MYSTERY SOLVED

A while back I was complaining because my Crepe Myrtle tree had only one bloom on it. I couldn't believe that on this whole little tree only one bloom emerged! How does that happen I wondered? Wouldn't you think there would be some buds too? Well...here they are! , I
You can just see the beginnings of "barely there pink" (I think that's the name on a paint tag!) And here too...

And again here...

Well now it is a week later and look - there's a few blooms appearing...this is going to be so pretty when it fully blooms. I'm seeing them all over my neighborhood and now, finally, mine is beginning to show!

Here...

...and here...gotta love 'ol Mother Nature...not until she's ready!

PACKING FOR A JOURNEY

A young Christian packing his bag for a journey

said to a friend, "I have nearly finished

packing. All I have to put in are

a guidebook,

a lamp,

a mirror,

a microscope,

a telescope,

a volume of fine poetry,

a few biographies,

a package of old letters,

a book of songs,

a sword,

a hammer, and

a set of tools."

"But you cannot put all that into your bag,"

objected the friend. "Oh, yes," said the Christian.

"Here it is." And he placed his Bible in

the corner of the suitcase and closed the lid.

-Anon.

Thank you to our hostesses, Ginger and Charlotte for bringing us Spiritual Sundays.

A WEEKEND VISITOR

Thank you for coming to see me Gramma! I just love it when we have company and I can show what I am learning to do. I am learning so fast it is hard to keep up with me. Right now, I'm just sitting here having a good time with my Mommy and Gramma who keeps flashing lights in my eyes! Well, I know Gramma hasn't seen me since the beginning of summer when Daddy and Mommy and I took a trip to Gramma's house and the Jersey Shore. I have grown up so much since then...I can tell Gramma is surprised by how much I've grown.
This is so much fun! I am learning to do so many things all at once and my Mommy is getting nervous just watching me! Just wait til I get a little older Mom - you'll need those Mommy "eyes in the back of your head" so you can keep up with me! Whee! I'm on my way now!

And here I am standing up (almost) all by myself - I can do this Mom I promise I can! You don't have to hold me up! I know you're just being extra careful that I don't hurt myself and I love you for watching out for me! You're the BEST MOM!

OLD FRIENDS

OLD FRIENDS

There is no friend like the old friend,

Who has shared our morning days.

No greeting like his welcome, no homage

Like his praise.

Fame is the scentless sunflower, with

gaudy crown of gold;

But friendship is the breathing rose,

With sweets in every fold.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

WHERE ARE THE REST?

Is that it? One little bloom on this very large Crepe Myrtle? I was very disappointed when I saw that only one bloom had appeared on my "Dwarf" Crepe Myrtle. This bush/tree was covered in gorgeous magenta blooms last year. I'll keep you posted on when or if there are any more pretty flowers!

TWO POEMS FOR SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS

Growing Old Let me grow lovely, growing

old - -

So many fine things do - -

Laces, and ivory, and gold,

And silks need not be

new;

And there is healing in old

trees,

Old streets a glamour hold;

Why may not I, as well as

these,

Grow lovely, growing old?

-Karle Wilson Baker

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PRESCRIPTION FOR LONELINESS

Art thou lonely, O my

brother?

Share thy little with another!

Stretch a hand to one un-

friended,

And thy loneliness is ended.

-John Oxenham

Thank you to Charlotte and Ginger for bringing us Spiritual Sundays.

GOLFING ANYONE?

Getting out my golf clubs after my friend Joyce and I decide to go to one of the local golf courses and get in some practice. I haven't played golf for ??? years and I am very rusty but I do want to get back into playing again. Joyce's reasons are a little different - - she has never played in her life and has only been on the driving range a couple of times this past month but she wants to play in a tournament being held in honor of her nephew who died tragically a few years ago. Needless-to-say, she doesn't have much time and I found out that she has NEVER putted or been on a putting green! I did introduce her to it today and she did very well...she is a very positive person and I know she'll be playing the tournament like a pro!

We arrive at the golf course...a small, nine hole course that has very inexpensive rates and caters to ladies! Tuesday is Seniors day, Wednesday is Ladies day and Thursday you can get a cart, play nine holes and lunch for $23.00! We picked Wednesday.

Joyce changing her shoes and getting ready to go to the driving range.

Putting in not my strong suit...and I really need the practice on my "short game" - that is putting, chipping the ball onto the green and hitting out of the rough and sand traps.

Joyce hits one out more than 150 yards...she can really wallop that ball!

Me on the driving range and I had just hit a good shot with my three wood (my favorite club)

~Well, it has been a fun two hours and now we're hungry and decide to go out and have some breakfast. I know we'll be back to actually play this nine hole course...but not today...not in hot, humid 90+ degree weather in Southern NJ!

I will label this picture the "before" picture and the ones that follow the "after" pictures!

Had to hold down the tomato cages with bricks and even a large flower pot so that in the wind, it doesn't take the very tall and leggy plants over with them.

Isn't this amazing...these are the four teeny, tiny tomao plants I planted last May right after Mother's Day. The second one from the left is the cherry tomato plant which, by the way, only has green tomatoes on it so far - I'm sure the rainy spring has had something to do with this leggy plant and no ripe tomatoes yet.

Cute little bit of red there on the vine! It is the middle of August and these are the first I've been able to pick! Next year, I get the "early variety!" As you can see, the vines are so large and heavy I've had to tie them up already or they would be flopping all over.

My Echinacea peeks from behind a Dwarf Alberta Spruce tree which is growing much larger than I had thought it would! I also see that much work needs to be done as the Hosta and Iris have both finished flowering and need to be cut back but with high humidity and 90 degrees...I think these tasks will wait for awhile yet...maybe October? :)

How has your garden grown this year? Show us some pictures!

THINGS WORTHWHILE

These things make life

worthwhile to me:

A sunset sky, a maple tree;

A mountain standing grim

and gray

Against the skyline far

away;

A baby's laugh, a summer

breeze,

A roadway winding 'neath

the trees;

A friend to trust, a book to

read,

And work which meets

some human need;

And through it all, a sense

of God

Lifting my soul above the

sod;

The hope and peace which

He can give - -

These make it worth my

while to live.

-Author unknown

A big thank you, as always, to Charlotte and Ginger who have been bringing us Sprititual Sunday for more than a year. We love and appreciate what you do!

I CLIMBED THE WORLD'S LARGEST ELEPHANT!

Before the tour began, we had a chance to walk around Lucy and take some pictures of her and her howdah. Much has changed over the years and now Lucy has the same howdah she had when she was first built in 1881 and billed as the World's Largest Elephant. There were other, bigger elephants built but they either were destroyed by fire or hurricanes. Lucy is the only one that has survived. You can check out her history by going to www.lucytheelephant.com. We are standing in Lucy's "head" in this little room. That is my grandson J, in the red shorts and in the background is my daughter holding K up to see out the elephants "eye." All very cool stuff! A view of the stairs we climbed to get to the inside.

We are now inside the "belly" of the elephant which is now a museum with circular stairs on each side to climb up into the "howdah." We also watched an 8 minute video of how and when Lucy was built and then rescued when she was left to deteriorate many years later. A cute side note, our guide told us that several veterinarians have been married here also!

Here is the Margate water tower with the picture of Lucy on it...viewed from the howdah (a seat, usually with a canopy, for riding on the back of an elephant.)
Here is the view of the Margate beach from the howdah on Lucy's back...we climbed through her rear leg all the way to the top onto her back and into the howdah, and the floor of the howdah is a glass skylight for the rooms below!
What a fun time we had, the weather was clear and beautiful...not too hot, not too humid...a perfect beach day and that's where we went in the afternoon!

LIFT ME UP

Camille Hamilton was 93 years old. We were at Keswick for Seniors Week the last week of August, 2001, when she told me this story ~

"I usually take tub baths because I am not too steady on my feet these days. I was finishing my morning bath routine, had let the water out of the tub and was having difficulty standing up. Try as I would, I could not get up. I fell back time and time again. I started getting worried as I live alone and no one knew I was in my bathroom taking a bath nor could they have gotten in even if they had. I tried over and over to lift myself up and each time I fell back. I fell so hard one time that I bruised my hip and, oh, the pain was awful. I was getting weaker with each desperate try. A long time passed as I struggled. Then I said to myself, 'no one can help me but God.' I simply said, 'Lord, please help me get out of this situation - You know that I have to have help getting out of this tub and only You know that I am here.'

Suddenly, three words came into my mind - - FILL THE TUB. I put the stopper in place, turned on the tap and let the tub fill almost to the top. The buoyancy of the water made it easy, then, to pull myself up and step out of the tub. I trusted God to come to my rescue at at time when I needed Him most."

The Lord says, "Do not fear, for I am with you."

Isaiah 43:5 (NRSV)

I had asked her permission to write this story and I saw Camille only once more, the next year at Keswick, when I gave her a copy of this writeup. I know she would not mind my sharing her story with you.

Thank you to Charlotte and Ginger for hosting our beautiful Spiritual Sundays.