Thursday, April 23, 2009

Flowers, Flowers Everywhere!




The yard is glorious with flowers as you can see ~ the arbor is in our front yard, on the side of our house and looks beautiful as you turn the corner towards our house.
The first picture is some flowers I've picked and put into vases. They are my roses (also near the arbor), sweet peas and small vases with smaller sweet peas with pansy's mixed into the vase.
And last is a close up of one of the small vases of sweet peas (they grow on our front porch window box).
It sounds silly to be proud of these flowers, but I have become obsessed with my flowers. I've said before in my blog that I didn't really have much experience with gardening. But if enthusiasm counts for anything, I'm all in.
Although the roses look beautiful, I really didn't do much more than pick them out, plant them and suggest an arbor for the side of the house. Roses are God's miracle flowers.
Growing sweet peas on the other hand has become very personal for me. For years, my friends Fred and Mel at work would bring me beautiful bouquets. The fragrance was astounding - the whole main office would smell of sweet peas. But I could not figure out how the plant grew or how to cut the flowers off. They would always encourage me to try and grow them - but - and here is the stumbling block - I needed to start them from seed in October or November to have flowers in April and May.
Last year I started the seeds and put them into the ground in January. The snails ate all but maybe 8 plants. But boy did I enjoy the sweet peas I got off those 8 plants.
This year, I planted 3 flats of sweet peas (72 plants per flat) - I bought a heating mat to keep them warm, I misted them and checked on their progress daily. I had charts of what seed I planted and what little section of the flat it was in - I was on a mission. I watched them grow and got them into the ground in early November. I could have killed the whole snail population of the WORLD with the amount of snail bait that I sprinkled around my babies. They grew to about 5 inches and there they basically stayed throughout December, January and February. I started spraying them with my magic Bill's Spray-N-Grow fertilizer "perfect blend" and they started to take off. Now my plants are 5 feet high and just starting to bloom. I haven't cut off a lot of flowers - but enough to make me happy. Apparently you want to cut off the flowers and they will continue to bloom. Don't ask me how that happens but that's what I've been told. I certainly haven't had the amount of flowers that Fred and Mel used to bring me but with the amount of stems I have growing, I'm hoping to. If and when that happens I will be sure and post another picture. I'm sure my 2 faithful readers will be glad to see them!
Actually I've been outside quite a bit ~ pulling weeds, preparing ground for a vegetable garden, planting some new flowers ~ I've been pretty busy out there. But my yard will never be the yard that could be pictured in Better Homes and Gardens. I am lucky enough to have a basketball hoop, a horse to ride back and forth on, a trampoline, a huge baseball net to practice hitting with, a swimming pool, play guns, super hero dolls that will save the world and bikes and big wheels. Because with all those things out in the backyard I have my 6 grandkids that love to come to Grammy's and play. The basketball smashed all my tulips but Matty perfected his 3 point shot, Joe loves to play handball, Zachy likes to run around being a super hero, Chloe came up and hit baseballs into the net, Cyrah took on everyone in basketball and Benji loves the horse, the trampoline has always been a big hit and everyone is waiting for the pool to open. And we haven't even brought out the ping pong table yet!
Retirement gives me the time to go outside and enjoy my new found hobby and be proud of what I've been able to grow and enjoy the beauty of the flowers. It also lets me know that ~ come the weekend ~ the yard will be full of kids ~ having fun at Grammy's ~ and I can sit out there and enjoy the pandemonium knowing that
every day is Saturday and I don't have to get ready for work on Monday!
Life is Good!
Just a little something I'd like to add ~ today is my Dad's birthday ~ he would be 85 years old. I miss him every day. But I know that I still have the power to make him laugh with some of the stupid stuff I do! I Love You Dad!
My thought to leave you with this time is ~ God laughs in flowers!
Until next time . . .



Friday, April 10, 2009

It's Messy ~ but it's my Sanctuary!


Although the photo above is a little weird (I tried to merge 2 photos) I wanted to show my craft ~ computer ~ sewing ~
wasting time room.
It's actually very special to me.
I have photos of my kids, my grandkids, my Mom & Dad and others that mean so much to me.
I have my son Jeff's cd's on the wall,
cards people have given me, knick knacks,
ornaments hanging from my shelf system.
Stuff I Love!
Inspirational thoughts on my walls:
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge
that myth is more potent than history.
I believe that dreams are more powerful than facts
That hope always triumphs over experience
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.
*
We laugh,
we cry,
we make time fly,
best friends are we
my sister and me.
*
Be the leader of kindness
and watch how others follow
Listen to your spirit whisper to your heart
Bring joy to your day
Through love and laughter
*
Mother
Once upon a time you held my hand,
but you'll always hold my heart
*
In three words I can sum up
everything I've learned about life ~
It goes on!
There's alot more but I won't go on and on with them.
If you read them you can see that laughter is big with me.
And the one on grief has been very special to me.
When my Mom and Dad died my world was upside down
and it still is 15 years later.
Time is a funny thing isn't it? In some ways losing them seems
like yesterday and yet life has definitely gone on for 15 and 13 years.
In this room the computer is constantly in use. I use it for
my sewing (I have a sewing machine that does machine embroidery),
and I can find so many things to look for and find on google.
I love itunes and have quite a collection of songs. I hear a song on some program I'm watching and then off to find it - somehow. It's amazing the places I go trying to find a song.
I also do crafts (sewing, painting, jewelry and who knows what else I'll try, and I have to say I have never met a person on the computer regarding crafts or gardening that has ever been rude but the people are always so helpful. "They" will always offer places to try if they are not able to help with whatever I'm asking about.
You are never alone, there is always something you can
find to read about or information to look up. Three o'clock in the morning
and you can't sleep, turn the computer and endless possibilities
to check out are at your fingertips.
I also have an collection of games I like to play.
Sounds like it's a good thing I'm retired.
How on earth could I do all the stuff I love to do and
still work 8 hours a day??
Yesterday,
I read a book
ALL DAY!!!
Life is Good!
~ My thought to leave with you today is ~
I've learned that making a living,
is not the same thing as making a life!
Until next time . . .

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Happy Birthday Matty!!!

This boy changed my life. His name is Matthew Jerick Richmond and he was born 10 years ago today and because of him I became "Grammy." My life has never been the same. The picture above was taken at his little league game last week and it's just one of probably a thousand (or more) that I've taken since he was born. He is the sweetest boy ~ silly ~ great sense of humor ~ loves his toys ~ bosses his brothers around but loves them to pieces ~ very responsible ~ big help to his Mom and Dad ~ Grandpa's best customer for breakfast ~ UCLA basketball fan with Grammy ~ still gives kisses and lovies ~ and pretty much a great kid.

I think being a Grammy is a special, special thing to be. I've been mulling over what makes a Grammy different than being a Mom. What I've come up with is this - when you're a Mom - you are "it". You are the center of everything that's happening and you hardly ever get a chance to just enjoy what is happening. As a young Mom with my kids, I loved to sit and rock with them. That was such a special time for me and them. Quiet, rocking, rubbing their backs - I wish I could still sit all of them on my lap and rock them. Obviously that can't happen but it would be nice to have that quiet, soothing time, one on one with each of them again. Not that I was always peacefully rocking with one of my kids, all 4 of them could be piled on me and mass confusion reigned. At the time you think all that you have will go on forever.

As a Grammy, I appreciate my time with these little people. I'm able to give them more of me ~ more time, more attention, more silliness ~ because I have time and I'm not "it" anymore. It makes my life special and I try to always let my grandkids know how special they are to me.

So, that's the story of how my sweet pea Matty changed my life. He was just the start - then Cyrah came along, then Joe was born, Zach-a-Rach-a-Roo was next, Chloe girl came bopping in the same year and finally little Benji boy.
Life is good.

My thought to leave with you this time is ~ The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate!

Until next time . . .