Comforts of Grace

Gardening Updates ...  On May 27th, in a narrow 7' x 17' spot on the sunny, south side of our garage, I planted 30 potato sprouts from saved potatoes we harvested last September.  I also planted 40 sweet corn seeds (of which only 15 plants sprouted days later).  Two weeks later, I planted an additional 100 sweet corn seeds (after soaking them for 8 hours in water, per internet research, for better sprouting success). Nearly all 100 seeds sprouted much to my surprise and unplanned thinning dilemma.  May 27, 2022 ~ Planting potatoes and sweet corn. As of July 31st, the sweet corn crop has surpassed the "knee high by the Fourth of July" marker.  The first 15 seeds/plants in the back have already tasseled and corn ears with silk have begun forming.  The second planting two weeks later are just starting to tassel.   The potatoes in front are doing very well too as are the 30 additional potato plants in Chris's garden in the back yard.  I accidently uprooted a cute, li

Knock Out Roses called "Bubblegum" Karl Rosenfield peony The light pink peonies are very special and smell wonderful ... much like heaven smells, I imagine.  These frilly beauties are grown from a plant that first belonged to Chris's Grandma Wright.  Chris remembers, as a little boy during the 1960's, his grandma's beautiful, huge flower gardens which she was known for in her small town in central Indiana.  I, too, had the privilege of knowing Grandma Wright and visiting her beautiful gardens when Chris and I began dating in 1979.   A Godly woman and the mother of nine (four of whom became pastors), she affectionately hugged me during our first introduction, like only grandma's do.  She was the only person who has ever called me Sherrie.  From her loving example, I love to give away "Grandma Hugs" during every new introduction in our family. Back to the peonies... Chris's mom brought a grandma peony start to her garden here in northern Indiana ma

April showers bring May flowers ...  well, they actually brought them in April this year and they lasted through early May.   The squirrels have long-ago dug up the pretty, red tulips that I planted over ten years ago, but they tend to leave the daffs alone.  Next month, we'll enjoy the peony and rose displays. I delight in all signs of spring.  As Chris and I enjoy conversations and observe nature from one of our favorite rooms in the house ...  the screen room ... I made my yearly confession of how spring is my favorite season (with fall following closely in second place).  Spring just radiates fresh, new life.  Brilliant colors of green, yellow, red and pink repaint the dark, gray, slumbering landscape of our LONG Indiana winters. The first week of May, Chris mowed the yard for the first time and tilled the two vegetable gardens.  Our undesirable zoya grass always stays brown far longer than the neighbors without zoya.   We can thank previous neighbors (from many years ago) for

This month, the Ram Fam finally celebrated Christmas 2021 and combined it with Easter 2022.  I hope it is the first and only such holiday combination in the future because the reasons behind the delayed/combination were, well, quite frightening at the start and varied as the months continued. The week of Christmas, one of our adult chicks, Taylor, announced he tested positive for Covid.  So we put our Christmas gathering on pause until we knew it could be safely rescheduled for a time when all six families of our flock could be together.   Unfortunately, our strong, healthy chick didn't catch a mild case of Covid.  As the days wore on, he progressively got worse.  While he wasn't hospitalized, thank the Lord, it was a day-by-day uncertainty during his three weeks off work.  His full-strength recovery took an additional several weeks, but he was back to his ornery self again by late January, after many days of prayer and healing blessings from God. Rescheduling Christmas was cha

 A familiar, uneasy feeling of fear began taunting my thoughts as I sat in my chair listening to the first guest speaker at a local women's conference.   "Oh no," I thought, "not you again, fear.  What have I gotten myself into with my attendance here?"   The conference advertisement had piqued my interest with a schedule of testimonies from ordinary women who found healing in their deepest trials.  I could relate with the generic marketing statement and when a good friend suggested we attend together, I did not hesitate and signed up immediately.  I really hadn't thought about what I expected to gain from the conference held at a local church.  I mainly wanted to show support to a first-time conference presenter with my attendance.  She has a wonderful, growing women's ministry and I was so happy for her courageous new conference steps.  I awaited a day filled with His guidance, His comfort, His protection, His provisions, His healing, you know, the goo