CREMAINS BOXES, URNS, & A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

So ... I missed the Social Security Administration call because the Cremains Boxes arrived today and I was dealing with that - the reason for the missed call. When I returned the call as requested, the woman on the other end was an outsourced person - seriously: one would THINK that when dealing with Americans concerning American benefits, one would get an American on the other end of the call that could talk English easily understood >:-P

Anyway.

I had to reschedule because apparently while the Social Security Administration person IS ON THE LINE taking my personal information, and "the appointment scheduled was missed" ... the SSA person ALREADY ON THE LINE cannot (or will not) finish the interview until another phone appointment is scheduled. Does that even make sense to rational and logical thinking people? How hard can it be to finish up what has already been started? How can 5 minutes here or there possibly upset the delicate balance of a "yea" or "nay" decision already made by the SSA? Government morons, what more needs said ...

New appointment will be February 25th, same time - same place. Hopefully a different government moron more willing to do what needs to be done without undue nonsense.

That said, this is how my morning hours went; thank You, Yeshua, for blessing me with good friends that are coming later on this week, when the weather warms up, to help me do what needs doing:

Cheryl & Pam are coming later on this week, when the weather permits, to help me fill the cremains box and little urns. They are good and faithful friends – true blessings.

I really do have to learn to stand on my own; and learn to live confidently again – wholly and self-sufficiently; with Yeshua’s help, of course.

My husband’s family has tried to be supportive and helpful, but they are getting tired and perhaps a little frustrated at my continual need for help. All I can say is this … we did not plan on his dying: before that fateful day in August, neither of us had any idea that he would die – we were as surprised as the rest of them when it started happening: and did happen. We certainly would not have chosen the holiday season (Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas) as {the time} for his exit from our life and this planet.

There were valid reasons my husband did everything for me – I am sorry that they cannot understand that; and I am sorry that it was a necessity (because he had died in 1981 and was totally dead for 25 minutes, his brain occasionally misfired; it was important that he be able TO DO and FEEL VITAL in the doing: I let that happen knowing that I was hindering myself – but I loved him and wanted him to feel he was still the man I married; and 95% of the time he still was). My husband’s family is very blood-bond conscious – I have never been a blooded family member … I was always referred to as “Bobby’s wife”: his family is just weird that way; no spouse is ever embraced and that is why there is so much marital strife and divorce in that side of the family. We determined early on not to allow them to divide us; his mother did try mightily the entire time we were married. And his sisters never did embrace me as a sister; though they did, on rare occasions include me in their conversations – but there was never any ‘coffee-time-chat-sessions’ get-togethers, no friendly invite to join the sisterly shopping jaunts, no spontaneous chatty phone calls that did not include specific cut-n-dried family business convo, no over-night sleepovers or birthday invites with cousins for our daughter … though room was made for my husband’s son AFTER the divorce between my husband and his 1^st wife (ex-wife shunned when ‘wife’, and no longer a family threat as a spouse, was nonetheless welcomed back into the family fold like a long lost daughter by MIL and SIL’s and I was treated as the interloper! Crazy, I know). All of our married life, my husband and I knew that we were not truly acknowledged as a couple – even as late as this past September 2018 (http://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2018/09/fall-cleanup-and-forgiveness.html). That is a sad commentary on them.

And now, when I desperately need family to come around me and help me move forward to do what I must now do alone - and need support while I relearn to live confidently and productively again; there is no one, familywise, to turn to. Sure - they were there during the final dying moments, but now that my husband has been dead for what they consider long enough to move on without tripping up, they feel I should “get past that; and leave it with Jesus”; seriously.  This has actually been said to me recently by my eldest SIL - they feel they have done their part … and they are ready to move on: he has only been gone from our 44 year life together 1 month, 23 days, 6 hours and 32 minutes … and the family umbilical cord is being severed as I type. I am being cast adrift without a backward glance, to sink or swim. I have left my husband in Yeshua’s hands and bosom, but I do not think I will ever get over the hole in our life’s tapestry: I will learn to live with the tear, but I do not believe I will ever “get past” that gaping hole. To “get past that” would mean to forget him and our 44 years together – and I can never do that. Never.

And the kids/grandkids? They have lives of their own to live and tend to: they do call; but a phone call is not a physical hug/physical p.r.e.s.e.n.c.e. And physical presence is what is missing. My husband’s son, to be honest, has been very helpful when I call for help … but for how much longer? He has no real ties/obligations to me – the only ties … and they were tenuous at the best of times … he had to me at all, were effectively cut with his father’s physical death.  When he comes to help, it is a real 4 hour sacrifice for him: 2 hours to, and 2 hours back again: soon the trips to help me learn what I need to learn about house maintenance on my own, will end. I know I need to learn … and crash-course-style; but I learn best by being shown and then doing again and a.g.a.i.n. until it all “clicks” – THAT takes active participation on everyone’s part. My husband understood that about me. Everyone else is struggling to understand that about me.

My siblings? It’s an on-and-off thing; mostly off: again, the ‘Christian’ vs ‘pagan’ issues. The last time I saw my younger sisters was in October 2018 and November 2018 respectively – separate occasions at the local hospital. The last time I saw my younger brothers was 12 years ago for one … and 23 years ago for the other. All the occasions were brief, and all the occasions except the November 2018 hospital visit with my youngest sister, were contentious: their behaviors, not mine. They are proud pagans who vociferously let me know how uncomfortable they are around me. Again, a sad commentary on them, as well as the other family branch.

Friends? Thankful for them! Could not have made it this far in my ‘alone walk’ without them.

But, again, they have their lives to live, and the help I need to learn to stand and walk on my own, will eventually become a frustrating obstacle. I need to learn fast. I need … I need; and there is not enough time to learn it all before I am cast adrift. Again.

I do not think any of them actually realize what it feels like to have half the heart amputated: NONE OF THEM have yet suffered the loss of a spouse – divorce is not the same thing: it does not even come in as a close second loss. My eldest SIL said to me recently while we were talking, “with everything else I am going through, I am glad I do not have to deal with the death of someone I love – at least I don’t have to deal with that. Oh, I am sorry! I hope I didn’t offend you”. Well, I wasn’t offended; but I was momentarily stunned at the insensitivity. But, again, that is my husband’s family – they are insensitive people totally wrapped up in themselves and speaking without thinking. My husband used to be the same way before we started building our life together – he changed his attitude and behaviors when he learned to truly love … and enjoyed being loved by me. I think it is too late for his family to change. 44 years has not shown them the necessity for change. They think they don’t need to change. For anyone. Or for anything. So they are for the most part, sadly alone.

I really do have to learn to stand on my own and learn to live again – wholly and self-sufficient; and with Yeshua’s help … and friendly hands via Cheryl and Pam to aide in this week’s need for help … I will get there.

SPANISH MEAL

I woke up to the steady pit-pat of rainfall on the rooftop and instantly felt ambitious today, so thought I’d get busy in the kitchen and whip up a Spanish menu for at least 2 meals: same meal, but as there is just {me} instead of {we} now, I will be setting one aside in the freezer until  later on. And I only baked half the cookies, preparing and freezing the other half for future enjoyment also ;-)

This menu comes from my Bon Appetit, February 1985 cooking magazine.

I am posting the recipes in their entirety and you can break it down as you decide – I will be breaking the recipes down into a widow’s portions, as you will see with the picture accompanying the chicken recipe.

As usual, I have tweaked the recipes to fit my needs: instead of whole trussed chickens, I used chosen chicken pieces. Instead of slivered orange peels, I used ground orange peel; I also left out the orange segments as too much citrus is hard on my stomach. Instead of sprinkling slivered almonds on the cookies, which is also hard on my digestive system - I just left them off. And everything turned out fine and tasted great; recipes are guidelines – they are not cooking sacraments ;-)

Spanish Meal. Roast Chicken Seville & Saffron Rice w-Currants. I like trying new recipes, but I always cook 'homestyle'. If I want a fancy restaurant style serving ... I will go to a fancy restaurant and pay a fancy price for an eye-candy plate.

While the chicken and rice cooked, I worked some more on a ripple stitch lapghan that will also be donated to the local hospital for their beneficiary medical foundation; it will probably go to the cancer center.

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SPANISH MENU

Roast Chicken Seville

Saffron Rice w-Currants

Almond Cookies

Roast Chicken Seville ~Serves 6

4 medium Oranges * 2 tablespoons Olive Oil * 2  3-3-1/2-pound chickens * 4 Garlic cloves * 2 Bay leaves, crumbled * 1 teaspoon Salt * ½ teaspoon freshly ground White Pepper * ¼ cup (1/2 stick butter) * 1 cup Chicken Stock * 2 tablespoons Sherry Vinegar * Green onion tops * Orange Segments

Using a vegetable peeler, remove colored part if peel from oranges. Cut peel into slivers. Squeeze juice; strain into a bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Brush large roasting pan with oil. Pat chickens dry. Mix garlic, bay leaves, salt & pepper together; rub chickens inside and out with mixture. Truss chickens. Place on racks in prepared pans. Dot with butter. Roast 30 minutes. Baste with half orange juice; sprinkle with half of slivered peel. Continue roasting chicken until juices run clear when thigh is pierced – about 15 minutes or more.

Roast Chicken Seville: cut significantly down for 2 'widow serving' meals. Thighs ready for oven. If you follow the recipe exactly as typed above, it will, of course, look different being prepared for the oven.

Cover remaining peel with water and simmer 10 minutes. Drain.

Transfer chicken to platter. Stir remaining orange juice into pan, scraping up browned bits. Add blanched peel, stock, and vinegar; boil until sauce is thick and syrupy – about 15 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken, and garnish with onion tops and orange segments.

Saffron Rice w-Currants ~Serves 6

½ cup Currants * ¼ cup dry Sherry * ¼ cup (1/2 stick) Butter or Olive Oil * 1-1/2 cups long-grain Rice * 2 tablespoons minced Green Onion * 2 Garlic cloves * 2-1/2 cups Chicken Stock * 1/8 teaspoon Saffron threads, crushed * 3 tablespoons Butter * Salt & freshly ground Black Pepper to taste

Soak currants in Sherry 1 hour.

Meanwhile, melt ¼ cup butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add rice, onion and garlic and stir until golden – 2 to 3 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil. Stir several tablespoons into saffron to dissolve – return to skillet. Reduce heat, cover tightly; and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed – about 20 minutes.

Chicken stock mixture

Cooked Saffron Rice ... Currants will be added later.

Drain currants; stir into rice with remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Season with salt & pepper. Serve immediately.

Almond Cookies  ~About 6 dozen

¾ cup (1-1/2 sticks) Butter, room temperature * 6 tablespoons granulated Sugar * ½ teaspoon Almond Extract * 2 cups all-purpose flour * 1/8 teaspoon Salt * 1 Egg White, beaten to blend (glaze) * 1/3 cup minced blanched almonds * 1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon

Cream butter with 4 tablespoons sugar and almond extract until light and fluffy:

Sift together flour and salt; beat into butter mixture …

Gather dough into a ball; flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Roll dough out on lightly floured surface to thickness of 1/8-inch. Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut dough into 1x2-inch strips …

Arrange on ungreased baking sheets. Brush with glaze. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, almonds, and cinnamon: sprinkle over strips:

Bake until golden brown around edges – about 10 minutes. Cool cookies on rack.

Baked Almond Cookies. This is a hard type of cookie.

BEAUTIFUL

Tonight I saw this brilliantly gorgeous sunset as I was moving our car back a bit in the carport to make room for a visiting friend’s vehicle. And I was momentarily awed by the beautiful colors … so I quickly ran into the house and got my husband’s phone – actually my phone now that he is no longer here on planet Earth … to capture the beauty of the moment before it was gone. The fading sunlit brilliance of the colorful sunset was like a kiss from Heaven, and it soothed my hurting soul:

2 hours later following the visit, I finally got to the mail collected earlier in the day before phone calls tied me up all afternoon. Sorting through the mail and seeing yet another OHSU envelope nearly had me hyperventilating; not only does it bring up those last bittersweet weeks with my husband there, but every overdue notice works at continual and steady fraying of my overtaxed nerves. I have no $$$$$ to pay them with: I will have no money at all until sometime in March when the Social Security Administration decides what paltry amount of my husband’s slashed previous claim I will be able to receive. Whatever it is, it will not be enough to cover the medical bills: not even a little bit. Trepidaciously I slit the envelope with a paring knife and pulled the paper out – and whooped loud enough to compete with the vociferous honking of the squawking geese flying over the house. Reading the letter, I felt a tremendous weight life off my shoulders – the words were beautiful to my eyes. I felt at that moment joyful and peaceful for the 1^st time in weeks …

My mind eased and my spirit revived, I made a cup of Jasmine tea and finished up the loose ends of the baby swaddling blanket I had designed 8 days ago, and finished working up last night around midnight – the colors came together beautifully. This colorful baby blanket is another donation items for the local hospital.

MOD Stained Glass Striped Baby Swaddling Blanket

https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2019/01/mod-stained-glass-striped-baby.html

It is good to view the world through a colorful lens again.

MOD STAINED GLASS STRIPED BABY SWADDLING BLANKET

I designed and started work on this blanket 8 days ago. The brightly colored crochet bars remind me of stained glass. The finished squared swaddling blanket measures 37-1/2” x 37-1/2 inches.

MOD STAINED GLASS STRIPED BABY SWADDLING BLANKET

Materials: Sport Yarn in these colors – 2 skeins Blue, 1 skein EA Yellow, Red, White, Black; crochet hook size F/5, tapestry needle

BLUE: With blue, make a chain of 170; turn and work 168 dc across. Ch 2, turn

Rows 2 – 3: Dc across; ch 1, turn.

Row 4: Work 1 row sc across; ch 1, turn.

Row 5: Work 6 blue sc – join black (do not cut blue yarn – you will begin to carry the blue up the sides as you work blanket) and work 1 sc, 1 long sc (work a long sc by working a sc into the corresponding sc of previous row), *2 sc, 1 long sc* across row – end with 1 long sc, 1 sc; attach a second ball of blue, working 6 blue sc to end; ch 1, turn.

Row 6: Work 6 sc with blue, then with black work regular sc’s across row, ending with the last 6 sc’s worked in blue; ch 2, turn.

YELLOW STRIPE: Row 7: Work 6 blue dc – join yellow (continue to carry the blue up the side) and dc cross row – ending with 6 blue dc; ch 2, turn.

Rows 8 – 9: Repeat rows 2 – 3, keeping the 6 sts in EA side edge blue.

Row 10: Repeat row 4.

Rows 11 – 12: Repeat rows 5 & 6.

RED STRIPE: Row 13: Work 6 blue dc – join red (continue to carry the blue up the side) and dc cross row – ending with 6 blue dc; ch 2, turn.

Rows 14 – 15: Repeat rows 2 – 3, keeping the 6 sts in EA side edge blue.

Row 16: Repeat row 4.

Rows 17 – 18: Repeat rows 5 & 6.

WHITE STRIPE: Row 19: Work 6 blue dc – join white (continue to carry the blue up the side) and dc cross row – ending with 6 blue dc; ch 2, turn.

Rows 20 – 21: Repeat rows 2 – 3, keeping the 6 sts in EA side edge blue.

Row 22: Repeat row 4.

Rows 23 – 24: Repeat rows 5 & 6.

BLUE STRIPE: Work 3 rows dc across row and 1 row sc; then repeat rows 5 & 6.

Repeat the pattern as established until there are 5 yellow through white striped strips total. End with a top edging of 4 blue dc rows and 1 blue sl st row. Weave loose ends in neatly on the backside of the blanket.

THE BOOK OF ROMANS ~Chapter 4

This chapter of Scripture is very special to me concerning 3 special occasions: my husband’s literal resurrection – entirely the loving compassion and grace of Almighty God, Who is the giver and restorer of life; in 1981, my husband was declared dead after a 25 minutes attempt of failed CPR by TWO different ambulance teams, as well as the homeowner where he died before the ambulances arrived. My husband immediately gave his life to Yeshua following the resurrection. What a happy day!

The other 2 occasions are our grandchildren: Alyna was a true blessing and a living witness of His faithfulness to hear and answer prayers, as my daughter was told at age 16 during a physical exam that she would never have children of her own. But I refused to believe that report, and as soon as we left the doctor’s office I told her as much; and later at home I started praying and getting busy on a baby layette for my future grandchildren ;-) By the time our granddaughter was born 4 years later, I had put together a 100 piece layette of hand knitted, hand crocheted, and a few (less than 10 things) store bought things that caught my eye! In 2002, our daughter had ovarian surgery to remove grapefruit sized cysts that could morph into cancerous growths – 1 ovary was totally removed, and the other had cysts removed and left in to keep her from being thrown into early menopause, being told, that the ovary was worthless as far as pregnancy was concerned: it would, hopefully, stave off the early onset of menopause, but it would not produce viable eggs for pregnancies and would have to be closely monitored for the recurrence of cysts. We all mourned the loss of future children/grandchildren. Then in 2014 our family was shockingly blessed when our daughter got pregnant with and delivered a healthy son/grandson named Azariah! It was a risky pregnancy, but Elohei was faithful to my prayers that went up sooooooo long ago for grandchildren :-D

I am gratefully thankful that my husband, before he passed into glory in December 2018, was given a new lease on life in 2018 and was able to see, hold, and enjoy his grandchildren before he was called home to the Heavenly realm a few weeks ago – and I am as equally grateful and thankful that they got to see, cuddle into his arms, and enjoy him before he was called home. This is Elohim’s legacy to us.

Elohim is faithful to show favor to those who honor Him with their lives.

THE BOOK OF ROMANS ~Chapter 4

As to Abraham, our ancestor after the flesh, what shall we say that he found? For if Abraham was justified by his works, he had something to boast about, yet he could not do so before Elohei. What does Scripture say about him? It says, “Abraham believed Elohei and that was credited to him as justification” (Genesis 15:6).

In case a man works, his pay is not considered a gift but an obligation. But if a man has no good works to his credit but believes Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accepted for justification. David said as much when he described the happiness of the man who is justified by Elohei, apart from his works: “Blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom Adonai will not record any sin” (Psalm 32:1 & 2).

Is this happiness, then, for the circumcised only – or for the uncircumcised as well? In the case of Abraham we have heard that it was his faith that brought his justification. When was he justified? Was it after he had been circumcised, or was it while he was still uncircumcised? It was not after he was circumcised, but before. He received circumcision as a sign, or token, of the justification he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, thus to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised but who nevertheless receive justification. And, likewise, he was made to be the father of those who are not only circumcised, but who are also Believers such as father Abraham was even before he was circumcised.

The promise made to Abraham and his descendants – that they should possess the Earth – was given, not because of their keeping The Law, but because of justification by Faith. For if those who live under The Law are to be heirs, then Faith has no value and the promise means nothing. For where there is law there is wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

It all depends, then, on faith in the promise made as a matter of grace and guaranteed to all of Abraham’s later generations, not only to those who hold to The Law, but also to those who have faith like Abraham’s. He is the father of us all. So it is written, too, “I have made you a father of many nations” (Genesis 17:5). This promise was made because he believed Elohei, Who can restore the dead to life and can call into being things that do not exist. So Abraham kept on hoping when hope had failed, for he believed that he was to become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, “So shall your seed be” (Genesis 15:5).

Even when he was about 100 years old, being as good as dead, and even though Sara was far too old to bear children, his faith did not weaken. He did not through unbelief question Elohei’s promise, but remained strong in The Faith, giving glory to Elohei. He was absolutely certain that Elohei was able to do what he had promised to do. Therefore, this faith was counted to him for justification.

But this “counted to him for justification”, was not written for his sake only. These words apply also to us. They will be applied to us if we believe in Him Who raised our Adonai Yeshua Ha’Mashiach from the dead. Ha’Mashiach died for our sins, and he was risen again for our justification.

**ROMANS 3: https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-book-of-romans-chapter-3.html

THE RECLINER

Woke up to a cold bedroom this morning. So I checked the temperatures gauges and saw it was 32-degrees outside; lifting the window blinds I saw that there was frost everywhere – on everything: plants, grass, rooftops … you name it, it was shiny with a silvery coating:

I noticed this cloud formation last night, and should have known that there would be frost this morning because they seemed to me to be a mild version of snow clouds, and we did get snow last year at the end of February: we rarely have snow for Christmas here in this region of the PNW – but we usually get it towards the beginning of Spring if/when we get it …

After I got my first cup of coffee, and the cobwebs across my eyes and my brain receded, I logged onto my Blog and reviewed posts from 2016 to current date; it was bittersweet as I relived times with my husband – the readings made me laugh and cry interchangeably. My husband was a good, and Christian man: I miss him, and I will always be grateful to Elohim that he was such a huge and vital part of my life here on earth.

Today’s goals are to sit in my husband’s recliner and not let it become a hindering sorrowing issue, and to pull the sympathy cards & put them away – now that I have started going to the Grief~Share meets, I do not want to be surrounded by mourning at every turn in my present life, especially in our home where I spend the predominant part of every day. Going to the meets and sharing and caring with the people there is enough grieving, and sometimes I wonder if even that is what I should be doing. Everyone says that going to the meets is a step towards getting back on track with the life I am left with, but we’ll see. Sitting around watching DVD’s of people (supposedly grief counselors, as well as grievers) STILL stuck in their grief after YEARS of losing a spouse, a child, or a parent doesn’t seem like ‘moving forward’ to me. But I have paid the $20 for the booklets – another unknown expenditure – and the people meeting together do understand what friends and family do not, so I will stick it out until May; I just am not sure it is actually “beneficially healing” in the long run:

These meets may be fine and mean well, but in real times of hard times … I turn to Yeshua and lean on Him because He is really the only One that can really comfort, lift me up, and heal: http://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2017/06/song-to-king.html

Last night, while working on another donation baby blanket for the local hospital’s beneficiary Medical Foundation, I started thinking of how many times since we started our lives together that Elohim has showered Hubs and I with great favor and mercy – there has never been a time in our lives together that Yeshua has not been with us every step of the way; including Hub’s final days at OHSU …

Our Wedding Pic, August 27^th, 1974. We are not fancy people – we just wanted to start living our lives together … so we did ;-)

44 years later we were still living our lives together – facing life-changing decisions together: this is a picture of my husband contemplating what Drs had just told us and knowing death was a real possibility, firmly putting his life in the hands of Elohei; no matter what the outcome. A little less hair as he aged, but bigger faith as he matured. Though his stomach was bloated, he had by the time this pic was taken, lost 65 pounds.

Taking selfies wearing one of Hub’s thermal shirts and trying to figure out his smart phone – still under contract, so I figure I may as well get use out of it;  so I am trying to learn all the device features. This feature is one of them - LOL I figured out the video making feature last summer before all Ron and Candy's ridiculous hell broke loose and destroyed our lives ... I have lost 25 pounds. I asked Elohim to help me lose weight - I never thought my husband's death would be the way it would happen.

Looking at the pictures of us shown above, it may be hard for some to imagine that we are the same people because our appearances have changed as we aged over the past 44 years; but in our eyes, when we looked at each other, we always saw the young carefree couple in the wedding picture. And I chuckle every time I see myself wearing these glasses. Hubs saw these cat-eye glasses on a display rack last time we were in the eyeglasses place, and jokingly asked what I thought of them and if I would wear them; I LIKED them as soon as I saw them, so I said, “You bet!” And bought them ;-) They fit my creative and imaginative artsy-fartsy personality (http://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2017/09/bazarr-season.html). And I think he knew that too :-D Still not a lot of gray in my hair … but Hubs did comment before he passed that he was seeing more and more gray showing in my hair after the hospital ordeals began.

As it is so nippy outside, I figured I needed to eat something a bit more fortifying than a hasty bowl of dry cereal/milk, so I cooked up a small portion of basmati rice (tastes so good! And smells good too) and mixed it with the 5-Bean Soup I made the other day:

Well, fed and sitting in “the recliner”, I suppose it is time to get back to work on the baby blanket. Hopefully it will be finished in a few days …

WORM TOWER

This reminds me of the time we bought a house over on Merritt Drive (westside highway) and my husband rototilled me a HUGE garden spot with my chicken coop at one end ;-) I decided I needed composting worms, so I ordered a composting bin and a pack of red wringer worms to fill it with. When the bin and worms came one late afternoon, Hubs was driving the night-shift hours ... and it was raining outside: so I set the bin up in the garage and put my worms in it thinking I would move it out into its chosen placement in the bearded Iris' flowerbed next to the house tomorrow morning when the rain let up. I felt proud of myself for getting the bin together with no hassle - I was feeling real accomplished ;-)

When our wolf (YES - a real wolf: half timber and half gray wolf; she was beautiful) indicated she needed to go out, I opened the door and flicked on the overhead light AND SAW WORMS EVERYWHERE! Those squirmy things had escaped their bin <:-O The house had been raised 6 feet off the ground, so they could not have gotten into the house, but they managed to get all over the garage floor! So we went down the stairs and tiptoed around the worms so as not to crush them and I let Precious out to do her thing ... and I promptly moved the bin outside, running back into the garage to gather up every worm that escaped - those things are FAST! Who knew? After 20 minutes or so they were all back inside the bin and Precious was back inside with me. What a night to remember :-D :-D

Hubs laughed when he got home and I told him about it. He also knew the worms would have escaped ... as they did. But he didn't browbeat me about it like some men would have done - he was good about stuff like that: he just laughed and hugged me and knew I had learned something I would not repeat again.

And I am thinking I will build this worm tower ... or 2 or more ... and put it in my garden boxes here. I am sure that Bob will be looking down from Heaven, watching me try my hand at this - and smiling with approval. I am going to do my best to make him proud ;-)

WORM TOWER LINK: https://wnew3.blogspot.com/2016/02/how-to-build-worm-tower.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR1Wh1uxkSmt2yz4ncfIO9xCSMnzIZNzTSX62zTxy1gP7kn1-GH6T33SgNw