Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday night grateful moment

Our gorgeous weather just keeps on coming! As I write this, the sun is setting, and while I don't think it will be one of those rockin' Walla Walla sunsets, it's still pretty amazing to have these pleasant evenings capping off a day of pure sunshine and warmth. I am so thankful for our weather this summer (when it finally arrived).

This week I am also so thankful to have almost completed another yard project, this time a small pond that has been in our minds for years, seriously, and in the works all summer. I gradually dug away at it and then when the brick/edging was done I concentrated on it... I am so thankful to be in a place to sit back and enjoy the yard a bit more, even though there are still things to be done.


And when I was getting stone to edge the pond, I asked the lady at the nursery if she had any pond plants. She didn't, but told me about a couple across the street from the nursery who have ponds and lilypads and fish, and sometimes sell the plants... so I wandered on over and said hello and saw their pond setup. They offered me two plants and seven fish! Fabulous. The pond is now semi-stocked, and I'm thankful to live in a small town with friendly people who are gracious and lovely and generous. Great energy.

On the grateful food list this week are figs (of course) and watermelon... I feel like the "good" watermelon has finally arrived! Some summers it seems like you can't get a bad one all summer long, but maybe my watermelon mojo has been off this year, because I've picked some pretty sad ones out, so far... until now! There is nothing like a sweet, juicy watermelon!

 cheese (My mother pinned this on Pinterest this week, and attached my name to it. Ha. Does she know me, or what?!)

Also grateful for the tomatoes... they are slow this year... but finally coming on, which makes me very happy. I wish we could extend the tomato season for another few months (I know, pipedream!)... the difference between home-grown and store-bought is so profound with all vegetables, but feels especially so with tomatoes. I'm grateful for our garden patch, and all the squash, beans, onions, potatoes and other miscellany we have going on... and corn! Corn will be along here soon as well...

I'm thankful that post-wheat-harvest, the bunnies have found their way back to the front yard... for quite a while I would see them popping in and out of the wheat, and it worried me that they might get sacrificed in the harvest... but I can see three "generations" of bunnies out there now, and the babies are just precious. Yesterday I came out the front door and startled a very tiny bunny who, rather than bolt, decided to do the "if I lay really still and low with my ears and body flattened, she won't see me" thing, and I got really quite close before he decided that bolting might be the wiser choice. Hilarious, little white tail bopping along. Now, if they would stop eating the plants I try to cultivate in the front flower bed, that would be swell... I came home from vacation to both perennial geraniums and echinacea laid low by bunny nibbles. So, those plants got moved and replaced with something hopefully a little less tasty...


As every week, I am thankful for love. From husband, especially... I am a blessed woman, and I know it.

Color comes up on my thankful list so frequently as well, and having color in the yard makes me happy happy. Color ANYWHERE is great, but having color in the flower beds is always a bonus... next up: turning the herb garden green jungle into something more colorful and orderly... wish me luck!





And my gratefulness list would never be complete without noting my thankfulness for prayer and meditation. When I slow down and take the time, it always always always impacts my outlook for the positive. I can't say it always always always impacts my actions, since I'm a rather stubborn and forgetful child of God. I swear, the memory of a gnat. But that's the journey, eh? I do know that my days are better, by leaps and bounds, when I start out with the heaven-ward gratitude for my life and all the opportunities I have on a daily basis to give and live as I ought.


What are you thankful for this week? I'd love to know. I hope that in the midst of life and all its muck, you're able to find a few precious things to hold on to.

I wish you a peaceful weekend, one filled with gratitude and grace.

6 comments:

  1. Those roses...exquisite.

    I am truly thankful it is Friday night which means a day of rest for me tomorrow. Sweet rest.

    I do wish I could import some of your bunnies. They would be so sweet to see every day. But they do like to nibble...

    Mostly, I am thankful for your father, and you and your brother and the people you have both brought to my heart.

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  2. I'm thankful for my sweet little chihuahua snuggled next to me and for the weekend and for that homemade mac and cheese I'm making today.

    and sleep. always thankful for sleep

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  3. I love this list! I love your pond! I really want to turn our never-used jacuzzi/hot tub thingee (it's sort of like this cube off the side of our pool) into a pond and water garden. Tom and I always talk about it but never really made any serious effort. You'll have to let me know how challenging it is to maintain the pond. I have enough of a challenge with maintaining the pool chemistry!

    I LOVE your garden. Like, LOVE. Your flowers look gorgeous, and when I saw the Nasturtiums, I got very excited. Mine all fizzled out, out of 40 or so I have about nine left, and they are the size of sprouts, with a few wilty flowers. I'm going to see if I can keep them going until it gets cooler and maybe they will come back.

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  4. What is that interesting plant popping out of your pond? And you have fish! Wonderful.

    Oh yes, about your herb garden...my chives bloomed with purple flowers and then my sage bloomed with purple flowers and now my oregano is blooming with purple flowers...purple is a colour. I know, I am supposed to stay ahead of my herbs and not let them bloom but the blossoms are pretty.

    I did get some California poppies in with the herb garden and that orangey yellow is nice with the purple

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  5. I just had a snack of two figs with some aged mahon raw milk cheese...SO GOOD!

    I'm thankful for your friendship :-), for seeing a bear last weekend (from a nice far distance), for enjoying last night on the balcony with a Kentucky Bourbon barrel ale and Words :-)

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