Barefoot Lily Lady

Six on Saturday: Goodbye August

While there’s still beauty to be found if I look hard enough, the garden is definitely winding down.

Honestly, the older I get the faster the calendar pages turn. I feel like I just said “hello” to August and now it’s nearly gone.

It’s been hot and dry lately. So dry that we’ve set out our sprinklers to give the thirsty lawn and gardens a little drink. We get a little tease of rain here and there, but it mostly just skirts around us. The last “almost rain” we got looked like it would be a doozy, but it was just a lot of wind and thunder, with narely a drop of rain. But, that weather front did push our hot weather out and paved the way for cooler, fall-like weather – perfect for cleaning out flowerbeds.

While there’s still beauty to be found if I look hard enough, the garden is definitely winding down. I could run around trying to get snapshots of some of the pretty stuff that’s hanging on for dear life, but thought I’d share a few of this season’s favorite garden helpers.

This gardening stool was on my Amazon giftlist. My daughter and family bought it for me as a Christmas gift. I love its simple design – sturdy and stable. It’s lightweight, yet durable. Depending upon which way you flip it, you can be seated at 9″, 12″ or 15″. Best of all, I can just hose it down to clean it up.

I think I probably use this little “Corona CT3740 eGrip Hoe/Cultivator” nearly every day during gardening season. It’s a great weed cultivator, hole digger, clod-breaker, furrow digger, can’t-do-without gardening hand tool. Hubby ordered it for me from Amazon, where you can purchase it for less than $12.

This repurposed mailbox helps me stay focused on gardening tasks in the backyard. With a fresh coat of paint and a just for fun bit of artsy embellishment (it was originally used as a prop for a skit), it houses a few handtools and a pair of gardening gloves. No more running to the garage, then being distracted by something else along my scatter-brained way.

Oh, and let me introduce you to the hardest working garden helper I have – my husband of 44 years, Wayne. Along with a never ending list of household projects, he’s been busy this summer ticking things off my garden to-do list, including replacing and leveling flagstones on my garden path.

Today’s project finds him busy cleaning a summer’s worth of cottonwood fluff and other plant debris and critter mess from our air-conditioning unit. Projects, to name just a few, have included rebuilding two of our raised garden beds, building birdhouses for me to paint, emptying and moving a compost bin, digging plants from here and moving them to there, and doing his level best to be a blessing to his wife. Seriously, what would I do without him?

Okay, room for one more “pretty” as my garden bids August adieu.

Pretty garden partners – Sedum ‘Maestro’ and good ol’ fashioned Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta)

There are my six, my gardening friends. Many thanks to The Propagator for hosting this weekly garden show ‘n tell.

Shopping Spree

Daylily lover that I am, I just had to share Carolee’s post. I’m especially enamored with “Scatterbrain”… I feel a special bond with that one. 😉

herbalblessingsblog

Always a happy surprise when a box arrives!

Too much time to think and ponder as I pick tomatoes or deadhead borders can lead to retail therapy. As you know, gentle reader, stretching the daylily season has been a project for the past few years. Slow to occur to me was the idea of using REBLOOMING daylilies to get more late blooms. Of course, I have the obligatory “Stella d’Oro” which is just beginning its second bloom, but since I wasn’t all that impressed with it, I hadn’t looked for others. What a mistake!

After spending some time researching on the web, I decided to order from a company unknown to me, Iriswarehouse.com. They had an impressive selection of reblooming daylilies, at reasonable prices. Now when I say “reasonable” keep in mind that rebloomers are not as common, and are more in demand, so they are not cheap. After I…

View original post 496 more words

Rewind: Swimming Faces

Another post in my “Rewind” series. This post originally appeared on October 23, 2016 as a Facebook note in my pre-blogging days. As I journeyed alongside mom with her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, I learned through her experience many things about the affect this disease had on her world. As my mother’s caregiver, I have leaned heavily on the experiences of those who have traveled this road ahead of me. In sharing my experience, it is my hope and prayer that someone else will be helped and encouraged.

Even though Momma lives in a little one-bedroom apartment, many days she has a hard time remembering where her bedroom is located. A few minutes ago, I overheard her talking to herself saying, “Now, where is my bed?” Groaning with each step taken toward bed, I could hear my sweet mother then exclaim as she entered her room, “Oh, there you are! I can never remember where you are.”
I’ve been staying overnight at Mom’s house since September 11th. That was the night when mom had a severe separation from reality, scary hallucinations, and I had the realization that it was no longer safe or wise to leave her in her apartment alone. Sadly, she was so afraid to stay in her room. Every time I would get comfy and start drifting off to sleep on her couch, she’d come in the living room, flip on the light, then stand in front of the couch asking me if I was awake. I would get up, gently guide her back to the bedroom, do the room search (looking for the intruders she was so sure were there) and I would try to reassure her that everything was okay.
I noticed that even during naps taken during daylight, mom wouldn’t sleep under her quilt. I would often find it pushed to the corner of the bed or on the floor. On the third night of no sleep, Mom told me that there were “faces swimming” on her bedspread. She was clearly disturbed by its presence. So, I replaced the bedspread with an extra blanket and mom finally settled down enough to sleep for a few hours.
The next day, a very kind friend from church came to sit with mom so I could take my brother to a medical appointment. When I returned later that day, I related the story about the bedspread to her. She took one look at it and said, “Of course there are faces! Look here! See the eyes?” In all the years that the paisley bedspread had been covering my parents’ bed, I had never noticed that.
As I thought about my sweet friend’s observation, I recalled reading in several articles related to caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s that busy fabrics give some patients great anxiety and that it is helpful to use solid colors in clothing and decor choices. Even busy wallpaper patterns can take on frightening proportions that terrify the confused mind. With that information in mind, that very day, I stopped at my local Target and purchased a plain, simple white bedspread for her.
No more swimming faces – and every so often, I catch a heartwarming glimpse of mom gently fingering her new bedspread, running her hands across the soft fabric as she drifts off to a much more peaceful sleep.
First posted as a Facebook “Note” on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2016

15 Little Things I Love

Dirty feet – because it means I have been in my garden

Daylilies – each blossom a unique work of art

The faithful love of a husband – a big thing, really

Hugs from a grandchild – there is nothing quite like a child’s embrace

Birdhouses – caring for God’s creation and a blessed time of crafting with my grandkids

Birthday Cakes – a sweet celebration of another year of life and growth

Birthday cake decorating

My Bible – for the life change that happens with time spent within its pages

Rain – for watering the earth and for leaving glittering jewels in the garden

Zinnias – God’s colorful stage for the flutter of butterfly dances

Green – for the way its various shades and hues frame all of the other colors of God’s creation.

Hydrangeas – for the serene beauty they bring to my garden

Peanut butter silk pie (from Perkins) – a whole day’s worth of calories rolled into once slice of my favorite date night dessert.

Colored pencils – because they remind me of my mother

My painted garden chairs – because they make me think about the love of the artistic grandgirls who painted them

Old photos – for the stories they tell

Seed Gathering

I love hearing the little ‘ping’ when my granddaughters send me a text. I received one from Mia last week asking me to identify this plant that she noticed growing at her church. She remembered seeing them growing between the cracks of my flagstone path when she was a little girl and she had always enjoyed them. Of course, I recognized them as portulaca (moss rose) and told her I have a few little bits of it growing in my garden this year.

Mia’s photo taken at Wildwood Church in East Moline, IL

I plant moss roses every now and again and am always delighted when a plant throws seed and new moss roses come up willy-nilly somewhere else the following year.

The loveliest ‘flowers’ in my garden of life, my grand-girls (l to r) Noelle, Violet and Mia

Mia’s question spawned a curiosity within me about seed gathering, so I decided to look up a video demonstrating how to collect the seed from some of my moss roses so that I can plant some of my favorite colors more purposefully in areas where I’d like them to grow next year. There are plenty of YouTube videos on the subject of gathering seed from portulaca, but I appreciated this one .

I enjoy growing petunias in my pots. They’re just so pretty – especially the purple ones. I decided to watch a few more videos on how to gather petunia seeds so that I could perhaps save a little money by growing my own next year. I discovered it’s very similar process as the one used for portulaca seed gathering. After watching this particularly helpful video, I decided head out to my front porch and check my favorite petunias to see if there were any seeds to gather.

I was so excited to find the little seed pods mentioned in the video, so picked a few and tried harvesting them myself.

See the little black specks that look like dirt? Those are the itty-bitty seeds!!

I used this little strainer from my kitchen drawer to sift and separate the seeds from the little pods. Next, I slipped the harvest of seeds into a white paper envelope and then labeled the envelope with what kind of seed was within (knowing full well I would forget by next spring). Before sealing the envelope, I slipped the plant tag from this year’s plant into the envelope too. I am looking forward to planting my seeds next spring and really hope they will germinate. If they do, I’ll be sure to post some pictures!

What about you? Have you had success in harvesting seeds? Do you have any tips to share? I’d love to see your ideas and tips in the comments below.

Happy gardening, my friends!

Cicadas: Garden Buddy or Pest?

I’m not sure if I should consider this cicada a gardening friend or foe, but it seemed to be quite interested in what I was doing as I worked on cleaning out one of my flowerbeds.

I’m a curious gal, so did a little reading about cicadas today and enjoyed this National Geographic article (see link below). I learned that the male cicadas mating vocalizations can damage our hearing. If you’ve ever heard a cicada, you will certainly believe that.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/group/cicadas/

I also learned that the cicada that hung out with me is an annual cicada. I also learned that my state of Wisconsin is expecting this cicada’s cousins, the “periodical cicada,” to show up for their big event in 2024. That cicada is distiguished by its orange and black body and red eyes, compared to the dull green of the annual cicada. I learned that we can expect a very loud show in 2024 when those cicadas are expected to emerge by the millions.

I confess. I’m not looking forward to that show…or gardening with them.

A Lesson on Hibiscus

“What is that big pink flower?”

I would be well on my way to becoming a very wealthy woman if I had a dollar for every time I answered that question posed by someone who stopped to admire the pink hibiscus in our front yard.

As a gardener, it is very gratifying watching people stop to admire our flowers, and even more so if they want to talk about them or ask a question. This time of year, admirers often want to know more about the giant pink flowers by my front porch. Gardener-types usually want to know what type of hibiscus it is. I know there are many types of hibiscus, but I really know very little about them. It was time to learn more about this amazing flower. Like any good student today, I went to Google and did an internet search. There are many amazing tutorials and articles from which to glean, but my favorite was this excellent post. Please click on the hyperlink if you are equally curious to learn more about a flower which delivers such beauty to the late summer garden.

Happy gardening!

Putting the Word before the World

I hope it’s no secret that I am a Christian who truly desires to live every aspect of my life in such a way that Christ is honored and glorified. When you read what I write, I genuinely hope you see the Word of God is the hub around which the wheel of my life revolves.

Most who know me personally consider me to be a mature believer, but I know there is much room for growth. If I am honest with myself, there are days when I fall very short in my goal of making the Bible central in my life. For this reason, I have accepted a challenge to become part of the Word Before World Bible study challenge – a group of believers seeking to make time in the Scriptures a first thing in the morning priority. Before all the things which will capture our attention during the rest of the day that follows. Before we pick up our cell phone or log onto our computers, or turn on our televisions. Time in the Word before we pick up that interesting novel, or check to see what’s going on in Facebook or Instagram world.

First in my heart.

Our little Word Before World group is now 12 days into the challenge. It’s a virtual group – perfect for this day when social distancing is recommended. While we may never actually meet one another on this side of heaven, it has been delightful getting to know other women who struggle just like I do, yet have the same heartfelt longing and desire. We have been praying for one another, sharing insights we have gleaned from our time in the Word, sharing verses and encouraging one another.

So, here’s how my day 12 went.

It is my custom to listen to the scripture while I’m getting ready for my day – sometimes before my feet even hit the floor. Yes, it involves picking up my cell phone, but I rather like hearing the Scripture spoken out loud (by a wonderful narrator) on my Bible app. Today I decided to listen to the suggested reading while I took a morning walk. I began with Psalm 103 and ended up listening to the entirety of Psalm 119 (176 verses!).

Along the way on my personal “psalm-walk,” I stopped to enjoy God’s magnificent creation in the gardens of a few of the neighbors along my route. There were several beautiful gardens, but I think this mailbox garden was particularly impressive.

When my route finally returned me to my own driveway, I grabbed a cup of coffee, headed to my favorite Bible study spot and opened my Bible to Colossians (which I am currently studying). It’s a little book, just four chapters, yet so very challenging to me – particularly as it relates to my responsibility to pray for other believers and encourage them in their walk with Christ. Next, I flipped back to Psalm 103 to read the passage our group was challenged to read together. As I spent time reading and contemplating this psalm, verses 17 and 18 made me stop and thank the Lord for his steadfast love – and that His love and righteousness has been extended to my own children and each one of my grandchildren too.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
Psalm 103:17-18 (ESV)

I couldn’t help but pull out my coloring pencils. and write the names of my grandkids in the margin as I prayed for each one.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Psalm 103:1 (ESV)

Wordless Wednesday: Pretty Tiger

Coffee Tea Dying — Jo’s Country Junction

I wanted to introduce my readers to one of my favorite bloggers, Jo Kramer. Jo is a quilter extraordinaire who must have more than 24 hours in her day, judging from all she accomplishes even in the midst of a number of life challenges, including the homegoing of her husband and her own battle with a tricky cancer that plays hide & seek.

Working with her daughter Kalissa, Jo is also the queen of quilting and crafting tutorials. I share this particular post today hoping my crafty friends will enjoy this and that your lives, too, will be encouraged to press on.

Last week I showed this project..it was #5 for the Dirty Dozen challenge. After some digging and sorting, I realized that the background is to light. The background has the stitching on it and the wool pieces around it are intended to be fabrics for the sheep. There is no way the sheep will show…
Coffee Tea Dying — Jo’s Country Junction