Baby steps...

We got over two inches of rain yesterday, so the ground is still far too muddy to be working on the steps; but I had to make a little progress. Ali and I spent about two hours trying to edge the patio while walking around with ten pounds of mud stuck to our shoes! A lot of mud washed down onto the patio and had to be shoveled off. I should have taken a 'before' shot the way it looked when we started today.


The first shot below is from last week, and shows how the ground is up to (actually a little above) the patio level. Ali dug a trench on the right side to hold landscaping timbers as a border to the new shade garden we put in last week. To the left side, the mud had washed down about three inches deep next to the post. That's the area we concentrated our effort on today.

Ali shoveled the mud off the patio (again), while I dug out along the edge with a hoe. We filled the wheel barrow to the brim with mud! Yuck! It probably took three times longer than it would have if it was dry. The gooey stuff kept sticking to the tools. And us!

I found some pretty fossil rocks to place along the edge. Then Ali helped me pick out the perfect stepping stones to lead off the patio toward our fire pit. I think the rocks will stop any future mud slides from reaching the patio. I'll add a couple more later to cut through the garden that will trail down and across to the front garden. I haven't decided what color to stain the concrete. I'm thinking of doing something different. Our front porch is mustard yellow and the sidewalk and steps are kind of reddish brick colored. Of course, this probably won't be until the leaves are changing! I figure it will take me all summer to finish my plan. I don't work very fast in July or August. But anyway, this is how it looks now...Since it's on the west end of the house and is covered by the upstairs balcony, it stays shady until very late in the afternoon. This will be a perfect spot for Ali to sit and read. She'll have company too, because Sadie loves lying on the cool concrete. It's going to be such a pretty little sitting area. And if I lean over the balcony railing far enough, this is what it looks like from above...
It was a good day, topped off with a trip to Wilmington's Banana Split Festival! Ali is going home tomorrow to spend the night. She'll probably be blogging about the festival when she gets back Sunday. We had a great time!

Cardboard Testimonies

I was thrilled to open an e-mail from my church just now. It had a link to the youtube broadcast of last Sunday's special service. You'll find the link at the bottom...

Everybody has a story, and usually it can be told in just a few words. That is the basis for cardboard testimonies. People write their 'before' story on one side of a piece of cardboard and their 'after' story on the other.

Hubby is in this video; He's the tall guy wearing a peach-colored golf shirt. Pastor Gumm starts out the clip with his personal testimony. It was definitely a tear-jerker for me and my prego D-i-L! Yes, everybody has a story...

I was looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. One Mr. Wrong after another. I tried washing my troubles and loniness away with booze. It didn't help. It only made me more depressed. Then one night I looked in the mirror and was so ashamed of what I saw. I dropped to my knees and prayed to Jesus. I told Him that I'd messed up my life and I needed Him to show me the way. That very moment, I suddenly felt His presence and have never felt alone since! My life changed in such a humongous way! I don't even resemble that person.

Do you have a story to share?

Cardboard Testimonies

Lazy Day Breakfast Fun

Storms hit in the wee hours and woke up the entire house! We got two inches of rain, so it's a bit too muddy to work on the project. That meant today would be a lazy day. Ali decided she wanted some farm-fresh eggs for breakfast. She likes them under-seasoned and over-cooked. YUCK! But just because they're not full of things doesn't mean they have to be plain...

I cooked her a big flat egg patty with ruffled edges. She added the face! Maybe tomorrow we'll get back to work.

Hate is getting popular.

I'm watching the national news on CBS. They just aired a story about a shooting today at the Holocaust Museum. A man that has a criminal history and is deeply involved in a hate group walked in with a rifle and fatally shot a guard. They reflected on last week's church shooting of the abortion provider.

Statistics they quoted said that hate groups numbered 600 in 2000, but now there are well over 900! And that's just the ones they know about! Let's be clear what we're talking about here... This is not just a bunch of people carrying around their own prejudices and being unkind; These are organized groups with specific action plans. Members of these groups feel so justified in their hate that they describe it as 'for the cause'. Some of these people were raised this way, carrying on the mindset of their kin. Others have been recruited into the groups.

What is it that makes a person hate a group of people so much that, without so much as an inkling of what those people are like, they wish them dead? I'm sure there are probably many that had some bad experience in their past that they blame on the ethnic or religious roots of the offender. But I wouldn't be surprised if most of them never had any personal contacts with the group they love to hate.

This news story came on right after Papaw took Ali to her church group meeting. I wondered if she had seen the story, how I would explain it to her. I'm sure at eleven she knows such groups exists, but could she possibly comprehend the reasoning?

Today's shooter? The news said there was no indication this would happen. No warning. Are you kidding me? He was a skinhead. Not just any skinhead mind you, but a convicted skinhead with a history of hate crimes. This man was old enough to have great-grandchildren bouncing on his knee. How many generations has he inflicted with his disease?

The statistic still scares me. Why the 50% increase since 2000? In an era where we can elect the first African-America President and ethnic groups blend together in main stream society, what feeds the hatred? Let's pretend the statistic referred to something else... What if there was suddenly a 50% increase in teen pregnancy? Or a 50% increase in breast cancer? Don't you think somebody would be jumping all over it, wanting to understand what's going on?

progress report

Even with shade and a breeze, the humidity was unbearable this morning. A storm was rolling in and I wanted to get the new dirt covered before it was washed away. Ali and I put down landscaping fabric to help with weeds, and then mulched the slope under the steps. Ali also used the hoe to make a little trench to anchor some landscaping timber pieces as edging. Papaw overworked on the stones so we gave him the day off. Maybe tomorrow we can get some more into place before the heat returns.

Me and the Sea

Happy Ocean Day! Did you even know it was Ocean Day? Anyway, to celebrate the occasion (to raise awareness) CrazyCris over at Here, There and Everywhere is hosting a blog-a-thon! Click this link to read contributions from all over the world: oceanic-blog-thon


Being a land-dweller far from the salty air, I mostly take for granted the ocean will always be there whenever I choose to travel to the beach. Instead of boring you statistics and details, I thought I'd share what went through my mind when Chris made me think about the ocean...

I'm more of a fresh-water girl. Sure I've splashed in the surf, Atlantic and Pacific, and felt the salt on my skin. But I've never ventured farther out than that perfect breaker for my raft, and that's been a while. I enjoy watching the educational and travel shows that explore marine life, be it animal or plant, as well as the programs that serve to warn us of the impending situation facing this magnificent liquid that covers so much of our planet. But what's it to me?



Yes, I'm concerned. Yes, I care. Truthfully? I can't relate to how big this ice shelf is that broke off. I can't relate to the loss of coral reefs or contaminated waters. I have no idea how many seals or whales populate any particular area. There is something, though, very concrete about the water that I can relate to...



Many times I have traveled to the coast and sat on the sand at night. There is no better time for me to be there. I have found myself in solitude, under the moonlight, dreaming out past the lit breakers. My worries and burdens rinse away with the sand under my feet... because I am so small. Even smaller at night. The horizon seems infinite in the sun's absence. Somewhere, far beyond any point I may strain to see, the stars and the waves merge together in total blackness. It is as if I am looking out into the vast universe with the lights turned out. It is as unimportant as a person can feel, and yet at the same time, as close to God as one can be. For me, it puts things in perspective... and that is peace.



Even in the darkness, I see the ocean as alive. It's a life force, constantly surging. And now, this hugeness, this enormous creature that sustains, is being devoured. Who or what is this demon that could cripple the most powerful force on the face of the earth?



They are the ants. Remember watching them on the picnic? Here was this huge scrap of food being carried away by this miniature army. An impossible task alone, but the army... Yes, these small, innocuous bits of life can together wreak havoc in a very large way. So what kind of ants can kill an ocean? Maybe all those small, innocuous little bits of rubbish, a few extra pounds of fish taken, a minor spill from a tanker, a slight temperature increase over a long term... The list of suspects is long and still growing. With every evil uncovered, another crisis looms undetected.

Like the ants that draw a solid line toward the watermelon, stepping on one is pointless - so why bother? Well, maybe if we first all train ourselves to recognize the sign of ants, and then you step on that one...