Rescuing a Floral Kingdom

Has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but I thought you all would nod.

 

First of all, I am not a gardener of lovely florals, roses, cacti, perennials. Give me some radish seeds, tomatoes, green beans---and I feel at home.

Then we moved to here, our new house, where older people families had lived for about a eighteen years. Some one, some really dedicated person, filled the narrow side yard with roses, cacti, some geraniums, and more cacti.

The last owner ignored it all. He didn't water them or pull weeds. When we moved in, the narrow garden was nearly dying.  Twisted and brown, the rose bushes were barely hanging on. The geraniums were a scattered bunch of leaves, with no blooms.

Well then.

Such lack of care infuriated me. We gave them all a good amount of care, water, and hovering over them. Please, Please, don't die.

I did pruning, pulling, and praying.  Finally, after six months, there were results.

This gardening played havoc on my arthritis and migraines. So, we hired a gardener, Efren Delgado, who is one of the head gardeners in this huge place.  He walked through our floral kingdom, hmmmed, and said I will fix this.

The photos below show how my "yard" looks.  I have no idea what the types, genres, whatever they are. Since I never post photos like this (because) I am ignorant.

These are inherited from our folks.

This is about 50+ years old.

We got this from a rock hound's estate.

This is from the Idyllwild fire.

Quapla: Kah Plah and
Engage, Make it so.

The previous owners who nearly killed these have moved on. These are ours now. Radishes may yet be planted, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

The Evil Eye

 

 

There wasn’t a battery strong enough to jolt Martha from her chair and out into her workshop. 

Over the years, age had taken a big bite from her youth and left her as drooped as wilted lettuce in a garden.   

Each year Critics would award ribbons to Martha's garden that somehow remained lovely year after year.  Martha smirked as the fellow gardeners gave her the evil eye.

They have no idea about the evil eye. I could mow them over, like that.

This week's words come from wisewebwoman.blogspot.com who manages to give bloggers hard words to manage. Please hop on over and see if she can stump you.

When it snows, it really snows

Weathermen in the Northeast called the latest snowstorm an anomaly.  Frank was called in to the warehouse to forklift pallets of salt for the snow plows.

He had wished to be part of the snow plow guys, but he wasn’t ambidextrous which was great help in such a job and meant better money.  Frank continued to deliver bags and bags of salt.

Finally tow trucks were able to pull abandoned cars to the impound lots, including Frank’s new sports car.   Always deleterious in care of his belongings, Frank discovered heavy salt residue mixed with icy snow covering the car had eaten through the snazzy black paint, creating zebra stripes in the where red had once been.

Frank shook his head sadly.  At least he had been faithful to pay his car insurance. Hope it covers all this.

These words are from Wisewoman, as part of Wednesday Words Please visit her by clicking on site. I'm guessing that many of you are tired of the snow. Yeah. I remember snow up on the porch and even into the barn.

 

As we head into another stinkin' hot summer in our desert of California, I will remember this photo.

 

Things we treasure

 

                                                    Vintage child piano

What do we hold dear?  Many things throughout the stages of our lives are dear to us.  For me?  I cast back to the age when I was eleven years old and wanted a piano so much, so very much. Any piano, even a toy piano with a measly fifteen keys would have been fine.
   

Any piano, well maybe not.  But there are other pianos that will amaze all.

 

Pianist tackling the beast

    A huge upright grand piano was moved into our house when I was 13.  It was so heavy that it took six strong farmers to carry it into the house. The sound was amazing! How I treasured it. It was returned to the family who loaned to us. My parents eventually purchased a piano for the family. I was already in college, but we bought our own piano after our first baby was born.

Stone upon Stone in Sand

 

Gray still sky over

Roiling silver sea,

Soaking gold to slate

Slabs of sand.

Satin rocks, ancient rocks

Worn and beaten

Smooth by

Merciless waves.

My brother is dying.

Her whispers cast

To deaf waters.

Salt to salt,

Whispered over and over.

Three speckled rocks

Chosen by grace.

One rock resting

in a noisy room,

Whispering silently

My brother is dying...

One rock for bedside

Where whispers and tears merged.

One rock more--

At last, gazing at her

Blessed brother, eyes closed, 

In steel gray casket.

Tucking a smooth

Ocean stone into icy hand.

My brother has died.

Tears to tears,

Sea to earth,

Cold hand to warm,

Words silenced,

Whispers lie heavy
in the heart. 

 

Dedicated to Robert Peck

 

January 14, 1951 - May 19, 1997

 

My brother

 

The COOL Cars we love

 

 

                                                             1957

 

While my own experience with cars is limited to home to school/store to home, I had spent time with my grandson, the car thief. Thank you, dear Lord, for technology. We will watch him grow up.

 

 While his vocabulary was that of a two-year old (which he was at the time), he had clear vision on the types of cars.  There are three:  little cars, big cars, and cool cars.  He was quite serious when he said "COOL cars."

It makes perfect sense, this division of cars.

Here are some “cool cars”.

I tried to remember what this is....

Now, given that these are “cool cars”, there are many cars that used to be the "Kings of Cool Fast Cars".  Sadly, they have broadened their line. Now the cool cars are really expensive, and not that cool.

 

Not your father's Maserati

The Dukes of Hazard and Magnum P.I. must weep at the devolution of the cool fast cars.

P.S.  The Mustang is still the Mustang.  You can see them at this site.

 

I need to get better cars, some cool cars. These are not.

Yes or No, check one.

 Yes? No? Will Jessica answer this letter? What would she say?  What would he say? Life is a challenge when hormones kick in.

And then....then

Life is a chain of events, I know that is true.  These happenings link up to form the past.  That is how it works, and wonderfully so.

What I desire for a while is a period of time in which the weeks are filled with simple day-to-day activities:  laundry, going to a movie, reading, and such. 

These past few years have been labeled “…And Then…” years.

In Illinois, my mother started to decline, “…And Then…” started.  Each phone call and each visit always led to something more.  When Mom died in April 2011, I thought life would resume the laundry and movie routine.  But, it didn’t.

All those “…and then…” events occurred:  A broken ankle.  A fall/sprawl (broken ankle betrayed me).  Trips to far-off places.  Christmas and birthdays.  Serious illness and surgery (for my husband’s mother).  Subsequent care following. 

Then...my daughter fell, broke bones in her foot, had surgery, was ‘laid up’ for two months.  Then…my other daughter had a baby boy!...And then we couldn't see this baby boy for almost a year.

More trips to far-off places.  And then…

Maybe I am whining about life in general.  Maybe I am like my wee grandson who cries when he needs something, and it is up to his parents to figure out what that is. They could just call me and I can take over.

If I could push a “pause” button, I would. Should I?  Would you?  

 

Disasters and Dystopia on SyFy

 

Source

Maybe it is just me, maybe it is the fond memories of television at a more innocent time...

Every single time the new round of TV shows appears, I wonder how in the world THIS idea made it through the sorting process and WHO dreamed this up.

The new program in this line-up was “Dominion” on cable SyFy, and it was a winner, according to advertisements. It had been renewed for another season and had a substantial web site, heavily loaded with darkness.

The plot line was that God has disappeared (Oh, come on!  Really?) for some unknown reason, and the Angels were looking for Him.  Understandably, the Archangels Michael and Gabriel were the most upset, as they are the God's angel sons.

Renewed for another season

And then there was also "Defiance", on SyFy.

The plot line here was that Earth had been all but destroyed by an alien force.  The action setting was in the ruins of The Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.  (which is in itself inexcusable).

The famous Arch teeters, as a symbol of society itself.

I really don't know what else to say. 

I find these are just another dystopia, society-in-ruins shows, joining the ranks of so many other post-apocalyptic messes. 

This all amazes me and dismays me.

Is this what entertainment has become? Yes it is. 

Thankfully, our God reigns. He truly does.  He has not disappeared.

 

Published in 2015, here for repost.