The Story of My Life, Part Two

I know what you're thinking, the hair! It was the 70's and he was determined to only go to his regular barber back home. It made for quite the luxurious mane.

I looked across the sofa at the broad shouldered boy with thick dark hair and beautiful blue eyes and a sweet smile peeking out from below his mustache and I said,

"Get your hand off my knee."

That's right dear reader. I spurned him. I spurned him like he was a bare lipped, brown eyed, 98 pound weakling.  He immediately had #1, 3, and 6 from my list going for him and I just wasn't interested.  I was surrounded by more boys than I had ever seen in my life. It was as if someone held out a box of chocolates, offered me my favorite salted caramel and I turned it down because that orange cream filled one next to it was available.

I hate orange cream filled chocolates, but I was young and breaking out of my shell and was getting plenty of attention.  I was having a great time and suddenly my list seemed a bit narrow minded. How he ever came back for more after that snotty comment is beyond my understanding. I can only be grateful he did.

The next few months were filled with all the fun activities going to college had to offer. Parties, getting to meet and know new friends, and yes, (look away daughters), kissing a few boys.  Nothing serious but I certainly had fun.  The girls on my floor took turns accepting floral deliveries from numerous sources and life was good.

Every once in a while Earl would ask me out and I would say no. His capacity for rejection and mine for stubborn blindness were equally astounding.  Oddly enough, as the fall semester wore on people on campus kind of began to see us as a couple.  Not the kind of couple that actually dates, but they could see he was pursuing me.  I would go to the Ormston lounge to watch t.v. and when he walked in the other boys sitting on the sofa with me would get up so he could sit with me.  It kind of ticked me off.

And then God got involved.

To be continued,,,,, The Story of My Life, Part 3

The Story of My Life

August is upon us and with it comes the anniversary of the most momentous and rewarding decision I ever made.  August 9th is the anniversary of 36 years of pure and absolute wedded bliss.  Since I plan to make each year of my blog into a separate issue bound for future generations, I feel it is time to tell the story behind the wooing and wedding of two people who were clearly destined to be together.

The story of this guy.

And this girl.

In many ways meeting Earl was the beginning of my life.  Oh sure, there was life before Earl, but I can only compare it to a film in black and white that suddenly becomes technicolor when the hero of the story appears.  The interesting thing is that I very nearly didn't recognize the hero of my own story.

Lets begin with me at the tender age of 17. I was a good girl, raised to love Jesus and mind her p's and q's.  My nickname in high school was Virg.  Short for...well, you know.  I had plenty of guys ask me out but I turned them all down. I had an idea in my head of what my perfect guy would look like and none of the scalawag, skirt chasing, farm boys in my tiny rural high school fit that ideal.  I had seen what a bad marriage looked like and I wasn't taking any chances of falling for someone who didn't measure up, and so I managed to leave high school and enter college having had one date, a blind date that a friend begged me to let her set up.  One date was enough for me. He wasn't my type.

What was my type you ask?  I had thought it out thoroughly and wrote a list which I kept in my Bible .
1. He had to be 5' 10" or taller.  I'm tall and I wasn't dating any short guys.

2. He had to be a Christian.

3. Dark hair and blue eyes

4. He had to be kind and loving. He had to treat me well.

5. No bad temper!

6. He should have a mustache. (I know! What a silly requirement! But I kind of dug mustaches, and I still do ;)

I entered the local Christian college intent on getting a teaching degree and meeting Mr. Right.  This was back in the day before computers and texting. There was only one way to get to know someone and that was to talk to them.  Ah, the good old days :)  Since I always preferred old homes, I chose to stay in the oldest dorm on campus. Muffitt Hall, an ancient brick building that housed only women.  Across the lawn was Ormston, the oldest men's dorm.

I was determined to break out of my shell and the best way to do that was to cross that lawn and plunk myself down in Ormston's t.v. lounge, which I did as soon as possible.  Oh my, the boys were plentiful.  As I sat on the sofa watching Roots with a group of other newbies, in walked Earl.  He and a friend sat down on the same sofa, the friend introduced us, and Earl reached over, put his hand on my knee and said Hellloooo Kathy! in the deepest, most resonant voice I had ever heard.

To Be Continued........... The Story of my Life, Part 2

The Garden

My youngest daughter has been pushing for more posts. She commented that she had read the July post a few times and I was reminded how remiss I have been about posting.  I have been extremely lazy this month. The month of July can do that to you. A little heat, the lazy summer days, it can seem like you have all the time in the world to get to those projects you wanted to do. So without further ado, here is a recap of what I've been up to the past 2 weeks.

 It goes without saying, I have been spending quite a lot of time in the garden. Mostly sitting and watching the birds and the baby rabbit that seems to have moved in. I love the flowers and being outside. Memories of that keep me going during cold Michigan winters.

 Mornings in the garden are my favorite. Those nasturtiums in the background are almost past their prime.  They seem to bloom profusely and then start to die off.

Which led to me getting up super early and being at the Farmer's Market first thing this morning to find some replacements.  Now is a great time to refresh your garden if it's feeling a little tired. The flowers are all on sale, and if you get there first thing, you get first choice! Today I found three beautiful hanging baskets of pink geraniums for only $20 for all three, a flat of Dusty Miller for $5 to add to the flat of red petunias I got last week for $5. The tired nasturtiums will get ripped out (sad) and the new plants will replace them. I also got a few assorted potted flowers for $1 each. Score!

 I've had fun letting a few of the chickens out to roam the yard while I'm out there to supervise. We have foxes, coyotes and hawks galore so I never let them roam when I'm in the house. The neighbors have a dog too, so to keep the girls safe they get to play when I do. I do love having them in the garden with me :)

Last night we had fresh beans and beets from the garden. The beets were roasted in the oven and then sliced and used in greek salads.  Along with the beans, they made a delicious dinner.  It's always fun to finally harvest what has been growing.

And that's all the news that's fit to print! Next week we get a visit from our daughter and her husband who live in Pennsylvania. I just can't wait. A whole week with them is just too wonderful to imagine.  Needless to say, it may be August before you hear from me again.  Enjoy the rest of July and try to stay cool.  Believe it or not, we will miss the long days and sunshine of summer when the December winds are swirling snow.

Have you been "lazy" or are you working on that summer to do list?

July

I sure hope you had a spectacular  Independence day! Again, where is the time going? Can it be July already, and more than half way through the year?  I closed the etsy shop for the summer, hey, I'm my own boss shouldn't there be advantages to that?  I need to take a step back, figure out where I am going with that and so many other things. I thought if I took that off my plate I would be able to relax a bit and still get so much done.  Instead, my head is spinning and I  can't decide whether I am overwhelmed with free time or overwhelmed with all the things I see that should be filling it.  At any rate, I'm trying to slow down and take things one day at a time. No worries about tomorrow's to do list. But it's hard. I'm a planner, an over thinker, a worrier. Anyone else like that?

So here are the amazing things I have gotten done. I switched out the pansies in the front door basket for ivy and peonies. Am I making your head spin? 

 I repainted the front porch floor, that was something that had been bothering me, and now it's done. Yay! I also started painting the little building we call "the garage". It isn't big enough to actually park a car in, but it's filled with the lawn tractor, snow blower, rakes, shovels, you know, all the things you need when you have a yard. It's most of the way done and looking so good! Next, paint the porch swing, work on quilts that I have started, and re-do the front garden,

My list makes me tired just looking at it. Good thing we had a relaxing day with our youngest daughter for the 4th. She made a fabulous cookout meal for us, grilled by her sweet hubby, and topped it all off with home made blueberry, raspberry short cake with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.,because we believe in gilding the lily whenever possible. :)

Summer's flying, what's still on your to do list?

My Happy Place

At just over 1100 sq. feet, you might say we are house poor.  I love our little cottage and it suits our needs pretty well so I'm not complaining, but sometimes you just long for a little space.  Where we are rich as kings is our yard.  Five wooded acres with a stream running through. About 3 acres are woods, but we have a glorious 2 acres to spread out in warm weather.  One of the best things we have done over the years is make this old shed foundation our raised garden.

 When we moved here 35 years ago, this was the site of a tumble down shed that pretty quickly finished its tumble, may it R.I.P.  What was left was a concrete foundation that we didn't quite know what to do with. We used to have a big garden just past this, but I was not fond of gardens and the work they entailed, it was too far from the house to care for easily and eventually we gave up.  But we really do like to grow things. We eventually looked at that foundation and decided raised beds and brick paths would be a perfect use for that area and would cover the eyesore.

 We have loved it ever since.  If I could give one piece of advice to anyone who gardens it would be to use raised beds. They are So much easier to care for!

 This is the latest addition to the garden area, My brother gave me an old cedar birdhouse that was in pieces. I loved it but it sat for several years waiting for repair. Earl pieced it back together and added it to this post in the corner of the garden. I had planned to paint it but I kind of love the rustic, weathered cedar. I can always paint it later if I choose to. For now I'm enjoying it as is.

 This $3 galvanized tub and an inexpensive solar fountain is a fun addition too.  I love the sound of the water.

 The nasturtiums are bursting with color! I always rim my veggie beds with flowers. These are planted around carrots and beets. It looks so beautiful!

 The bed behind is filled with beans and basil and rimmed with marigolds, beyond that are the peas and petunias. :)

 Our first harvest, sugar snap peas.

And here is the garden lit up at night. I love the string lights and we love to eat dinner out here listening to the water in the fountains and watching the birds at the feeders. It is so relaxing and a perfect end to the day.  This Friday we will host our first big barbecue of the season, I can't wait! I'll let you know how it goes. Do you have an outdoor happy place?