spring – Page 6 – Skelton Sketches

Anticipation

Posted on May 22, 2013April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

Much of the joy of spring is in the anticipation that sprouting things bring…

Life springs up everywhere bringing hope of great beauty and fruitfulness to come..

strawberries!

plums…

apples…

…a pair of pears

and of course, cherries…

It is a time too of watching for the ‘foxes’ that can spoil the vineyard just when it is in fullest bloom. Stealthy deer munch unseen on tender cherry leaves. Caterpillars creep with devastating steadiness. Slugs search out emerging seedlings. Grass threatens to choke out the strawberry patch…

There is great hope and great hazard in the springtime, but flowers dance and birds sing blissfully unconcerned… even while the gardener makes her rounds to secure their well-being…

This is the delight of spring—this confident anticipation of good things to come.

–LS

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God….And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies…” Rom.8:19-23

‘And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body…’ I Cor.15:37-8

“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” I Cor.15:49

Starting with Seeds…

Posted on April 18, 2013April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth…” Gen.1:29

[Maple tree in bloom]

And that’s how this cherry tree came to be all on its own in my flower garden (and former compost pile!):

Then there is horsetail with its spores and incorrigible rhizomes ever spreading and sprouting… But this is an exotic specimen, don’t you think?!

Speaking of seeds… it’s that time again (even a little late?!), to get the tomato seeds planted, but first for the pots. I discovered this super simple, no frills, no saving/storing/cleaning pots method:

Got Newspaper?

Choose the size and shape of your pot from any old jar or can. I chose a cute square jar this year. I love it that it never rolls away while I’m working with it!

Now roll it up in a lengthwise sheet of paper folded in on the long edges to fit your jar, with an inch or two to spare at the bottom…

Secure it with tape.

Upend your jar/can and fold in the bottom ends…

And Voila!

Your very own pot for starting seeds!

Huddle your clever pots in a waterproof container. Add potting soil and seeds. Label with permanent marker and water liberally from the bottom…And one day there will be seedlings ready for transplanting out of these compostable pots. Works like a charm. No pots to clean. No muss, and just a little fun fuss.

Meanwhile, I love the plants that just pop up and bloom unannounced when their time to shine comes—among the first to brave the chill of spring—forget-me-nots and yellow alyssum.

And that’s what’s happening at my house!

–LS

They smell?

Posted on March 14, 2013April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

I learned something new this week—snowdrops have a scent. It’s not easy to notice. They hover just inches from the ground tucked under the branches of our currant bush…but a friend said they smell, so I went straightway out and selected a blossom to sample.

And what do you know?! They have the freshest, lightest scent of spring, of green things rising, of promise that winter’s spell is broken…

And so we wait….

through days of rain and some of sun…

And I find that though I thought I’d whipped winter this year—not gotten sick, not succumbed to the blues, not even paid much heed to wind or weather… that just maybe the hardest part of winter is the part just before spring truly comes. Hopes are stirred by the odd sunny day. Expectations rise. And suddenly it’s hard to wait after all and maybe I am a little glum….

That’s when every little whiff of spring helps—

“For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience…”

“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy…” Col.1:11

And maybe this old hymn will hit the spot for you as it has for me this week:

Joyful, joyful we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love,
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee,
Opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day.
–Henry Van Dyke

–LS