the gardener

I was 18 when the Gardener and I first met. It was by the mailboxes at college and he asked if I typed papers. I think he was trying to get to know me, too. I guess typing others' papers was a way to make money at college. And it wasn't an easy job before "erasable bond" was invented. I declined. I wasn't too interested in him but as I got to know him in group situations I realized he was only one of two or three guys at school that met my rather high standards of what I was looking for in a husband.

That summer we worked at a day camp run by our college. He drove bus to pick up kids for camp

 and the director, his college coach, put me on his bus as "monitor" for the kids. And so it began.

The Gardener is cleaning our ceiling fans today and just got a large bowl down for me from a high cupboard. His 6'6" height is an advantage now just as it was on the basketball court when we were courting. But of course its the stature of his character that I love the most about him. He had a very challenging childhood, and at the age of 12 lost his dad. Maybe that's the reason he has such 

a strong faith. Tough times grow us. He had to depend on his Heavenly Father from a young age. 

When I grumble and worry, he always pulls me to the right place. He knows from experience that things work out. 

He is loving, caring, kind, humble and a true gentleman.

 A wonderful, patient husband, an amazing dad, and now a pretty cool grandpa. 

And this weekend I want to wish the father of my children a Happy Father's Day.

the rest of the story

I made more fruit sticks and we had us a tea party today. Three new neighbor girls and a little church friend and I have been talking about a tea party for some time and it finally happened. With our neighbors' out of town guests, we had six little girls around the table.

What a delight to see all the girls arrive dressed in sweet summer dresses.

Cupcakes, gold fish, fruit ...

Chocolate chip scones with lemon curd and clotted cream ...

Chocolate cakes and chocolate chip biscotti . . .

. . . tea ... and more tea. Some of these girls seemed very familiar with a tea party.

They had cup after cup of Earl Grey Decaf or Raspberry Tea and 

knew about lemon curd and clotted cream. 

When we cleared the table later I was amazed to see almost everything gone! 

These little ladies can eat! And drink tea! I had to make several pots.

And what I chuckled about the most was the empty sugar bowl! 

Their poor moms tonight!

Before we ate each girl read a Bible verse from the scroll at her place.

Under each plate there was a question for the girls to answer. 

It helped us to get to know each other.  

After we ate we learned to make little boxes out of recycled greeting cards.

I was so blessed to have these little girls spend the afternoon with me!

all dressed up and no place to go

 Hmm, let's see, what can I put together here? I was having a tea party for some little girls and wanted to add fruit to the menu, but in a fun way. Could I make it work with what was in the frig? Cantelope, strawberries and blueberries? Sure enough, I found some toothpicks and I carefully sliced the fruit and put it on "mini skewers." I should have checked my email just a tad earlier, but as soon as I finished, I did, and learned that three of the four little girls were stranded out of town with a sick mama so had to cancel.

Never mind, we're trying it again this week. Meanwhile, I thought my little fruit charmers turned out . . . well,  . . . charming. And when the grand Little Ones came over this week they had more fun eating their fruit!

gravel road view

I'm not sure this exactly meets the instructions for the photo challenge, but I thought I'd  join in.

 I like to stand in the same spot and change the angle of my camera to see how the view changes.

One thing to note is the hanging branch in the upper left of the photo, 

and how it diminishes in size the more I crouch down to expand the foreground.  

I have not altered these pics, and use my simple Canon point and shoot digital. 

I changed my position at bit here to capture the wonderful

 trees that line the gravel road.

Here's a bit of a dramatic bonus. See my previous post for more
on where these beautiful vistas are located.

Joining with Donna's A Personal Photo Challenge for Saturday. 

The Challenge is Composition Variations.

Retreat Rescue

Thomas Jefferson needed to get out of town as the enemy was after him. Monticello was too well known so he retreated from Richmond (a mere three-day trip by horse and buggy; today at 90-minute drive) to a property owned by his father-in-law where a small cabin awaited him.  Poplar Forest, VA.

After the death of his wife's father, Jefferson took ownership of the extensive grounds (I think about 600 acres) and began to run the farms and build a house that reminds one of Monticello, though a smaller and simpler version. And he went there when he could, as he aged, often accompanied by his 12 grandchildren. This is what he said about it:

"I have fixed myself comfortably, keep some books here, bring others occasionally, am in the solitude of a hermit, and quite at leisure to attend to my absent friends."

A few years after his death, Jefferson's son sold the property and changes were made over the years. Today lovers of history are painstakingly restoring the property to what it was in Jefferson's day. They are "rescuing the retreat."

When I visited, I found it a retreat for me ... even if only for a couple of hours. Fascinating history, architecture, beautiful grounds and a soft breeze on a warm day ... if I had been there on my own, I could easily have chosen to spend the entire day just gazing at the views. As it was, I came away refreshed.

in no particular order

It seems like my entire life needs a cleaning out as I slowly come off a very busy year.  

Little by little I am working on my list. I took time to do some computer housekeeping, 

and found some very favorite photos. 

Here they are in random order. You've probably seen them all before.

Joining Mary's Little Red House for the popular Mosaics on Monday.

brain teasers

After so many years of working as a nurse, I still find myself waking at 5 am. And at 7 pm I feel a nudge to give Mom a call, as I always did every evening at that time. Today I drove past the spot where mom had a little accident. It was the last time she drove. And when I drive past the D*V I'm reminded of when my dad tried to pass the vision test, but sadly could not connect it all in his mind. The end to his driving.

I can't seem to help these internal "triggers"  (for want of a better word) which turn into reminders of another place or time for me.  I like the associations that come with them . . . many years of a fulfilling career, wonderful "check in" conversations with Mom, just to hear her voice and know she was OK . . . .

As for the end of my parents' driving days, both somewhat sad times have a wonderful memory attached. It was hard to watch my intelligent dad, after driving for more than 70 years, struggle to connect warning signs, stop signs, etc. But what I remember most about that day is the young man who was testing him.  In a busy government agency, he took time with my dad.  He let him repeat the test, he talked gently to Dad, and finally suggested that he get a nice ID card that looked just like a driver's license. He understood what we were facing, and he showed us the utmost sensitive care.

What I remember most about mom's accident is the 40-something woman who came to her aid. She saw what was going on and jumped out of her car to help Mom. This angel in disguise phoned me, and gave mom a place to sit in her car while waiting for me to arrive. She gave witness to the accident, made sure mom was OK and was a great comfort to her. She set a high standard for me to emulate.

I like these little reminders of the sweetness of life.

riverfront

We enjoyed a walk at a river front park on our recent trip to Florida. And also enjoyed the cool breeze and   

lack of humidity! Kind of like it is here this weekend.  Delightful!

Joining Little Red House for Monday's Mosaics ... lots of lovely photos of England on Mary's blog today!

half an oval

Sitting in an outdoor eating area, next to bubbling fountains, my eye was drawn to beauty. 

I stayed involved with our table conversation as I slowly fell in love with my view.

It was as if the iron work became clearer as I studied it and the pattern seemed so lovely to my 

eyes. I think the longer we look, the more beauty we see in an object (usually.) 

I began to realize that this was an arch, yes, but it wasn't half a circle, it was half an oval.

This view has a car in it and I used bluer tones to primp it in my edit program.

A wonderful lunch with friends, made all the better for conversation with a view!

the storm

Sunday found me scooping up water flooding into our porch. The deluge of rain was more than the patio drains could handle so the water overflowed into my newly cleaned porch. I grabbed up towels but that wasn't enough so got a dustpan to scoop the water into buckets. As fast as it came I scooped.

I was transported back to our life in Africa. We were expecting our international boss and 10 others for dinner as they traveled through our town. Everything was ready and then a terrible storm came up about two hours before their arrival. We lived on the second floor but the winds and driving rain pushed water under the doors and flooded the main room of our second floor flat (photo of that storm above.) We grabbed buckets and dustpans and bent over and scooped up bucketful after bucketful. A newly cleaned floor, barely dry, greeted our guests.

This storm story is in no comparison to the storms in Oklahoma this week, but it is a reminder that we have no power over nature. My heart is heavy as I think of the loss and destruction this week. Just how would I cope if I lost everything in less than an hour?

end of year

So the 14 fit nicely in our dining room and we enjoyed a festive evening together

as we celebrated the end of a year of our mentorship group. I was thrilled that all the 

flowers that made up the tiny bouquets in assorted jars were all from our garden. 

We gave each girl a journal and we printed up menus "just for fun." I put 

photos of them in tiny frames to make place cards.

We mentors all contributed to the meal and it was delicious.

We are all looking forward to next year and already making plans.

We might tackle some bread making and knitting among other things!

the weekend comes

The weekend is upon us. So far we have a sunny day, but rain and clouds are predicted for the next few days. How is it that leaning over to take in the scent of these peonies transports me immediately back to summer visits to my grandmother. Her garden was full of them and I am on her porch reading a book, enveloped with beauty around me.

Babysitting the grandchildren last night: big sister has a motherly touch, I noted. 

The two sisters are in love, and it's so nice to see Baby looking up at 

her sister with smiles and delight.

Brother doesn't usually sit long enough to do much eye gazing, but he 

is a help to his sister in retrieving paci's as they fly out of her mouth.  

Note the proverbial matchbox car fitting perfectly into his little hand.

I make this recipe at least once each Spring, and tonight's guests coming was the perfect 

time to have it. I've made this for at least 35 years and it always brings us to a family story 

of me putting it together one time in Africa with less than the perfect ingredients.

 Of course it was the "best ever."

Do you have recipes that have become traditions? 

Have a good weekend!

may days

These photos were published here in May 2010, a birthday lunch on the porch for a dear friend. I think the pink and green theme could make a nice set of photo notecards. The pollen is just about gone now, and I am late cleaning the porch to get it ready to use. That's the one sad thing about a porch here -- the pollen is so heavy you can barely use it until it's gone ... and then it takes a good scrubbing. So I'm off armed with bucket and rubber gloves and a bottle of bleach.

Joining Vee's Monthly Note Card Party

a glow of pink

From our bedroom you can look through two rooms and see our back door. 

Yesterday I noticed a pink glow on our bedroom door and it took me a minute to realize 

it was reflected all the way from the open back door. You can see it here on the laundry room door.

We've been away for almost two weeks and when we arrived home we were amazed at 

how our knock out roses had flourished. With the cooler temperatures and the rain 

we've been having, they are in their full glory. Eldest son had picked me a bouquet and 

had it on the table for our arrival home on Mother's Day.

We enjoyed a little visitor here all day yesterday ... and had fun 

with his shadow as he got ready to go home!

I hope to visit you all soon as I catch up from being away.

Meanwhile I've extended and angled our table to fit 14 tonight--

the last meeting of our mentoring group. Thankfully I'm not doing all the cooking, 

but I do need to go pick some roses for the table!

happy mother's day

 I've written about these pictures in the past, so I'll just post them again as I find them so beautiful, 

and this year, can imagine this a table set for all our mothers we honor and remember so dearly!

Happy Mother's Day.