Raised beds, waiting and grandchildren

Hooray! We've finished our raised beds and have planted them with shelling peas, kale, squash (both zucchini, summer and crooked neck), celery, tomatoes, peppers, chard and pickling cukes. We added "timed" irrigation in hopes that the beds will be watered consistently. We have done all of this as an experiment this year, as we are not sure how "our garden will grow." Our property only gets so much sun each day... Here is a picture of the smaller bed we installed in the back. Two other beds, each 8x4 feet, were installed up in front.

And now the hard part--WAITING. Waiting is so hard! It truly is a discipline that can be difficult to develop. Waiting patiently slows life down to a slugs-pace and helps me to truly live each day 'in the moment.' [notice I said "helps."] Just short of measuring each new sprout and counting each new leaf, this "waiting" helps me to develope an unhurried stance and appreciate the leisurely advance of nature. This completely goes against my hurried, busy life and encourages presence. I guess this quote sums the work I must do:

"All good things come to those who wait." --Proverbs

In addition, I've tucked in a picture of my grandchildren taken at a family day at the beach near us. It was a fun day of picnicking, sand, sun and water. And so much fun watching them all in their different stages of development. Love them so...

Rain, rain go away...

Just plain tired of the rain and cold! Well, I guess you've heard that before. Everyone (I imagine) feels that way at this time of the year. Up here in the Pacific Northwest, summer doesn't begin until July 5th so sometimes I wonder what the dismay is all about... The childhood rhyme "rain rain go away come again another day" should be revisioned for us Pacific Northwesters at this time of year to "rain rain go away, come again only at night and less frequent and please include some sun."

It takes true discipline to get myself out into the garden on wet, cold days. I tell myself that once I get going I will warm up and that seems to help. There is so much to do out there, it's hard to know where to start. So my mantra is just dig in.

I bought some vegetable starts today: shelling peas, flat kale and some French crisphead lettuce, thus creating more work for me. Also need to make a trip to the garden place to purchase some planting compost. The shelling peas will need some poles to climb as they can reach 8 feet tall. Peas will be fun--I've never planted them before. We plan on adding some raised vegetable beds this year. Saw a great how-to on the Sunset magazine site. Ours will be fashioned after theirs.

Finding sunny spots on our property can be hard at times because of all of the tall cedar and pine trees around. We figure that the center of the property is best as it has spots that receive about 7 hours--best we can do here.

Have you planted vegetables in your garden? You might think about it because it's a really healthy thing to do. Organic for the most part. Just dig in! You'll love the outcome.

My health is so precious...

Last November was diagnosed with a 'flat polyp' following a routine colonoscopy. It was suggested that I have it surgically removed by a specialist. On January 12, 2011, I had a lower colon resection--major surgery with 6-wk recovery--at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. The very good news is that the pathology came back benign! I cried when the doctor shared this with me--I know, weird to cry at a thing like that, but I have to admit that I had been very afraid of the outcome. I feel very, very, very grateful for this diagnosis and all that it entailed. The world looks different to me now.

Today I am back happily working on my homework from my studies at the Gail Harker Creative Studies Center. I am scurrying to complete the work from the first class in November. I missed the January 22nd class as I was recovering from surgery and so now, I have the homework from that class also. Not complaining though. I am having way too much fun (if that is possible).

A gift...

Just thought I would post this sweet picture of my grandaughter wearing a pair of shoes I made for her recently. It's a pure joy for me to create something from fabric, in this case wool felt along with some DMC # 8 thread that I hand-dyed used as trim. The shoes fit her perfectly.

What is it that is so rewarding about finishing a project? Must ask that question often as sometimes I feel it may be my ego yearning for that pat on the back. Or, is it the love of giving the gift? Either way, it's huge on satisfaction.

Time to change this blog?

Ok now... my entries to this blog have been very sporadic. Should I change my blog to reflect my daily doings? my interests? my fabric focus? my creative side? Maybe being motivated to create something on a daily basis would work. Hmmmm...

I've been wanting to practice and play with dyeing fabric. Let's see how goes... My inspirations could be some of my photography. Hmmmm...

Watch for some action here.

Life is good

Wow. Can't believe that the last time I posted was 2 months ago. Christmas, New Year's and Martin Luther King's birthday have all passed. It's now almost the end of February--the very same February in which I celebrated another birthday.

Ouch! Almost never has a birthday bothered me as much. There's nothing that can be done about it--it just what is. And you know what they say, "you're only as old as you feel." So, hit the gym and eat the right foods and life will continue in a gracious way. A friend of mine told me that "motion is lotion" and I believe that whole-heartedly.

Enough rambling on about age. There are things to celebrate! Our grandson has turned 3-years-old and my youngest daughter is expecting her first child in July. We are both retired now and beginning a new phase in our lives together. We are truly blessed. Life is good.

"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose

all the other ages you've been."

--Madeleine L'Engle

Sampling of work

Here, as promised, I've included a few picks of the machine embroidery samples from the class I took at the Gail Harker Creative Studies Center this past August. There's the workbook and just a few of the samples that were created for the study. All of the fabrics used in the samples were hand-dyed.