daisies & dill

{growing wild around our house}

flowers at sunrise

{from yesterday}

my breakfast buddy

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...and so my garden grows ~'::

Of course I couldn't just take one picture :)

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Wait 'til you see the tomato garden...

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click to see the last post from my garden

toes

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Every day they fill me with glee. ~'::

Evening

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Stacks of clean towels
Roses just picked
from 6/17/09

first radishes

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~Greta and Mama picking spinach and radishes from the garden for Daddy's salad~

(You just can't see me :) )

from yesterday

Brisket

Another new recipe for our smoker :)

Caleb tried his hand at smoking a brisket last weekend. It tasted delicious and was so tender.

He smoked it all day on Friday, sharpening my set of kitchen knives while he watched the fire. Greta and I kept him company.

He made his own barbecue sauce to go with it--tangy, spicy, sweet. mmmmm. Wow. We'll have to do it again, and soon. :)

We brought some warmed back up to our church picnic on Sunday, along with a fresh batch of sauce. If possible, it was even better than the first day.

eyes

sweet blue ones

Isaiah 58

58:1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
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* * * * *
Listen:
Cornerstone Church Sermon Player
--> go to Living a Life that Matters - "Living to Display the Gospel"
..{Cornerstone Church site}..

today's pages begun

I've been inspired by Ann's journaling. Hopefully I'll keep going with this one; it's a style that fits me. Lines make me feel like I have to write coherently. :) I had to tell Mama about the beautiful clippings that I found for today's pages and promised to upload a picture so she could see. I always am stuck looking for a pen when I want to scribble something in the middle of browning hamburger, so I was captured by the thought of wearing one around my neck, like Ann says she used to. A crocheted pen-holding necklace is underway. I need to cultivate this discipline of journaling. To capture and hold the nourishment for my soul that comes into my day, to remember precious things about my girl and my man, to remember to be specifically thankful for the gifts from my Father.

In the garden ~'::

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Unfortunately I don't have a before picture to show you. I guess I don't take pictures of that side of the house. :) Caleb and I envisioned it one evening over supper on the front step and started it the next weekend. The next day maybe? We're like that. Caleb had his smoker to work on so his mama and sister came to help me, later others to help haul sod away. Caleb kicked two extension cords into the right shape and I, with Greta in the Ergo, started cutting out the sod. :) It has been many weeks of work on it. Tilling, hauling bricks to edge, planning the walkways and beds, planting seeds and transplants from family, scavenging at the town compost site for rocks for my paths (again with my man's mom and sisters). Now it's weeding that I do, and laying down grass clippings and picking fresh spinach. It's starting to look so lovely! Caleb even bought a bird bath last weekend. I can see it out my living room and bedroom windows, and when it rains the raindrops make lovely little dancing patterns in it.
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(Pictures of the first day digging are at the bottom of the post)

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***
Caleb built a long raised bed south of our garage for the tomatoes. They seem much happier with their new growing spot and are getting lots of sun and rain. We have onions and beets in that bed too.
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* * * * *

Digging our new garden 4/24:

My helper-girl, of all the cuteness that could ever be:






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Greta and Grandma Connie:

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The Dude, alternately welding and checking our progress:

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Greta in the Ergo, Mommie ready to dig:

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After the day's work:

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~'::

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I love our place!