Botany Day at Racoon Creek

I've always been interested in nature so when I found out the Racoon Creek Park in PA (only 20 min away) was holding Botany Day, and it was $5 per person I was in. Chris was interested too, and Danielle was home on leave so she joined us. It was a nice relaxing day...as you can tell with Danielle and I napping in the warm sun.


On the trail as we hiked with our guide.

Mmm, a sweet sunny break! Thank you Lord for the blanket in the truck and a picnic lunch.

My happy family on a picnic. It's been a long time since we have had a picinic together. We should do this more often.

"Huh?" Inspecting flowering plants, and learning how to distinguish between them.

Danielle with the book to look up the types of plants. The ladies next to her and considered Master gardeners, but came along for the joy of it. Neat!

Next, Eatible plants. We will be learning how to identify and actually cook some up to eat! That one is a two day workshop in August.

Peace,

Dee

And the garden is finished!

Wa-La! We have a garden!

After 2 months of working on and off due to weather, we have a completed garden. The two "Square Foot" beds are 4 x 8, and there's a 3 ft walk all the way around. Chris and I decided to put 2 ft chicken wire on the floor next to the fence. That's to keep out George! Yes, we named that fat woodchuck that keeps coming in my yard. Now I need a name for the possum I saw last week!

I also built a compost bin - of which I'm still learning how to do that. A friend says I'm making it more difficult than it is, but I don't know. We are offically watering the garden with rain water. Two 55 gallon rain barrels are capturing so much of that awesome rain that God sends down, just so I can water my garden. It must be really good water, my plants are growing straight and strong! I will post a current picture of what's growing later on. For now...here's the process and finished garden. Welcome to my garden:

Here, we layed weed cloth down and got the frames with chicken wire in place.

My strong husband is inserting the posts for the inside of the frames, they are 12" deep when done.

Post hole digging. Let me tell you, as a woman...there are limits I respect. And I am Oh so grateful God made man!

My gate. This gate was built in Georgia when we lived there. C built it for me and I loved it so much we hauled it with us. Yes, he rolled his eyes, still does. But that's ok. I like my gate. :-)

I started with 1 4 x 4 garden last year. This year it has grown. I hope to Keep It Simple, yet have an abundance of food to freeze and can. If you are interested in Square Foot Gardening, check out his website or better yet, buy the book. It is fantastic!

Peace,

Dee

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is the day we pause to remember and thank our mother. For giving us life, for putting up with us, for teaching us (good or bad). We must also give thanks and remembrance to one very special Mother. For without her "fiat" or yes, our Savior would not have come when He did. Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. We look to her as a shining example of what it is to be a daughter of God, woman, wife, and mother.

As a daughter of God, her faith was important to her, important enough that she studied and knew her "Bible", the old testament, so very well. She had confidence and faith in God. Her obedience to Him is so natural, and her faith so strong that when the angel Gabriel came, she didn't doubt, she was confused as to how it could happen. The Yes that Mary said, the "be it done to me according to His will", could only come from a surety of faith in God. Putting herself in His hands.

As a wife, her obedience to Joseph. HELLO! If your husband woke you in the middle of the night and said we are leaving now...and you were 8 mths pregnant, would you not look at him like he lost his mind! She was quiet, always keeping things in her heart. Meditating on the things that people spoke of. She didn't run to Sally her neighbor and "dump" if you will, all that has been happening, or all that Joseph is asking her to do. She pondered them, quietly in her heart. Should we not give our husbands the same respect, and come closer to achieving that Proverbs 31 woman of being a asset to our husbands?

And finally, but not least, as a Mother. I don't need to go on about her Son, Jesus. I want to write about her role as a Mother. Her angst and panic when Jesus was lost for 3 days. Then her total relief when she and Joseph found him. Her teaching Jesus, knowing...pondering in her heart all the things people had said through the years (at His birth, at the temple..both times), her teaching this little boy. Giving all she had- a mother's love, teaching when He was very little, and ultimately, giving her heart. Her Son had to do something for me and you. He HAD to. For all generations past, present, and future (that would be us back then!). Mary didn't jump in and say - No, Jesus, not now, don't do this now! No, she remained quiet. Maintaining the quiet, humble spirit that God had seen in her to choose her as the Mother of His Son. For even to the point of being on the Cross. She cried, she hurt - for all the things happening she still had human feelings, feelings of a Mother. Her Son was being beaten and NAILED to a wooden cross. As He hung there, the soldiers and people had enough respect for her that they didn't push her away. She was there at the foot of that Cross, the cross for you and me. With blood running down her Son, and His flesh torn. She was there. Supporting Him, Loving Him, and caring from a distance because all that pondering through the years had lead her to understand what had to be done. She accepted God's will for herself early on, and she was accepting God's will for us at the foot of the Cross.

Please pause just for a moment to thank her. She is so deserving of just a moment of your time.

God's peace,
Dee