Category Archives: attitude & action

Oct4

They Are Mine Alright!

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So these are my grandchildren, Libby, Ella, Brendan (in the back) with Eli and Hannah (in the front).  Yes, they are mine alright.  They are loud and rowdy when they get together, like they had not seen each other in ages and catching up with each other’s news.  They see each other fairly often as their mothers are best friends and sisters.  I love my grandchildren despite their loud presence.  I have actually learned to relax with children as I get older.  It is guaranteed, they will bring a smile to my face and make me belly laugh when I am with them.   Angels they are not, unless they are sound asleep on their pillows.  This photo was taken on Easter at my parents’, their great-grandparents’ home in Pike County, Missouri.  Libby is a precocious 8-year old, smart as a whip, and will say things as she sees them.  She is a sponge with science subjects such as plants, likes to garden and camp.  Libby thinks she is the ultimate authority on some matters; therefore, it is her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and teachers who instruct her differently with her reluctance.  School of hard knocks, you know.  She reminds me of her mother, my daughter Elisabeth.   I adore them both.  Then there is 6-year old Ella.  She is one investigator, discovers and researches things.  Inquiring minds want to know!  She is a peaceful child, though can let stubbornness ruin “the  moment” unless Mom or Dad steps in.  Ella resembles me in so many ways.  My Dean calls her “Mini Anna”.  Then there is the 1st born grandson, my 5-year old Brendan.  Reading in full sentences since age 4, on the go as a new adventure character, wrestling with Dad, yet makes time to cuddle with Mom.  Now there is one long word to describe 2-year old Eli … whirlwind!  Maybe another word … tornado!  Eli is into everything!  And definitely has those “terrible two” moments.  But he will bring a smile to my face when he says “I like ‘hot cream'” rather than ‘ice cream’ or when he sits next to me and wants to read a book.  Well, I just love to read to children, especially my grandchildren.  And finally, there is my 1st grandchild, Hannah who will be 11-years old in November.   Her nickname “bug” dubbed before she even walked fits her well.  Hannah loves nature and animals, bugs included.  I have a ladybug stepping stone her mother and her designed for me when she was a preschooler.  Hannah is a “social bug” now, loves to be in the know of the raising teenage movie and singing stars, and has limited access to online chats.  I imagine a cellular phone would be her 1st choice for a birthday or Christmas gift.  See if Mom & Dad are ready for that yet!?  Meantime, journaling and creating art are great outlets for her.  Mine, five wonderful grandchildren!

Sep25

No Wining Just Relaxing

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Deanna Greens and Garden Art vended at the Chandler Hill Vineyards’ Farmers’ Market this past Sunday afternoon.  Talk about a beautiful autumn day!  Crisp breeze with the sun peeping between tents and grapevines.  I loved the ambiance, music, and magic of the countryside, just 1 mile from our greenhouse site in Defiance, MO. Chatted with familar fellow vendors and met a few new friends.  I did not partake in the wine as my Dean was down the road working at the greenhouse site.  It only takes 2 drinks, and I am ready to dance the table tops!  Though last time we were vending at Chandler Hill Vineyards I savored their River Birch Sparkling Red, a Missouri sweet wine with red raspberries, black plum, and sweet cherry sharing  a bottle with Dean and his parents.   After my Monday yesterday at my full-time job in the midst of flu vaccine clinics and onsite fitness class set-ups for 4,000 employees , I am ready for another autumn afternoon wining Sunday! 

Sep21

39 Degrees!

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Brrr!  It got down to 39 degrees one  night this week!  We found shelter for our tropicals, since the greenhouse is still being rebuilt.  Our garage makes a nice make-shift greenhouse.  Some tropicals have new homes already.  Like that 12-foot fiddle leaf fig.  It is repotted into a beautiful red ceramic pot and placed inside our parents’ condo with a cathedral ceiling, only 2 miles away.  We can still care for it until we get an eager buyer.  Then there is our biggest hibucus that will be transplanted into a bigger pot next week, as well as our big bird of paradise.  These too will be 2 miles from us.  Some of our littler tropicals make their way to my full-time workplace.  We have a large foyer near the elevator with windows nearby.  Deanna Greens and Garden Art plants will like their new indoor home for the autumn and winter months.  Tomorrow we will have mild weather for the 1st day of autumn. I love autumn, the palette it sets.  And the cooler, crisp air.  Wind blowing in the leaves.  The bittersweet of autumn is saying “good bye” to some of the summer flowers I have so much enjoyed in my yard.  The greenhouse will be filled with green life once again in a matter of days.

Sep14

Herbs, Herbs, and More Herbs

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“Much Virtue in Herbs, little in Men.”
Benjamin Franklin,Poor Richard Almanac (1706 – 1790)


 Deanna Greens and Garden Art will be at the Lake Saint Louis Farmers’ and Artists’ Market tomorrow morning bright and early.  We are having an Herb Sale.  Kitchen herbs such as  sweet basil, chives, marjoram, common and pineapple sage, lemon and winter thyme growing  in 3-1/2 ” terra cotta pots will go for 4 pots for the price of 3.  $15.  Pesticide-free.  Great for your favorite  autumn and winter dishes.  Come buy, cook, and savor.

Sep12

Sharing Life

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Sharing life with those who surround me has helped me grow.  Like the 12-foot fig tree we pulled from the greenhouse in May.  It needed to be pulled out of the ground, taproot and all in order to move to our yard while the greenhouse is being rebuilt.  Apparently, it loves the companionship of our biggest,oldest maple tree as it has shot more fresh leaves in these 4 months than it had in past 4 years.  This maple tree has been struck by lightening and storm winds over the years.  It is bare in some places, missing branches and foliage.  Kind of “bald”, and showing its age.  But it provided shelter to another plant this record high-temp summer.   Sharing life.   So back to me.  I suppose there are days I ask “why do I care?” when a reward is not in sight such as a pay raise or guaranteed friendship.  Yet, I share my lfe, talents, and hard work for the betterment of my fellow man and woman.  As incomplete as I am, through Jesus I am complete.  The grace of God.  I want to see others grow, flourish, and bloom.  I want to encourage my employees to take care of themselves, and I find joy providing the tools to do so.  I want my children to love unconditionally; each other, their significant others, children, and those they are surrounded with.  I want my husband to know without a doubt he is loved just the way he is.  I want my grandfather, parents, and siblings to know I love them, and still need them in my life no matter how old I am.  Sharing life, no matter what your circumstances, condition, or age you are in, is worth it.  Watch how others grow … and yourself.

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!

 

Aug3

Time

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“Time, you left me standing there
Like a tree growing all alone
The wind just stripped me bare
Stripped me bare
Time, the past has come and gone, gone
The future’s far away
An hour only lasts for one second, one second

Time without courage, time without fear
Is just wasted, wasted, wasted time
Oh, oh, oh, ooh ooh ooh

Time, why you punish me?”

These lyrics from Hootie and the Blowfish’s song “Time” keep playing in my mind tonight.  This post is continuation of my thoughts in my last post written 5 hours ago.  I cried when I walked upon that boat dock at Island Lake last week.  I felt my father’s spirit with me, though in body he could not be there with me.  Valhalla was Dad’s favorite place to do his favorite thing, fish.  Such an appropriate name. “Valhalla” is the Viking’s heaven after he dies from warfare.  My father has been fighting such a battle.  Dad’s days are running short.  He is dying of brain cancer, and I keep thinking about his life.  Dean & I visited his father, my 96-year old grandfather last evening.  Grandpa Earl tells us stories of his childhood and my father’s childhood.  Yet he is cognitive enough to ask about his oldest son, my father.  A copy of a photo arrived in the mail today from my cousin.  A 1945 family portrait of my Grandpa Earl, Grandma Anna, Dad, and Uncle Earl.  Mom called this evening on the way home from work.  A hospital bed is being delivered to their Bowling Green home.  Yes, the bed my father will be in when he passes from this life.  God, I am so thankful for my father, Martin Kenneth Bates.  He has been strength to this family for many years.  And now we are his strength.  He will be with You soon.  And I will miss him greatly.  I do not want pain for him, just Your peace, comfort, and rest.