Plants, Cars and Houses

 My mother always had plants whether they be houseplants or those that live outside. When my parents moved to Georgetown TX for a few years, she busied herself by constantly digging up and rearranging her flowers. In hindsight those years in Georgetown was almost like John on the Isle of Patmos. Except she didn't get any revelation about the future of the world, but most likely she received revelation about the coming years with my father, thus the busyness of her gardening. After the exile, my parents moved back to Houston and bought a house from a couple they knew from church. The backyard had good bones for gardening and wow, it became a showplace. She even grew some tomatoes in a small plot behind the garage. My brother has always followed in her footsteps gardening wise. They exchanged cuttings of plants and raised them to prominent places in their gardens. My gift in gardening was killing plants until I discovered the secret of southern exposure when we lived in the condo with dormer windows. Out in Rancho de Five, plants thrived as we faced south. Roy even put a rose garden by the windows of the dinning room converted to my reading room. Well, that is what I called it. When we arrived in WNC the secret to good gardening seemed to be due to seasons and not being so hot that nothing wanted to grow. It has been a pleasure with a few mistakes, gardening and filling the yard with all the goodies...roses, burning bush, snowball bushes, and azaleas. There are days I think of my mom and wish she was here to see all of this beauty planted by a, dare I say it, late bloomer. I would send her home with cuttings but with the Houston heat, may not make it. Okay, better, that she lived here. I think of her everyday and miss her. Happy Heaven Mother's Day, Mom!

It is a coolish day so we took advantage of that. After lunch we got the rest of the tomatoes planted and some of the flowers we bought the other day. Still have work but pace is all important these days. We are getting ready for several days of rain.

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It is always a joy to study and then teach The Joy Class and our new slogan...The Joy Class, we're full of it! I was so happy to see the class return the Sunday after teaching about husbands and wives. We actually finished I Peter today and I guess I will figure out this week where we will be in II Peter till we hit the Psalms. 

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Today, we took Mustang Sam over to the mechanics for his oil change and inspection. All good. Right after picking up Roy we went to Marshall's and Hobby Lobby before a trip to Lowe's for a few stepping stones. 𝅘𝅥𝅯 I'mmmm, not your stepping stone...The Monkees𝅘𝅥𝅯 Then a quick stop at Ingles and then onward toward home. Had a delicious lunch and a little down time before it began to rain once again. Took Roy to pick up the car and now we just got in from weeding in the side flowerbed. That is a job and a half because weeds and grass grow so quickly here. We filled up a trash bag and called it a night. 

We have been discussing a future move to a one story home with not so much yard. Still in the discussion stage, early discussion stage, very early discussion stage. But, in an email from Realtor.Com I keep up with the houses around the area and what is selling, a newly listed home outside of Burnsville close to Micaville came on the market. Oh my, this is the first house we have gotten excited about looking at photos. The basement is a huge selling point, thinking of our brood of cats. Finished out with a kitchenette. House has a beautiful view and at the end of a road with just a few other houses. I am sure we would see bear out there and deer. If we were younger...I think we would have made an appointment to see the house but we are not younger although at times living in the middle of no where might be nice. It has a generator like ours here, so yep, that is good. Roy wants to drive by the house but I think if we did that we would be on the road to temptation. So, anyway...we shall stay away...mostly. This is also the reason I am putting this out there so we won't go and see or investigate more and see. On the other hand there is a home in Roan Mountain, cute as can be, the price keeps falling and it hasn't been sold. Either bad neighbors or something tangible like that or foundation stuff would be my guess. I haven't a clue. There is a home in Mars Hill that looks interesting but for $50,000 more we could live out in the boonies like the first house I described. It is a beautiful house, close to lots of things, the only home for sale in that community but the bones of the house are so sterile. Cold gray is everywhere. Isn't it about time that the designers in the know say gray is out and beige or sage colors are in. Really, these fiberglass showers and bathtubs are horrible and if I am going to pay so much for a house, needs to be tile showers and whatever bathtubs are made out of, that is not fiberglass. 

All This Learning

 We have been forced into the twenty first century technology in fast food restaurants. The Burger King has been undergoing remodeling since last fall. Roy has been saying he sure would like to go get a burger there and today was that day. I hate ordering in drive throughs especially when we are going to order no mayo substitute mustard. He went inside and he was in there quite some time. When we finally got back to the truck I apologized and said we don't have to do that, we can do the drive through. No, he was emphatic cause you don't get to try and decipher words anymore through the poor speaker system you, use a kiosk screen to order. I would have been a mess. Anyway, he accidentally double ordered tomatoes and onion. It was delicious. 

It is now Thursday morning and a chance to ease into the day. Maybe I'll get the zinnias I bought yesterday planted under one of the plum trees. We are supposed to get rain this afternoon and that is perfect timing for getting plants in. Hopefully, we don't have the hail that other areas have received.  

Well, yes we got rain and we got hail, but our hail wasn't as big and rain really had the greater majority of things falling from the sky. There were several close lightning strikes. Soon enough the rain cleared for a few hours, then as dusk turned to evening, the rain and storms returned. Once again, pretty good thunder boomers and perfect timing for putting The Boys to bed. This time it was Mr Mo who was visibly scared. Roy held him and took him into the bonus room, but in all this compassion for Mr Mo, Roy couldn't find Willie. I began searching the rest of the house while Roy took on the massive task of moving everything around the corner unit because cats go in but they cannot figure out a way to get out. Roy made an opening and Willie stuck his head out... He was present and accounted for. Earlier some of the thunder even made Buster and Chubola retreat from their supper. Ah yes, more for Baxter but Roy took it out to the cats in the garage. Smart cats I might add. 

Something to ponder. I started receiving emails from a shoe company again because I looked on their website for a shoe in particular. Said shoe is considered a comfort shoe. Because of compression sock requirement many times I need to wear fashionable and attractive tennis shoes with my Sunday outfits instead of sandals etc... The shoe company was a main stay in my work shoe choices when I was working as a junior auditor and in offices. Those high heels and pointed toe boxes kept me in cute agony or is that acute agony? Of course now comfort wins out mostly.

I am in the zinnia mood. We went back to TJ's Produce and bought a flat of them. I worked on a few flower pots at the end of our driveway and will put some out in flowerbeds up front. Roy has the pepper plants to put in sometime over the weekend. 

Sunday morning I saw something that just touched me. There is a family that has recently joined our church and the elementary school aged daughter dutifully sits with her parents and her young sibling. Last Sunday she sat with friends. The two sisters she sat with are some of the sweetest kids ever. When the children went down to the children's moment during the service, she waved and gave her family the biggest smile. When they returned back to the pew with goody bags in hand, she smiled even bigger and gave a hearty wave. Blessed me to see that kind of friendship and life sprouting once again. 

A Lovely Tuesday

 We are on the hunt for the orange cat that was dumped nearby and he being like most Tom cats is looking for a harem. Only thing, we don't got no harem anymore. So, he picks on the male cats and some have missing fur on their ears and neck. I saw him chasing a Feral Fam member toward the road and that's all it took to get us out of the comfy chairs to the great outdoors. The hunt only involves a water pistol but Roy is going to contact the ASPCA and see if he can get several dates booked cause it will take time to get this rascal. 

I do not think I have ever taught on husbands and wives from the passage in I Peter 3 and I think this will be the last time. Dang, it is difficult but we muddled through. I did share that we decided when we first got married that we would not go to bed mad. Oh my, sometimes we stayed awake for days but that was way back when we were young. Now, we love sleep more than being right, so quick apologies all around and sweet dreams. After church Roy needed to go to VBS training and I tagged along. Delicious lunch. Got home to some hungry, hungry kiddos but happy they forgive when we don't keep to their schedule. 

So this thought comes to me in big church yesterday. Preacher Boy is preaching from Ephesians 2, being a masterpiece, the workmanship of God. Well, as I tend to do, I got lost in a train of thought that had nothing to do with being a masterpiece. When the preacher said something, the inflection was so familiar....yes, that is what I got to thinking about and somehow it was tied to Mildred and Gertrude. There were parts of the script we didn't even have written down, we knew it so well that when we rehearsed, yes we rehearsed, mostly we could skip over it and yesterday morning I could not even remember what I used to say. I went backwards from the middle of the script, going back through volunteering, two hour quiet times and the like. Then a bit of light, ramshackle house was a part then the window opened a little more..." I can't help it." You see I grew up in a small town in Alabama. My brother and I along with our friend Dill, had the most wonderful summer adventures. Our father was a highly principled lawyer. It was a time.....can't remember this part...but it ends that is when I met Boo Radley." Of course Gerti responded, that wasn't your life, that was To Kill a Mockingbird!" About the time I had discovered most of the dialogue of the script, came at a critical preaching moment and if I had acted out on my joy of finding most of that memory, I would have looked like I was rejoicing that maybe, just maybe I had found the Holy Ghost and encouraged the preacher boy to keep on going on another ten minutes. Thankfully, I refrained. He was pretty good though, just seemed a little nervous and I think because he was raised in the area, it does tend to make one a little nervous talking to a home crowd. 

Many of the reels from FB are very helpful, almost too much so. I believe if I took every exercise or stretch or whatever and did them all just five minutes a day, I would have time for breakfast, lunch and supper, then go to bed. Too many but seem so helpful. Once again I am going back to a tried and true...getting my brain to talk to my feet. You know it wants to give the silent treatment to feet and we must keep that conversation rolling. Learned that piece of info from bilateral knee replacements. Just took my brain and feet outside to see if Roy needed anything. He is working on the tomato beds and the bed designated for greasy beans. Yum! Fido was helping him until he saw I was going back into the house. Fido made a beeline to the door and let him in the garage for his 3000 meal of the day. 

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Mike the Mower Man is here and after he leaves we will begin planting some tomato plants. We ran by TJs Produce Market this morning, got some zinnias and marigold plants. Marigold to plant around the tomatoes. Stopped at Dollar General for small bags of soil. Big bags are way too much for us these days. Also got some corn and a cantaloupe.  Picked up a few things at Ingles and came back home. It was a later type night for us last night. Roy had a long deacon's meeting which meant I had all the chores last night. The last one for the evening, putting The Boys to bed was probably a little more stressful than I like but mission accomplished. Got all the cat food dishes washed and ready for today. 

We just came in from the yard. Roy planted some tomato plants. We also finished up with putting wildflower seeds out in a flowerbed. That sweet fragrance of cut hay and grass wafting through the air. Honeysuckle vines are showing a bit and blooming. Here it is an invasive plant but we keep it trimmed back. Fido had the best time out there in the yard with Roy. They truly are a beautiful sight walking in tandem throughout the yard.  

I better go do some studying. I've kind of worked a little on the lesson this morning but have a ways to go. 

Know When To Hold Them, Know When To Fold Them

 Our plans are fluid closing out this week. We've changed plans, made better plans and discussed several pending decisions. Nothing big but just those day to day, month to month and year to year decisions. Just life in general. 

About a month ago I read an essay by V Raymond Edman. Well, I read several of his essays on life, the encounters that come upon us and knowing when to let go of certain things. But, I will get to him in a little bit. I've been watching the news out of Houston concerning Second Baptist Church. We were members there when H Edwin came in 1978 because our apartment was nearby. We were probably the only members that left after a few months, because we bought a townhouse across town. Even if we hadn't bought a home we probably would have left anyway. H Edwin was a tough cookie and he laid down the law of how the church would be run as well as his personal idiosyncrasies that came with his pastoring. He brought nine staff members with him from his former church, leaving his former church in the midst of a building campaign. Through the years news of the church would pop up in our lives from friends who attended. Once they tried to change the name of the church, forerunner and ahead of the times, to The Fellowship of Excitement. Several marketing memories but only will mention the tag line, "you'll just feel good inside." While First Baptist was looking for a pastor, taking about five years to do, heard through the grapevine that Second had made the offer to First of becoming a satellite campus of their church. I will say that we appreciated Second during the year or so that Roy was on a project that required Sunday work hours, so we went to Saturday night church at Second. Again, a forerunner of the times. We were thankful for the opportunity for Roy to be in church and we usually met friends at Escalante's for dinner after church. Sometimes we joked that Saturday night church kind of felt like a circus. The baptisms were done during the choir special in a streamlined production. Last year H Edwin retired, right from the pulpit and read a letter announcing such and putting his son Ben as the pastor. I've read that the next morning when H Edwin came to the church his son told him to vacate his office and he was he was not to have anything to do with the church. There has to be some kind of story there. H Edwin was 87 years old and even though he seemed to be doing an okay job, you just begin to lose thoughts and points and what in the Sam Hill did I just say. Not comparing myself to the esteemed pastor but just teaching Sunday School this past year I see myself struggling to remember and make the point. When I was younger I used about three words then an arrow to the next point. Didn't use detailed notes. So our sister church and some members have filed a lawsuit over all the goings on, business meetings poorly promoted and the like. I hear that several have come over to the FBC side of things... It is a good study of human nature. 

I mentioned the book I had been using for some of the study of Exodus but I found the essays and devotions relevant to this present time. This book was published in 1948 and Ray Edman was the President of Wheaton College. He was concerned for those studying and the lack of purpose or plan in their lives. Ray just might be a little upset if he could see today. His advice of declining days is spot on. After vibrant young ages once the 60's and 70's hit age wise, he saw too many hang on for dear life not ever wanting to give up a position or an honor or prestige. "To grow old gracefully and graciously is a triumph; not to do so is a tragedy. There are those who will never admit to themselves or to others that they have passed the period of their effectiveness and service; and with hard hand and harsh voice they insist on their place and position." He uses Samuel in the Bible as an example mentioning that Samuel had difficulty and adaption to demands of a new day. He includes a story about a professor at a seminary who realized he could better serve the Lord and students if he retired and that his concentration and wisdom could be used in an unofficial basis. Samuel opened a school of the prophets and he was able to train the young men no longer bothered by the problems of the present. He could pray for the future. "When days of active service are done; when prominence becomes obscurity; favor, forgetfulness, solitude, service, silence, ...it is comforting to know and challenging to experience newer kinds of service." One thing I told Roy is, I enjoy teaching, love the research, love the Word and love to have laughter in our classroom but for sure when the time comes, I will graciously step aside. 

Ruth Buzzi died today and her passing will leave a little less laughter on the former Twitter now named X. Sadly, many times her humor was so dated or there were times she took a recent joke and made it hers thus receiving rude comments from younger readers that she stole the joke. Others would say, she's old, let her have this little bit of fun. It seemed that she truly wanted to make others laugh. Others that come to mind who should have stepped back gracefully is Bob Hope, Milton Bearle and Lucille Ball. Ruth Buzzi was hilarious on Laugh In and her other endeavors through the years.  

We left early this morning for Troyer's in Limestone to pick up the antibiotic free organically raised chicken breasts. We love the ground beef, pork chops and steaks we've ordered from there. Roy got some Amish beef baloney for sandwiches. It is really good. Because we had seen the back up of traffic on the other side of 26, we took the back way over to Erwin. The way we know has a couple of bridges out so we meandered and wandered while taking in some of the most beautiful and scenic farmland. The barns along that route are picture worthy, although we didn't stop to take any pics. Think we will make that drive in the fall and Roy will use his camera and not our phones. Along with the beauty is still the ongoing cleanup from the Nolichucky river banks. One church we saw completely flooded and they are building a new church a little down the road. The new roadwork and replacement is a nice drive on 81. The river is certainly wider and there were many homes for sale. The resilience both in east TN and here in the WNC mountains is remarkable. Lunch from Pals, a quick trip into Food City, then back to the great state of NC and a stop at TJ's for strawberries and tomato plants. 

Our neighbors gifted us with two big bulldozer buckets full of compost. Until we both over did and it got hot, we were spreading that stuff from tomato beds, to blackberry bushes and to flowerbeds that are just waiting for some plants and some seeds. We need to get our bean trellis together and get those seeds in the ground.

Well, I should quit writing and get to work on the lesson for Sunday. Preliminary notes taken now to put it all in teaching form. Oh, our class has a new slogan...Sunday morning we were talking to one of the guys who stopped by to say hi and ask if we were behaving. When we feigned innocence one of our class remembers responded to him, We're The Joy Class! We're full of it. Haha! Of course we're full of joy...no, really we are.