GOING UP TO THE COUNTRY

I woke up around 3 a.m. this morning (have been doing this off and on since December 14^th, 2018): I seem to have lost my night-owl DNA since Bob’s graduation, and morphed into his early-bird habit; so I logged into FB and have been told by a fellow gardener that my Patio Apple Trees have been stricken with “fire blight”.

I have never heard of that before, so I did a google search, and read that while it is controllable, the measures used may be deadly to my Patio Apple Trees as the required pruning would remove at least half of the tree’s limb growth. Not happy about this turn of events. Bob bought me those 2 Patio Apple Trees for a Mother’s Day present 10 years ago – I don’t want them to die.

Why am I continually having to give up things Bob and I enjoyed together???

Wednesday, our bank forced me to close our joint account and reopen a new account – for their benefit, not mine. ALL they had to do was remove his name and bump mine up to primary account holder: but they refused to do that, citing legal reasons for the refusal: sounded like legal BS to me. So, that was one more thing that I have had to let go since Candy and Ron ruined our life together.

I am tired of giving things up for the benefit of someone else’s comfort at my expense …

I will make the necessary {life-saving} cuts on my Patio Apple Trees, and pray to God they survive the mutilation. Yesterday I thought it was a worm or an insect infestation (https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2019/06/ive-been-everywhere-man.html), and I sprayed it pretty heavily with BT before asking for help in my FB gardener’s group. I hope I did not spread the fire blight infection in ignorance.

But whatever I do to correct the dicey situation with the apple trees will have to wait until later this week, when Ron is gone to work (the for sale sign is still up, so his 'buyers' must not have been approved: DARN IT! I want him g.o.n.e.), and my haul from the Crawford Strawberry Farm is taken care of.

My strawberry picking adventure in Goble, OR that I mentioned in yesterday’s Blog post (http://www.crawfordberriesncream.com/), went great – good and companionable travel/picking pals, good and comfortable weather (the earlier gray clouds here gave way to a blue sky with fluffy clouds there), good Supper company, and a reasonably easy pick-over/wash/blend/storage of the strawberry haul once I got home :-D

Crawford Strawberry Farm

Loved enjoying the country air, the sounds of cows/geese/chickens/power saws in the background while we picked berries and chatted back and forth. My heart longs for the country ... I really MISS it.

My haul. I gathered 7 pounds of tasty berries, which totaled $11.35; about $1.62/lb

Homemade Strawberry Concentrate with the seeds removed. Very pleasantly odiferous and sweet tasting! I can't eat seeds because they cause internal issues, so the process was tedious; but necessary.

My 7 pounds of berries = 22 cups, which when blended and seeds removed = eight, 1 cup baggies of Strawberry Concentrate to be frozen for Winter Smoothies. I’m happy :-D

Knowing I would be gone for a good part of today, I watered my garden beds straight off when I got out of bed this morning; and was surprised to notice a white petunia peeking out of the Johnny-Jump Up violas in the yellow onion bed – how it got there is a mystery:

Moving down the line, I saw that the tiny yellow straight-neck squash I spotted last Friday – and thought would more than likely wither and drop off – is staying put; and thriving despite the uncooperative weather :-)

I will probably pick this Tom Thumb Lettuce for Supper tonight. It had reached it’s mature size and is ready to harvest …

And I will pick some nasturtium leaves, as well as this 1^st nasturtium blossom peeking out of the foliage. I have never eaten flower blossoms before in my salads because that was not something I could have talked Bob into; but, Bob is not here, so I will give it a try ;-) I did like the violas, and the nasturtium leaves I tried last week; so the nasturtium blossom will be this week’s taste experiment:

In the last 2 garden beds, barely visible BABY CANTALOUPES (!) and a tiny Golden Star Bell Pepper are making their debuts :-D

I am glad to see those teeny baby cantaloupes – usually the cantaloupe plants I buy just die to the ground and disappear when I put them in the garden; but this one that I grew myself from seed seems to be doing well, even though it is not very big or bushy yet …

Barely visible – but they are there.

What surprised me the most, was seeing that tiny pepper because all of my pepper plants are stunted due to the crazy weather we have been having here – I don’t think any of the pepper plants are more than 4” tall: they just are not doing well at all in the garden bed. I hope the pepper plants survive and get taller, prolifically producing – I use a LOT of peppers when I cook:

And THIS is WHY my garden is limping along this year …

Maritime weather here in the PNW. So tired of gray skies; I would really like to see some blue skies and sunshine that hangs around for more than a blink of the eye ..

Today is exactly 6 months, 12 hours and 36 minutes since my life status changed from wife to widow.

I have GREAT friends who got me out of the house today and filled my day with fun and laughter. Nothing does my spirit good like a day in the country ;-)

Elohim is good all the time; and all the time Elohim is good - He provides what I need most to help my heart heal :-D

Shalom Mishcopah

L’Chaim!

FOREVER LOVING YOU

WITHOUT YOU, WHAT DO I DO WITH ME

IV’E BEEN EVERYWHERE MAN

I drove into town to pick up some cash for my adventure tomorrow, and when I saw the red lettering along this dollar bill’s margin, I knew the teller had given me a traveling man bill – and this song immediately ran through my thoughts : D

I “tracked” my Traveling George Bill through this link:  https://www.npr.org/2013/03/24/174966382/wheres-george-the-trail-of-1-bills-across-the-u-s and was told {The Serial Number you provided E08227894B* is not valid. It must start with two letters, then have eight numbers, then end with a letter or asterisk. The serial number E08227894B* you entered has never been printed. Please re-try.} I don’t know what to say to that. Obviously the bill has been printed, and it is legit currency. I got it at the Bank; where tellers are trained in legit and illegal currencies.

Be that as it may … I am going strawberry picking tomorrow with Cheryl & Mike at a farm in Goble, OR. WITH my “never been printed” dollar bill. Tomorrow’s adventure is an answer to prayer: I have been missing a companiable drive, and they know how I like to get out and go – so I was invited along ;-) It will be fun - half the fun of a drive is sharing it with someone: I have been to Goble, but I have never been to the farm I am going to tomorrow.

I do grow strawberries here at home, but I also know that tomorrow’s pick of strawberries are organic too; and a little extra surplus will be a plus this Winter when a taste of Spring will be very welcome.

Yesterday, street work at the Park started, and it is making things difficult:

This speed bump is right outside my livingroom window, and right alongside my driveway ...

Every single street in Heron Pointe Park has been turned into a 1-way street, and getting cars in and out of driveways (no on-street-parking allowed until this project is completed) gets dicey – some people just do not know how to back up without blocking the entire street off until they get it fgured out.

Backing up was one of the driving issues Bob was a stickler about, so I learned to back up very well. Bob always liked to have the vehicles backed into place in the driveways in case we had to make a night flight someplace; it was easier to just get in the car and pull right onto the street. And take off. So, when I got my driver’s license, I practiced backing up and down our long driveway at our first home together on Cathlamet.

I got so good at it, that I could zip down that driveway coming and going using only the mirrors – that made Bob very proud of me.

And I always liked him to be proud of me ;-)

I always park backed into our driveways.

But these streets here at Heron Pointe are pretty tight streets – the owners do not believe in spending their greedily demanded Space rent money on making things easier for the tenants here … like a little extra roadway both sides of the street to make passing cars a little less hair-raising. But, because I had a good driving instructor (my husband), I manage.

Last night, before turning in, I also figured out how to set the Forecaster Weather icon that was driving me batty with the psycho flashing that had every weather situation happening at once – rain, thunder, snow, sleet, sunshine … you name it – it was flashing crazily!

It took some time, but I did eventually get the darned thing set correctly – and I did not have to tap anyone else to help me :-D

I did it myself!!

This afternoon, the street workers finished painting the other side of the speed bumps; tomorrow they will probably get busy painting the white side lines …

While they worked on the streets, I worked at spraying BT in my garden area trying to eradicate garden pests that are comping their way through my cabbage family plants – and stunting my Patio Apple Tree growth, which is seriously affecting my apple put out this year:

Sorry about the audio - can't control the river winds ...

Those caterpillars rampaging through my little garden space may have {been everywhere, man} before setting up camp here; but they will be stopped here.

1st CORINTHIANS ~Chapter 4

Men should look upon us as servants of Mashiach, as stewards of the mysteries of Elohei. And to sum it up the main requirement of a steward is that he be found faithful. With me, it is a very small matter that I should be judged by you, or tried before a human court. I do not even pass judgment pf myself. For although my conscience does not reprove me for anything, that does not mean that I am innocent. It is Adonai Yeshua that judges me. Therefore, do not pass any premature judgments, but wait until Yeshua comes back. He will throw light on what is now hidden in darkness, and He will reveal the motives in men’s hearts. Every man will then receive from Elohim Himself the praise that is his due.

Brethren, the reason why I have applied all this to myself and Apollos is that you may profit by it, that you may learn from us not to go beyond what the Scriptures permit, and that no one of you should boast of one person in preference to another. After all, who makes one superior to another? Or, what is it that you have that has not been given you? So if you have received it s a gift, why do you boast as though you have earned it?

Are you already satisfied? Have you already become rich? Have you already taken possession of your kingdom without our help? I surely could wish that you now occupied your thrones, and that we, too, might reign with you. Indeed, it seems to me that Elohim has placed us Apostles last and least among men, like men under sentence of death. Truly, we are a spectacle of the whole creation, to Angels as well as men. For Mashiach’s sake we are fools, but you are wise in Mashiach. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we are in disrepute.

Up to the present moment, we have suffered hunger and thirst. We are poorly clad. We have been abused and beaten. We have no home. We have worked hard with our hands for a living. When men revile us, we answer with a blessing; when they slander us, we just beg them to cease. We are considered as worthless filth, the scum of the earth, to this very day.

No, I am not writing these things to make you feel ashamed. Rather, I counsel you as my beloved children. Foe even if you had ten thousand Christian teachers, you have only one father. It was I who became your father in Yeshua Mashiach when I preached the Gospel to you. I plead with you, therefore, to follow my example. It was for this reason that I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in Adonai Yeshua, to remind you of my walk in Mashiach Yeshua, which is the same as I preach everywhere in every church.

Some among you seem to think that I am never again going to visit you, and they have, therefore, become puffed up. But I am coming to you again, and that very soon, Elohim willing. Then I shall find out, not so much what these conceited ones say, as what they can do. For Elohei’s Kingdom does not consist of mere words, but of deeds to match them. What is it you wish? Would you rather see me come with a stick in hand, or with a loving, gentle spirit?

**CORINTHIANS 3: https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2019/06/1st-corinthians-chapter-3.html

KISS OF DEATH KINDA DAY

It was already 70-degrees outside when I woke up this morning, so I did my mile walk around the park straight off.

There were a lot of bold colors making their appearances bright and early:

These pretty tri-color petunias caught my eye.

Nothing could be bolder than this blood-red day-lily: even the stamens were blood red!

I have always liked the ‘Joseph’s Coat’ climbing rose. I used to have one at our previous home in Lexington – the house we sold 2 years ago to move here. I trained it to ramble the length of the chain link fence surrounding the front yard. We got a lot of compliments from passersby.

Two-tone orange day-lily.

And I skirted sticky, fresh, hot tar all the way around the park – there was no street that had not been painted with the stinky gooey stuff. Heading toward the home stretch, 1 block from our home, I saw these fellas hard at work, and actually felt sorry for them because it was so stinking hot – both the temperature, and the sticky tar. I also saw some bald-headed eagles soaring overhead; so of course, I had to stop and get a picture of them. I love eagles. The eagle, the wolf, and the cougar are my Lakota spirit animals: strong animal spirit for a strong woman ;-)

My granddaughter used to call me “strong-fisted woman”; and she didn’t even know my background before I became a “strong Christian woman”. LOL! She just knew that I will stare people down without blinking if need be, and I am resilient …

Tarring Heron Pointe streets.

When I got back home, it was 85 degrees and climbing, so I watered all of my garden beds because tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter than today.

Oy vey!

And I carried water with me from bed to bed so I didn't get dehydrated or suffer a kiss-of-death sunstroke after all those yo-yoing 70 to 45 degree day fluctuation before today's sun overdose:

When I saw this KINK in my ‘NO KINK’ hose, I just threw my hands up and consigned myself to wresting hoses for the rest of my life; there is no escape from the kinky kinks.

I also had an unwelcome garden crasher who was after water on this hot day. I have to be very careful around bees, wasps, and hornets because I will have an anaphylaxis kiss-of-death reaction if stung.

Christmas glove strawberry; LOL

Today’s strawberry harvest. I am going to make Strawberry Bread with them.

The soaring temperatures peaked at 95 degrees outside by 5 p.m., and I finally relented and turned the air conditioner on.

95 degrees in a humid rain-forest environment is like a kiss of death to Washington web-footer’s.

Tomorrow it is supposed to reach 98 to 100 degrees tomorrow; a kiss of death kinda day that packs a punch with it.

Whatever has to get done tomorrow will either get done very early in the morning … or put off to another day.

BABY DRAGONFLY

This morning I woke up and decided that THIS was the day I would design and craft the sling that would help me lower my husband’s cremains into a ridiculously deep “state required 4 foot hole” in the ground in 12 short weeks.

The cremains box is about the size of a teenager’s shoe box – there is no need for such a deep hole.

It is a stupid law.

And unnecessary.

That, being said, there is no way to get around it … even in a family cemetery, that by Law, does not have to adhere to State Law.

But the people in control of the cemetery are insistent – so I must concede. I am already in enough trouble with the family; I don’t need to borrow more by being insistent myself.

So …

I needed to stop procrastinating.

Out of bed I rolled.

Down the hall, I padded.

And I got a nice surprise when I reach the livingroom :-D

It was such a bright sunny morning, that I decided to look out the window before heading for the coffee pot. Turning from the window, I happened to glance down at the wide windowsill – no particular reason – and saw a baby dragonfly!

It must have flown into the house last night when I was in and out. Either that, or it came in with the greens I brought in.

However it got in, I was glad to see it; then I carefully shifted it from the windowsill to a geranium outside on our cozy front porch ;-)

About now, if Bob were still here in the flesh, we would more than likely be in one of the 4 mountain environments, hiking and watching dragonflies’ flit from here to there.

But, Bob is no longer here in the flesh. And I will no longer be enjoying any of the mountains’ environments.

So I was delighted to see that baby dragonfly this morning in our home – totally content; it didn’t flinch or try to fly away. Perhaps Bob whispered to the dragonfly that I needed it to lighten my day.

I sent the videos to kids, grandkids, my 2 sisters, and Bob’s siblings.

One sister said seeing that dragonfly was like Bob saying ‘hi’ and that he misses me: could be ;-)

One granddaughter said she recently read a book about how dragonflies are a sign of good times and happy memories: that fits :-D

One SIL thanked me, and told me she needed that happy lift today. Me too.

Bob has always been good to me.

And he always knew how to make me smile ;-)

Over the past month I have found pennies, and feathers, and this morning there was a dragonfly in-house: I took that as a very good sign that Bob’s spirit would be with me today while I got busy with a very difficult task …

Yarns being used in my design. I chose these yarns for a specific representation to the creation of the cremains box sling.

A work of love in progress. A bittersweet design.

Halfway through the process, the temperature rose uncomfortably, and I stopped long enough to slip on one of Bob’s roomy tee shirts, and to lift my hair off my neck and turn the air conditioner on: 

The sling is necessary – but, oh! – how I wish it were not needed …

I love you, Babe.

Always.

OX