Tag: beds

The Wilds…

To our cats, Statler and Waldo, “changing the bed sheets” day is their favorite day of the week. It means it’s the day before Sabbath, and it means The Wilds.

For anyone who has never tried to change the sheets on a bed with cats around; please allow me to enlighten you. The Wilds is kinda what it sounds like. The comforter gets pulled off the bed and suddenly there are two cats on my bed. One fitted corner is pulled back and a cat jumps under the sheet. The other jumps on the cat under the sheet. I leave the room.

When I return to what appears to be an empty room, I finish pulling the fitted sheet off. By the time I start trying to tuck in the second corner of the new fitted sheet, Statler has appeared and taken a full speed, running slide into the corner I am tucking in. After having one of his nails stuck into my thumb, I learned to be extremely careful. Again. I leave the room.

Sneaking in one more time to try to finish the job, as the sound of the flat sheet being opened begins, they both appear again! Sliding, jumping and wrestling in, on and under the sheet. I leave the room again.

If I wait long enough to finish up, the Wilds have dissipated and they have fallen asleep somewhere out of reach of the sound of sheets and I am able to finish the job.

This is why it can take all day to change one bed’s linens. Why don’t I lock them out to get it done quickly? Oh my goodness! It is so much fun to watch them play, and it tries them out. I think it is therapeutic for me to laugh like that when I watch. I hope you have something to enjoy each day, even if it means taking longer to accomplish something.

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Brutal weather…

This past year has been brutal for gardeners and gardens in our area. We began with a dry winter, followed by a dry spring. June kickstarted summer with four days of 100+ degree weather followed by going on four weeks of 90+ degrees, with no end in sight.

Plants that normally survive fine over the winter, suffered from low moisture and extra cold temps. Many of our bushes had to be cut to the ground to get a fresh start: Weigelia, Butterfly Bushes, Roses. Our normal watering pattern is beds once a week, pots, blueberries and roses M/W/F, trees deep soaked on Sundays.

Because of all the ongoing projects that took my time up in spring, I neglected the watering, thinking things were looking fine. Then, BAM! Summer hit with a vengeance! We started our watering regiment, but nothing flourished. Seedlings remained seedlings, strawberries weren’t blooming, not to mention my blueberry leaves were yellow. I found out recently my soul isn’t acidic enough, so we have taken steps to mitigate that with some sulphur and blood meal. I was puzzled.

Then, we visited a friend who is also an avid gardener. Her garden looked amazing! She mentioned she had been soaking things daily. The next morning, our regiment was changed to daily watering of all veggie beds, potted flowers and blueberries. Two weeks later, things are looking up! The cucumber seedlings have taken off, the winter squash I growing, we have extra zucchini for preserving and making zucchini sweet bread and Swiss chard for our stir fry. In fact, I have time to write this, only because I am waiting for our first batch of zucchini bread to come out of the oven. The whole house smells delicious!

I will make a few extra loaves to freeze so I can pull it out and thaw it for nights that we entertain company. Now, I need to get my freeze dryer running so I can begin freeze drying the extra produce for winter use in soups and casseroles.

As brutal as the weather has been, I am excited and hopeful as the summer progresses. God has been merciful and gentle with me this yearunlike the weather, and it seems that his hand is on our garden to provide.

I pray that in the midst of whatever you are viewing as brutality, that you will be able to see past it to find that which is kind, gentle, loving and hopeful. The zucchini bread is done, and my eyes and feet are ready for some sleep. Goodnight.