The Tree House Garden|Part Two

And this is the current situation:

 Mom had been saving some iron rings from an old wine barrel planter that fell apart, and she had the brilliant idea to surround the irises at the bottom of the path with one of them. I love this! I dug up a bunch of them and replanted to consolidate them into a more concentrated mass, and now they fit really well.

My primroses have multiplied majorly the past few years, so I divided and replanted them spaced apart ... this area between the path and the tree is shady and perfect for them. I was

 excited to see how many I have now.

I edged the front side of the path with salmon and white impatiens:

And planted pink-and-white multicolor ones at the bottom of the garden.

Next up, I'm planting lillies of the valley and delphinium!

......

The Tree House Garden|Part One

Not long ago, my Tree House Garden (although whatever existed of a treehouse in that old maple no longer abides among the living) looked like this.

This, this is what happens when you go to college, and then get a job. It is not all it's cracked up to be.

Please, ignore the big blue water trough in the background that serves as our swimming pool in summer. I had not the motivation to move it.

......

Then, it looked like this:

......

And then, I transplanted the lemon verbena, and it looked like this.

Please note that at this stage the watering tank is picking up and accentuating the blue of the forget-me-nots which are in liberal supply. Therefore it can now be considered an artistic addition.

And then I planted Impatiens ....

More pictures after I get out to water my plants in the morning and have a moment to take them!

......

'When God vetoes our projects...'

  This is so good.

As the saying goes, we can’t really break God’s law; we can only break ourselves against it. But we shouldn’t resent that fact; we should be grateful for it. Anytime our actions are antithetical to God’s purposes, the sooner we find out about that, the better off we’ll be. When God frustrates our plans and vetoes our projects, He is not merely saying, “No, you can’t go that way.” He’s also saying, “Look over here. Here’s a better way.” Our prayer should be that He will bring to nothing, as soon as possible, any course of action on our part that is inconsistent with His plan for this world. And we ought never to be more grateful than when He has defeated the foolish little kingdoms that we set up in defiance of His.

Gary Henry, Reaching Forward: May 26th

......

Saturday Morning Thoughts on Psalm 37|Bible Reading

.......

The steps of a man are established by the LORD,

And He delights in his way.

When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,

Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.

I have been young and now I am old, 

Yet  I have not seen the righteous forsaken

Or his descendants begging bread.

All day long he is gracious and lends,

And his descendants are a blessing.

1) God delights in my way. He takes joy in me walking worthily before Him. I have the power to give joy to God because of the power Jesus Christ has to make me sinless ... that's almost paradoxical in scope!

2) The security that comes from knowing that, though it's a given that I will fall, I have the Most High, the God of Heaven holding my hand. MINE. And because of that I will ALWAYS be able to get back up and keep going.

3) No matter what happens to me ... I am taken care of as long as I am one with Christ. Period.

4) Is my relationship with God such that I can be called Righteous ... such that I will be able to pass my faith on to my children ... such that they will be a blessing to future generations? There's a LOT that goes into making good on the statement ... "his descendants are a blessing." What a legacy -- what a responsibility!

.......

Have a good weekend!

Happy Friday|What I've been listening to this week!

Your listening recommendations for today are ... 

1) The Three Elizabeths Suite by Eric Coates! It's lovely, all 17 minutes of it.

Also, Eric Coates was apparently well liked by by another wonderful English composer, Edward Elgar. I love Elgar and have for a long time, but I didn't know he had a connection with Coates until after I decided that I liked Coates! Fun stuff.

......

2) Invitation to the Dance, by Carl Maria von Weber -- this is the orchestral arrangement by Hector Berlioz, although the original piano version by Weber is lovely too and contains some AMAZING handwork. Would be really fun piece to work on.

......

HAPPY FRIDAY! :)

My Times are In His Hands!

......

Today I lifted the page on the Psalm calendar and laughed when I saw what was written there:

My times are in Your hand.

I was fighting a positivity battle this morning about going back to work tomorrow after a week off -- back to the ongoing workplace drama and and frustration within the office, partly resulting from some poor staffing choices. I know that compared with the work issues of many people, my problems are SO minimal and I know I'm blessed to have my job! But I was still dreading the return to work, and hating the fact that I was dreading it. Enter Psalm 31:14-18: 

But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord,

I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in Your hand;

Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.

Make Your face to shine upon Your servant;

Save me in Your lovingkindness.

Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call upon You;

Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.

Let the lying lips be mute,

Which speak arrogantly against the righteous

With pride and contempt.

What a gracious God -- to give us words of encouragement and solace for Every Single Situation in life, even if it's the comparatively tiny problems of silly old me. I am so, so grateful that my times truly are in His hands. That gentle reminder allowed me to rejoice and be encouraged, and if you are having a tough day, I hope it encourages you, too!

So. I shall head off to the office tomorrow morning and conquer the world -- one appointment, one patient, and one bit of drama at a time. ;o) Have a marvelous week!

Note: There is also a time to take bacon out of the pan, that is if you don’t want it burnt. Only I neglected to remember that while typing this. O_o

......

 (Tulips are always a cheerful influence!)

On Genuineness and Well-Placed Confidence

......

In most one-shot or short-lived human interactions, you can use the Personality Ethic to get by and to make favorable impressions through charm and skill and pretending to be interested in other people's hobbies. But eventually, if there isn't deep integrity and fundamental character strength, the challenges of life will cause true motives to surface and human relationship failure will replace short-term success.

~Stephen R. Covey

......

If our hearts have not come to rest in God, we will search in vain for any other place that is safe. Our Creator is the only personal being who can be counted on unreservedly. We may commit ourselves to Him without fear, there being no possibility that He will ever betray us or fail to keep His commitments ... we shouldn't expect of others what God alone is able to deliver. Only God can be a perfect source of confidence, and it's sinful on our part to try to make anyone else fill the role that He alone was meant to fill.

~ Gary Henry, Reaching Forward, March 31

......