SUMMER'S HERE

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!! Yes, it is almost here..............long awaited Summer is starting this weekend. Spring has been really unusual this year, like I mentioned previously, it's been like a roller coaster with near record highs and lows. Finally, we were able to enjoy some really nice mild springtime weather. We've been taking our walks and it has been nice. But, it looks like the weather is going to again hoover near record highs in the coming days as we are expecting temps in the nineties to start out the summer season. I hope you'll be enjoying your holiday weekend somewhere that includes shade or water, hopefully, plenty of both. I got the doggies in for their preseason veterinarian visit. They were tested for heartworm, all negative, and put on their heartworm medication for the summer. They were also weighed. Pudge is my largest malti-poo at 15lbs 8oz and daddy Pepper is the smallest at 6lbs 8oz. It's always amazing to me that little Pepper's son is so much larger than he is, I hadn't realized Pudge was nine pounds heavier. What a brute. We got well into our Beth Moore Bible Study at church. We are studying the Psalms of the Ascent, which are the fifteen "songs", Psalm 120-134, which pilgrims sang on their way back to the temple at Jerusalem. It is relevant for us because we, in many ways, have been away from our God due to busy lives and our reluctance to seek Him out on a daily basis. How rejuvenating it is to find myself again on the pilgrimage to reconnect with and reestablish a closer relationship with God and other pilgrims from my own "tribe" in the process. I am disappointed with my bluebird watch. Mark and I were aware that Mom and Dad Bluebird had been busy taking care of their little nestlings in the birdhouse. However, while I was away last weekend, the babies evidently left their nest, as there is no activity at the house this week. I have spotted the parents a time or two, but haven't yet been able to identify the entire brood in any particular tree or area of the yard. I am hoping they will all eventually come visit one of our birdbaths or at least become visible when we are enjoying down time under the deck. We are also enjoying the return of the hummingbirds. Mark told me that while he was watering the garden the other day, a little hummingbird flew through the spray near him, not once, but four times as it showered and enjoyed the refreshing spray. The vegetable garden is coming alive with many plants of green growth, I can't wait for green beans and cucumbers. I've been disheartened with many of my flowers, however. After waiting an entire year for my hollyhocks to bloom, I am now in a struggle to try to save them altogether. Seems a fungus has infected the leaves of the plants and I believe it will be up to me to spray them with the right fungicide to insure their survival. I was also hoping to have three pots of petunias by now, after sprinkling seeds from last year's blooms over the soil. Sadly, only one pot has flowering plants, one other has a few teeny tiny growths and the third has one plant and a lot of ants, sigh. I am indenting my sixth paragraph, since blogspot redesigned their format, I haven't been able to figure out how to manipulate the right maneuver to signify a new paragraph. Anyway, it was a wonderful time last weekend in Henderson. I was able to attend my little neighbor and friend, Katie's graduation party in my old neighborhood. It was so good to see my friends, neighbors and prayer partners there. When Katie was four, I had a preschool in my walkout basement for her and four other little friends and neighbors. It was a memorable year and it is just so hard to believe that all that time has flown by and these little ones are now highschool graduates. I can't wait to see the wonderful things God has planned for their lives. I hope you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and any graduates you may have in your life. Please stay safe and have a great day, luv, Susan

MOTHER'S DAY

The past couple weeks around here have been rather dull. I don't think I've made the time to blog because there hasn't been a lot going on. But, I am happy to report that things are picking up. Aside from the all day deluge of rain, the Mother's Day Weekend went well. We had an enjoyable Mother's Day Buffet at the Red Mile Clubhouse. We try to pick a new place every year and this was really nice. I especially enjoy it because it includes my mom,my daughter, my sisters and step-nieces and this year my daughter's best friend. It's too bad the weather wasn't nicer, we usually like to do some sort of walking activity. Last year we met in Frankfort for lunch, then walked around the capital and Governor's Mansion gardens. We also enjoy the art show at Gratz Park, but preferred not to attempt that this year due to the weather. The important thing was that we were able to all get together. It is a nice girl's day out for all of us, as we celebrate being mothers. Sunday was also a special day because we started a new Bible Study at church during our Sunday School hour. I've mentioned in past blogs that I enjoyed going to women's Bible Studies at Porter Memorial Baptist church in Lexington. I think I participated in four of them with the same group of ladies before I stopped. After having a fender bender on New Circle Road, I started thinking that I should try to participate more in studies at my own church. After a couple years of hoping to do another women's Bible study, a friend asked me if I wanted to help her with one at our little church. Sunday was the introductory session for a Beth Moore Bible Study entitled "Stepping Up". This is actually one of the studies I did at Porter Memorial. I enjoyed it so much that we're borrowing their DVD's to do the study at Mt. Gilead UMC. I'd love to do one of her studies that I haven't done, but for the first one, we thought this would be a good place to start. We hope to have good participation and continue with more of her studies in the future. If you haven't ever heard or read something from Beth Moore, I highly recommend her teachings and books. We are making it through Spring, even though the weather either wants to be hotter than normal, or colder. Today, it is just about right. I'm enjoying the bluebirds as they go back and forth feeding new babies in the birdhouse. I've spotted several other birds in the yard as well. For the past several years, we've also had Orioles nesting nearby and we always have flycatchers, carolina wrens and cardinals. It's also time for hummingbirds, we've had several visits to those feeders as well. Hopefully, we'll get in the habit of filling our finch feeders, we usually have a backyard full of goldfinch and indigo buntings. We've managed to start our garden. Looking forward to some tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, zucchini, yellow squash and green beans. It looks like all the Iris have just about finished blooming and I'm hoping to see some day lilies appear soon. One of my friends at church brought over bags and bags of some from his yard last year and they have made it through and appear to be ready to start blooming any time. I'm also happy to see that my hydrangea survived and is all leafy and growing, as are some petunias that I scattered seed from last year's flowers. And, my best friend gave me a mimosa tree that is now planted down by the bluebird house. I'm so thankful to friends with more gardening experience helping me along. The flowers and trees given by friends make them even more enjoyable. I did manage to take Pudge and Riff for their walk this morning. I hope to get into a good routine with walking now that we're heading towards summer. I hope you have had a great spring so far and enjoyed a nice weekend for Mother's Day. Stay safe and have a great day, luv, Susan

BRAIDED FAITH

Boy, I sure did cover a good part of Kentucky last month. I know I mentioned that I'd be visiting with friends who have helped shape me, especially, those Christian friends who have been key in guiding and directing me during difficult times in my life. Of course, I know that God was doing all of this. When you are surrounded by friends who have a strong faith in God, you will have a great chance of staying very close to the path that God has paved for you. It was so much fun going to Morgantown, Bowling Green, Paducah and my old hometown of Henderson. I have a back way of traveling from Georgetown to the Bluegrass Parkway. It's not easy for me to explain, but it involves going on Wisenberg Mill Road, Old Frankfort Road and Pisgah Pike. It is one of the loveliest drives I've come across and there are some beautiful country roads in Central Kentucky. I saw on the news a barn burned on the Wisenberg Mill Rd. I hope it wasn't too serious and that no animals or people were hurt. It was fun going to the Annual National Quilt Show in Paducah. I am amazed at what these men and women can do with fabric and thread. I think this was my sixth visit to the show. I have wonderful memories of most of the trips, wish I had more pictures of all the friends that went with me. This year, I did get a great picture of my friend and former next door neighbor, Lori. Because of Lori and her husband, Mike, I felt like Alice Through the Looking Glass as I left their beautiful home in Paducah and arrived at their previous beautiful home in Henderson. Because they were so happy with the house they built across the corner from me on Dogwood Lane, in Henderson, some twenty years ago, they built the exact same house in a rural subdivision in Paducah. It's exact, that is, except for many minor details and one major, the house had to be built completely in the reverse because of how the lot was positioned. Talk about being weird. Even their kids get a kick realizing that this house exists that is a mirror image of their own. I told my friends and neighbors I visited, that I was so happy to be able to come and visit them. They got me through some rough times, as I know I helped them get through even tougher times. I shared with them that one day while walking in our neighborhood, I felt the need to ask God for a Bible verse. I had never done this before or since, though I rely on my Bible a lot. This was different and just then, I received Ecclesiastes 4:12 in my mind. Wow, as a fairly new Bible reader, I didn't know what this book was even about. I was excited to look it up when I finished my walk. It didn't surprise me one bit when I turned to the chapter just after Proverbs and read Ecclesiastes 4:12, which says,"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Because I had been involved in a neighborhood prayer group, it was not hard to understand that God wanted me to know the importance of my relationships with my prayer partners and Christian friends. Our lives through the days, months and years had become so much more than merely living side by side. We had become entwined in each others lives, joys and trials. Our faith was strong because we supported each other and God, who tells us that where two or more are together worshiping Him, He will be there also. We have all experienced many blessings and miracles of healing by God's hand in our lives. In fact, we continue to experience His wonderful healing each and every day. Things aren't always perfect, but we know that God is using us for His purpose, which is "always" good. I'm so happy to report that after nearly five years in Georgetown, I have many close friends, neighbors and even those who I consider prayer partners. God is good. It was a perfect morning for a walk early today. I also walked yesterday, and knew that it would be too hot by 10:00. Over the past two days, I have enjoyed so many of my neighbors flowers and trees, not to mention seeing deer and even helped a little turtle get safely across the road. I especially enjoyed seeing the young buck lying in the brush and tree cover just ten to twelve feet from the fenced road. He had a very small velvety rack and was just watching me as I went by with Riff and Pudge. I was surprised they didn't smell him. Today they smelled and heard some that were not happy when we interrupted their quiet morning. First I saw a white tail as one leaped away. Then I heard the familiar stamping and blowing as the resident buck let his displeasure be known. Later, as I received a call from my daughter, a neighbor politely turned off his lawn mower as I walked by. I, in turn, stopped to thank him and chat a bit. Turns out I was wrong about the Black Locust tree having beautiful blooms. It's the Honey Locust that has beautiful blooms and the Black Locust has the thorns. He didn't lose any of his honey locust blooms. We figure it's because he's at the top of the hill and I'm at the bottom.......story of my life....ha. I'm supposed to have dinner guests tonight, so I best get busy. I hope you have a great day and stay safe. luv, Susan