativity plays a major role.

"The reason is simple: part of our nature as image bearers of God 

the Creator is to be sub-creators."

If I popped over to your house, what creative project would I find you working on? 

Dream studio - here

The Ping

At this time of year, I'm on the hunt for garden plants.

On the way to take my place in the pick-up line, I 

swoop through the garden area of every local market. 

After driving to the county library, it's easy to

take a quick trip through the feed store plant section.

A fast in-and-out at the swank florist is convenient 

when it's so near the grocery. We always need milk!

 Last week I found an interesting display of lawn decorations 

at the local home improvement retailer.

I ask you, why would anyone want a fake hydrant in their yard? 

I have enough problems with dogs using my front flower beds as their

poop town of choice. If I put this out there ... they might think they're invited!

(You know about Go, Dog. Go! don't you ...? They're just looking 

for a place to party.)

This angel with a price tag around her neck, gilded with buttery morning light 

stopped me cold, right between the hanging baskets and the rows of vegetable seedlings.

 Maybe it was the angel's reverent posture that held my attention.

Her smiling assurance of victory ahead made me bend down to peer into her face. 

Something about this hunk of cement-ish plastic reminded me of the holy, 

surrounded by the ordinariness of a garden store. 

The sight of it was like a ping from heaven, 

reminding me that there are more important concerns at 8 a.m. 

on any given Tuesday than finding the best deal on a cell pack of petunias. 

The Westminster Catechism translates the ping:

What is the chief end of man?

To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

I find myself so often carried away in the distractions of life; the crazy, 

circular insanity of the mundane becomes my specialty, as if there is nothing else.

Glorifying God is pushed to the edge, forgotten. 

Then He pings me, and I remember where I am, 

who is in charge, and what is important.

I'm so thankful for that!

A Whiff of Spring

 We are deep, deep in snow - yet again. 

The roads are covered, and a very few cars are edging their way past our cozy home.

BUT

It smells like  SPRING  in my kitchen!

I snagged these paperwhite bulbs (narcissus) on clearance at Meijer about a week

after Christmas. The bulbs had already begun sprouting inside their box, and for $3, I was

happy to take them home. After letting them sit on the kitchen table for a week, I raided

the vase box in the basement and came up with this large-ish, and I think graceful, container.

(I promptly cracked it adding the stones. Try to overlook the big crack on the side!)

Next, aquarium stones were scavenged from the supply box my sons keep, and just a few 

minutes later, everything was arranged. 

Growing paperwhites could not be easier, and fast! They were in bloom only 8 days after

being set in the vase. If you have little ones around, this project makes a rewarding one, since

the growth is amazingly quick and visible from day to day. Oh, I miss the days of home science

projects!  All that curiosity and enthusiasm just surging around - 

the measuring, the drawing, the charting ...

the bending, the pinching, the tossing 

(there are always a few unapproved experiments).

The tiny blooms resemble small daffodil clusters and have a really BIG scent. 

These roots - so swanky!

Everything I've read says that the bulbs are no good after one go around, 

but I'm going to save mine,  plant them in the garden, and see if 

I might get some blooms next year, in their proper season.

You could still buy some for yourself, something to brighten up these snowy days and

remind you of the spring that is surely on the way. 

It IS on the way, right???

For Sale

 We went to the 127 Corridor Sale back in August.

I took photos of everything I wanted to buy, and ended up carrying one of them home.

And only one, since we only took $6 to the sale.
Which of these do you think it was?

We shared a healthy lunch. 

The Cheetos were a Saturday Splurge item.

Ok, the hot dog was, too.

Don't leave without something to ponder - 

check out these chamber pots.  How lovely they are to have housed ... waste.

And there's definitely a lesson there. 

Sharing the View

I guess I'm a nosy sort.

OK, I am. 

But do you ever wonder what other people see every day outside their windows?

My window views are very, very familiar to me. Window gazing, especially in these months, can be a

 major distraction from the list of things I SHOULD be doing. (Those annoying SHOULDS!)

In the spirit of sharing, then, here is the window view from our tiny downstairs half-bath.

It looks out into the greenhouse, and when I say tiny, I'm talking about 16" x 30". The window, that is. The bathroom itself is 3' x 5'. It's a great reminder to keep my weight under control.

Pros:

* You have someplace convenient (the sink) to rest your head, if you need to, while 'using' the facilities.

* Clean-up time can be less than 5 minutes.

* It's easy to open the window, reach out there, grab a shovel, and scare away thieving raccoons.

(Husband is saying right now, "Easy for you, since you'd coaching from the bed while I do that!"   Sorry, MWH!)

* As stated before, major weight deterrent.

Cons:

* No laying in the floor, in case of stomach virus. (sorry - yuk!)

* Very difficult to paint.

* Not much room for privacy when wedging self into jeans that may be a teensy bit too tight. 

Which links back to a pro ...

* Odds are much, much greater that your phone will drop into the toilet in such a small space.

ANYway --- all that is a big long side note!

What I really wanted you to see is the stained glass hummingbird hanging out there! Found him at a sale this summer, and got him for a dime. A dime!His sunlit colors against frosted greenhouse glass are causing me to spend even more time window-gazing!

The View from My Chair

On our Great Anniversary Get-Away a couple years ago, we loved using these chairs out on the beach. You just lean back a little bit and boom - you're in full basking position. 

I miss the beach!

After we returned, we both  helpfully guided  our boys to choose one of these chairs as Mother's Day / Father's Day gifts. It is a happy day when we get to spend some time reclined in a "beach" chair. 

Here's the view from my chair last week. Husband, of course, in his chair nearby. 

That improves the view a hundred and sixteen percent. 

A tub full of perennials helps too - salvia, stellas, hosta, and a few lily of the valley. There is no room for any annuals in there this year. This is a good thing! I might tuck something else in there when the perennials stop blooming, though.

And who knew these snapdragons would return so big - another advantage of the mild winter, though, I think. Also in there are some dianthus, purple hearts, and a bit of some light green viney stuff taken from a hanging basket several years ago.

I don't think I'm putting anything extra in there either!

Yippee

I did score some great deals on the clearance rack at Lowes this weekend. Eyes popping out, I gathered big pots of healthy zinnia, pink and yellow, for just ... ONE DOLLAR! May Night salvia in perfectly good condition, and even some pretty poor looking  hydrangeas for a dollar. I put the hydrangeas in containers, too, and am hoping that they'll return next year and fill those containers --- for FREE.