Two weeks ago my husband and I planted our annual vegetable garden. It was quite a project and took longer than we expected. As the sun warmed the earth, there was that sticky change in the air. It was the distinct sign of rain, as bugs went crazy in our face and nibbled at our exposed ears. Although our bout with the annoying insects drove us crazy and tried our patience, we still persevered at our gardening task with a farmer’s steadfast determination.
A tilled sandy garden plot from the very beginning of the season.
My husband and I are quite a team because we work together in tandem like a well oiled machine, but we should, as we have been doing this for a few years now. It’s our fourth year planting here at our home overlooking our pond. Before that we worked and enjoyed a vegetable plot for sixteen years. It’s just what we do in June with persistent faith in what will grow. Tom raked the rows and I planted the seeds and plants. After it all was planted and marked, we watered the rows for the first time.
Here we are immersed in the June season…a time to start anew and plant in hopes of mother nature’s cooperation. It’s a rush to plant because if you wait until now it may be too late. The growing season is so short lived here that time is of the essence. I always start the first weekend of June for I fear the weather will have a frost or my delicate saplings won’t make the cold weather. So we plant hurriedly in hopes of a harvest in July, August and September depending on what vegetables they are.
A little view of our planted product in the early stages!
A New England tip for gardener’s is to not only sow seeds but buy or start plants for a head start. I don’t have a sun room or anything ideal to start seeds in February, although a greenhouse would be nice someday! Buying started vegetable plants boosts your garden and you will harvest much quicker than if you started planting seeds. Some veggies grow super fast, so those you can sow seeds and it’s fine. They are green beans, carrots, spinach and lettuce, herbs, and radishes to name a few. I always choose tomato, squash, cucumber and eggplant plants so that I can harvest in June for the cukes and August and September for the rest.
In previous years my dad always has his ground seeds planted by mid May while my plot hasn’t even been tilled yet! The amazing thing is that he lives even more north of me and has different weather but it seems to always work out for him. I have to remember that he’s retired as well and has more time on his hands than me! This year he has a little greenhouse with shelves in it to grow veggies in containers and then he’s placing the containers outside where his garden was. I wish him well with his new system and there will be less weeds doing it this way.
my spooky owl that hopefully will scare little critters from our harvest.
This year we had a deluge of rain, raining just about every day and as that happened, our brook bordering our woods was churning and bubbling fast because of all the water rush. I hoped that our seeds wouldn’t rot in all the muck but with wishful thinking and the warm sun pulling its weight now, it all will be fine.
Gardening takes lots of patience…patience for it to happen on it’s terms and not yours. Here it’s been two weeks since I planted and little has changed with the plants, although most planted seeds have sprouted from the earth. I can continuously check every day like an anxious elementary child who has sown her bean seed in a little cup. Even so, if I constantly watch for some growth, it’s definitely not going to speed up it’s progress.
This year our vegetable garden includes corn, green beans, carrots, two kinds of cucumbers ( straight 8’s and pickling), beets, spinach, Swiss chard, lettuce, basil, thyme, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, buttercup squash, zucchini and summer squash, tomatoes ( cherry and early girl), and marigolds lined up as soldiers to ward off the pests.
Have you planted your garden yet? What did you plant for your family and friends? I wish you many harvested goodies from your countless hours of gardening! The pure gift of sunshine and freshly fallen rain helps a bunch and a never ending faith of what will be.
All My Best,
Heart and Soul
My little row of carrots, broccoli, and Swiss chard. Oops! A footprint!
“Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learned here.”
Do you have early memories of innocent and courageous times, the moments before you were taught fear?
There’s a dynamic characteristic of most children that I’m in awe of. They live with a carefree and free fall fearless attitude. The reason is that the harsh world hasn’t taught them fear yet. If only children could keep that precious courage and use it to thrive in life.
In my new life I’m striving to live with an innocent clean slate. Trying to reinvent myself, I want to truly LIVE in love and light and without fear. With God’s help, I’m living with a brave spirit now and it makes life richer than before.
I don’t know about you, but the first few weeks of spring I walk around my flower beds and pull annoying weeds that pop up. It’s a gardener’s priority, a dreaded but necessary chore. I know it’s part of the game but if you refuse to play or can’t keep up, they overtake a space. Although it’s a pain and annoying, I’ve learned that there are tricks you can practice such as laying newspapers or mats down with mulch on top or in the veggie garden, you can till around the rows and merely weed around the plants.
Lo and behold, these guys squeezed through!
Here’s my patch of weeds that I was going to pull this week.
Every year we’ve been here, I’ve pulled them before they got too big.
Whether their
weeds or not…
adorable tiny flowers emerged after a rainstorm the other day.
God’s little gift and a true reminder
that weeds are beautiful too
and maybe sometimes there’s plenty of room for them!
A co-worker and friend told me a few months ago that she couldn’t understand why I was the kindest person to other people but don’t give myself the gift of kindness. Why is it that I can smother others with free flowing kindness but can’t share with myself? Maybe it’s from habit or from my genes and how I’m made up but it doesn’t matter why. What matters is that I’m happily changing in my life. RIGHT NOW!
Being gentle to yourself means you care enough of your well being and life. Accepting yourself, shortcomings and all. It’s an acceptance of all your traits, even the ones you particularly want to change.
It means that you don’t have to take yourself serious all the time. I’ll never forget a comment a classmate wrote in my senior yearbook…”Don’t take life so seriously.” Good advice, Brandon Fied and it’s stayed with me all these years! Thank you.
Being kind to yourself is a habit you can practice, even if you don’t feel it. The more you do it and forgive yourself, I would imagine it gets easier. My friend and fellow blogger Debbie has a wonderful site on forgiveness at Forgiving Connects.com. Debbie practices self forgiveness and that has inspired me to go easy on myself with love and forgiveness. Check out her lovely blog which focuses on forgiveness, love and acceptance!
This is me being kind to myself I never my favorite place, Ogunquit Beach, Maine.
This is a new day, an opportunity to destroy my low self esteem for once and for all. I vow to wake up everyday and simply love myself as I do with others. I deserve the same precious kindness I share with others. When you’ve lived all your life beating yourself up, it’s tough changing. Despite this, I’m traveling the road to self acceptance and love.
How about you….do you treat yourself with the kindness that you deserve? I hope so, if you don’t let’s do it together! Any suggestions on ways to show myself kindness and forgiveness?
This post is dedicated to all angels and their believers!:)
A photo from the farm, where we use to live and caretake. Whenever I see a sunset I think of God and angels.
As my ears popped and my belly stirred, we sat on a Southwest flight to Tampa. High above the clouds and riding with the wind, I was proud of myself for having the bravery to endure it and face my anxiety. I haven’t flown much in my life, two trips to be exact (one to Florida and one to Dallas to see my brother) and the last one was 6 or 7 years ago. I’m not sure but I’m surmising that my apprehensiveness is due to the unknown or if it’s because I’m not firmly planted on earth.
When you fly, you give up your control. Do you know that need to control everything around you? I do, which I think is common for many women. Here’s my reasoning… most of the time women are in charge on the household and that means making sure the housework is done and the house is organized. It means the calendar is full of written commitments. When your children are home, your the taxi driver, nurse, psychiatrist, cook, cleaner and you have a firm clutch on how the children are raised. Sometimes it feels like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, doesn’t it? Yet, even so, there’s a choice you can make to rid your life of that pressure…do you know what my choice was?
Another one of my favorites from our old house…such beauty and peace. The same feelings I feel when I pray and trust God.
I chose to follow the Lord and to pray. Believing in him gives me peace and restores my control. Even if I’m out of that strict hold, God has it, a firm grip on everything. He is in total control of your life and we go along for the ride. That doesn’t mean that our choices don’t affect things because I believe it matters.
It’s a free feeling to let go and trust. Completely trust God, for he is the ultimate soul in control. He watches our every move and blesses us as we go about our day. I know deep in my heart that he protects us and watches over. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be trials and tribulations in life, but through it all he carries you, teaches you a lesson and happens to leave his calling card.
I’m always watching or listening for a sign or angel sent to me from God. This time He did his tremendous work through a lady from our state. She sat on the aisle seat in our row. I talked lightly with her in the beginning and found out that she was a nurse at a school in the Concord area. We went about our ride, her watching TV on her tablet, Tom mesmerized out the window ( he saw clouds, fields, water, really interesting) and I wrote on my blog and reading from my book.
While the plane was descending, the kind lady, Laurie, started talking with me. She told me of how her family traveled all over the world, Caribbean islands, Greece, Italy and Ireland to name a few. I mentioned how Tom and I were empty nesters and of our dreams of travel once or twice a year. Laurie suggested various get always, travel tips and places to steer clear of. Being immersed in this interesting conversation while Tom watched out the window, I totally forgot that we were landing (a source of anxiety for me, as well as taking off).
Suddenly our plane touched down and the pilot heavily laid on the brakes. A few jolts and bumps and within moments it was over and the plane glided on the runway, waiting to approach the terminal. As I thanked Laurie for our talk and travel hints, she laid her hand lightly on my shoulder. “ I knew that you were anxious, honey, about landing and that’s why I kept you occupied.” Right away I felt in my heart that God had used Laurie as an angel to help. He does listen and answer prayers in many ways!
Have you had special experiences that you know there was divine intervention? ❤
I feel blessed that I can spot these signs and gain the ultimate comfort when doing so. These powerful occurrences just reassure me even more of God’s presence in my life.
Inspiration from Lady Gaga’s Song, A Million Reasons
If you can, listen to this song!
An anniversary card my husband gave me a few years ago.
This song touches my heart and seeps into my very core. It seems that it’s about a failing relationship and that she is about to walk away but needs one good reason to stay. When listening to it a few weeks ago, I had an inspiration. From an opposite perspective, I thought of a million reasons to stay.
I stay in my marriage for a million reasons, too many to count. That doesn’t mean that our union is perfect by any means. Just because I always post positive aspects, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have shortcomings or miscommunications, LIKE ANY MARRIAGE. I simply choose to focus on the good and anything that needs to be worked on is our business. Any marital relations that are aired on Facebook or the media doesn’t aid the situation but may make it worse. I suggest that if you want a healthy marriage don’t tell others details about your issues. It’s no ones business and that may complicate things.
A snapshot of Tom and I in Florida.
My man is a hardworking fella, someone who would take his shirt off his back to clothe you. He means well with everything he does and thinks of others when he acts and speaks. Tom is a great reason to see all the good in the world. Sometimes good has a quiet voice and we all have to listen intently for that. Just because he has a soft nature and doesn’t scream from the mountain tops, doesn’t mean anything. It means that he has class and kindness and I look up to him for that.
I stay here for a million reasons, one of them being that I chose this road. Like many, I married out of choice and chose love, commitment, and family. I vowed to support Tom through whatever we go through and sometimes spouses need to be reminded of that vow. No one said that marriage would be a piece of cake and easy as heck, but it’s promised that whatever energy you invest into it, you’ll get the same results.
I have a million reasons to stay…friendship, kindness, laughter, so many little and precious things that have enriched my life. I wish that others would focus on the good in their marriages and build it up instead of tearing it down. If couples would work on their relationships and stick together, they would see many rewards in the end. Obviously not every marriage can be saved and some spend years trying to change his or her spouse when it’s not going to happen. If you are in it for the long haul, I believe the key is to accept your spouse’s shortcomings because we all have them. Focus on the good and if it’s meant to be, it will steer you in the right direction.
Do you stay for a million reasons?
Hello readers! We are presently on our way back from a wonderful and special trip to Florida. Give me a few days and I’ll share our adventures with you. Thanks for stopping by and God Bless you all.
I’m Suzy Barker. I love to write and I adore photography. Oh, and I should mention – I’m an eternal optimist. My cup is always half full. Welcome to my website.
