GARDENING – Page 14 – Skelton Sketches

All Glorious!

Posted on June 27, 2012April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

O worship the King, all glorious above,

O gratefully sing His power and His love;

Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,

Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.

O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,

Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.

His chariots of wrath the deep thunder clouds form,

And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?

It breathes in the air, it shines in the light,

It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,

And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,

In thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;

Thy mercies how tender! how firm to the end!

Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend.

[O Worship the King, from Ps.104, Robert Grant, c.1779-1838]

—Just have this song singing through my head today. So much enjoying the coming of summer with that fresh summer day smell and berries for the picking in the garden. Delightful!

–LS

Chasing Bumblebees…

Posted on May 23, 2012April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

Just in from chasing bumblebees in the garden… a fine pastime for a sunny spring day, while the sun plays peek-a-boo with encroaching clouds–some fluffy white, some frowning gray…

The eider down of dandelions-past-their-prime, now reseeding for future generations, is upstaged by the glow of buttercup faces…But the real draw is the overwintered kale now gone to seed, the garden’s first brightness in spring.

The peas are peeking out; potatoes are eyeing sunshine from their dark furrows. The comfrey’s come back with all the power of a mighty weed.

How did I think I would let this season go, for a change, and not do any gardening? Sheer nonsense. I can’t keep myself out of the beds—searching for emerging seedlings, planted and otherwise…on the lookout for new life, excited by the growth that comes once my precious seeds are committed to the dead earth…

It’s hard to let them go. What if they don’t germinate and grow? All will be lost. There’s no instant manufacturing of more seed, only a long season of growth and fruitfulness and maturity. And then the gathering and the storing and the patient waiting for spring. Once in the seed packets, nicely labeled, the seed is mine—holding all the potential of a flourishing garden of veggies and blooms. But it ‘abides alone’, useless really, (no matter how lovely the packaging), if I fail to take the plunge and commit my precious seeds to the ground….

The painful part is passing now. Most of my seeds are planted and hopeful I ramble through the yard bending to see the first shoots, and finding the rewards here and there and the springing hope of summer’s bounty and autumn’s harvest…Yes, it’s a fine day for chasing bumblebees in the garden…

And so glad I am for the plants that reliably spring out of hibernation every spring, mature and ready to bloom where they’ve been planted in bygone years… They brighten my hopes for the rest yet to come!

Wishing you a happy ramble with the bumblebees, rejoicing in the hope of springtime…

–LS

“He that goes forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him.” Ps.126:6

“…unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone…” Jn.12:24

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For a close-up of some of my precious seeds, go here.

Stop and see…

Posted on May 4, 2012April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

We are blessed to live in such a place… was out walking (and praying) with a few gals on the weekend marveling that living here is like living in a National Park, only without the signs and the tourists! Any day of the year you can tromp off into the ‘bush’ with no admission fee, and wend your way down endless trails through cedar, hemlock and fir forests glowing chartreuse green with moss on all sides.

But walking isn’t everybody’s favorite pastime… some prefer pedaling. And for this we have a tandem so we can share the experience and the work load ( ; Had a happy easy ride for a change on an antique tandem given to us recently by a friend . We’re good on this one as long as there are no hills! (It has no functional gears) Great for the seaside…

(and no seaside tour is complete without a stroll on the dock and a pic of a stalwart tugboat…)