OK... so I seem to be lax on my blog posting as of late! With the Memorial Day holiday, work, a charity golf outing I chair and my nieces in town I have been swamped with summer activity and fun! My sister and I have vowed to remember a bumper sticker she saw when we start seeing our schedules as "too full". The bumper sticker reads: Too Blessed To Be Stressed! I love it! The Lord has certainly been showing me His many blessings!

I am excited as next week I begin leading a book club in my home! We are reading Beth Moore's "So Long, Insecurity  you have been a bad friend to us"
8 ladies will be gathering in my home and we are following the format that Beth  used when the Siestas read through the book!  I am using Beth's questions to encourage thought and conversation!  It's going to be wonderful & I would covet your prayers!  Especially for 2 gals joining us as one for sure does not have a personal relationship with Jesus!  The rest of the group are very good Christian friends of mine who will be wonderful as we journey with my unchurched friend!  I will keep you all posted about our journey!  I for one, as secure and confident as I seem... battle insecurity and anxiety A LOT!  We are going to do what Beth did in 9 weeks in a 4 week time period!  I was afraid that some of the gals wouldn't want to commit to that long of a group! 

The garden is really coming along!  We are going to be harvesting the broccoli this week!  Here are some updated pics of the garden!  Oh the bounty we will have!  Can't wait to share with my friends and family!

We already have tomatoes growing on some of the vines (can you hear me clapping?)

Love Zucchini!  But gotta pick fast or they grow from tender, yummy squash into mammoth, scary veggies overnight!

Broccoli is ready!  It's going to be a good week!  After we harvest the main bunch, we will get little shoots throughout the summer!

We put straw down in the pathways to help with weeds as well as keep our feet from getting muddy after rains!

How lucky are we that our neighbors have strawberries in their garden and that they share!  We actually shared some of these with friends!!!!

We are also anticipating bringing home another whippet puppy!  We have picked our favorite, but we won't know until the couple in front of us (they get first pick) decides.  So far their favs are different than ours.  I am not going to post a picture until I know which little guy is ours.  So... even if it's crazy... could you pray that we get the little guy we want?  We are smitten with him.  When we went over to visit this past Friday he was the first pup to come up to me when I leaned into the pen... and he was the first to trot over and plop in my lap when we had them on the floor in our breeder's family room!   That anxiety I told you about above... well, when I think about our wait to find out if we get this little guy... I get anxious!  As soon as I know I will post pictures!  Jet's going to have a playmate!  We will be bringing him home around the 4th of July! 

I got to visit with my nieces and my great nieces and nephew this last week.  It's been wonderful!  As close as kids and grand kids that I will ever get and I couldn't be more proud of my girls and their families.  They are all doing so well. Unfortunately I forgot my camera EVERY time we got together!  Bad Auntie K! 

Of course cycling takes up a lot of time when I am not enjoying my friends, family and work!  But alas... the rain and t-storms are keeping me off the road tonight.  (can you hear me crying?)   So I am hoping I can catch up with my blogland sisters this evening since I will be snuggled up in a comfy chair, Jet at my feet and hopefully something decent on TV!

Random Musings...

Mr. Drizzle has hung around long enough... Mr. Drizzle - you are like fish & company... after a few days you begin to stink. How I long for Mr. Golden Sunshine to make an appearance!

OK, so we got very spoiled her in Indy during the month of April. Temps were unseasonably warm. This past week - which is MID MAY - has proven damp & cold. Now I know God has His reason for this weather pattern here in Indy, but it is bumming me out a bit!  I did get out in the garden on Sunday to weed. The damp soil did make it easier to pull out those weeds. OK Lord, you helped make my labor a bit easier. We did have a tiny bit of firewood left on the front porch that Jim didn't want to move back to the wood pile so the cooler temps afforded us to enjoy one last fire in the fireplace. OK Lord, You know I love a cozy fire and You knew Jim didn't want to move that wood. I did get the winter & summer clothes swapped over. OK Lord, You knew I wouldn't do that on a nice day full of sunshine!  Lord... I got that stuff done... can You bring on some sunsine! (grin)

I did get a nice 66 mile bike ride in on Saturday morning before the rain moved in... but the drizzle is keeping me off the bike tonight and placing me in the Y on the treadmill to run. Ugggh! OK Lord, You are protecting me from getting hurt out there on the road - Right?

I wanted to get out and get more pics of the garden, but these will have to do. These photos were taken a few weeks ago - everything is really bigger and fuller now. So the rain is good - right? We should have a lot of great, fresh produce this season. I can't wait! Fresh veggies taste so much better than store bought. We are trying potatoes for the first time. So far we have tomatoes, potatoes, lettuces, cabbage, broccoli, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, garlic, brussels sprouts, radishes, zuchinni, several types of peppers and many differnt herbs planted. We will have more tomatoes than we will ever eat or can, so our friends will be quite happy. I will can banana peppers & jalapeno peppers this summer and I will also make jalapeno jelly to share. Once the radishes and lettuces are done we will put in beans a beets. I am going to put more onions in soon and we will harvest some potatoes early as to have "new" potatoes and put more spuds in for harvest later in the fall.

Jet guarding the yard from squirrels. 

Garlic... it actually had seeded itself from last year's harvest.  I had to dig up the garlic and divide.  I am happy to say they look wonderful!  I was a bit worried when I took this picture!

Lemon Boy tomato plant - just one of many varieties of tomatoes we have planted this year.  We have plenty of romas for canning & making sauces.  Nice Big Boy tomatoes for slicing.  Cherry tomatoes for the nieces and nephews! Some Mr. Stripeys and a Granny Smith tomato plant.  The Granny Smith is a new plant for me... I will be interested to see how they taste!

Broccoli plant!  I believe we have 8 broccoli plants.  Each plant will produce a large stalk of broccoli.  After it's harvested tender shoots of broccoli will grow out of the plant so we can enjoy broccoli for a while.

Chives are just one of the many herbs we grow.  I actually have 3 chive plants and they are all in bloom right now.  This picture just shows this plant budding out.  You can eat the flowers - we toss them into salads.  I have 2 of the 3 chive plants that need divided.  We also grow marjoram, thyme, oregano, basil, cilantro, italian flat leaf parsely and rosemary.  I love using fresh herbs in my cooking!

This is one of the many potato plants.  We planted reds, yukon golds & russets.  I can't wait!  We tried two different styles of planting to see which works best.  This particular plant keeps getting top soil mound up over the foliage. 

Bibb lettuce... once the temps warm... the lettuce will bolt and become bitter.  We will plant more at the end of August!

Oh... and we got a rhubarb start last year.  It looks great!  I think I will have enough for a pie this summer!  Oh... and we also put asparagus in this spring.  Next year we might be able to pick a few stalks.  Asparagus takes a few years!

I will get some more updated pictures in the next few days so you can see how much the veggies have grown! 

It's the Little Things...

Like new magazines that arrive in the mail...

Waking up and realizing I have another hour before the alarm goes off... snuggling in as I hear rain pattering on the roof and a soft rumble of thunder in the distance.

My husband bringing me coffee & the funny papers to me while I am still in bed.

A family gathered around my patio table, belly laughing as we celebrate Mother's Day

A text from a friend to tell me to have a good day & that she loves me...

A robin building a nest near my front porch

Bubble Gum...

Linking up to Chatting at the Sky as well as my friend Christy

Thanks for reminding me that the little things are really the big things that matter!

Love,

Exciting Day!

It has been quite an honor for me over the last few years of blogging that I have come to know (via blogland) published Christian authors. Today I have the privelege of sharing with you the announcement of "peace for the journey: in the pleasure of his company"... by Elaine Olsen

Please visit Elaine's Blog via the link above... preview the video... and order her book! I am sure you will be blessed! I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of the book and also use it in our small group this fall!

Elaine... I am so proud of you. You have responded in faith, paitence and love to the Lord with your pen. He has blessed so many of us with your writings! I am so excited to share the news and am positive many, many, many more will be blessed by the gift so graciously lavished upon you from the Lord! 



Heavenely Father, I thank you today for beautiful Elaine. I thank You for moving her heart to respond to You in faith as she has journeyed with You to this milestone... I rejoice knowing that You will be glorified in the work she penned. I thank you that she continuted to perservere and respond to Your calling upon her heart even when the enemy would strive to snuff out the dream. You Lord stand victorious! Bless all who read Elaine's words... Bless Elaine in the days to come as I am sure they will be filled with so much activity surrounding the book and her family's move. Give her discernment, strength, courage and guidance... Praising You for bringing an Indiana girl and a North Carolina girl together in an unconventional way! It is to Your glory I ask Your blessings to all who read Elaine's book... in Jesus Mighty Name! AMEN!

On a side note... the first blog post I ever read of Elaine's was Loved Tied To A Tree Today I am thinking of how she and I are bound by God's love - tied to a tree!

Love you all!

Ah yes.. TGIF! Even better is a Friday that I can do my work from home in the morning and then putz around the house or garden the rest of the day.

This morning dawned with the weatherman forcasting rain and thunderstorms. Of course after bringing ALL the patio cushions in, Jim mowing the lawn at 8:30am (I am sure our neighbors were thrilled)it rained for ummmm... about 3 minutes. With the rain being at a minimum it afforded us time to work in the garden. So today we FINALLY planted the asparagus crowns. I am hopeful next spring we can harvest a few for a meal. I had A LOT of garlic coming up, but I wasn't diligent in planting them last year and let the garlic re-seed itself. So I had to dig up a lot of the plants, divide and re-plant. I am hoping they survive. They look good. I was happy to see a few of the potatoes we planted coming up. So we buried the leaves as we are supposed to. This is our first attempt at potatoes. I am looking forward to our crop and tasting how yummy fresh potatoes will be! Our first planting of onions are coming in nicely. Jim will plant another round in about a week. We usually have enough onions to last us through winter. The broccoli, cabbage and brussels sprout plants are looking good. We have a few lettuce plants, but I need to get more put in next week. My chives look wonderful and I need to snip some to bring in for dinners this weekend. I prepared an area for cilantro, parsley and basil (I plant those herbs in pots too).

I love preparing the garden in the spring. I am anxious for May when I can put tomato, pepper, squash and beans in! There is a bit of satisfaction growing our own food. We do a lot of grilling in the summer and the fresh veggies go nicely with summer food fare. I love to cook as well so all the veggies give me a lot of varitey to try different menus.

Jim's gardening adventure this year (he hopes) will be planting some blueberry bushes and raspberry bushes. We shall see how this works. We are going to take the gourds from last year, cut them open and throw the seeds along the back fence line. I am hoping we have some cute jack be little gourds for fall!

After a day in the garden our temps are going to turn a bit more seasonal and it will be down in the 40's tonight. That gives us the opportunity to burn up the rest of the firewood that sits on the front porch. A cozy night by the fire w/ friends coming for dinner is on tap! Looking forward to some good food and conversation tonight!

I hope your Friday has been great!
Hugs,