Happy Birthday Little Lili-Ladybug!

Source:  A camp friend

 

Our youngest grandchild is 1 year old today!!!! Happy birthday little Lili!   I can't believe how fast this year has flown by!  :)

This picture was taken of the two of us at church camp at the end of July.  That means she's 2 months older now (well, so am I, actually) but it's still a very good likeness of her (and me). 

P.S.  I'm the tired looking one in the photo.

Happy birthday, sweetie!  Gram loves you very much!

The Quotable Fen

Courtesy of his mother and her cellphone

A two year old can say the cutest things sometimes. The fact that they don't realize they are saying cute things somehow makes them even cuter! Fen has provided us with several such sayings recently.

• In reply to his other grandma when she asked who he saw at our church's Homecoming service and dinner.

"Well, not Lisa!"

He obviously feels that no homecoming is complete without her. Several us concur.

• Also to his other grandparents when he was asked what his mother is giving him next year.

"A baby sister."

He wants a baby brother. Go figure!

• To me when Pastor Dad and I stopped by their house for a moment to drop off a few items.

"Gram!  Dinner is ready!  Come eat!"

I took the accompanying emphatic gestures to mean that he was being very hospitable. I also suspected he might not like what they were having and was willing to donate his own meal. I didn't ask. And I didn't stay either.

• To me at Karen's one afternoon when I explained my presence to all of the grandchildren by announcing that I had just dropped in "to stir up trouble."

"That's me!!!!!" said with a gesturing pat to his own chest.

No doubt that title sometimes fits him and a few others in the room who shall at this time remain nameless. :)

Answered Prayers

Early this morning I went to the radiology department of my doctor's office for my follow-up ultrasound. (Why so "early" you might wonder? My morning coffee was commandeered to meet that "full bladder" requirement. No need to drink more fluid than usual. And if you wonder why I needed a "follow-up" ultrasound in the first place feel free to read about the earlier one here.)

I really wasn't looking forward to today and had a bit of trouble falling asleep last night thinking about the things I'd need to do prior to the surgery that was to follow this procedure.

But guess what?! The ultrasound technician peered down at my anxious face from her stool next to the screen and asked, "Just what is it that I'm supposed to be checking because there's nothing amiss. Both ovaries look great this time around."

To quote The Bear when he heard the news, "Wow!"

All I could say was "Thank you, Jesus!"

I'll still need to hear the "official" word from my doctor but the woman scanning my insides was pretty excited while giving the "unofficial" one so I don't think my cries of "Hallelujah" are premature in the least.

I've already crossed "Have Surgery" off of my Autumn "To Do List" and written "Jump Ecstatically Up and Down" in it's place.

I requested your intercessory prayers, you prayed, and HE answered! Thank you, one and all, for praying. And thank you, Jesus, for answering.

(James 5:16)

A Gardening Update

A few fruits of our labor

In recent years I tried growing a few vegetables in our back yard but usually lost the crop due to the neglect that comes from being away a couple of weeks each July or from some destructive (but industrious) squirrels. This summer has been even busier than usual so I feared that another attempt at victory gardening would only end with me muttering in agonized frustration as the squirrels "high fived"in the treetops once more.

But this year things have turned out differently and we are literally enjoying the fruits of my labor. You might remember my post earlier this year (found here) telling about my spring gardening endeavors (and the battle with storms, not squirrels). There are lots of links in that post that tell about self-watering container gardening and where to buy them or how to make them using empty 5-gallon pails, plastic deli containers, and PVC pipe.

I did both. I bought one and I made a couple of more. This summer we successfully grew

• broccoli
• leaf lettuce
• green peppers
• tomatoes
• sunflowers, and
• green beans

in our containers. We also attempted to grow cucumbers but they haven't produced anything beyond their pretty yellow flowers.

The self-watering containers (which is somewhat of a misnomer: you still must add water, just not as often) took care of the problem that I have keeping things watered during those weeks of church camp in hot July. But what about the squirrel problem? And a problem it is! I have personally witnessed them in the early morning pulling green tomatoes off the vines, tasting them, saying "yuck" (or so I assume they're saying based upon their actions), and throwing them down repeatedly until they've stripped the vines bare! In order to put a stop to such wasteful behavior I have begun covering my planters each night.

We put a wire cage around the box that holds the tomatoes and tied the plants to it with cut up nylon stockings. Each night I drape 1/4 inch mesh cicada nylon netting over the whole shebang. (My garden wears nylons more frequently during the summer than I do.) I remove the netting in the morning after Pepper starts stirring around the yard. (Any earlier and the squirrels get too brazen.)

It doesn't seem to hurt anything if I forget to take the netting off in the morning. It's only if I forget to put it on at night that things can get seriously injured!

This morning when I went out to uncover the containers there was a praying mantis on the netting covering the 5-gallon bucket of bean plants. I didn't bother him because I wanted him to stick around (get it?) and eat any aphids or other harmful insects.

Some of the green beans and the bucket can be seen in the picture below. Since I was merely experimenting this year I didn't bother to camouflage the buckets. Maybe next year I'll paint mine to make them aesthetically pleasing.

These are just a few of the specimens that represent the ripe produce we've been harvesting lately. The self-watering containers combined with netting them at night has resulted in great tasting and inexpensive home-grown vegetables.