Winter

Winter

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

A Lovely Spring Morning


We had rain yesterday, so this morning it smells heavenly outside. Washed and clean. The dust has been washed from the air and now you can smell the faint perfume of flowers with the smell of wet grass and damp earth. It is cold too, like a normal April. My mistake I think for these last few years is in the assumption, that there is such a thing as normal weather. I need to accept that, weather will always be weather and it is unpredictable so enjoy right now, every day.


Due to the lack of a snow pack and the issues at hand in California, I won't be putting in a giant garden this year. I am though, going to put in a few (???) tomato plants and pepper plants. In the yard. Just a tiny little thing like a normal person. I won't be planting sunflowers or pumpkins. How do I have a gardening blog without a garden, who knows but that is how it will be.


 “It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”
Anne Shirley---L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables.


It is spring, and when I was 12 years old I discovered Anne of Green Gables. When I was a little girl, my Dad owned grocery stores. In that first store, he had a young woman he hired as a checker. Mrs. Berry.
We loved her and she even taught my sister to tie her shoes. She and my Mom were good friend. She had her children and stopped working. When I turned 12 and was in junior high, we got to visit the library at school on Friday afternoon. It was the best library in the whole world. It was filled with the whole set of Nancy Drew, and Little Women and My Friend Flicka and of course, all of the Black Stallion and Little House Books. I would ride home on the school bus, with my arms full of treasure.



The librarian  of course was Mrs. Berry. My Mom had gone on to heaven just the year earlier. My life was in a series of one crises after another. New Step Mother, 3 step brothers, we lived on my on grandparents property, so there was war going on between my grandparents and my Dad and my step family. The one place that was an escape was inside of books. Mrs. Berry, though, because this is and was a small town, knew of what was going on, and very quietly she started getting books for me and putting them every Friday on the corner of her desk. I look back now, and see how God put people like her in my life to quietly guide me and save me from a life of destruction, I might have chosen if not for her and introducing me to  Anne.



My life I think is made up of  people who were sent at the right time, and they were gifts to me sent from God at the perfect time. Mrs. Berry was one of those gifts. I always like to think, but those tiny things that no one would notice, what she quietly did, became a blessing that today continues to bless my life.


   " God begins with men in “the day of small things”(Charles Spurgeon)



I think of blogging like that. Who knew that something like meeting people from all over the world would change my life. I think of it as a small gift that happens every single day. Thank you so much for sharing your lives with me and letting me share mine with you.


So thank you so much for gracing me with the simple gifts that you bring into my life. I have been given such a gift once again. I am so blessed.


~Kim~



“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

18 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

mrs. berry was indeed given to you when you needed her most. :)

glad you're not putting in much of a garden this year. i am worried for california. *sigh*

Julia said...

I know you're happy because you have a grateful heart. God's plan was there all along. I remember the passage in the bible. The new International version translates it like this...
Jeremiah 29-11: " For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future."

Mrs Berry sure was a good and caring person.

My girls just love all those books when they were growing up and the book shelves were full of books.

I think I feel better that you're not having a big garden this year. Gardens are so much work anyway and since you're having such a long drought in California, it's a good thing to let the earth rest a bit until the climate is more suitable.
You can always show us your chickens or Ron's trees, your stitchings and rugs.

I hope that you know that you mean a lot to all of us.
Hugs,
JB

Christine said...

it is a privilege on my part to be able to read your posts! isn't it amazing the power of friendships and reading literature? Anne of Green Gables still inspires today.

Country Gal said...

Lovely post and photos ! Anne of Green Gables is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery and I love it , it's a wonderful story based in Prince Edward Island Canada and is a fellow Canadian to boot lol ! Thanks for sharing , Have a good week !

Kerin said...

Wonderful post, Kim!
I love this quote : "I promise you that one day you will stand aside and look at your difficult times, you will realize that HE was always there beside you". ~President Thomas S. Monson.
So many times in life, we are blessed and influenced by good people. People that are an answer to our prayers :)
I am so glad that you had Mrs. Berry in your life, to help you through some difficult times.

I love your pictures today, and that lilac is beautiful!!
This will be a year for everyone to scale back their gardens, I think. Here in Utah, we also are expecting a long and dry growing season.

Thanks for sharing a slice of your life with us, and for being such a sweet person! I'm happy that I've gotten to know you through blogging, as are all of your readers, I'm sure :)

Have a happy spring-y day!
~K.

Alica said...

I read all of those books that you mentioned, and I loved them! I still haven't got my daughter to read them, though. She doesn't know what she's missing!
We all need people like Mrs. Berry in our life. Maybe we can be like her, to someone else who needs it too.

Jacque. said...

I think everyone must have a Mrs. Berry somewhere in her life. Perhaps unrecognized, but there nonetheless. xo

Pom Pom said...

God bless Mrs. Berry's memory and all the girls and boys she helped! Aw! Our Anne! LOVE!
I wish I could share water with you, Kim. You will enjoy your few tomatoes and peppers.

Kim said...

Very sweet story about the library lady. I think I was the only little girl in the world who didn't like the Anne books.
You always say you are not going to plant a big garden and then.... Lol. No sunflowers? You're breaking my heart

Nellie said...

So thankful for the people in our lives like Mrs. Berry! So glad you had rain! xo Nellie

Gail said...

You have named the same books I enjoyed. I always cry when Matthew dies in Anne of Green Gables.

Gumbo Lily said...

I've been listening to the news on the drought in California. I hope it starts raining and saturates that dry ground once again. A small garden can still be a good garden. I've greatly reduced my veggie garden and I thoroughly enjoy it and still get lots of good, fresh veggies from it. You can pack a lot of plants into a little plot if you do it right. That in itself is a fun challenge.

We need more Mrs. Berrys in the world. What a blessing she was to you. I didn't come to know Anne of Green Gables until I was an adult. Wonderful books.

I'm thankful that there are so many kindred spirits here.

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

Isn't it amazing how small little things ... like a trip to the library or a decision to start blogging can have such a huge impact on our lives. God is present even in those everyday, seemingly innocent happenings. Praise Him for people like Mrs. Berry.

camp and cottage living said...

I am a huge fan of 'Anne's" too. I had never even heard of her until I had married and my MIL introduced me to her books. I wonder if I had read then earlier in life if they may not have influenced me to be a different teenager.....
Your garden will be lovely, Kim, whether you have lots or little, I'm sure.

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

Kim..this was just a warm blanket around my soul today. What an encouraging piece, reminding me of God's faithfulness, even through the storms.
I also love your header...how interesting it looks up close and enlarged.
Thanks for blogging and encouraging me on my journey.

Debbie said...

I really adore the distinctive seasons n New Jersey and I love spring with all its colors and blooms. But, Fall will always be my favorite!!

Simple Home said...

What a beautiful story! I love Anne too, and your own story of how she influenced you as a young girl is very inspiring.

GretchenJoanna said...

What a great story. Mrs B was an angel "with skin on" and books to boot!