COMING SPRING

 The weather has been so unusual this year; this week warm and breezy. Weeding has begun already (?) as some unknown ''thing'' has spread over many many gardens! This is not an easy ''just pull and go'' type of weed; on knees, dig across and under, work it, work it, pull, sift...eventually ''voila!" one weed has bit the dust.  

OH..., a rolling sea of weeds!
       Jump aboard this sea of green,
              and cast away me? but A SHIP I  need!
                      To farther shore MANY days from now, 
                              ANYONE interested?  Please come aboard!      -suzie

Come ''true spring'' there won't be time to weed; preparation for a wedding, recovery from a swimming pool blown down. Yes. Searing winds brought more trees down and, 20,000 gallons of pool water gushed toward the house leaving laden birdseed bins and an asundry other items strewn throughout the lawn. Sarah's boyfriend calls our woods, Chernobyl. Sadly, he is correct; the beauty of the woods is gone. Repetitive unusual storms of 2 years gone by.

Today: walking up the lane a breath of spring tried pouring in...why then such melancholy spirit within..., no laughter-

                                   "YET MY SOUL SEES BEAUTY IN LITTLE THINGS:

                                                     THANK YOU LORD, THESE GIFTS 
                                                                        OF SPRING."

COMING SPRING

Those nodding heads,              

ephemerals,

in white's and pink's,

some green's.

Those winter winds,

emoting me

to thoughts of

coming spring.                               

Does spring bring forth the hope of life,

a salve for broken dreams?

If so, rush past you winter winds,

pour hard gushing tears of rain.

March out to greet those nodding heads
in Hope,             an unfettered, flowing, spring.                -suzie

           


    

FLOWERS MAY FADE

(poem to follow)

MANY THANKS TO THOSE WHO PUT THIS VIDEO TOGETHERhttp://player.vimeo.com/video/27920977?title=0&%3bbyline=0&%3bportrait=0href=

BIRTHDAY'S

                  WHAT DO YOU DO ON YOUR BIRTHDAY?
                                                        Our Traditions
~~everytime I say ''traditions'' I start to sing the song from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF- in my head of course; well, sometimes outloud ~~     oh brother,
                                                        Does anyone else?

1) Night before: Child (makes a crown out of construction paper, Mommy gets
to write the number on it and he/she decorates it whatever way they choose. Hang
it on the bedpost and wait till morning for breakfast in bed!~~ Adults: no crown
although they made me one when I turned 40 something along with our usual
movie and photos...oh great; burn that up!

2) Day starts with breakfast in bed (thank you Sarah for chatting and loving me today!)
Child is woken or is already sitting up with his/her crown on waiting for all of
the family to come in with video/camera. Everyone has to get up and go into child's room,
sing Happy Birthday. Candles are either melting in the pancakes, waffles, etc. oh my.

Then the rush to get to school etc. Summer? play play play...do whatever he/she likes
within reason. (one year I took Jonathan out of school and we went ice skating-of
course the school didn't know that-shhhh!)

3) Mom cooks whatever dinner you want! (what should I cook today?)
4) Scavenger hunts for the kids; now they are adults; rats. But they still do it and love it.
    (rhymes are made up and the clues get harder with age; sometimes they
     have to do what the rhyme says (e.g. cartwheel to the ''shed") Gifts are
     hidden at some of the locations.
5) cake or icecream cake,,,their favorite.
6) play games during day if possible AND ALL THINGS ARE FILLED WITH
LOTS OF LOVE AND HUGS AND GOOFY ACTS OF THE SILLIES.
                                   
                                  BIRTHDAY VIDEO IDEA
    Once Michael's birthday was during our drive to Florida and he was bummed
that we would be in the car all day! So, I got this crazy idea~!

I videoed tons of people all over town that I did and DID NOT KNOW; they either
sang Happy Birthday to Michael or spoke something. The people who did not know
Michael at all pretended to know him when they spoke, like he was an old buddy.
Let me tell you. There are some pretty creative people out there who can come up
with fun things to say at the drop of a hat!!!!

---One man pretended to be "Tim the Tool Man Taylor" and stood behind the hood
of a car while talking to Michael (Tim's voice and all....)

---A woman made up, in seconds, a long rhyming poem while I videoed her standing
in her kitchen (I never met her before this-that is an interesting story how I ended up
in her kitchen~) wishing him Happy Birthday- then sang.

---A nursery school class used puppets singing him happy birthday....

---Using the "Michael's" Craft Store sign I welcomed Michael
to ''Michael's". The manager allowed me to video at the entrance
while he is welcomed to the store and told Happy Birthday. Lastly,
using the voice from the TV show The Price is Right she said "Come on Down"...

(will add more ideas as they come back to me...)

it was fun and crazy.        HE LOVED IT!!!
Happy Birthday to everyone who's birthday is today!~


    THE GARDENS TODAY ARE LOOKING LIKE FALL
and so are the weeds, they're mighty tall.
    MANY BEAUTIFUL AREAS, WHERE SHALL I SIT
I believe woodland aster's and Tricytris do the trick.

    
   WHILE BEGINNING TO SIT ON THAT YONDER BENCH
  I spied little flowers peeking every way and which.
   BREAK OUT TINY BOTTLES, VASES & "THINGS,"
  fill up each one, varied colors, its better than BLING!
            (oh man, I don't like mentioning Bling but it is the only thing that works here....)

     WELL, Here are some arrangements.


Suggestion: 
Often I will place 5 different shaped and sized bottles 
in the bay windo, fill with water to top and put one single
flower in each (all different varieties); or, I put 5 of the same flower in each, having them at varied heights or the
same height. Here I have chosen to use all glass for every room. But, use anything! Salt cellars, miniature sugar or creamers...oh! next time I have to photo the ''frogs'' that I use
to hold little flower arrangements when something really matters- aka: giving away to cheer someone's day.


The black background pictures above were done
earlier when the lighting was not that great.  The carrier
with tiny bottles were creamer holders from my father's
farm from the 50's. Remember those?    


Well, enough playtime. (will put the FROG device I use on here tomorrow! If anyone knows where I can find a couple more of these let me know; I WOULD REALLY LOVE TO HAVE MORE TO GIVE AND USE.)


PS: dumb? Do you ever sing Happy Birthday to yourself? I always did at 10:08 am in Band Class in middle/highschool; the exact time I was born-oh brother! The Band director thought I was playing right along but I pretended. Sang the song,   "Happy Birthday to Me....etc.'' and then went back to playing my flute! I still do it; YOU ARE NEVER TO OLD TRY. 
                                       TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT.

              I have come to cogitate or should I rather ruminate
                              on verses and the rhyme?


            I believe it rather ample that I choose to run and ramble 
                              through verses set in thyme.


                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Set off shall I and ambulate

across the world divide,

savoring and honoring

               

all seen in this my time.

A TRIBUTE TO GREEN

   FAREWELL TO GREEN FOR A LITTLE WHILE.....
(writing a little poem soon here to say goodbye to summer and fall)
November 27, 2009 For some reason I have not been able to write any poems/ditties for some
months now; nothing comes to me. So, I am going to publish something I wrote a while back which still needs to be tweaked here and there. But, here it is for today. 

A CERTAIN BEGINNING, A CERTAIN END

 Born to Earth we crawl we stand,

For some they choose to walk to dance.

For others life is strife and thorns,  
And those we love have left too soon!

For some colors are bright and full,

yet others tremble, lost to fears.

Life surely has harsh twists and turns,

tastes of summer and winter storm.      
Breezes blow, some topple down,      
others rise to brace the storm.          
Yes the life here holds twists and turns     
amid, fragrant tender showers.  

Is life a problem solving paradox,

an Earth without stability, truth?    
As assuredly here, a beginning, an end,  
                                The only One Truth, the Lord's Son.  -suzie 09'                               

                           

    synonyms for ''certain" from Webster's Dictionary as follows:   

fixed, settled, dependable, reliable, indisputable,

inevitable, destined 

 

WELKINWEIR: Green Valley Association: 1368 Prizer Road, Pottstown PA 19465.

Took a walk today at Welkinweir. I love this place. A nature preserve, 197 acres of ponds, wetlands, meadows, and woodlands offer a diverse setting for many ''critters and birds." Took my Canon SLR hoping to take shots of flora and fauna but had forgotten to charge the battery! Ding dong! (photos: Oakleaf Hydrangea)

I was not aware of this until today that the trails "connect to the Horse-Shoe Trail for longer hikes to nearby parks, preserves, and         historic sites." http://www.greenvalleys.org/welkinweir.asp

BEFORE THE FROST-an EYE CUP as a Vase!!!

This time of year I particularly enjoy cutting individual flowers, fern, hosta leaves and arranging them in a variety of vases, etc. as most will soon be gone!

The Garden Club has a contest/challenge each year;
submit a flower arrangement no larger than 4"x6" including the container. Two winners are selected. They actually chose my arrangement as a winner! The photo is a little blurry. Arranging it was a challenge. I was kneeling on the ground and Rufus, a kitty cat, kept crawling up on my shoulders to sit a spell. He likes being up high. Sometimes he sits on the back rim of my hat when I am weeding or plays with the my hands and the weeds. Isn't that fun; there is lots of laughter that takes place during these escapades!

The last 3 photos are other arrangements I made for fun...they are ok to me; the plant material was heavy because of all the rain we have been having so they do not stand upright as I would like. The hosta leaves in the yard are already drooping, browning out and filled with holes so it was difficult to find great leaves; and, I have tons and tons of hosta! Oh well, got to get to them earlier next year. The other two arrangements are very small water gardens; I love water. I love being anywhere near, in or on water!!!

CROAK THERE IS CHANGE IN THE AIR

0/02/09 Rich colors of autumn, dew on the leaves, how I'll miss large hostas, teeny birds taking 'wing'; and, will all this green disappear, go to sleep? Bee's visit picnics, sunset's more intense; and, a chance for new paintings, walks alone in the leaves. Oh how I love autumn, the chill in the air, pots of thick chili and to be snuggled, all warm!

8/26/08
I had hoped to work on this blog over the summer but time just ''leapt'' before me. This guy is chilling during the dogs days of summer; and, the katydids are going wild! The waterpond has had a number of beautiful scintillating waterlilies. The three new kitty cats are having a blast trying to catch frogs and bugs. Does anyone want free plants? I have tons of waterlilies and lotus to give away; and, tons of shade perennials!!
If not now, contact me in the spring by email or phone!!
9/18/09 strange: 3 pictures just disappeared on this post and I can't figure out why. They were there since the 26th and now gone..why is that??? If anyone knows how this can occur let me know!!!