I Digress.....

Nothing can humble a woman like swim suit shopping! 

I put this task off as long as possible covering my poor-fitting suit with a black cover-up, never daring to take it off. This year I decided I should at least make an effort to get something cute, comfortable, yet not too revealing. 

Once at the store I started going through the racks of various suits. Soon I was joined by two other women. We chorused the same sentiment of how disheartening this experience was while holding up various suits to ridicule! Ah, comrades in misery!

Finally armed with three bottoms and 7 or 8 tops, I trudged to the dressing room. Squeezing into the first bottom and I stood back to assess the results and, after an initial shock, discovered the size on the bottom was smaller than the size on the hanger, whew! Since none of these bottoms fit like I wanted, I decided to try on tops instead.

It was at this time an epic battled ensued as I wrestled into the first top. A full 2 or 3 minutes later I gazed into the full-length, 3 way mirror....and boy was I a sight to behold! There stood a grandmotherly lady with disheveled hair jammed into an extremely tight suit, lumps and bumps everywhere but where they should be! It was horrifying! 

Next  I tried to remove the top over my head only to find it stuck in a roll under my arms! I decided I had to pull it down in order to get it off. That worked a little better. I was able to witness the ultimate stretch of the fabric as it slid over my hips on the way down! 

I tried a few more of the first batch of tops without much better luck. They all covered me in various ways, none of them attractively ! I spent 5 minutes getting dressed to go out and begin round two. 

This time I gathered larger bottoms and tops, even one big swim dress!  I marched back to the dressing room determined to try on every suit in the store until I found something that worked!

Round two went a little better. The suits were bigger and I had learned some techniques of tug-of-war! I walked out of that dressing room with a tank top and swim shorts and my head held high! 

Overall I was in that store 2 hours trying on swim suits! Tired, yet victorious, I walked out with a bag in my hand and a smile on my face! I wondered if the other two women I met had had the fortitude to see the task through to the end or if they left defeated, destined to wear shorts and a tee shirt to the coast! 

Victory!

  

 

There's No Place Like Home

Our home is my favorite place to be! Whenever I get time off from work, I want to spend it at home. There is so much to do there that I enjoy!

On weekends or during the summer I love to get up early and sit in my pajamas, enjoying a cup of coffee. Often one of our cats will climb onto my lap or lay at my feet and take another snooze. With blinds open to initial darkness, dawn slowly illuminates the valley. Whether draped in fog, frost, snow, rain, or sunshine, each view is equally welcome!

Morning Fog

Mornings and evenings are perfect for a walk. Sometimes it is down our long driveway, other times out in the open field, there is always something new to see: a monarch chrysalis, killdeer, jackrabbits, bunny rabbits, deer, an undiscovered fossil, barrel cactus, roadrunners, ring tail cats, coyotes, a fox, various songbirds etc. I always look forward to what awaits!

Monarch Chrysalis

Watering and tending my garden brings much satisfaction. Knowing the food I harvest is pesticide free and grown from non-GMO seeds is important to me. I snip here, tie off there, even squash now and again to keep everything in order.

My Garden

Every day when I first go outside or come home from work, I go to my hive and watch my honey bees! As I work in the garden or go for a walk, their busy buzzing is a pleasant accompaniment. I never tire of watching worker bees as they visit each blossom foraging for nectar.

Honey Bees on Late-season Figs

We are far enough out from the city that we have decently-dark skies at night. Lying in the back of the truck, or sometimes just out on the warm driveway, I thrill at the sight of meteorites streaking across the heavens! I still enjoy the slow and steady reflection of satellites as they crisscross the sky. If we've had enough rain, the frogs' serenade is loud and sometimes accompanied by coyote howls as they call to each other through the fields.

Moon and Venus

Home has a special place in my heart as I'm sure it does in the hearts of many. As Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, there's no place like home!

Happy Birthday to my Garden!

In March of 2012 (spring break), my husband Mark and I put in my garden! I have thoroughly enjoyed having a place to work that is safe from cats and deer!

This spring break I planted most of my seeds. In order to save seeds (I usually use them for several years!) I plant each seed in its own little hole, instead of broadcasting the seeds and thinning the seedlings. I use a chopstick to make the holes, drop in the seeds, then water the area. The water carries loose soil into the hole, filling it. The tomatoes and peppers were started earlier and are in my neighbor's greenhouse.

I dampen the soil and use a chopstick to make a hole.

I put individual seeds in each hole then water.
The water carries soil into the hole, planting the seed!

My daughter gave me a soil test kit for my birthday so I have been testing soil in various areas. It seems my soil still needs some work. I don't want to go out and spend a lot of money on bags of various products to amend the soil. I want to approach it from an economical, natural angle. It will take longer to get the soil in shape, but I will enjoy the research and work needed to do so.  


 

This soil test is from one area that obviously needs amending!

About a week after I planted everything, we had a freeze for three consecutive nights. I used plastic cups and bee hive boxes to protect my sprouts. Most of them survived, and it is early enough to replace those that didn't.

Cups over small seedlings to keep them from freezing

 

Bee hive boxes with inner covers to protect plants from freezing

 

 

Last year, during the school year, I would water in the evening. This year I am trying to get up early enough to water in the morning! I use an outdoor light to illuminate the area. I find I enjoy the early morning solitude. There isn't even traffic noise -- just animals and the wind!

 

 

Early morning watering

 

I can't wait to see what this new year holds for me and my garden! I'll pick up my bees on April 13th!! Come back and visit my bees and my Garden of Blessings!



Knitwit: Sock Story

 

 

I'm a doer and I have trouble sitting still. Watching a movie, even reading, is hard for me. I fidget, wiggle, stand, sit, and walk around. It is very distracting to everyone, especially me!  So every Sunday I try to have a knitting or crochet project going during church. This keeps my hands occupied and helps me focus. Since socks are one of these projects, I call them Sunday socks!!

 

I had made socks in the past but was intrigued by a book showing a method of knitting two socks at one time using circular needles. One Sunday about six weeks ago, I started my new project!

 

At first I was quite clumsy! I kept twisting the cable, getting confused about which sock I was working on and "laddering" when I went from one needle to the next! To keep track of which sock was which, I attached pink and blue yarn markers. Now the socks had names: the blue was Adam (he came first!) and the pink was Eve! Soon I worked through all these difficulties and my socks were on their way!!

 

The book I used and the beginning of my socks.

 

The number one advantage of this method was that when you were done you had TWO finished socks! Another benefit was that I didn't have to make detailed notes when I wanted to stray from the pattern. Since I knitted the socks simultaneously, I just changed the same thing in the sock's mate immediately after I knitted it in the original sock!

 

While I would not recommend this process to a new knitter, one who is experienced in knitting, particularly knitting socks, will find it fun and rewarding!

 

 

Finished Sunday socks!

 

 Happy knitting!!!

 

 

 

Preparing for Spring

We've had such a warm winter here in south Texas that many people are already starting gardens. The plants and even the bees are a little confused! My neighbor, Bonnie, has had humming birds come and go all winter! I, too, want to get my garden going, but will err on the side of caution and wait until March.

I started prepping my garden for spring at the end of December by putting on and turning under a layer of old manure. I later was given a partly used bag of peat and one of green sand and put those on and turned the garden again.

Winter garden

Wheel barrow of "seasoned" goat manure

Turning in the manure

Two of my neighbor-friends, Bonnie and Jenny, also garden. We go in together to start seedlings and Jenny graciously cares for them in her greenhouse throughout the winter. I have been informed that they are up and going strong! (Guess I should visit them!)

When I went out in early February to turn my compost, I had the pleasant surprise of finding a bunch of pumpkin seedlings coming up from a pumpkin I had discarded in early winter! I screened some soil and transferred the volunteer seedlings into pots. I also moved some cilantro that had self-seeded from last year so I could clean up the garden and turn the soil.

Old pumpkin with seedlings

Pumpkin seedlings

One of my favorite "shovels" for loose dirt, manure, and such. It is flexible enough to
mold to the shape of the wheel barrow and gets out most of the soil, etc!

In a storage shed I found some unassembled bee boxes that were not level enough to use for bees. These make excellent planter boxes and allowed me to expand my gardening area.

Bee boxes

I have also purchased a Top Bar Hive and ordered a package of bees to be delivered in April. I look forward to posting about my new hive and bees!



Unpainted top bar hive with observation windows

The garden is turned and most of the boxes and soil are in place for Spring. I feel a lot of satisfaction as I look ahead to a time of warm days and new beginnings! I thank God for his blessings and my heart says, "God is good, all the time!"

Most of the bee boxes and soil are in place. Getting excited!

Fig Leathers (aka dried figs!)

In his heart a man plans his course,

but the Lord determines his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

 

I know that most people only think of Bible verses when big things happen, but I often think of them for the little things. Here's an example:

 

Last Sunday was the last day of our Christmas break. A teacher has tons of things to do in the 11th hour before school starts back up and I am no exception. As I was getting food out of the freezer to prepare for dinner, I noticed a lot of  UNFROZEN liquid in the bottom!! That is not a good thing to find in a freezer! I thankfully noticed that this was a new development since most of the food was still frozen solid. The liquid was from a couple of my bags of summer figs. I panicked, thinking of all the work and figs that might have been wasted and quickly got a big bowl to move the dripping figs. As it turned out, there was still frost on most of them and they smelled the same as when I had put them in, so no spoiled figs!

 

I had planned to make fruit leathers out of part of the figs, but not the last evening of Christmas break! I poured all of the gooey contents into a large pot and put it on the stove to simmer. After 10 minutes of simmering, I processed the figs in my Vita Mix then and poured them into a big bowl. I stirred in the liquid and spooned them out onto the drying trays of my dehydrator.

 

The next day after work they were ready! I peeled each layer off the tray, laid the layer on wax paper, rolled the wax paper and cut the leathers with kitchen shears. The fig leathers were wonderful!! I didn't add any extra sugar or preservative; they were just figs! I've shared many of them around and everyone tells me they are really good!



So even though I had many plans for the last day of my break and none of those plans included making fruit leathers, I think God helped me notice the figs before they spoiled and allowed me to make a yummy snack to share with my family and friends!! God's plans are always better than mine! (Mark vacuumed out from under the freezer and it seems to be working just fine!)

Simmering the figs 

Blending the simmered figs



 








 

Fig leathers after a night in the dehydrator

 





Roll the fig leathers on wax paper



Cut the fig leathers with kitchen shears

So Long Sweet Spot!

All of our cats and dogs have just come to us. Even though we have not searched for them, once they were here we have accepted them into our family. Each one uniquely fills a place in our home and hearts. One special family member who came several years ago was our beloved cat Spot!

He appeared on a Thursday, briefly, then again on Friday permanently! That particular Friday I was hosting a group of children at my home for a celebration. Amid the hubbub, Spot wondered around like he had always been here. He had chosen us as his family!

My husband, Mark, runs his business from home and Spot became his constant outdoor companion, As Mark sat in his "thinking" place on the outside swing, Spot was right there at his side. Spot greeted me every morning as I left for work and every evening when I returned. He went on long evening walks and monitored goat-feeding time. Although he visited in the house from time to time, he preferred to be outside in the middle of the action!

Spot disappeared near the end of last October. We posted signs all around the area and called everyone who lived close asking them to be on the lookout. Over the next week we walked though fields, searched brush and called for him up and down the road near our house. All was to no avail.

Every morning and evening I still look around expecting to see him wandering up. He has been a fixture at our home for so long; we miss him. I have delayed mourning but since it has been over two months, I guess I finally must accept that he is not coming back.

Even though he is only precious to our family, I felt a need to honor his life and memory here. I'm sure many of you have had a special pet and understand my feelings of loss.

Sweet Spot