Odds and Ends

 

Not much is going on around here. The mulch pile is heating nicely under its plastic cover. On the weekend Ron takes off the tarp and stirs it up with his tractor. I receive so much satisfaction watching it steam in the air. It smells so nice and loamy. Ron was in a car with his boss driving to a job and they were talking and Ron was telling the man how nice that mulch pile smelled. His boss asked, " What does it smell like? What makes it smell good?" We were on a walk, as he was telling me this story, so we both pondered since his boss isn't a gardener apparently how do you describe the smell of mulch? Forest floor? Walking in the woods after a rain? How would you describe it?

We have had so much lovely rain. One of the things I love to so is pull up that tarp and watch that beautiful, cold and clear water pour off onto the ground. The pasture is so wet you couldn't get a tractor in it. We are ahead of our rain amounts. One of the weatherman I watched said we have another atmospheric river headed this way and its lined up past Japan. It should be here next week by Thursday or Friday.  Isn't that grand?

 Okay back again, just had to go for a walk to take some new pictures because I hadn't got my 250 steps for this hour. Then I was so close to the next thousand steps I had to go take a fast walk out in the rain. I have it bad let me tell you. Yesterday at Bible study I parked my car as far as I could away from the church I walked out to my car 3 times.  When we took a bathroom break I went down the stairs into the next building for more steps. I ended up with 13 floors yesterday because I went up and down steps so many times. I do feel so good with all of this exercise. Or it could be because the weather just energizes me knowing I can have a garden this year.

These pictures I just took. All of my flowers are so bedraggled. When I went out there I realized I haven't trimmed my roses and its January.

Its so cold this rose has been frozen at this stage. It might have been waiting for its picture to be taken. The air has that feel to it when it is snowing in the mountains. The air is so fresh and clean.

I continue to be mesmerized by raindrops. This is the feverfew that is going to town this year because of the rain. So are my bulbs. My iris bulbs and tulips are growing I hope they don't rot with all of the standing water.

Here is one of my flowerbeds.

The ground is so saturated that standing water is everywhere. Hopefully this weekend we get a break and it will have time to soak in before more storms come. It is nicer to have rain and water outside than  inside. I think we got everything dry this week using a heater to dry things. At least it doesn't smell like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. That was what I thought every time I came in the house this week.

 My poor ole Black-Eyed Susan's look like black-eyed spiders. I should have cut those back too, but it is nice to see them even if they are so wet.

I took Sasha for a walk this morning. Even the sheep wasn't out grazing. He is mine and Sasha's highlight of our walk. They must be going to keep him as a ram as he hasn't become a wether yet. He is very unique looking his head and to his shoulders and his two front legs are all black. Then behind his shoulders and his back half is white. I noticed too they had not docked his tail. You know seeing that lamb on walks sure gives me sheep and goat envy. Along with chick and cow envy. There is that pig next door now. I miss having more animals than I do.

I have to tell you this funny thing I saw the other day when I was out walking. I had my chickens out in the back yard. I am always on the lookout for hawks. I noticed there was a small falcon sitting in the top of one of the trees. I could tell by his hooked beak. He saw me long before I saw him. He very gracefully glided over to another tree. I kept walking. He knew I was watching him when he decided to fly to a tree in the back of the pasture. There was a blue jay sitting in the top of that tree and when he saw that hawk flying at him, he sort of just fell out of that tree with a scream. I just started laughing because it was so funny. The hawk, decided to fly on to a different place, and I never saw where the blue jay went.

Well should stop writing its almost time to get up and go get 250 steps. That hour flew by. Peter is on the mend. He looks like a little chipmunk with his cheeks full of seeds. I hope you have a lovely weekend. I hope to work outside this weekend if it is sunny.* Crossing my fingers.* The nettles in our last years garden is lush. I would like to cut it and dry it. I need some nettle tea this time of year.

Blessings from me to you.

~Kim~

I had not known before that love is obedience. You want to love, and you can’t, and you hate yourself because you can’t, and all the time love is not some marvelous thing that you feel but some hard thing that you do. And this in a way is easier because with God’s help you can command your will when you can’t command your feelings. With us, feelings seem to be important, but He doesn’t appear to agree with us.

Elisabeth Goudge---Scent of Water. My current read.

The Twilight of The Day

 

The sun is hidden behind a bank of clouds. It makes it dark in the house before I am ready to turn on the lights. What better way to tell you about my day. As I told you I might be a little OCD about the Fit Bit. I knew I had a problem when this morning way before daylight I was out walking because today I knew I would be sitting in the dentist office while our youngest son had his wisdom teeth out. Then of course, once I got there and they took him back, I went and walked around the parking lot. Trying of course, hoping people believed I was looking for a medical office and not some nutty woman getting in steps.

I don't know what they give them these days, but that boy was so out of it and he doesn't
 remember a thing.
He was upstairs sleeping and I left to walk out to the mail box and when I came in and went to check on him he told me he had taken more pain medication. Which he wasn't supposed to for another couple of hours.

He came downstairs a bit later, and told me he needed pain meds. I said, "you can't you told me you took one already." He of course doesn't remember and I didn't see him when he came down stairs, so did he come down stairs? He looks better though than when I brought him home.( I counted them and sure enough he had taken one when I went outside.)

 

The funny thing that happened when I was doing my laps at the medical offices with my purse hanging from my arm.  This kitty found me as I walked. She was the really chatty type. She was just telling me how the world was and what she had been up too. I would stop every so often and pet her and talk to her. She is the fattest stray kitty I have even seen and she was so healthy so she might get fed from the offices around there a lot. A lady stoped and asked, " Is that your kitty?"
I said, " Oh, gosh no, she found me!." The lady looked at me like was some kind of nut because at that point the kitty was really talking and her motor was full blast. I had taken my hooking frame in the car and my current rug and I had downloaded lots of Charles Dickens to listen to while I waited. (The office is really small and there is so many people waiting I would rather wait in the car.) I was so antsy so it felt better to walk. They called me and told me when he was finished and I went back in the office. They had to bring him to the car in a wheel chair.

 

He told me he has no memory of coming home or even getting into the house or going upstairs.  The one thing he wants in macaroni and cheese. Which he can't have until tomorrow. I thought that was funny. He has been asking for it since I put him in the car to drive home. A chocolate milkshake from Wendy's. He wanted french fries too but not yet.

 

As always tomorrow will be a better day. Thanks for reading about my day. Its nice to share it.
The twilight is changing into dark, so should get off and shut the blinds and turn on the lights and get dinner underway.

Have a lovely evening,


~Kim~

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”― Edith Sitwell

Rain and Floods

Since I got this Fit Bit, its really hard to write a post. I periodically jump up and go take 250 steps. I just finished. It was a good thing I had started this post and my Fit Bit needs to be charged so now I can try and write something readable.

I suppose if you watch the news you have seen all of the pictures of raging rivers, lots and lots of water. Rain. Stuff that normal places get a lot of but in California it makes it interesting because we just aren't used to it. Its rained and rained and I am so happy about it. I love seeing the pictures. I have to tell you about my own flood.

 

 Now mind you, I had my day planned. I was going to sew, then hook and watch rain. All day. Get a fire going and read a book wander from window to window staring at what the weather people call an "Atmospheric River Event." Which means lots and lots of rain.  It was six A.M. Ron was going to turn on coffee and we would begin our morning talking and looking forward to the storm. We had a different problem.

 

Ron says from the hall. " Kim there is water! lots of water." Me not believing what I am hearing and supposing Sasha had a accident, say, safely from my warm covers. " What kind of water?" He says, " lots of water!!!" Me thinking, as I look out the window and don't see any water falling from the sky yet, its not raining how can there be water? I jumped out of my warm bed, ran to the hall and sure enough, water, water everywhere. I ran through the water when I realize its warm water that is lapping at my ankles. I say, rather calmly because we never yell around here, " Its the hot water heater." Which I may add is only six years old. Ron opens the door to the water heater closet and sure enough water is flowing right out the front of it where water should not be flowing, ever. He turns the water off but water keeps flowing. He runs outside grabs a hose and hooks it to that little faucet on the front.

 

  I had started moving furniture to higher ground and I ran out to the garage and grabbed towels and started making dams to stop the water from going any further. All the while saying to myself, think! think! think! I remembered I had that handy dandy carpet cleaner that would pick up water. Ron took it and started vacuuming water while I was on my hands and knees wiping with towels behind him. We worked frantic for a hour. When I looked up and the floor looked okay. Yes the carpets and my area rugs were still wet, but I had that carpet cleaner.

 

Ron got the boys up to help him take the old water heater out. When he noticed this toll free number on the back. Since the water heater was under warranty, its supposed to last at least 12 years. He called.
They ended up telling him to take it back to Lowe's and they would replace it for free. He took it back and sure enough, they gave him a new one. What I loved about this story is well of course, the water heater was free. We still have two strong young men at home, who helped. We had a almost brand new floor cleaner that got the water up. I was able to keep drying things as they worked. The really nice thing that happened was just when Peter and Ron needed one more person to help get that heavy water heater in the truck, a big strapping man, says, " Hey you need help with that?" He helped them load it.
Peter and Ron and Elliot had the new one in by 2:00 that afternoon.  You know what else? I think this is one of those little miracles that happen when you least expect it. The rain never started until they got that water heater installed in the house. Then it rained and rained.

 

 

Yesterday it was warm, which allowed the area rugs I had outside to get dry while hanging on the swimming pool fence, so I could bring them back inside last night. My little wool rugs I made, they absorbed so much water, I was really so impressed with them. They dried fast too and look none the worst for wear.

So what could have been much, much worse ended up being a sweet day of reminders that even when hard or bad things happen God can turn them around for good. The thing is, you have to keep your eyes open for those little sweet blessings. Because, I tell you, I wanted to sit and cry many times I was so overwhelmed with the mess and the water. Just so you know, even though I have heat on the carpet it still stinks. But I wanted to tell you the good things all in all.
I am making bread today to try and make everything feel cozy.

Thank you so much for stopping by to read this long post. I appreciate it so very much.

~Kim~

“Could mere loving be a life's work? Could it be a career like marriage or nursing the sick or going on the stage? Could it be adventure?”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Dean's Watch

The Compound Effect

For the last couple of years, Ron has given each of the kids a book that really helped him during the previous year. This year the book he gave every one is called the Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy. Its a tiny book filled with how you do one tiny thing and it will have a compound effect on the rest of your life. He gave one to me as well as I wanted my own copy to write in and underline.

Ron also gave me a present that still makes me cry, because well, its very special.

Last year at the beginning of 2016, he started a small journal about me. Each day for 365 days, he wrote something nice. Every single day. He gave it to me on January 1st. My first thought was how on earth could anyone find 365 nice things to say about me? But, he did. Reading though it, is like a time machine. Everything that happened, things I forgot. Things that were so horrible I still can't think about them. Yet even on the lowest days, he could find some nice thing to say about me.

 

Some are funny, some are poignant. Do you know, I never even found out? I never even walked in while he was writing. When he is home we are always together so that amazes me.
I have to tell you, though. When I read in the Compound Effect that the author did it for his wife one year. I being such a idiot. I told Ron, " I hope you never do that for me." He went pale, but soldiered on. I knew I had hurt him horribly. When on January 1st came and  he showed me the journal I just wanted to die. I really was afraid to read it. I don't know what I expected. So we read it together, me crying, well crying most of the time and laughing. We had walked that same path only he had recorded it.
As long as I live, I don't think I will ever again receive a gift that has blessed and yet overwhelmed  me.

 

In my other life, I was a marriage counselor. When women would come to me with their issues I always started with this, go home and make a list of all of the qualities you like about your husband. Every day I want you to pray that list. More often than not the next week they would come back madly in love with their spouse.
Knowing Ron did that about me, just humbled me. I guess that was why I was afraid. I don't like being humbled.  I want to be the one who out gives him and he just out gave me as our soon to be president says, "bigly."

I have thought about this over and over. Did I want to share it? It really is so personal. I thought I would just because its so sweet.

I can tell you that my 2017 is off to a great start. We have lots and lots of rain in the forecast. Not to mention having this very sweet man I married. I am so glad he has never given up on me. Even when I am an colossal
b***-head!

~Kim~

A new year ... a fresh, clean start! It's like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on! A day full of possibilities! It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy ... let's go exploring!”

 Bill Watterson