Time Spent In The Garden

When the sun rises, I go to work.
When the sun goes down I take my rest,
I dig the well from which I drink,
I farm the soil which yields my food,
I share creation, Kings can do no more.
- Chinese Proverb, 2500 B.C.

Lillies of The Valley and Sunday Meme

Happy Sabbath, Sweet Friends!

I have been out of touch for awhile. Both my children have been fighting the flu and it has taken all my time and energy running between the two. My daughter is much better, but my son has taken ill again, this time worse than before, and so I am mothering overtime and have been unable to blog or visit blogs for awhile.

Having said that, I have a small period of quiet time and thought that I would share some pictures of my garden. The Lillies of the Valley are out in force. They are such delicate flowers. They remind me of my mother, because while I was still living in NC, I once gave my mother a small pot of them for Mother's Day.

These sweet flowers also remind me of a song my sister and I use to sing when we were children. It goes:


"White, coral bells upon a slender stalk,
Lillies of the Valley deck my garden walk.
Oh, how I wish that you could hear them ring.
That will happen only when the fairies sing."

We would sing this in a "round", while swinging on our backyard swingset.

Such lovely memories, all of them. And I leave them with you today, along with my wishes for you to have a wonderful Sabbath.

God bless,
Elizabeth

HERE'S A MEME TO READ FOR FUN:

A

• Are you available? For what?
• What is your age? XX
• What annoys you? Noise

B

• Do you know anyone named Billy? My cousins, Fallon and Val, have Billy for first names.
• When is your birthday? November
• Who is your best friend? I have several super close friends.

C

• What is your favorite Candy? Chocolate caramels
• Crush? Nope.
• When was the last time that you cried? I don't cry much, but after an upsetting dream.

D

• Do you daydream? Constantly.
• What is your favorite dog? Golden Retriever
• What day of the week is it? Sunday

E

• How do you like your eggs? Omelettes and poached.
• Have you ever been in the emergency room? Unfortunately, yes.
• Have you ever petted an elephant? Yes.

F

• Do you use fly swatters? I prefer persuasion.
• Have you ever used a foghorn? No.
• Do you have a fan in your room? No.

G

• Do you chew gum? Occasionally.
• Do you like gummy candies? Not really.
• Do you like gory movies? Rarely.

H

• How are you? Plugging along...
• What is your height? 5'3"
• What color is your hair? I say dark-blonde, but it's really light brown.

I

• What's your favorite ice cream? Chocolate chunk.
• Have you ever been ice skating? Yes.l
• Ever been in an igloo? NO!

J

• What's your favorite jelly bean? Licorice.
• Have you ever heard a hilarious joke? Yes. Favorite joke: "What's the last thing that passes through a fly's mind when he hits your windshield?....His fanny!"
• Do you wear jewelry? Earrings, mostly.

K

• Who do you want to kill? Mosquitoes.
• Have you ever flown a kite? Badly.
• Do you think kangaroos are cute? To other kangaroos.

L

• Are you laid back? Half of the time.
• Lions or tigers? Lions
• Do you like black licorice? Love it!

M

• Favorite movie as a kid? Mary Poppins and The Wizard of Oz
• Ever shopped at Moosejaw? What?!
• Favorite shop at the mall? Don't like the mall.

N

• What is your nickname? Beth (don't call me that!)
• What's your favorite number? 15 and 17.
• Do you prefer night or day? Day

O

• What's your one wish? For HEALTH INSURANCE
• Are you an only child? Nope.
• Do you like the color orange? Uh, no, but my son gave me an orange mug for Christmas and I LOVE anything he gives me!

P

• What are you most paranoid about? Being an idiot.
• Piercings? One set for earrings.
• Do you know anyone named Penelope? An old friend's basset hound.

Q

• Are you quick to judge people? No.
• Do you like Quaker Oats? Just plain quick oats.
• Know anyone who makes quilts? Sue!

R

• Do you think you are always right? Except when I'm wrong.
• Do you watch reality TV? Dancing With The Stars!
• Reason to cry? The loss of loved ones.

S

• Do prefer sun or rain? Sun!
• Do you like snow? Yes.
• What's your favorite season? Spring and Fall.

T

• Time is it? 2:15 p.m.
• What time did you wake up? 10:00 a.m.

U

• Can you ride a unicycle? No!
• Do you know anyone with a uni-brow? NO!!
• Uncles do you have? Three still living.

V

• What's the worst vegetable? Brussel sprouts!
• Ever watch Veggie Tales? Oh, yes!!
• Ever considered being a vegan? Yes.

W

• What's your worst habit? Picking my cuticles - yuk.
• Do you like water rides? Yes.
• Ever been inside a windmill? No.

X

• Have you ever had an x-ray? I glow in the dark.
• Ever xeroxed anything? Yes.

Y

• Do you like the color yellow? Yes, very much.
• What year were you born in? 1957
• Do you yell when you are angry? yes

Z

• Do you believe in the Zodiac? No.
• What is your zodiac sign? Scorpio.
• When was the last time you went to the zoo? Last year.

To participate, click HERE.

Drip System

Hello, wonderful friends!
Today, I want to show you my homemade drip system. I learned how to do this from the Internet and then gave it a try. It works!

Store-bought drip systems can be expensive and time intensive to set up. This method is inexpensive - all one needs is recycled milk jugs (or even kitty litter jugs for big watering jobs!) and it only takes a few minutes to put into place. Using this system also helps protect against water born problems that can be introduced to your vegetable plants by overhead watering. This is an ideal system for drought stricken areas, plus it saves on one's water bill big time!

All you need to start is an empty milk jug and a kitchen paring knife. Turn the jug upside down and begin working a small hole in the bottom, right about here...

Be very careful to make this hole slowly, because it is easy to make too big of a hole. You want just enough of an opening to allow for a steady drip of water, not a stream. Too small of a hole will become easily clogged up and won't work. I went through a couple of milk jugs before I got this part down right.

Then, you just fill with water, nestle the jug up against the plant stem and let it do it's job!

I mainly do this for my veggie garden and for my flowering plants in the backyard. I am aware that milk jugs in the front yard might impress my neighbors too much. :)

Take care and have a great day! Elizabeth