THE WORK FINALLY PAYS OFF

Finally, the hard work is beginning to pay off.

All the weeding, all the watering, all the bending and squatting, and the sore hands and back pay-off is beautiful color.

I moved every rose on the property last year. Most of them were half-eaten by the deer that roam freely and that just wouldn't do! I added a few new ones too. Now, I have a rose garden. 

Before I left my last home I had given my girls lots and lots of hollyhocks and their seeds. So, last year, I took some of the seed back and planted it here. I now have the beginnings of my own hollyhock garden again. Isn't it a great feeling being a Johnny Appleseed? Everywhere I go, I take and give plants. It is nature's gift and mine.

This cute couple I found laying in the weeds someplace on the property. They needed a good home so here they sit in the old wheel barrow that was non-functioning here too. I love the old relics that were left for me. I have tried to re-use and re-cycle most everything that was left behind by the previous owner. I love that yellow! Cheddar cheese yellow!

So, this year I feel like I finally have something to crow about! Can you  believe this great blue rooster was left behind too? It's as if this property knew that I have a "thing" for roosters and chickens. Another sign that this place was waiting for us. "The perfect place at the perfect time." Manifested.

IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE WEATHER...

Just wait a few days!

Last week the temperatures were over the Century mark. Today...we woke up to coastal fog and very cool weather. What's that saying about the "Dog Days" of summer?

Well, even the dogs don't like the hot days of summer.

Lucky for us, we have this great shaded porch that we can sit on no matter what time of the day it is. When I was a child, my grandmother had one of these galvanized tubs at her cabin that we used to take baths in when we stayed with her over the weekend. We were probably covered in dirt, being the kind of kids that never came inside except to eat and sleep. The outdoors is where we lived. And I still find myself outside more than inside. That is where I would rather be.

So, when I thought about buying a "kiddie pool" for Mae I thought "Why...I have that great galvanized tub that I can use. It won't pop when the dogs step on it, it will last more than one season, and when I am done using it as a wash tub it can perform another duty for me." So, that is what I did. I put it on the deck, filled it with tepid water, and brought out all the rubber duckies I could find and a few other floating toys.

Today is Mae's first swimming lesson. And wouldn't you know it is not very warm out there. I hope that the pool is heated. She loves the water so I don't think that will be a problem. Oh, to be young again and able to fit inside a galvanized tub! 

REFLECTIONS

I haven't been around my computer or my blog for awhile now. I'm not sure exactly why but it could be a combination of many things including time constraints, summer weather making things grow (including weeds!), a profound knowledge of what my thought process is looking like at the current time, and the knowledge that I have to be devoting more time to treating myself well. And this includes spiritually, physically, and mentally. At some point something just has to give and I guess I realize that at the present time it has been my blog that has suffered. Or has it?

All too often I feel that I have something profound to say and then when it comes to saying it, I find that it has been noticed by someone before. It's an experience sort of like "when the student is ready the teacher appears". We are all on journeys while we are walking on this earth. But we are all on different journeys and sometimes someone is 5 steps in front of us and sometimes someone else is 5 steps behind us. It is hard to always be 'in step" with everyone but deciding to take a different path occasionally leads me to something new to discover...about myself and about others as well.

In a recent talk about The Intersection of Science and Spirituality the following struck me as very profound and enlightening as well.
     "It does take effort to remind ourselves, especially when troubles abound, that 'the Universe can be trusted' and that 'I'm a part of the Universe.' But I promise, it won't take long for this outlook to become second nature. The mind will almost always take the most empowering route available to it, when given the chance. But don't take my word for it. Play with it yourself. See how it works for you."  Pg. 59 from the book Thank God for Evolution by Michael Dowd.

Life hands us all sorts of obstacles to deal with. We all have breakdowns occasionally, we all suffer stress in our lives, we have physical difficulties as well as mental problems we have to deal with and sometimes we even face the most difficult times we have ever faced or will have to face in our lives. We can never be prepared exactly for what will be put in front of us that we have to overcome. I remember growing up and hearing the phrase "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger". How right this phrase seems at these difficult times in our lives. And there will always be difficult times in our lives. That is a given. But according to Michael Dowd  "The universe can always be counted on to move in the same five-fold direction: the direction of greater diversity, greater complexity, greater awareness, greater speed of change and greater intimacy with itself."  Pg. 50

I guess, considering this information, I shouldn't feel bad about taking time away from my blog or my computer to attempt to gain some of this new information. If it brings about greater awareness this is a good thing. Greater speed of change sounds like a boon also. The quicker I am to learn a new lesson, the quicker I can move on to something else and not make that mistake again.

I guess I need to take the time to reflect upon what it is my life is trying to tell me. I am taking the time to make the necessary changes to incorporate what I have learned into my life. After all, knowing that our "mind will almost always take the most empowering route available" makes it that much easier for me. Like Michael Dowd suggests: "Play with it yourself". I am trying to remember to do this. I am trying to remember that these ideas will become second nature. I might have to take some time to reflect and ponder but what I do know is that what I see in those reflections is mirrored back to me. The outside is always reflecting inside.


"To feel that one has a place in life solves half the problems of contentment."  George E. Woodberry