Category Archives: heart

Apr8

Miss Kitty

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Miss Kitty
Our beloved Lily, “Miss Kitty” passed this morning. Lily had many names, “Miss Kitty”, “Lucy” short for “Lucifer”, and many more. She has been Dean’s household companion for almost 12 years, mine for over 3 years. Miss Kitty was full of piss and vinegar, but loving her own little ways. That kind of spunk you grow to love. I remember the first Christmas she spent with Dean & I as a couple. While a cranberry-nut loaf filled the kitchen with a lovely aroma, I placed a holiday towel in a basket on the kitchen island awaiting the warm bread. I turned away to pull out the loaf from the oven, as I spinned to island with my hot holiday goods, there sat “Miss Kitty”. In my basket. I left “Miss Kitty” to enjoy the comforts of her new snug bed, and promptly found another basket and towel.
More recently, she cuddled in our laps with frequency. Tumors … assumed cancer. We will miss you, our “Miss Kitty”. Glad I got to know you.

Mar4

Woven Masterpiece

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FabricMy weekend included a funeral wake, graduation celebration, multiple family gatherings, and church. One of the songs we sang during Mass, The Summons spoke to my heart on Sunday. This Monday work load distracts me from where I would rather be, but this work is just one colorful thread of God’s woven masterpiece.

The Summons
Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean in you and you in me?

Will you love the “you” you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around,
through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

Lord your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In Your company I’ll go where Your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.

Feb24

White Lace and Orange Zest

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OrangeZest
This weekend hibernation has been good for my tummy and soul. Comfort foods made at a slow pace, slow food is the best. Homemade smoky potato soup last night. White lace (sugar) and orange zest dusted over orangy-oat french toast this morning. (We have to do something with all the milk, bread, and eggs we bought with the earlier weather forecast grocery store stops!) Toasted marshmallows and hot chocolate while warming next to the kitchen fire. My soul has been fed sitting at the windows and watching the birds. My vitamin D quotas should be met with the sunrays and my daily glass of milk.
My eyeballs have been on Deanna Greens And Garden Art paperwork each morning of this 3-day weekend. I compiled receipts and sales sheets, and entered onto spreadsheets for our tax preparer. No financial profit in 2012 year, as we anticipated with the greenhouse move, redesign, and reconstruction. The 2013 budget includes the electric installation. Yes, we will finally have electric in the greenhouse. We found a licensed electrician who will install at 1/5 the price the local electric company quoted us. Electric will be used for lighting and circulation fans. Heating may come, depends on the sales this year. If not this year, maybe in 2014. We will incorporate solar and propane to heat the greenhouse. Did I tell you that we have redesigned our structure to be 650 square-foot of greenhouse and other 650 square-foot to be a screenhouse? The greenhouse side will be used to start seedlings, propagate, and grow our perennials. The screenhouse side will be our vegetables and herbs for personal and market purposes.
Body and soul profit is another thing. Hands in the dirt, heart growing along with the green plants. Character and friendships blooming during this journey.
My body and soul has called me to a walk today. I will exercise my leg and arm muscles while walking Midnight, our dog. It will be a brisk walk, as the snow remains with the cold air. This winter hibernation may be ending this afternoon, only for another impending snow storm tomorrow night.

Velvet Shoes by Elinor Wylie
“Let us walk in the white snow
In a soundless space;
With footsteps quiet and slow,
At a tranquil pace,
Under veils of white lace …
We shall walk in velvet shoes.
Wherever we go
Silence will fall like dews
On white silence below.
We shall walk in the snow.”

Feb21

Snowy Afternoon

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Junco
The winter storm came as the sundogs told us. (See my previous blog, “Sundog” for details.) Ice and snow kept falling creating treacherous road conditions. The 35-minute commute became a 2-hour slippery ride home from work. Three excited grandkids, their two tired parents, and two black labs greeted Dean and I at the door mid-afternoon. Celine and Lily, our house cats were perched on the couch cackling at the birds feeding outside the windows. Black-capped chickadees, juncos, bright red cardinals, house wrens, and 3 or 4 types of sparrows were our entertainment this afternoon. The feeders and trays were filled with a seed mix twice since yesterday morning, and our feathered friends kept their energy supply up with the seeds. Chirps were heard until sunset. A gray squirrel visited twice, digging in the pot under one of the feeders. He scurried up a stow-away pecan at each visit. Celine twitched her whiskers and tail with anticipation to meet eye-to-eye with the 4-legged visitor. The double-pane window stood in her way for a good chase. Soon our youngest grandson was napping with his momma, and our granddaughters took the dogs out for winter play in the backyard. My heart is happy, so glad I came home early today.

Feb6

Texas Tea (Part 1)

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“Texas does not, like any other region, simply have indigenous dishes. It proclaims them. It congratulates you, on your arrival to having escaped from the slop pails of the other 49 states.” ~ Alistair Cooke ~ Quite a bold statement about the culinary creations in Texas considering the wonderful Italian pasta dishes on The Hill in St. Louis to the creamy seafood bisque found along the Oregon coast to the smoked northern pike in Minnesota. Texas is where Dean & I are headed for a mini vacation to inhale some sunshine and reunite with the Gall cousins. The family is celebrating his aunt’s 80th birthday on Saturday. We fly into Dallas/Ft. Worth tomorrow afternoon. So when you think of Texas food, do you think of huge sirloin steaks smothered with spicy BBQ sauce or keg of beer or Tex-Mex chili? Well, I think “Texas tea”. No, not the kind of “Texas tea” from Beverly Hillbillies. I am envisioning seated in a tea room sipping on a cup of rose tea and savoring a freshly baked herb scone surrounded with potted geraniums, English ivy,and lace tablecloths. Why? I am not sure, other than I am a romantic at heart. Don’t get me wrong, I love the outdoor life, earth, farming, critters, blue jeans, and cowgirl boots. But the more refined me, likes to wear a simple floral dress or blouse/skirt duo with a lace sweater and slight heels while visiting a local tea room establishment. So Dean & I will find such a vignette in Arlington/Ft. Worth area this weekend. I will write about our discoveries in “Texas Tea (Part 2)”. Maybe a recipe or two will be revealed as well.
Texas

Dec14

The Stars Are Brightly Shining

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Before the rains come, we decided on a mid-week trip to Boone Hollow Farm last night to deliver our work station for the greenhouse. If it is too wet, we have to walk into the farm. We miss our jeep! The 18-passenger van is too heavy, and our jeep is still needing a new engine. Carrying this huge, heavy repurposed wood shelf and counter top up the hill to our greenhouse would be next to impossible this weekend with the rainy forecast. We invited my oldest daughter, son-in-law, and their three children to join us. So glad we opted to take the 15-minute drive last night! Christmas lights scattered throughout on the country homes and barns presenting quite a show for our eyes. Our Charlie Brown spruce tree shined with blue in the distance visible from the country highway. On the hill, next to the greenhouse the lights got brighter as we came up the hill. Those solar lights are awesome!
But the real celestial show was yet to be seen… An ominous night sky in the countryside of Defiance, MO with a shooting star visible every 2 or 3 minutes. Our Ella Serene and Michael Elijah witnessed their first shooting star last night, with 20 more to follow. A cold winter night, yet it warmed my heart to see God’s creations surround and feel His love blanket my husband, children, and grandchildren. Singing “O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining …” The grace of Jesus’ birth is for my family and yours. I read in the media this morning, apparently we witnessed the Geminid meteor shower.Shooting Star

Nov9

Blessing Jar

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Blessings come in different forms.  Counting my blessings is a mindset when I buried my father less than 3 weeks ago after his 9-month battle with brain cancer.  Still grieving.  But I came across this website blog about a blessing jar:  http://thefrugalgirls.com/2012/11/the-blessing-jar.html.  Cute  craft idea!  The photo below comes from this blog. Reading the blog, it reminds me to recall all the wonderful things that took place this year.  It’s been a very difficult year, so I think  a bit of a challenge with this blessing search …  I will start with my family, my big, big family!  To begin my husband, Dean is just want I need.  He is multi-talented, jack of all trades. And he is so patient with me, my ideas, my projects, my moods, etc.  And on top of that Dean is affectionate and thoughtful.  My hubby rubs my stinking feet after a long day working in the greenhouse.  And then there is my children … my oldest daughter, Rachel has a smile, kind word, and humor that will turn any sour day into a sweet one!   And then my Elisabeth, her beautiful acceptance of this diverse life is such an example to me.  She grows more saintly with her patience!  Both of my daughters suffer with degenerative disc disease, but continue to bring joy to the people  around them despite their pain.  My son, Ben has the most tender heart that permeates through this tough world we live in.  He held his arm around me during my father’s memorial service.   Probably an uncool thing to do in most 19-year old young men’s eyes, but he does not care what others think.  My grandchildren, well read about all five in my earlier blog:   https://deannagreensandgardenart.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/they-are-mine-alright/.  And then there is the extended family.  My family grew closer through my father’s terminal illness.  My sister traveled 3 trips from the west coast to be at my mother’s and father’s beckon call for months.  My two brothers took over the needs of my 97-year old grandfather as my father could no longer take this role.  My mother did not give up on my father’s wish to die at home.  So she had many endless hours as his nurse, you know,  24/7.  My employer was so patient, allowing me time away to run errands for my mother and visit my father.  Co-workers and vendors I work closely with, asked how Dad was and I am doing even today.  And the solace the greenhouse plants and soil gave me from this tiresome world we live in.  So how I can summarize this year  is “God is good”.  He takes care of us!  We are truly blessed!  What will you put into your blessing jar?   Funny thing about this photo, my Dad’s nickname is Marty.  I wonder what musings he is having in heaven today?

 

Aug30

Urban Farmers & Their Markets

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EarthDance Farms is a non-profit organization that grows farmers as well as organic veggies and herbs.  I participated in their freshman program last growing season.  This program is what spurred my husband and I to purchase a greenhouse and created Deanna Greens And Garden Art.  The farm is in the heart of the urban culture of Ferguson, Missouri.  But while farming in the middle of a field, you feel like you are miles from the next neighbor.  The female staff at EarthDance Farms are featured in a recent article “Organic Farming Attracts Women”. Please read about their adventures. http://magissues.farmprogress.com/MOR/MR07Jul12/mor008.pdf magissues.farmprogress.com.  Here is a EarthDance Farms photo taken at the Ferguson Farmers’ Market, as urban and farmer you can get at one time.  Visit there one Saturday morning! http://fergmarket.com/

Aug16

Sliver of Pink

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At dusk the sunset shown scattered slivers of pink while driving to St. Charles County from Pike County.  It reminded me of the sliver of  pink on my father’s cheeks Grandpa pointed out while he and I visited Dad last evening.  My 97-year old grandfather had not been able to make the 1-hour trip to see his son for 7 weeks due to the  summer heat wave and car engine malfunctions.   We made this trip possible especially this week.  Hospice care seems to think this may be my father’s last week.  The two, father and son greeted each other with gladness in their hearts and faces.  Something I will never forget. 

It seems wrong for a father to say “goodbye” to his son, no matter how old you are. 

Their last words “You take care, son.”  “See you later, Pops!”

Good bye is not forever … Thank You, Jesus for eternal life!

Aug6

Porch Meals and Hearts Mesh

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The rains came twice over the weekend!  It was like a miracle!  And with it came cooler air, more like normal summer temps, low 90’s.  We loaded our plants into the van in the wee hours Saturday morning, to make it to the Lake Saint Louis Farmer’s Market.  It was storming, but I kept at it in my rain poncho and Dean with his hat.  Our plants seemed happier, as well as their gardeners!   Later, I trimmed sun-scorched branches from some ferns, and moved them to more shade under the dogwood tree.  Sunday we repotted plants.  Our tropicals are gigantic, growing as long as they have water in their roots.  They thrive in this humidity. Dean & I met  at the front porch on several occasions this weekend. We  watched the storms come in and shared porch meals.  The green ambiance allows conversation to flow.  The electronic devices in the house don’t have that skill!  Our hearts mesh when surrounded with nature.  Whether camping, walking in the woods, and sitting on our porch bench with lovely greenery and birdhouses surround, life is simpler with plants and birds.  At least, most of the time!