Tuesday Garden Party

Wow - it's been quite a while since I had my act together for a garden update!  The daffodils and tulips have come and gone.  The magnolia was glorious in full bloom and for the first time in about three years it didn't get frosted!  I've been picking rhubarb and asparagus by the fist full.  Or the armload - depending on who's carrying it in!



My "early garden bed" is doing well.  I picked the first of my spinach this week.  The green beans are all on their second and third sets of leaves.  I planted tomato and pepper plants about three weeks ago and they are both doing very well.  I also planted basil and cilantro seeds that haven't surfaced yet - or they've surfaced but they're among so many small weeds that I can't distinguish between my herbs and weeds yet.

I planted the rest of my garden this weekend: acorn and butternut squash, zucchini, carrots, more green beans, more spinach, and pumpkins.  I also have broccoli from plants going out there.  I've had bad luck the last couple years with broccoli, so I only planted six.  I also plan on getting another dozen tomato plants today to go out in the garden.  With temperatures forecasted in the 90s this week - they should be pretty happy!

So, my garden is off to a good start.  How does your garden grow?

:: Linked up at An Oregon Cottage's Tuesday Garden Party

Sunday Sunshine: May

Practicing contentment by remembering the gracesof the week and practicing gratitude by giving.

May has brought with it a full calendar and lots of family time.  HandyMan had two weeks of much needed vacation time this month and one week was spent with my family in Williamsburg, VA.  There was a little history, a lot of good food and the chaos that comes with three small children, doting aunts, uncles and grandparents all under one roof for the week!  It was a great time!  There were many fun moments including rides on Quarter Horses, time in the kiddie pool, snuggling the little ones while relaxing with favorite movies, Pig-Pile on Uncles, Granddad Horse and many many more.

Then we returned home and delved into some projects that had been on The List far too long.  Handyman was crossing jobs off The List like crazy!  While he was on vacation from work, there was not much R&R!

We've had a lot of rain and thunderstorms, but our home and property have been safe from the high winds and damaging hail that have come through our area numerous times this month.

I had a week mostly unplugged which was great!  My garden grows.  My family is well.  My life is full.  What more could a girl want!

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Where Did May Go?!?

I have pictures on my cameras and blogs in my head to go with them, but the time eludes me! May has disappeared to work (3 different part-time "jobs"), a week of family vacation, a week of stay-cation, power outages, and a general lack of routine! I'm hoping to get back on track next week! Until then, have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Blogging For Books Program

Some of you may have read book reviews I have posted as part of the Blogging for Books program from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing.  Due to some fraudulent activity, they have had to wipe out all of the ratings of the book reviews.  So, if you're so inclined to help me earn some of my stars back, please skim over my book reviews and click through the rating system at the bottom.  Part of the security on the new system requires an email confirmation to make sure that you're a real person for the first review that you rate. Thanks!

May's Goals and April's Updates

As the  months rolled into April, I set out with some goals through a fun little blog round up over at MamaJenn's.  I am happy to report that I did pretty well!

Inside: Spring Cleaning My goal is to get four areas of the house deep cleaned and get rid of all the winter dust and cob-webs. I am glad to say that the kitchen, two bathrooms and my work room were thoroughly cleaned and organized, for at least one day this month!

Outside: Garden I have gotten the materials to set up one of my raised beds with a cover and plant some crops that I hope to get in early.  If the weather holds and night time temperatures stay above 27, I hope to get this bed set up an planted around the middle of the month.

While the weather was not as cooperative as I had hoped, I did get the first section of this early garden bed up and spinach and green beans planted.  I ran into some snags along the way too that I needed to rework my way through.  But the first phase is done and that's enough to check it off the list for now.

Blogging I would like to get 8 posts up this month of projects that I’m working on and want to share. In addition to the cleaning and gardening posts linked above,  here are 5 more.  Mission accomplished!

1. Trash Me Pants


2. Improvising Dresses


3. Kissing Shoes


4. Book Review: Judgment Day


5. Frosting & Filling A Layered Cake

Charity’s Candles It is my goal to get my inventory replenished to restock for one craft show coming up and one retail location as well as a special order that’s come in for a baby shower.

Done, Done and Done!

* * * * *

Boy that felt good!  I guess I didn't do so bad last month after all!  My May goals are few, but here they are:

Blogging: Write and post my review of This Little Prayer of Mine.

Gardening: Put in Phase Two of the early bed and if it warms up, get the rest of the garden beds planted by Memorial Day.

Charity's Candles: Redesign the home page of the web site and work on re-doing some signage that I need to get ready for my next craft show.

Have a great Month!

This post is linked up at MamaJenn's Mission of the Month.

Sunday Sunshine

Practicing contentment by remembering the gracesof the week and practicing gratitude by giving.

This week has brought adjustments and transitions to our home as I adjust to a new schedule and GTot adjusts to her toddler bed.  Two solid naps in a row are good signs that she is adjusting well to all the changes.

Warm days and thunderstorms filled this week.  Excessive water has done a lot of damage in our area, I'm thankful that two dry days this weekend have brought the water levels down significantly.

The screened in back-porch was a God-send this week as the rain came and the toddlers got cabin fever.  I was able to send them out there to play and they were still able to enjoy the outdoors, even if confined by the screen walls.

Reconnecting with friends and getting the bills paid were also highlights of the week.

What were the bright spots in your week?

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!