“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world” ~ CS Lewis

It's Fence Building Day!

We started the fence before Michael went away for his annual fishing trip on the Coast. He has done an incredible job of measuring the grade and figuring out where the posts need to go to make it straight~very precise!

It looks wonderful, but we just need to finish off a few things including the Pergola entrance and the left side will be done! I can start putting in a real Rose Garden, once it is protected from the wonderful deer and elk which roam in the area.

I purchased a wonderful book on Roses ~ and slowly I will start gathering my collection of Florabunda, Wild, Grandifloria, Tea, Damask, English, and my favorite ~ the Moss Rose.

The beauty of the rose is not just the wonderful scent, the richness of the color and delicateness of the petals, but the rich history it represents over the centuries.

How Does My Garden Grow?..........

I am still learning the art of weeding, watering and harvesting my garden. I am amazed at how the garden bursts forth after a rain--including the weeds. I love the organization of rows, and weeding them ~ up and down. We planted the raspberries all around the fence line of the interior garden, and I found some beautiful trellises on clearance, which keeps the raspberries straight and easier to pick.


We had such a cold spring here in Creston, we are behind about a month. The lettuce is getting to be a respectable size, but we have yet to see a cucumber, carrot, beet or a melon spring forth. Perhaps it will be too late or not warm enough for some of the items in our garden this year to bloom and grow, but its been a good learning curve for next's year garden. My goal is to have a greenhouse, and to start things off in there, rather than covering my mudroom floor with seeds and containers for weeks in the spring!


I have currents and gooseberries in the far end of the garden. I have found out that gooseberries are incrediably high in Vit "C". The one green bush was attacked by some sort of pest, but the currents and the red gooseberry is perfect and pest-free.


Where my heart lies is the Flower Garden ~ I have yet to have an actually "organized" garden, but when the fence is finished in the back I can start to have an organized Rose Garden, safe from the mouths of the deer & elk that roam in the back ravine. My plan is to have a raised bed that will level the un-even ground that drops off near the enterance of the back ravine. I found a beautiful pair of Rose Trees in a "Julia Child" Rose. Its buttery pale yellow roses are a lovely compliment to any garden. I was thrilled to find them on discount at Home Depot last week for $17.49/ea. Amazing to me, as when I first became aware of them 20 years ago they were $120.00/ea. I am blessed!

These are a few of my favorite things.......

I love beautiful things. Chandeliers, Armories, Cabinets, Moldings--all things of beauty to my eyes. I love creating from bits of wood and molding a one-of-a-kind treasure. I have always wanted to be a carpenter. When I was 17 years old and got my own room with a bathroom attached, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I can still remember long baths and soft music playing as I dreamed of making it "mine". Until the fire, I would go back and "look in" on my faithful room, which my mom had preserved- perfectly. From the hand-picked wall paper and rug to the chair rail moldings, I paid for all my own "upgrades" and made it into a palace (in my eyes!). I had loved armories, so my dad agreed to help me build one--it was made out of finished pine from the local hardware store, and it was built "in the room" as it was too big to ever leave, destined to be the armoire of whomever called that room theirs. This was my first taste of building an article from scrap, and I never lost the love of it. If you can dream it, you can achieve it.....

Its a Beautiful Day!

Today I woke up to my new drapes I finished late last night, in the livingroom. They are so sheer and light--they made me feel like I was on vacation in an elegant cottage somewhere--I love them! Generally I make something and my expectations do not match with what is in my head--these even surpassed it! I painted my little cabinet today, that was abandoned by a dumpster. It is now a lovely jet black with a simply gorgeous crystal knob. Tres Chic!

July 1, 2009

Happy Canada Day!

I can't believe how fast the year has gone! The new house and property has kept us so busy, that life has gone by in a blink of an eye. The garden was in a few weeks ago, and now we are starting to see the rewards of our labor. The Herb Garden is growing so much, I should have considered a much bigger plot. The melon patch is small and may not produce much this year--but we are learning and having fun doing so!

We started the Daniel Fast 10 days ago--doing well with it, and spiritually it is very enlightening. Convictions of areas in my life where I need to forgive and move on, and wonder of wonders--to pray for the particularity difficult people (person!) seems so clear to me now!

God is good. He strives with us till we get it!

The Condo has not sold yet, but we are 100% sure that it will in His perfect time and to the ones he wants to bless with it. It is such a beautiful, quiet condo--someone will be truly blessed.

Today is fence building day--a beautiful pergola entrance and iron decorative dooor and a trellis fence that will give the backyard a private and enclosed "feel" to it.

A New Year

I was listening to a gentleman who had his daughter killed and developed MS all within 2 years, when someone asked him, "Do you ever get angry, and want to just die?" to which he replied, "No, this precious life is like a wonderful novel, that I am hanging onto everyday to see what the next page, next chapter brings". I love that!

On the 27th of December 2008 my parents house burned down, my childhood home that was built by them in 1972 . We called 911 but due to a series of blunders and weather related issues, it took 45 min for any water to get onto the house--and by that time it was in full flame. My mom and I sat in their car watching the house they built, many years before, and all the memories-- of children running up and down stairs, bikes ridden fast around the corners to the music of the "six million dollar man" vibrating from our lips, tears that were spilled and laughter that rang out over the years--those now damp walls held all the sounds of growing up.

As the flames licked up the clothes hanging on a rack in the sun room we had to look at each other and make a decision to ask God to turn this horrible situation around make something beautiful out of it.

He was faithful, as the prayer escaped our lips--a feeling of peace enveloped us both and we knew that even in the storm, He was there and all was going to be alright.

Our family enveloped us with their love and open arms, they arrived early the next day at the burnt out home with clothes, food, money, tears & hugs. The most amazing thing happens in a crises, you learn how much you need your family, they are your history--and as my mother always said growing up "Blood is thicker than water". I have never felt such a wonderful outpouring of love and affection by people who genuinely wanted to help and hold us in the storm.

We now have my parents re-located to Creston, BC in a lovely 3 story Creston home which they are starting to "settle in" and love. My parents are 82 & 83 years old, and although they are young for their age, it is traumatic to be re-located and have their schedules so dis-jointed. But God is so awesome and I am grateful He can see all and know all. The fact that we were there when the fire broke out, and were able to get them to safety, a miracle in itself, as we were suppose to be gone the morning of the fire at 7am. The second miracle was I had asked my mom for a little bird, for a wreath I had finished the day before, and looking up at it out of the blue, I felt it needed a small bird tucked in the roses. She went into the sun room--which was off the living room behind vertical binds and a sliding glass door, to retrieve the little bird, she had put out there months before. As she was coming out, something made her look up--there was no smoke, no sound she heard, but a quick flash caught her eye--fire! She ran in to the living room, where we all were and within seconds we called 911 and were outside, with little more than the clothes on our backs. The attic was filled with fire, which was raging up over head, unbeknown to us. As we were exiting the lights were popping off and we lost lighting, making it impossible to see our way with the exception we had years of experience of those stairs, those walls, those doors.

We are all here to live another year, we have been blessed with another chance to share God's love, wipe a tear from a loved one, and extend a arm for support for someone who needs it. My prayer for 2009 is there will be less fear and more love, less pride and more compassion, less of me and more of Him.