Category Archives: holiday

Mar19

Without Telling All

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Many times, life becomes one motion after another, autopilot. I write to think, to feel, to reconnect. I wrote a Haiku poem over a year ago after a creative co-worker during the holiday season was promoting some nontraditional interoffice good cheer with a Haiku contest on Haiku Day. I shared mine with my co-workers and here on my blog. See https://deannagreensandgardenart.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/happy-haiku-day/. I have an interest to continue this writing style, as it keeps me on a walk, and I feel during my walk. The Japanese refer to this as “ginko”, maybe because of the ginko trees they see during their walk. Ginko Tree Trail
Check out http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Haiku-Poem on the differences between English and Japanese haiku, and more details on this writing style. “Haiku uses an economy of words to paint a multi-tiered painting, without ‘telling all'”, according to the Wikipedia reference Garrison, Denis M. Hidden River: Haiku. Modern English Tanka Press. p. iii. ISBN 978-0-615-13825-1. Here is my Haiku after today’s walk at my lunch break …

Earth maken new life ~
Worm underneath sprouts of green
Orange breast robin feast.

Mar17

Irish Blessings

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Daffodil
This St. Patrick’s Day brought snow flurries, sleety rain, thunder, and later pouring rain. No rainbow with a pot of gold, though the soil still welcomes much moisture after the parched seasons of past. Hard to believe yesterday was a warm and partly sunny spring-like day. Yellow daffodils blooming on the country hillsides contrasting green while tree frogs croaked near the rain-filled creek beds. Midnight, our labrador retriever seemed to be in heaven sitting in the slushy cold rain, dreaming of ducks and geese landing on the water while Dean and I worked at the greenhouse. I, bundled in boots, snow pants, heavy winter coat, and hat kept warming water on the camp stove for hot tea. My Irish blessings came with an old hymn this morning at church …
An Old Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Mar1

Lenten Friday

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Lenten Fish A slow, quiet snow continues to fall this Lenten Friday morning. A hush only experienced just at sunrise and with snow cover. The songbirds will become active within the hour, feeding on sunflower nuts and seeds we have provided for them. Another inch of snow overnight, and a forecast saying the cloud cover will dissipate sometime this morning. It has been another week of snow, sleet, and ice, not quite the volume of last week, but winter all the same.
Lenten Fridays become a culinary holiday or tradition in my neck of the woods. Two or more dozen churches in the St. Louis area offer a Lenten fish fry. Even a Jewish community in St. Louis offers a “meatless” menu on the 6 weeks of Lenten Fridays, an opportunity for folks to gather during these last days of the winter season. These “fish fries” can include baked fish or steamed shrimp, a healthier alternative. Each year Dean & I peruse the newspaper and internet to find well-priced fish fries close to work or on the way home. The fundraiser efforts of our community churches can be expensive on our tight budget, so we gather 3 or 4 times during the season. Sometimes we get off on a Friday early enough, and make it to our home parish All Saints. We make sure we partake at the St. Peter Church in St. Charles on one of those Fridays. The wonderful portions of homemade slaw and desserts beat all the rest. St. Paul, Missouri has 2 places for a Friday evening destination, the local bar Dog Prairie as well as the local Catholic church serve up fried fish and shrimp. Albacore tuna on crackers works as well as a meatless pasta dish like my Pasta Primavera I wrote about in my previous blog. We will meet with my brother and sister-in-law next Friday, and the Friday after with Dean’s cousins. We people are like the birds who gather at the feeders and trays on these winter mornings. Chirp and chatter about the savory dishes we are partaking in, local happenings, upcoming trips, and the long winter.

Jan10

Changes

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Mick's Tamales Changes! Isn’t that a song? It is as the saying goes “here to stay!” This week my friend Molly from EarthDance Farms shared a few words about change in her newsletter. Farming wallows in change. Our greenhouse plans definitely have! Here is a link to that EarthDance Farm publication: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/463715/e828cdbee3/1696501412/351023b5d5/. We can chose to embrace change or fight against it, and I chose to embrace it. The autumn winds, modified greenhouse designs, the death of my father, and the holidays are followed with new housing arrangements for Dean & I. The desire for a different life brought my oldest daughter and her family to our household. We are sharing our modest 3-bedroom home with 2 more adults, 3 young children, and another black lab. My father’s lab “Midnight” who we adopted on Christmas Day loves all the companionship! An adjustment for my hubby and I, young children near our feet and squeals galore. It makes for creative date nights out for us previous “empty nesters”. Rachel and Mick have a plan, to save for their own 4-walls in the countryside where their chickens and lambs will meander nearby, and a garden big enough to feed themselves and Mick’s catering clients. Mick creates these fabulous meals which are on the healthy side now. I think his mother-in-law had some influence there! Shhh! Roasted two-beet salad with goat cheese crumbles … fresh, handmade pork tamales, and that leftover pork came from his New Year’s pig roast, all on our home kitchen’s menu! Yummy! Herbs used from Deanna Greens and Garden Art, and more to come this upcoming growing season. A new opportunity is just around the corner for my son-in-law chef. And faith plays a part in change. When we expect, it happens. God is not always in the door we open, but in the hallway as my artistic son, Ben mentioned on his FB page this week. And there is an opportunity waiting for my son as well. God embraces us wherever we are. What changes are you encountering right now? And what changes are you waiting for? Apply faith and good works. Remember the movie “Fields of Dreams”? Build it, and they will come!

Jan3

Winter’s Chill

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Winter’s chill has come with the New Year here in Missouri. Brrrsy! A thin layer of snow, freezing rain, and more snow covered the church parking lot New Year’s Day. In 2012 I did not need my black faux fur Russian hat, but I pulled it from the coat closet this 1st week of 2013. Dean calls my head covering my “Ivana hat”. I think he likes the old world style on his bride! Warm, and protects my head and ears from the stinging air. Already this year it’s requiring drastic survival tactics! It was 10 degrees F in “Skunk Hollow”,according to the local 550 AM radio station yesterday morning. A woven scarf and gloves accompany. I have long locks (unlike the photo), yet not enough for 10 degrees F. Faux Fur Russian Hat For those quiet intimate nights with my hubby in order to keep the pets from snuggling in our bed requires closed bedroom doors. Don’t want to keep the dogs and cats outside or even in that garage for more than 5 minutes. I know, they are part of the family, and spoiled! So then, pajama bottoms with a long-sleeve night shirt is mandatory as well as the space heater next to the bed. The heated air from the furnace does not circulate as well with closed doors. All those clothes kind of defeat the purpose, but makes for great snuggling with my man. Marital union must take place in the winter months, as there are plenty of people born the months of September, October, and November, right? What about those folks up in Alaska, Norway, and Russia? Somehow, they reproduce! Oil Space Heater Cups of hot earl grey tea and chai lattes are on my winter survival list also. Chai Latte Oh, cannot forget the fire in the kitchen fireplace. Spicy hats, teas, and layered bed clothes add a spark to life, don’t they?!

Dec27

Christmas Surprise

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Midnight Christmas 2012 After brunch with our new dog, “Midnight” sleeping at Dean and I’s feet in the midst of grandchildren’s squeals, toys, crinkled holiday wrapping paper. Taking a surprise nap, my deceased father’s canine companion enters our lives as a surprise present this Christmas … part of my father in our midst. Duck hunting on special occasions, with many more days at the farm and greenhouse. “The poetry of the earth is never dead.” John Keats

Dec19

Morning

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Orange Sunrise“We sleep, but the loom of life never stops, and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up in the morning, ” 1800’s preacher Henry Ward Beecher is quoted. At 5:00 this morning I woke to a dark winter sky, and yes, holiday thoughts from last evening loomed this early morning. A fresh 6-foot white pine became our Christmas tree last night with blue lights, blue & gold glass balls, hand-crafted ornaments, and simple momentos decorated throughout the house. I woke with immediate thoughts of gift shopping and wrapping. Our trip to Lee’s Summit is 2 days away, and everything needs to be done. Yet, God gave me a sunrise this morning that was stop-in-your-tracks breathing-taking … Awesome!

Dec12

A Jocund Season

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So I relearned a neat word yesterday at the Toastmaster’s meeting, “jocund”.  It means “high spirited” , “joyful”, “cheerful”, … “chirpy”, which is another appropriate word to describe the season we are in.  Have you ever noticed how the birds chirp and chatter just before a cold front or snow storm comes?  They are busy about filling themselves with seeds and any bugs in sight before they “hunker down” (as Farmer Dave says on the 550 AM radio station in St. Louis, Dean & I’s wake-up station every morning) to protect themselves from the cold air.  Full bellies and colorful, warm feathered jackets.  Serene and quiet in their nests while the world is as white as snow.  Well, I think we people do the same.  We chirp and chatter making this a jocund season “noisy”.  Yes, lots of fuss over holiday gifts and food celebrations.  What kind of noise or song are you creating?  I hope it is one of good cheer, merry wishes, feeding each other good seeds, while sharing the peace, hope, and love that Jesus’ birth gave mankind. I hope for a serene and quiet moment for each of you during this jocund season! Birds in the Snow

May29

How Many Hands?

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How many hands does it take to tear down and haul the parts for the Deanna Greens and Garden Art 1300 square foot greenhouse?  Well, it was Dean and I plus 10 family members and 4 friends, so that makes 16 able bodies, 16 smart brains, 32 sure feet, and 32 working hands.  The temperatures hit a hot & humid 95 degrees on the tear down day, typical summertime weather in St. Louis, Missouri.  Iced water, soda, and beer waited in coolers, and our lovely landlady brought us iced wet cloths for our necks and heads to keep us cooled down.   Freshly made sandwiches for lunch and home-cooked BBQ pulled pork with coleslaw for dinner.  More than anything, it was the attitudes that got us through.  I never heard a word of complaint, and no injuries were occurred at this Memorial Day holiday weekend project.   Tear down on Saturday, clean up on Sunday, and Monday hauling the greenhouse parts to Defiance, Missouri.  I am proud of this team!  Dean & I have the rebuild the next 3 or 4 weekends, and more help promised.  God is good!  And so are His people!  We are thankful!

May25

Sunhat Weather

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Summer time is here!  It is the Memorial Day holiday weekend, and the forecast promises sunhat weather.   High 90’s, sunny, &  humid, and we are moving our greenhouse!  My prayers were for no storms and lightening, but I was not specific about my temperature request.   90% of our plants are moved.  Tonight we have more hanging pots to cart to their temporary residence, our backyard!  Our neighbors probably think we have flipped or saying “Dean & Anna are flower children for sure!”   My grandson exclaimed, “It’s a jungle out there!”  I keep wanting to get beyond this move, dreaming of a slower pace, less plants, and more time to care for them.  It will come!