50? No way!

My husband cracked through the glass ceiling of the 40's and burst his way into the fabulous 50's! We had the blessing of having his Mom and Bill in town and got to surprise Keith with their knocking on the door unexpectedly. It was not easy keeping it a secret for two weeks. It almost slipped several times, but we pulled it off and it was great fun.

I really wanted to throw Keith a party, but he really did not want one, so instead, I asked friends and family to send a birthday card. I collected all of the cards and put them into a box for him to open like a gift. We had much fun opening all of the cards and then passing them around. Some people shared pictures, some shared long lost stories and some just shared a lovely Bible verse. I know Mom and Bill enjoyed reading the cards with us and watching Keith open a few gifts. The guys all pitched in and got him some really nice sun glasses. It was nice to see them spend their own money on somebody other than themselves.

It may not have been a bash to end all bashes, but what matters most is that we shared it with the people we love. Happy Birthday, old man! I hope you enjoyed it!

The Perils of having a Green Thumb..

I have no idea how or why this happens, but I can take a dying, shriveled up plant and bring it back to vibrant life. My flower garden is constantly over producing flowers (not a bad thing). The problem ensues when I try to get rid of a plant that I no longer find desirable. I cant kill it. It will keep coming back and back and back. You get the picture. I also seem to have an abundance of babies. You know how your plants drop seed, and then next year you might get one or two of them again? In my garden, there are many babies from last year. It is great, because it's like getting free plants. I also have to thin my plants and prune them regularly. I guess I am just a very fertile person, or perhaps all of you gardening friends have the same problems and maybe I am not as special as I think I am.' Either way, several sweaty hours have been spent working the beds this week, and I am still not finished. I also see several transplanting projects for the fall. I have a very bad habit of planting something and then it gets ginormous and I need to thin things out again. It's a jungle out there!

Unfortunately, my vegetable garden didn't get the memo about my magic thumb, and I barely got anything out of it. Several stalks of corn shot up, but I never got any ears. My potatoes were a total flop, which was very sad for me. I had high hopes of putting 100 pounds of potatoes in a dark room. My kids would have so loved to have an abundance of spuds. I would have been their hero for about five minutes. Oh well, I will try again next year, for sure!

I hope you are getting many lovely flowers to brighten your day, and the butterflies that go with them. I also hope when you are enjoying them, you give thanks for He whom made them. God bless your gardens!