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

FAVORITE THINGS

I have to say that the month of April has just about flown by. When I last posted, UK was about to play the University of Louisville in the NCAA Tournament. Wow, it all just seems like a blur, looking back. Of course, UK beat Louisville and every other team that was in their way as they rolled on to the NCAA National Championship Title. I considered it a perfect birthday present and was able to receive many t-shirts for my birthday earlier this month. I also got out the box that contains previous years' championship t-shirts for 1996 and 1998. Whether the Final Four took place in NYC, San Antonio or New Orleans, I now feel able to wear them all again. As much as I loved Tubby Smith as a person, teacher and mentor of young men, it was difficult to accept the level of basketball excitement that we, in the Big Blue Nation had come to expect during the Pitino era. Yes, we finally feel that Kentucky Basketball is back where it belongs, and we're hopefully going to chip away at the record that UCLA holds at the top of the list of most NCAA championships. Though no one that enjoys college basketball, wants to see players leave after one year, it has become apparent that this is the way it is. So, shall we make lemonade from this sour trend of one and done. We in the Big Blue Nation will support our coach and his method of taking outstanding, talented recruits and getting them to believe in themselves and the philosophy of what's best for the team, is ultimately, best for them as individuals. A fond farewell to Darius, our beloved senior Kentuckian, Terrence and Doron, who both stayed one more year to achieve gr8tness as a team, and our amazing freshmen, Anthony, Michael and Marquis. We wish them all the success in the world as they head on to the next chapters of their lives. I've been blessed over the years to have amazing people in my life. God has given me friends, family and neighbors that have helped, through their loving examples, to mold me into the person that I am. I was even made aware of a special Bible scripture that, I felt, represented the Psalm for me. In Psalm 16, it states that the "saints who are in the land, are my glorious ones in whom is all my delight". I am so happy and thrilled when opportunities present themselves to spend time with those individuals who have been so special to me throughout the years. This Spring has opened up opportunities to spend time with many of those who I consider to be some of those saints. And speaking of saints, I finished Tim Tebow's book, Through My Eyes. As he reflected in the final chapter how God is in charge of his life and he will use whatever platform he is given to glorify Him, I was just amazed to know that God has given him the latest, largest platform available in our country, New York City. I know he will do awesome things with each and every opportunity God gives him. Our weather has been crazy. I think March started out feeling like summer, then winter returned. We got several early morning killing frosts one week. After that, I realized that it had taken a terrible toll on, not only the early blooms of the Black Locust trees in my yard, but also, the wisteria vines. I enjoy both these flowering clusters of fragrant blooms, so much and I am really missing having them in my yard. I'm hoping the wisteria can bounce back and survive as their vines have not produced the blooms as yet. But, out of the many Black Locust trees in my yard, I've counted only two that have surviving white blooms at the tops of their limbs. These are such unusual trees, many of which you need to be careful of, as they have painfully sharp thorns growing from their trunks and branches. Amazing that they also produce some of the most beautiful and fragrant flowers. I did enjoy finishing my Lent study as it culminated it's readings of Holy Week. Next year I'll strive to be more disciplined in the weeks leading up to Easter Sunday. I'm afraid there were a lot of distractions this year. Now my attentions have turned to helping with a Beth Moore Bible study for my own church. I had enjoyed taking such studies at Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington and the time appears right to finally get one going at our little country Methodist church. If you haven't heard Beth Moore do a Bible Study, you should try to experience one. She is an awesome Bible teacher. Today looks to be sunny and heading back to average April temperatures. I hope to visit a quilt show over the coming days. Would love to rekindle my love of quilting. It's been a while since I've done that. Quilting ranks right up there with birdwatching and taking country walks on my list of favorite things to do. And, we do have a pair of bluebirds setting up housekeeping in our bluebirdhouse out in the yard. I look so forward to seeing them start their first family. I just hope the recent appearance of bluejays in the yard, doesn't cause any problems. Bluejays can be vicious. The UpperRoom daily devotional readings these past few days have included two of my favorites. Luke 6:41 states, "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?" And today, Leviticus 19:18 states a theme that is repeated over and over in the New Testament, "you should love your neighbor as yourself". I think if we can all practice these two main focuses of Jesus' teachings, we will have a much greater impact on those around us. I hope you have a great day and enjoy some of your favorite things. luv, Susan

BACK HOME

Mark and I recently returned from our Spring trip to Florida. Since his parents retired to the Sunshine State approximately twenty five years ago, it has been one of our vacation destinations. In recent years, we've been able to venture down twice each year, Spring and Fall. I especially enjoy the trip down and back this particular season of renewal, because it gives me the opportunity to see all the beautiful bursts of colors from the trees and flowering plants along the way. If you recall my over the top infatuation with wisteria blooms, you can appreciate how exhilarating it is for me as we pass through Georgia, especially between Atlanta and Macon. Whereas, the Kudzu used to dominate the roadside scenery, now, it seems, that wild wisteria is overtaking vast stretches along the highway. I don't know if Georgia did something to replace the Kudzu with Wisteria, but seeing the lavender clusters of blooms covering tree after tree is awesome.

Now that we're back in Georgetown, I was motivated to check out the two local Wisteria vines that I've taken note of each year at this time. Both sites were just behind their Georgian counterparts in maturation, and I hope the occupant of the home downtown with the amazing climbing, blooming vine, didn't mind my snapping a picture yesterday as I took a walk around their block.

We here in the Commonwealth of Kentucky are experiencing the Perfect Storm of basketball phenomena. Not only are the University of Kentucky Wildcats in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, but we will now play our in-state rival, the University of Louisville, who's coach is our former beloved coach, and some say now "vile traitor", Rick Pitino. Because I've been a fan of Pitino, since his Providence days, I still hold him in high regard, though many in the state have considered him enemy #1 since he moved into Da'Ville. Oh, and did I mention that our Women's Kentucky Wildcats will play in the Elite Eight of the Women's NCAA Tournament tonight as well? We're hoping they can knock off the UConn Lady Huskies and make it to their respective Final Four as well. May I say, "WOW".

While I was in Florida, I was reading my Tim Tebow book, Through My Eyes. Apparently, something happened concerning Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos that had a slight impact on Tebow's future playing days. Seems that this farm raised Florida football quarterback has been traded to the New York City Jets?! My biggest concern is, what will happen to his dog, Bronco? I know Tim will do fine wherever he goes, and apparently, he's very excited, so he said 45 times, during his first appearance as a Jet. All I can say is that I hope Joe Namath can try to be more welcoming and that it all works out. I might add, God does work in mysterious ways.

I am, again, trying to place my focus back on this time of year. It is, after all, the Lenten season. This coming weekend includes Palm Sunday, followed by Holy Week, including Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. I'm still muddling through my Lenten Study, although I have had my distractions. I'd like to say that I've managed to be successful at giving up sweets during this time, but I'm afraid I've failed miserably. My Mainiac father-in-law has a sweet tooth and a love of after meal desserts. Yes, I can call him a Mainiac, because he's from Maine. I'm afraid that we share the sweet tooth and what could I say when presented with a chocolate ice cream cake to celebrate mine and Mark's 34th wedding anniversary. It was the first step into the dark side of sinful sweets. As long as I had indulged in that, I figured it didn't much matter if I indulged in Razzleberry fruit pie, Rocky Road cream pie or enjoyed that stop for hot fudge sundaes and an afternoon at the pier with Dad Libby, as well. I might add, that since coming back to Kentucky, I've done great at avoiding sweets and we really did enjoy the trip to the pier.

It looks like it's going to be an absolutely beautiful day. We were warned last night of a potential frost, so I'm gonna go out and check on tulips and lilac blooms. I hope you will have a great day. luv, Susan

MARCH..........., REALLY???!!!!

If I didn't know better, I'd think that we were being punked here in Central Kentucky. Early last week I was out weeding my garden full of tulips, daffodils and hyacinth, all coming up, and watching the bluebirds twitterpating their way through the treetops. Later, last week, Mark and I were making our way down to the basement due to tornado warnings in our area. Parts of the state had previously had touchdowns on Wednesday, but Friday, they really hit hard. Now, today, March 5th, we are dealing with a Christmas Card worthy scenario consisting of six inches of still "a coming down snow". It's beautiful, but, really?!, this is just unbelievable.

The news of all the tornado damage and devastation all around Kentucky and the rest of the region has been mind numbingly reminiscent of Joplin, Missouri and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It is just staggering to realize that these towns of West Liberty, Kentucky and Henryville, Indiana are not that far away. We are thanking God here around the vicinity of Lexington to have dodged this wave of destruction. Especially heart wrenching is the story of the little fourteen month old girl, Angel, who was found in a field, not too far from her home. Her parents and small siblings were killed. Apparently, Angel longed to be with her family, as she too passed away over the weekend. The rest of the family is finding some comfort in knowing that this young family is now together.

Through many news telecasts, one woman could be heard praying for God to move the monstrous, destructive clouds away from her home and town. Mercifully, her home was spared, her town was not.

Because of the unexpected snow, I have the day off. I hope to get caught up on some things. One of those things is my Lenten Bible Study. Another is putting away the Christmas stuff that has been hiding behind the sofa in our loft. Because the loft should now be readied for March Madness and all that it brings, it's time to put the festive yuletide reminders in their storage space and arrange all the Go Big Blue paraphernalia about the space.

I have to mention that I'm watching The Amazing Race again this season. I was a bit disheartened when I first saw the two guys who were representing Kentucky. It appeared that they tried to find the two most red-necked hicks they could find from Clay County. If you know Kentucky basketball, you'll remember that Richie Farmer was from the Clay County Tigers and became a Kentucky Wildcat just prior to Rick Pitino's arrival. It became a running joke that Richie and Rick could not understand each other through their own heavy accents. We all had fun with that. Now, Bopper and Mark have turned up on the CBS reality show. They talk in the familiar heavy Eastern Kentucky accent and act kinda silly. After three shows, however, their wonderful, warm, friendly, cooperative, intelligent and resourceful natures are making them a show favorite. I applaud the show for picking these two best friends, Bopper, who is white, and Mark, who is black, to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky for this season. However,I might just ask Bopper, to please keep his teeth in....purty please.

I hope you're having a great day and have avoided the wicked weather that we've seen here in Kentucky. Take care and stay safe, luv, Susan

LEAP INTO LENT AND MARCH MADNESS

Happy Leap Day!! Not exactly sure how we're supposed to celebrate, but it's amusing having this day every four years. I think I have one friend who's birthday is today, so I don't want to forget to wish her a great day. Can't imagine only having so few actual birthdays to celebrate.

After my last post on Ash Wednesday, I did go to the Upperroom website to check out their lenten study. Unfortunately, to take part in the study required a forty dollar fee, so I thought I'd go another direction for a Lenten study. Because we did one last year during our Sunday school time, I decided to try getting more from that study. After an hour or two spent looking for it, I'm pleased to say that I have immersed myself in the beginning pages of Shadows, Darkness and Dawn, A Lenten Journey with Jesus. Much of it is coming back to me and I'm looking forward to spending the remaining days of this Holy season exploring how I can share in on this journey.

I understand that most Lenten studies are loosely based on the book of John, which is written by "the disciple Jesus loved", as he wrote it. This book is John's first hand account of Jesus' life on earth between his baptism by John the Baptist and his final days up to and including the crucifixion. John also includes the miraculous account of the empty tomb and the appearances of the resurrected Savior before his disciples and followers. The primary focus of start of this Lenten study is the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. These days of Jesus in the wilderness are covered in the other gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. We are to examine our lives and question our wilderness and our temptations. An important part of lent is to practice self denial, thus giving something up for lent. Jesus went forty days prior to his earthly ministry going without food or physical contact while the tempter tormented him with one seductive suggestion after another. Jesus was victorious over the persuasions of Satan. We can always take heart in using Him, alone as our shining example.

Yesterday was a practically perfect day as weather goes. I think it hit around 71 and was sunny and mild. I've taken two of my doggies for walks the past two days. We enjoy getting out again after the cold days. It was even wonderful sitting outside later in the afternoon and working in my garden. I'm hoping to rid my flower beds of weeds and then put down mulch to prevent further re-infestation. As nice as the weather has been, I believe we're in for a real roller coaster these next few days. Today brings tornado watches for our area, as well as thunderstorms. I believe there is also predicted cold spell in the coming days to get through. I just hope and pray all these beautiful flowers and new blooms will be able to survive into the first week of March.

And speaking of March, we Kentucky fans are ready for March Madness to begin. After Kentucky men and women Wildcats each clinched their respective regular season SEC titles, we are looking forward to an amazing tournament time. I was very fortunate to see the Senior night festivities for the women at Memorial Coliseum. I'm looking forward to the last away game for the men at Florida on Thursday night and the men's basketball team's Senior Day festivities and Senior game against Georgia at Rupp.

I hope you enjoy this coming week of the Lenten season as well as the beginning of March Madness. Take care and stay safe, luv, Susan