lunch

without any photo styling whatsoever, here is what lunch on the new "i will kill it or it will kill me" diet looks like.

i hate to admit it's kind of pretty!

sure, it may not taste like a whopper and fries, but then again, i do think it is actually more aesthetically pleasing. all i need is some orange bell peppers, and it would match karen's coffee tables perfectly.

:)

sequin Sunday

yesterday was a test in perseverance for me.

i actually spent the WHOLE DAY with a ten year old.

and the really funny news is, i did not perish!

he he.

actually, it was quite a blessing. i got to take my "mentee" J for the day, while her mom was at work. j has been plotting for quite some time to work her way deeper into my life, and it looks like her wishes are being granted.

Lord help me.

no, i'm serious. as a 44 year old single woman, i really DO need the Lord's guidance for this matter! what should we DO together? why is it all the good stuff (ie EASY) is related to worldy things?

yesterday we went to church, which was fun. before i knew it, j was raising her hands just like all the other crazies at the church i go to, and singing along. i am pleased that she actually spoke the powerful name of Jesus aloud, i am excited to see Him come into her more and more.

if it had ended there, all would be well.

but unfortunately, after church and lunch together, i TOOK HER TO THE MALL.

see, she wanted to shoe shop. she had $20 of her birthday money in hand, and a real hunger to spend...i'd like to say that i couldn't relate to such a hunger, but alas, you guys all know the truth about THAT.

anyway, the mall. let me tell you, the stuff for preteens out there is downright scarey. spaghetti straps and leopard prints, and tight tight stuff, and $30 tshirts are far too plenty.

in the end, she saved her money on the shoes (i talked her into liking the ones she had on for now) but blew it by buying her a sequined purse. apparently, every fashionable ten year old has one :)

i have to admit, it was kind of shiny and fetching. doh.
like i said, i'm gonna need some help with this.

gardens are for sharing

at least that's what this little guy told me.

:)

bowled over

i decided just to harvest my whole radish crop this morning, and i'm pretty happy with the results. these are part of the organic seeds i ordered in january, and they came out fat and round and red, and none of them got "woody" which i remember my grandma talking about.

the best part of this is, well there are two best parts.

1) thankfully radishes are allowed on the "kill everything in your system" restrictive diet i'm on, and

2) now i have some valuable real estate cleared up to plant something else! i'm thinking more lettuce, and some garlic before it gets too hot.

and PRAISE BE TO HIM i found a recipe on the internet for "radish salad" (see granola girl blog at right) that I CAN ACTUALLY EAT! woo hoo.

sometimes the best things are the little things :)

happy saturday!

love around my neck

right around the time i got sick, i found my sterling cross that was a gift given to me when i was baptized. i put it on, and have not taken it off as i rely on the Lord when i don't feel so hot.

but today, i decided to make it even more personal. so i added my friend kristie's creation of a beautiful bead for the abundant life i am enjoying, and my very own monogrammed B silverware charm. ahhhh. i love it.

i betcha i NEVER take it off, sick or well or whatever :)

rose parade

here's my entry. just opened up overnight. unlike susan though, i only have the one bloom. better savor it while i can!

thursday thoughts

Things are really starting to come alive here on the Back Forty.

the perennials are beginning their blooms (why do all the blue things bloom at once?), the tomatoes are just absolutely going BONKERS, and they seem to be enjoying their new red support posts, and even better,

apparently i have my ducks in a row too. this is how i found them this morning. must be a big duck race coming up that i was unaware of. i'm for the pink one.

:) happy day.

as the weather gets warmer again

it's so hard to get comfortable!

i will not be defeated

so, still struggling with the health probs.

last week, it came to my attention that i may have a MORTAL enemy that i was not even aware of. and yes, i have to admit he's been somebody i thought was my friend.

meet evil mr. yeast.

he gets into your system after you've been sick, or if you've been on antibiotics, and he multiplies. and multiplies. and starts to mess things up.

oh. and he hangs around and gets even MORE unruly when he's accompanied by his two best friends, mr. mold and mr. sugar.

it seems that the three of them have been wreaking havoc with me for too long. so in the words of that famous Christian chuck norris: "Violence is my last option." i guess it's time for me to fight back.

unfortunately, fighting back means letting go. letting go of cheesecake and wine (mold), vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate chips straight from the bag (sugar, duh), and of course my old standbys bread, muffins, bagels, dough of any sort, and all things good.

it's tough to play hardball, but somebody has to do it.

2 peas

sometimes in life, you just have the greatest fortune in unexpected places. it's like that for me with my new friend kristie.

see, i've known her (somewhat) for forever, but there are things i just didn't know. as i find out more about her, i really just feel happy that we are getting to be friends. it's great to have somebody who loves christian music as much as me, and is willing to be my concert buddy, for instance!

when we shop, however, there is some danger involved.

we are like two peas in a pod. saturday we went to hobby lobby, and hysteria ensued. we were going to "look" for an item for a craft idea we have, but once we got a good whiff of crafts wafting in the air, we both started to exhibit strikingly similar symptoms!

case in point, we bought stuff. both of us. remarkably, many of the items we purchased were THE EXACT SAME THING. take this gorgeous yellow and orange platter that we found in the clearance aisle for 66% off!!!!!!! only 2 remaining! aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! we each got one, with the thought that it would be a good birdbath. i already have 3 birdbaths, but heck, i have a lot of dirty birds, too.

so, here's what i did with it. i found a plant stand yesterday at kmart for $12 bucks, and with a little help from my dad, i think it will work for a base.

i will not be at all surprised if i find out she got the exact same stand and had her dad help her make HER birdbath yesterday :)

i grew this!

organic, orshmanic.

i won't have to pay 3 bucks a bag for lettuce for a while now.
going to order some "heat resistant" lettuce also today, so that i can try to grow it in the summer, although i am still doubting that somewhat.

Lord, this is fun.

who goes there?

you better watch out, i've got extra help guarding the house now.

two steps forward

take a look at this. 4 cabbages purchased on same day, in same pot, all looking somewhat alike, planted in same ground, getting same sun and same rain and same love. what the? well, at least i'll have ONE red cabbage by summers end!


or not.


by the grace of God, i will be having salad by the end of this week however.


tell me, HOW do these climbers KNOW which direction to climb? seriously, it boggles my mind. not one of them is indecisive. they all head right for the closest upward path. oh. if only i were THAT SMART.


and finally the piece de resistance (yeah, i had to look up how to spell that), tomato blossoms to behold. yuuuuuuuummm, worth the wait for sure.

schwew.

well, went to the doc today. i had a big ole list of symptoms, a week's worth of praying and time spent with the Lord (quite good on many levels for me :)) and a decision to seek medical help before i did anything else. even though, really, the symptoms went away pretty much yesterday.

i don't have a GP, but as luck would have it, a guy that i have done not one but TWO 10-week bible studies with is a doc. funny, i never thought of going to him before this latest deal.

anyway, i woke up yesterday feeling better and so this morning i was starting to back out of calling. i like to do that. procrastination is really what brought me to this point in the first place. i decided to "call in the afternoon" which are codewords for "get too busy and put it off til the next time i'm sick."

until i figured out the meeting i had scheduled for this morning was basically in the parking lot of the clinic where this doc practices. hmmmm. oh yeah, and the client told me the wrong time for the meeting, so i was over there a half hour early. hmmmmm. and so when i timidly went in and asked for an appointment, imagine my surprise when HE ACTUALLY HAD AN OPENING TODAY. hmmmmmmmmmmm.

anyway, long story short. they are going to do a few tests. so i don't know anything yet for sure. but after chatting (almost a 2 hour appointment?!) with dr. k. for a long time, he says i need to treat my body better, exercise, eat right and not stress out over any little thing.

seems like someone else told me that last week.

:)

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7

color fix

finally. finally. finally.
starting to get some of that color that i have been jonesing for. ahhhhh. want....more....

;0

is it my birthday?

i woke up this morning with an unexpected surprise. somewhere in the last couple days i got a present, a REALLY big one.

i have been given the GIFT of faith.

from God, who gives such things to us.

i'll elaborate a little bit here. i kind of mentioned a health issue i am facing, the reality is that it has been around for a couple of years. just not as bad as it is now. and the circumstances aren't exactly great, because i somehow let my insurance lapse. yeah, procrastination costs you.

the really GOOD news, is that God has stepped into my situation, regardless of my mistakes. He has told me that BY FAITH i will be healed. Wanna know how he did it?

Well on Sunday (before i was feeling too sick) he gave me an "image" in my head. it was of me, kneeling on the ground, touching the hem or edge of his robe, as He passed by me. i have always LOVED this image. even before now, this IS how i imagined myself with God. not making a big deal about being there with Him, because i don't want Him to think i'm weird, but just HAVING to touch Him. i'm a toucher. He knows that.

so anyway, back to the story. As it goes, i did get quite a flareup and scare with this health issue starting on tuesday. and in the time between the sun porch on sunday and today, FOUR other people besides myself have felt in their Spirit that God had luke 8:43 to say to me. it goes like this:

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

"Who touched me?" Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."

But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."

Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."

what is extraordinary to me, is that when this began a couple of days ago i did NOT possess the faith to reach out and believe He would heal me. but now, i believe he has GIVEN me that faith!! crazy!

and no, i am not totally better. i don't know if i'll have to take a pill, or change my diet or just wake up tomorrow and it will be gone. doesn't matter. i AM healed, and i it came from GOD. and no matter what it takes to get from here to there, He has given me a present that i have SO been longing for. i believe Him.

for karen.

yes, this "goes."

speaking of, have you seen the latest pottery barn catalogue?

contains A LOT of that color palette :)) we may need to talk about 'pattern' next. and you can ask carey about texture! he he.

b

whattya think part two?

she is decidedly a girl, and considerably smaller in size than ernie, so i was thinking i could name her minnie driver?

minnie and mabel and siesta and me.
and phillip.

i think he is getting outnumbered.

rain, rain, come on over!

i wish that the torrential rains from a few weeks ago were spread out a little bit. right now, these little babies could use a drink or two.

um, yes, i do plant seeds a little close together. that's SEVENTEEN packets of seed in about a 20 foot row.

and unfortunately, i cannot BEAR to pull any of them out!

:)

whattya think?

i am pretty sad about the fact that gas is going thru the roof right now. it means my dreams of a new shiny SUV are dying fast.

then today, i was hunting and saw THIS little mini suv/car thingey. almost 30 miles to the gallon!

YES?

it's orange and has a sunroof, that's all i'm saying.