My Little Garden and a Loaf of Bread

Good evening everyone.    I hope and pray that wherever y'all are that you are enjoying this great evening.     We have had rain for a couple of days and just before it gets dark, the sun comes out.     It is a beautiful sight for sure.     Out in the distance I hear a wise old owl calling to it's tree mate.    When I go out on the deck to listen, it stops calling for it's sweetheart, but when I come back in, it start again.     I'm guessing they are shy and don't want anyone spying on them.    hahaha      Then in the front, right here in the living room, right outside the window where I set and am typing this blog post up, there is a little tree frog talking to me.    He used to be at the window where my husband sits and he is a little jealous that I have his little buddy at my window now.    He can just share with me.   hahaha     Isn't the sounds of nature just wonderful!!!   

Speaking of the sounds of nature, I can almost hear my little garden growing.     My garden is on the deck because I have allergies and being out in the grass and the like is very bad for me, so I started trying to figure out how I could have a little garden.   I had a few things in pots last year on the deck and I have more things this year.      It gets a little daunting trying to figure what will grow in pots and what won't.     I did order some seeds very early in the year, before the pandemic, and I got things that said they were small and good for container gardening.    Anyway, I also ordered a small green house.   My husband got it put up and then he put a wooden frame around it to hold and anchor it to the deck to help it stay put in storms.     It's not the prettiest thing in the neighborhood, but it's mine and I started a lot of seedlings in it after I got them out of the house.    When the weather finally warmed up, I got most of the pots and containers out of the greenhouse onto the deck.     I took a few pictures and wanted to share.     I had a friend who asked about my little garden and this is the only way I could show her pictures of it, so I hope y'all like the pics too.

This is a picture of my Tom Thumb Lemon Squash.  You can see the blossoms in full bloom.   The picture was made on the 24th of May I believe.    I can't remember, but there are squash the size of marbles now.     They will grow to the size of a lemon, thus the name.

This line of produce is the Lemon Squash, the next pot has my Tom Thumb Mini Tomatoes.     No blooms or buds yet, but they are really growing.    Next in the white pot are my Tom Thump Peas.    The bushes are really small and covered with blooms and I have already gotten several peas off them.   I have about 7 plants and just planted the seeds for more and they are above ground.     The next pot is the pot that has my Mini Zucchini Squash.    Should be about the size plant as the Lemon Yellow Squash.    I just got the seeds and got them in the pot.

 This is the other side of the greenhouse door and in the white pot is bush Yellow Wax Beans.    They are up about 2-3 inches as of this morning.     In the picture, there is nothing green, they popped up over night, literally.     The next small pot is one Tom Thumb Pea and I also sprinkled more lettuce seeds around it and those seeds have germinated.     The next white pot is more of the peas and I planted more seeds in it at the same time and those seed are up.    Apparently, the peas will put on a load of blooms and make peas and then they die, so I will keep planting seeds all summer and picking the peas for salads.    Next to that is my Micro Mini Bell peppers.   When the peppers are ready for picking, they will be about the size of a quarter or smaller.      In the next pot was a couple more peas and one was already spent, so I pulled it out and stuck in 2  more seeds and they are up too.

 This is on a shelf in the little greenhouse.   I had an empty ice cream box and filled it with dirt and stuck the root ends cut off of green onions in the soil and I've clipped the greens several times just for the blades to put in salads.    And then next to it is a tray that I got roasted chicken from Sam's Club in.     I saved the tray and put soil in it and sprinkle my mixed lettuce and I've got several clipping of lettuce from that tray.   I started to toss it out and sit it back on the shelf and in less than a week, it's ready to trim again.    So I'll keep it as long as it's growing lettuce.   I didn't figure it would do anything!!   Sure fooled me.   hahaha    Love it though.

 In the short pot in the front is another lettuce that I got in a Misfits Market Box and it had a root ball on it.    I clipped all the lettuce and stuck the root ball in the soil and it took off like a weed and I have cut it back 2 or 3 times already and it's ready again.    Beside it is a radish where I just stuck the top of the radish with the small greens on it in the soil and , who knew, it grew!!!!    hahaha     And beside the lettuce is more of the green onions that I just stuck the rooks in the soil and they grew more green and I just keep clipping them too, for salads.     The big tall palnter is a Green Stalk from greenstalkgarden.com out of Knoxville TN.     It is family owned and operated.    I seen someone talking about it and had seen some others earlier in the year and I liked the looks of these and the watering system they have.     It's a vertical planter.    I have lettuces and micro bell peppers, finger eggplants, golden beets, carrots and I did have some radishes, but they all died.  I ordered the 5 tier planter.    When we got it, it's tall for me to water.    So we made it 4 tiers tall and I ordered another 3 tier planter to stack and have 2 four tier vertical planters.    Off to the side, barely in the picture is the 5 tier and I have it filled and lettuces and mustards  and salad greens are in it, onions and chives too.   These tiers lock together and they have a unique watering system that waters each level equally.     It's a very nice system.    Each tier has 6 large pockets that you plant in.     You actually fill each tier with soil and put the gray water system on and then you stack them and you have access to the pockets and then the rest of the planter is for the root system to grow in.    I will be keeping my eyes peeled for more systems like this to grow in.

I also made some homemade yeast sandwich bread.      I've had a bread machine for a while and hadn't used it for some time and I figured now is as good a time as any to shake the dust off and bake bread.     I had forgotten how fantastic it is.    The picture under this one is actually the first picture and this is the second one.    It does everything, mixes, shapes, kneads, shapes, kneads, shapes and bakes.

This is actually the first picture as it's mixing the dough up initially.   You can see that it really does a nice job of mixing because there is nothing left on the sides when it's done with the mixing.

 Okay, another Lemon Squash picture.  They had several blooms on it, big and beautiful, now there are small squash about the size of marbles.    I want more pots to plant more of these!!!   hahaha

This is my final, baked bread.    It was quite lovely.    My pictures don't do it justice because it was a really beautiful color and I brushed it with butter when I took it form the pan.

This is the final product.    It was delicious.    It's perfect for sandwiches and also french toast.   I made french toast the second day and my word, it was the best I've ever made!!!     So, if you have a bread machine, get that puppy out of hiding and use it.    If you don't have one, look for one at a thrift store or Goodwill.    You can usually get them for around 5 to 10 dollars.    Or buy a new one, like I did back in 2006.    I'll call it vintage.    hahaha      I also have a sourdough started going and will be making some sourdough bread by the weekend.     I can't wait to try my hand at making sourdough english muffins.    I have the recipe, I'm just waiting for my starter to get ready.     

Well, this is my load of pictures for the time being.     Keep an eye peeled, you may be seeing more of my garden.    When I get my second planter, I'll take pictures of it too and share those.   Please forgive all the mistakes in my spelling and leaving words out altogether.    I do that frequently and will usually catch some of my mistakes later on and I try to correct them as I find them.

I hope you seen something that sparked an interest for you tonight.    If you did, share it with friend or neighbor.    Tell someone today, before you go to bed, that Jesus loves them.     Someone you know needs to hear it.    And, just in case you haven't heard it today, "Jesus Loves YOU!!!"     If you ask me how I know,  I can tell you that He wrote a whole book describing His great love for you and that book is called The Holy Bible.   It is the greatest love story ever written.    I pray that peace and contentment will be your head rest tonight and that you have a wonderful refreshing night of healing sleep.    I will certainly claim this for myself tonight and I hope you do too.     Always remember that God loves you, I do too.   Thank you for taking the time to visit with me for a spell.    Hope to see right back here real soon.    be blessed, hugs and love, patty

Do you need encouragement?

Good morning Y'all!!!     I hope and pray that wherever Y'all are this morning that you are trusting in the Lord for this day.      With what has been going on and is still going on in the world, it's hard to have a lot of encouragement, but if you know Jesus, you should be encouraged.     The days are still tough, but not as tough as they would without HOPE.     Our hope is in the Lord.

I just wanted to share a little story with y'all and hopefully it will give you some encouragement.

Years ago, at a country church I was a member of, there was an encourager.  An encourager who not only spoke of encouragement, but he lived it out.  This was before I was married, so probably 42-43 years ago.  There was a pretty large young adult group.  When Training Union was over each Sunday night, we would all meet back in the sanctuary and sometimes there would be a little informal talking.  Sharing testimony.  One particular night, this gentleman turned around in his pew and just started talking, mainly to the young people.

He spoke about a time when he was younger.  He was farming at the time and had eaten breakfast and got out to the field.  It was a particularly hot day and he was just about done plowing the field and something broke on his old tractor.  He just so happened to break down near a tree.  So he was stewing and fretting about what needed to be done.  The more he stewed and fretted, the angrier he got.  He didn't have what it took to fix the tractor and he said he finally got to the point of actually cursing out loud.  He said in the midst of the cursing he felt the power of the Holy Spirit and his cursing turned to singing.  He actually told us that it's impossible to curse God and sing Amazing Grace in the same breath.  He said he finally leaned up against the tree and shed a few tears and sang and praised God for a little while.  He got his head straight and his heart straight and and in that time, he actually fixed his tractor. 

He said that was a turning point for him.  There are always 2 actions or reactions to each situation.  It was an encouraging moment for him to realize that calmer heads prevail and when we praise God thru it, it will work out.  There may some some loss of time in the process, but even time can be redeemed. 

So, when things feel hard and they are right now.  We can either curse the time or praise God thru it.  Right about now, I think some have been cursing the time in which we live, me included.  But, I do believe that praising God when maybe we haven't been accustomed to praising Him would be a wonderful way to redeem this time.  We may not have an encouraging support system, but scripture is full of encouragement.  Life is full of encouragement.  Even time is full of encouragement.

So, as the days grow longer we are faced with 2 options discouragement or encouragement.  I try to choose encouragement and remember that nothing happens without God knowing about it.  If you know someone who needs a little encouragement, be an encourager to them.  We can do anything with the help of Jesus Christ!!  He is our Helper.  That is in scripture.

With this being Memorial Weekend, this was one of the things that I thought of that might be a little encouraging to some who need it, me included. 

If you need more encouragement, read about Joshua in the Bible.  God encouraged him time and time again.

I pray that you are all staying safe and healthy.    I know a lot of people are thumbing their noses at the requests to wear masks and social distance, but I am taking it seriously.    I love my husband.     I love my Momma and I love my family.     So, I know if I stay away from places, I won't be coming in contact with something that could potentially be fatal to me or someone I love.     If that's stupid, it certainly won't be the first time I've been accused of that and I'm not concerned about what others think anyway.     As a Christ follower, I try to put the needs of others before my own needs, so I want to keep people safe from me anyway. 

Anyway, I just wanted to share a story and give some encouragement for the days ahead.  They may be long nights ahead, but "joy comes in the morning"!!!

Remember that you are never alone and that God loves you.      I pray for peace and comfort to be your headrest.   hugs and love and prayers for better days ahead, soon.   be blessed, patty

Pandemic Reality

Good morning Folks!!     I hope and pray that where ever Y'all are this beautiful morning that you can Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow.      It seems for a while, we are in new and interesting times and have been for a few weeks.     I feel pretty confident that we will be for a few more weeks or longer.     This is just our new reality for a while.     While my mind goes to the unknown areas that are a little scary as far as what will be the end results of all this, one thing is for sure, my Father God knows what He's doing!!!   Nothing has happened or will happen that He isn't completely aware of.  Nothing will happen out of His will.   That we can be sure of.    The only reason I'm writing this is to record my thoughts and feelings on this whole situation.    While I do find myself leaning towards fear, I have to know that God is in control!!!     I have to know that fully.    You have to know that fully.

This is certainly new territory for most people alive on the planet today.   Notice I said most.     There have been situations in the 1900's for sure that people are still alive and could tell us about and have told us about.    This is our experience.     There are questions that I have that will never be answered, simply because the "truth" will not be let out.    We will never the real truth about this pandemic.    There are too many that are on the devils side that have come only to kill steal and destroy the truth and anyone who carries the truth.      So the truth that I will go with is this:  God is in control!!!!

Faith and fear can't live in the same household or body.    One will crowd the other out.     In my household, or body, I am working hard at keeping faith alive and well and at the forefront.     Sadly, the enemy knows  my weakness and it is fear.     But my greatest strength is my trust in the Lord.     I trust the Lord!!!     While it's not easy dealing with all of this, it can be a life changing experience if we choose to let it be.    We can grow closer to the Lord and that's what I choose.    I lean on You Lord, during this time.

There are a lot different thoughts on all of this.    People fighting the use of masks.     How is wearing a mask to protect someone I love considered giving up an American right?     Your rights stop where mine start.    I have the right to protect myself and those that I love by wearing a mask.     Do I love it?     NO!!!    But I love my family and friends enough to do the "RIGHT" thing.     Me wearing a mask is for the protection of those around me, if I may be sick and not know it.    That's why I will choose to wear a mask. 

When this epidemic hits home, meaning someone in your family has gotten it, several someones, it's a totally different situation.    When someone actually dies from it, it takes it to a whole new level.    If it hasn't touched your family yet, be thankful, be very thankful.    Pray for those of whom are dealing with it.

This is new territory and scary days for sure, but this is our Pandemic Reality for now and we can make it through this.    Not on own though.    We all have to do the right things and then trust God.

If I know anything at all, I know God is in control and He is already in the future and He has plans for His children.    Of that, I can be sure.    I hope and pray that you are assured of these things also.   I pray you all stay safe and protect yourself and others by doing what you can to keep yourself healthy and those around you.   God bless you all and just know that God loves you and so do I.  hugs and love, patty

Just what was on my heart this morning

This is a long read. read it or not, makes no difference to me, I'll never know either way.    This is just where my heart led me this morning.

-Philippians 2:4 ESV Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

-Philippians 2:3 ESV Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

-John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

-Romans 12:2 ESV Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

-Romans 8:5 ESV For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

*****I have a lot freedoms when it comes to this life I live.    I have the freedom that comes from being an American.    I understand that things are not as grandiose as they used to be, but we still have it pretty dog gone good.    I am proud of the freedoms that I have being an American.    I have family members that helped fight for those freedoms and I don't take that lightly.    I can get up as I please, I can go anywhere I please, I can attain any level of accomplishment in my life that I desire, I even have the freedom to kill babies and be in good standing with the government.    What more could anyone want?

The freedom I am most pleased and excited about is the freedom I have in Christ.    Christ alone, bled and died for those freedoms.    My greatest freedom in Christ is too love others.    Is that easy? Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't.    There are a lot of things that I can do in my freedom as a Christ follower and be in right relationship with my Lord.

The scriptures above is just a SMALL sampling of how we, as Christ followers, are to actually live in the world in which we do live.    We are going thru some hard times.    People are having to find new norms and it's difficult.    I admit and confess to my Lord right now, that I am struggling.    I also know that I am not the only who is struggling.    But Christ died for me and He knows what I'm struggling with.

When I read all the scriptures above and MANY more, this is where I am finding how, as a Christ follower, I should be carrying myself.

At one time people in KY were complaining about seeing TN license plates in KY WalMart and saying the state line should be closed and blah blah blah!!!!    At any given time, in Springfield, you see about as many KY license plates as you do TN.    Why is that, because people from KY work in TN and people from TN work in KY.    So, before you gripe about seeing TN cars in WalMart, think about that, please.    It's easy to say that, if all your family is near by.    When I hear those statements or read them, I know that there is no compassion behind them.

So, if and when you see me, I "WILL" have a mask on.    At least for the foreseeable future.    I will be wearing it to protect those around me from possible sickness.    I will also be wearing it to protect me from those around me that are sick and not wearing a mask and don't have symptoms yet and don't care.    I will be wearing it because I am compassionate and I do care about the people around me.    Even if I don't know your name, you're my neighbor and I try to be compassionate.

One of the things that blows my mind is that one day you will see people thumbing their noses at wearing masks and vowing and declaring they will not wear a mask and the very next day they are encouraging and asking people to wear masks to support certain businesses.    Some even said they would leave and not support a business if expected to wear a mask, then they are asking people to wear masks.    It's more mind boggling than what comes from the DC area.    Do we or don't we?    For some or for all?    Who knows, I'm sure by tomorrow those standards will have changed.    I think the term is flip flop.

So, if you see me in a mask, just know that I am not under duress from the government to wear it, yet.    I'm not being forced to wear it, yet.    I wear it because I have compassion for my neighbor.    I'll wear to help keep you and me safe.    There are other ways to thumb our noses at the governments interference in our lives besides putting people we love and cherish in harms way and possible death.

Now would be a good time to hone up on the Bible that those of us who are Christ followers say we live by.    just my ramblings for the morning.    hugs and love to all, patty

This was just something I wrote and shared on facebook this morning and thought it should be shared here too.   Just know that God loves you all and He has made a way.  It's up to us chose that way.   He won't make you do anything.   The choice is ours.    Choose wisely.    Your eternity is at risk.   hugs and love, patty