sunflowers, afghans, vincent and God

I don't think that art imitates life; nor does life imitate art. I rather believe that true art imitates God. The Sweet-Psalmist of Israel, David cried,

"The heavens declare the Glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork." How much more than, should the humble works of our hands bring glory to the Heavenly Father?

I bought this lovely old Sunflower afghan in a thrift store last Saturday. After all, how could I let someone's loving handiwork languish in obscurity in the back of a second-hand store? This craftswoman and Vincent must be kindred spirits!

***

Saturday Morning Reverie

Saturday Morning Reverie

It's 6 am.

A melancholy light

slips into my room,

whispering, "Wake up, my Dear."

I become aware

that

the rains of spring are dancing on the rooftop over my head,

and are gurgling down the gutter-spouts

just outside my window.

My husband's steady breathing

in our bed next to me

tells me that his hard-won rest

from the week before

is sweet.

I won't wake him.

I just tuck my faded blue and-white

pinwheeled

Salvation Army Ladies Society-made quilt

up under my chin

and listen to Your Stillness

Your Holy Stillness

And I know that You are God.

***

I picked up this chair at the Salvation Army Thrift Store for about $7--thinking it would be a great piece to refurbish and sell in our antique booth at Keepsakes. It was painted bright yellow and had a kind of stripey, woven fabric seat in oranges/golds, and browns. I liked it very much as it was; but because it has such lovely, classic lines, I decided to paint it a nice black lacquer color for a more formal look. And instead of using black and white toile fabric for the seatcover as originally planned, I opted for the pink cabbage roses on black fabric. I don't know why. I just have this sense that pink is going to come back-and though I'm not a frou-frou kind of girl, I think I might be ready for a little pink. What do you think? (PS, the chair still sits in my foyer. May have to find another one for Keepsakes!)

***

Seed-Time and Harvest

"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." Genesis 8:22

Kelly and I planted a new vegetable garden this weekend. This round, raised garden spot was formerly a flower bed, created by Ivy, the previous owner. There's an old stump in the middle of it. Rather than deal with the hassle of removing the stump, she built a flower bed around it. As you can see in the background, our yard is surrounded by fir trees and quite shady. The round flower bed is in the sunniest location on the lot. And since I've been hankering to plant some herbs and veggies, we set about to move all of the flowers to other locations and create this garden. Planting a round vegetable garden presents some interesting challenges. Number one was, 'how do we create rows?' I looked on the web and found only a few circular gardens. The one that appealed to me the most was divided into pie-shaped wedges. So we cut our veggie-pie garden into eight equal pieces and planted the rows from the center to the edge. Each row begins at the same spot and will spread out as they reach the bottom. Because the old stump sits smack in the middle of the pie, we decided to set our bird fountain there. I'm toying with the idea of putting some potted marigolds into the fountain, rather than water. Or maybe some trailing blue lobelia, to look like water cascading over the edges! (Since I can't run my fountain's little pump without electricity, I find that the water sitting in it becomes stagnant and attracts wasps--cause I'm just too lazy to change it often enough!) I'm so pleased with how this project has turned out so far. Can't wait to make some nice fresh basil pesto and fresh salads!

***

A Lovely Day for Kelly (and me)

Kelly and I followed the railroad tracks off of Marine Drive today and found a nice little path down the steep cliff to a fairly deserted beach; somewhat beyond Little Squalicum Beach. We sat on a log in the sun and enjoyed watching skim-boarders zipping across tide pools. Along the tracks we spotted several goldfinches; Washington's state bird. You don't see them much anymore, so it was a real treat. It was a perfectly lovely day for Kelly's birthday. Happy Birthday Kelly! Thanks for sharing it with me.

***

A Mom's Day Bouquet

I was really weary when I pulled into my driveway from work yesterday. I gathered my lunchbag, jacket and coffee mug in one arm and was fumbling with my purse, keys and water bottle in the other when I noticed a package sitting by the front door. Flowers--for me! Suddenly I didn't feel so tired anymore! I hurried into the house and dumped all my paraphenalia into the nearest chair; then set about the happy task of arranging these lovely blue iris and soft pink tulips in their frosted pink vase. Thank you so much John and Karen for your thoughtfulness. Love you!

The Mom Song

TheMomSong

This youtube link is for all you moms out there... just click on the link above and enjoy!