after a storm and other fancies

What would any respectable  summer be that failed to send those brief storms that stir up the rumble of thunder, the intensity of lightening, and the spate of pouring rain and then just disappears as a contented guest? But immediately following the storm there exits a strong pull to step outside to seek for rainbows and to splash in the rapidly flowing puddles. It is for those things I look for, observe and cling to when the storms of  unpredictable things rage elsewhere in our world.

"Let not your heart be trouble, neither be afraid....

A collage of  random photos were recently found on my camera, fancies that make the little things, the simple things of a beautifully created world.

"Let all that has breath praise His holy name!"

I certainly wished I had taken a photo of the pair of mockingbirds swooping to chase the garter snake away; the tenacity of that pair of birds speaks to my heart of guarding myself.

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

I choose to believe the LORD sends a special treat to me in early June year after year. Again on a morning walk this terrapin was waiting for me to notice him as he crossed the street along my path. I gently scooped him up and carried him home for all of us to enjoy for a brief spell before he was released into my flower garden, amongst the tall monada and hyssop.

African violets are extremely easy to root, but one must have patience because they also grow slowly. A sewing friend stopped by my house back in late winter and handed me an assortment of African violet leaves. She assured me that in those grouping of plucked leaves were all colors and varieties of violets. I  recently repotted some of the more flourishing ones and I am very pleased with their growth. I will patiently wait for future surprises.

"But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Johnny jump-up flowers in my salad, which I found out many do not fancy, but I do!

And there are those fancies that slip our mind for a spell, which certainly was the case with the  flower press we made several years ago. These particular flowers and leaves were pressed and forgotten until recently. I happened to recognize the press resting high on a cupboard in my sewing room. This has given me motivation to start my own herbarium after reading about the one Emily Dickinson kept.

"Have you made an herbarium yet? I hope you will if you have not, it would be such a treasure to you." 

                                     What are some of the fancies you are enjoying in these stormy times?

June Yarn Along

I am not knitting anything new these days. But I am spending time in the gardens absorbed in happy industry and calm puttering, spending time walking, spending time praying, and spending time reading good books.  When one considers the extremely concerning turmoil of these present times, the fact that I was able to don the heavy woolen knitted shawl one recent morning because of the chilly temperatures to the sudden calescent temperatures of these past two days is nothing surprising. The  blocking of this shawl was a booger, because of its length and weight. I decided to use my guest bathroom for blocking it and it took several weeks due to the smaller space. But finally it was blocked and packed away into the cedar chest, until it was cheerfully unleashed  earlier this week for soothing warmth.

I do appreciate Ginny with her monthly yarn alongs providing a safe place for us to share our knitting projects and current reading materials. I had been looking forward to reading this child's novel since I chose it for my 2020 Reading Challenge. You might recognize the author's name as the author of Heidi. I found this treasure at a library book sale some time ago, its pages yellowed and worn with age, but you can not fail to note the quality in its original form; the story of Cornelli  has a semblance to Heidi, so how could it not be an enjoyable read?