I'm ready for some gardening....

I’m ready for some planting. I’m ready to dig in some dirt. I’m ready to get flowers planted in containers. Who else has done container flower gardening?

I know there are tons of books out there. If you would check in your local library, there usually is at least one or even more shelves devoted to gardening.

I started with one pot of geraniums last year, and am ready to go for MORE this year. What questions do you have? What flowers have you found just flourished in/around your home? What would you like to try this year? I’m always eager to talk to others about container gardening, especially since I’m so new at it.

I know watering/ lack of watering they say is the major problem for container gardeners. To start with I would suggest, checking the container. Some containers hold water better than others. Then check to see if there is a drain hole. Now I’m reading that the experts are going away from the old advice of putting in pot shards and rocks in the bottom to help drainage…what do you think? I then would look at the watering needs of the plant, do they need to be moist, can they, like geraniums stand/need to dry out a little between waterings. I just read today that inserting your finger up to the second joint and checking for moisture level is a good judge. If it is dry, water, if moist check again tomorrow. I know that in humid/ rainy conditions you may not need to water as often. But sunny and/or windy conditions tend to dry out plants. Self-watering containers, and irrigation systems may be installed to help keep plants wet. Any other suggestions about watering?

Any other questions we could discuss? I am just eager to get started, but the weather is not quite ready yet.

Thankful Thursdays~Small Praises 6

I’m thankful for a lot of things this week.

~I’m thankful for my son’s eye infection which we discovered last Thursday is getting better. (Prayers would be appreciated for complete healing.).

~I’m thankful for spring’s slow arrival. Although it’s not totally here, there are signs of its approach.

~ I’m thankful for my Lord, throughout the past couple of months, things have been really dark. Slowly and tenderly He is renewing and caring for me.

~I am thankful for my online friends and prayer warriors, especially through this season of conflict with the church, and my husband’s troubles. Your support, even if I don’t know who you are, is really felt and appreciated.

~I am thankful that I can look forward to container gardening again this year, as a new-found hobby. I am delighted to think of the possibilities of the flowers I can grow this year. (I will be doing a post soon about this subject, so for those of you who are a little more advanced than I am, please come back and offer your advice.)

~I am truly thankful for the Lord whose love and mercy is everlasting.

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I've been tagged....

to do this meme challenge. Lorna from 'see-through-faith' has tagged me to do the following challenge. I really don't think you'll stay awake through this post...so if I hear some snoring, I guess I'll forgive you. Hehe. (No, seriously, I'll forgive you)


Rules: Every player starts by writing six weird/extraordinary things about him/herself in his/her blog and also the rules of the game. After that the blogger chooses six other bloggers and makes a list with their names. Then the blogger writes a comment on their blogs to let them know that they have been challenged, and that they should check the challengers blog for further information.


1. I have lived in/visited (for one week or more), 6 states, and one province of Canada.
2. I have logged over 30,000 miles by train throughout the U.S.
3. I have visited for day/weekend trips, 5 other states and one other Canadian province not listed in #1 above.
4. I have had bifocals for 16 years, and I'm not even 40.
5. I'm trying more container flower gardening this year.
6. My great-grandparents' and their children's last name was changed as they came through customs as immigrants about 100 years ago.

Now for the other 6 participants that I have to tag......any volunteers? Please leave a comment, telling me if you are interested.

God showed up??

Hi everyone!! It is good to be back to blogging. Yes, I missed all of you, but I needed the break. I really felt that at the beginning of the break like I was spiritually anemic and being refreshed by IVs or something. The Lord seemed to be bringing me back to renewal one slow step at a time.

It was nearly three weeks, and I stayed away from daily reading your blogs. I know a lot of 'life' has happened to each of you, and I look forward to catching up with you all.

The three weeks has been a topsy turvy time. It was filled with much more Bible reading than I have been doing in the past. It was filled with some days of nearly non-stop crying out to the Lord. It was a very lonely dark time. But it was a necessary time to get my eyes off of everyone, everything and to get them back to the Lord. I think all of you may be wondering how and when God showed up. Well, looking back, He never left!! It was me that needed the cleansing, and the convicting of sins, habits, and thought patterns.

I think one of the most meaningful times was last night. It really was neat, on the last night of the fast, to really get down to business. Almost like a climax. Something similar that you would experience at a retreat or a conference, on the last night....a spiritual consecration time some may call it. Well, last night, it was as if I finally got to the place where the sins that were blocking my relationship with the Lord were finally realized and confessed. And then, WaLaWa, sp? Yeah! It was as if the blocker to the stream was finally lifted. I'm visualizing a wooden board blocking water to flowing to irrigation systems, they used in the west back in the 1800- early 1900's. It was as if finally the wooden board was pulled away and free, cool Living water flowed in my soul again.

I still am on a hard journey. The church conflict only intensified while I was on my blog fasting. However another main discovery I made during my "self-pity" party days during the fast: There is someone in the world who is going through something harder than what you are!!!! SO, I'm going to be praying for that person, even if they are unknown to me, on my deep dark days of conflict management.

I also am looking for God at church in different ways. He showed up yesterday at the church service, in a way that really ministered to me. But in a way that was unexpected. This taught me to really not put Him in a box.

Well, enough for now, of my ramblings. I need to go get lunch. I really appreciate the prayers and the emails, while I was gone. Give me a few days to come around to every one's blogs for a visit.

this week's in other word's

"Those who read fast reap no more advantage than a bee would by only skimming over the surface of the flower, instead of waiting to penetrate into it, and extract its sweets."~ Madame Jeanne Guyon ~

This quote is referring to the Bible, according to this week's host.

I really was convicted again reading this quote as well as a recent post by Sissy.

I am spiritually depleted. As you may have been reading from previous posts, I have been going thru some really hard times. I feel that as far as blogging, I don't have anything to give until my spiritual well is replenished. I need to get alone with God and really read the Bible and other helpful resources. If I'm blogging or spending time reading other blogs I put God aside. I have been getting in the blogging trap of seeing how many comments and by whom. I guess I'm saying that I'm taking a blogging fast for a couple of weeks. I need to be replenished, and to re-evaluate my goals for blogging. But primarily I need to be replenished. Feel free to email me, if you have an email address, I'll still respond to you, but I won't be blogging at least until March 12, sooner, if the Lord leads. Please, please pray for me during this time.


11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. 14 I will be found by you," says the LORD. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and bring you home again to your own land."
Jer 29:11-14 (NLT)

Happy Birthday, It's a Celebration!!

A couple of weeks ago in my Prayer Places I asked people to pray for the country of Estonia, in Eastern Europe, a former Soviet country. In the comment section Lorna commented about the celebration that will be taking place this weekend.

" The UMC in Estonia (Russian speaking congregation) have their 50th anniversary on Feb 18th- a church that was founded in a time of persecution by the KGB under soviet rule ... makes you really think!!!"

Let's praise the Lord this weekend for that church!! and lets pray especially for the coming years for that congregation. Yeah!! Praise the Lord!!

Thankful Thursdays~ Small Praises 5

I'm so thankful for a keyboard!! Something went wrong with my computer yesterday and things looked very glum about me posting for a while. However, this morning, just a few minutes ago, my husband tried his keyboard on my computer and wahoo!! it worked. Only my keyboard is broken. Right now I have my husband's which allows me to post!!!!

I'm also thankful for:
~ the sun making fresh fallen snow sparkle!!
~ people who have to brave the harsh cold/snowy elements to work--plow drivers, bus drivers, taxis, garbage collectors, etc.
~the Lord
~my family
~on Monday morning, as my son and I stood at the end of the snowy driveway, we watched in amazement as my son's school bus (already late) just whooshed on by without stopping for him. My husband called the school, found out it was a substitute driver, and the transportation manager radioed him to come back for our son. He did come back, and when my son finally boarded the bus, he was quite late for school. I then proceeded to go (albeit already much later than usual) on my morning walk indoors at the church (my husband is a pastor, and the church is nearby). While on the walk I thought about the bus incident. I finally came to the conclusion that for some reason this could work out for good. As I was leaving the church, at that moment, a van pulled in and turns around. I noticed that it was for a health screening unit based out of a major city a good 4 hours away. I asked if they needed directions, and they said that they were fine, just turning around. The driver, was very nice and thanked me for my concern. As they left, I sensed in my spirit that the Lord wanted me to pray for them that day. So I did. ......Now, if my son's bus had not been late, and I had walked on time, I would have been back home when the van pulled into the church's driveway. I thank the Lord that He uses things that at first could be irritants, to turn out for His good.


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