Rain, God and People, a Poem

Rain drop
Originally uploaded by play4smee

Dear Friends Around the World, I have been thinking about Hurricane Irene and all the flooding going on now in areas including Vermont, and hoping all of you are well.
Here is a poem about the gentler side of rain that makes my soul sing; we gardeners know how precious rain is, in the right amounts and time, and I love the last stanza.
Terra 
I Saw God Wash the World

I saw God wash the world last night
With his sweet showers on high,
And then, when morning came, I saw
Him hang it up to dry.

He washed each tiny blade of grass
And every trembling tree;
He flung his showers against the hill,
And swept the billowing sea.

The white rose is a cleaner white,
The red rose is more red,
Since God washed every fragrant face
And put them all to bed.

There’s not a bird; there’s not a bee
That wings along the way
But is a cleaner bird and bee
Than it was yesterday.

I saw God wash the world last night,
Ah, would He had washed me
As clean of all my dust and dirt
As that old white birch tree.

By William L. Stidger

Ah, my second harvest of the potatoes produced by one small seed potato.

There are eleven little beauties here, from one seed potato that I planted in the ground. The seed potatoes I bought are Yellow Finn heirloom organic. The first meal I fixed with them I sliced them thickly, chopped one clove of garlic, and sauteed them in olive oil. Delicioso, I must say.
I still have the 3 plants to harvest that I planted in the five gallon pail.
Here is a nice quote:
For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I am so jazzed about growing potatoes that I will soon plant a fall crop, which we can do here in zone 8.

Vibrant Orange and Red Cannas

A neighbor offered my husband and I some cannas that he was digging up and dividing and we said yes please. This is the first time we have grown cannas, and it is their third year here at our house.

The only sunny spot we could find was along our alley, next to the neighbor's ice plant. The cannas he gave us have flowers on four foot spikes, with some plants' flowers brilliant orange and other's bright red. Cannas are not frost hardy but do fine in my zone 8 garden. If you live in zones 1 to 3 you need to lift and store the roots over winter. Cannas prefer moist soil but never waterlogged, and always well drained. They do well in a container and are to be enjoyed in the garden as they are not great cut flowers.

 These plants have a tropic flair to them, and a few months ago for variety I bought two Lucifer rhizomes with flowers that are red edged with yellow, so I look to see them bloom in future. Lucifer is a small canna that grows to 30 inches tall.  Most cannas, and all the rest of ours, grow 3 to 6 feet tall. Our cannas bloom all of June, July and August.

Finding Money

Eagles on black background
Originally uploaded by portableantiquities
Do you check the websites that list money that is due to people? This is unclaimed money and could be money owed to you by anyone or any government entity or private company or bank.


So far, I haven't found any money owed to me, but we live in hope, she said, smiling.


Two websites that seem official, and that Kim Komando the computer expert at komando.com wrote about are:

unclaimed.org

missingmoney.com


These are for people living in the USA and in parts of Canada. For my blog friends living elsewhere you may find sites for your country. It helps if your name is a bit unusual, like Dame Edna, rather than Mary Smith. Good luck hunting for treasure and let me know if you find some money please.

Pancho the Terrified Parrot

Parrot on Blue Background
Originally uploaded by richiebits

My blog friend, Elena at her My Quest blog has a charming post about her parrot and about fear and letting go. Elena was inspired to write her post about Pancho when she heard him shrieking in terror. She includes some charming sketches too.
http://elena-myquest.blogspot.com/2011/07/let-go.html
I told Elena that interestingly, yesterday I got a phone call from the woman who is matching me up as  a volunteer visitor with a homebound senior citizen, for me to visit and to cheer her up. The first question to me was "are you allergic to birds?". I said "no", and it turns out the lady has a parrot.
The parrot loves to chatter when visitors come over.
So it is a small world of parrots and of letting go. I think you will like Elena's parrot post.

Dark Chocolate, Berries and Nuts

20070214 1510 hours candy
Originally uploaded by liltree

On her blog post of 2/9/11 my blog friend in Canada at "Falling off a high heeled life" mentioned her favorite super healthy foods: shellfish, strawberries and sweet potatoes. Please visit her to read her post at http://attitudeivlife.blogspot.com

I buy assorted nuts in the shell at Whole Foods for my husband and I. We also like shelled raw almonds and salted nuts in cans and we usually have nuts instead of sweets for a snack.

Prevention Magazine wrote about how Dove dark chocolate is healthy, so that is on my list too, one or two of those little squares. I have read that dark chocolate, red wine and coffee all have health benefits, but do your own research on this!

Cottage cheese with chives (or pineapple) has calcium and tastes delish.

Oh, and I love berries in addition to strawberries, like raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, and grow blackberries and blueberries so I know they are pesticide free. Our blackberry patch is so large that we let the birds eat most of the berries. We enjoy when the berries have their white flowers and are visited by bees, who hum as they work and when the berries are ready we like to go out in the morning and pick berries to have with cereal.

Because all berries are so packed with health benefits I go ahead and buy them, even if they are a little pricey. I buy raspberries and eat them right out of the container.

Popcorn with our air popped popcorn maker is a fun and healthy snack, lacks the weird chemicals of many of the microwaved popcorns, and its cost is very low.

What are your favorite healthy and delicious foods?

Bastille Day Fireworks

Bastille Day Fireworks
Originally uploaded by billerickson

Happy Bastille Day to everyone in France and especially to my blog friends who live in France.
My husband and I were there to celebrate Bastille Day in Paris, years ago.