Today is one of those day's where I let my mind wander where it will go... so hang in here with me.
I've been doing a lot of volunteering for the park, you know, cleaning the out-skirts, trimming bushes, keeping up the empties. It keeps me busy while Wayne is away working. However today I was doing something I like to do, making steps and re-structuring a few rock walls. The major problem with this peticular job was the massive tree roots preventing me from digging down deep enough to place the up-side-down scallops.
Yes I said scallops, they make great facing for steps. The hight is perfect for elderly people, half the block buried and they don't move either. For a bit of extra, strenght two re-bar per scallop does the trick.
The wall was falling apart, you could just touch the rock beds there and they fell, so I moved it out a bit to give the tree roots some dirt to cover them. It worked out really well if I say so myself. Much to Waynes dismay, I didn't photograph the before...but I have found the pictures don't do it justice. Especially when rocks are involved. When I finish it tomorrow I will put up some after pictures. I think the afters will speak for themselves.
Well I think I wandered enough for today... Time for your Prompt tease... ROUNDEL Poetry
Hope to see you joining in too
ENJOY
JL&B
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
When I met Wayne/our garden ties us
I enjoy that I can see the growth in the love my husband and I share. It's the tender moments we share that mean so much. It may not seem all that romantic to some, but our garden is a place that I see it a lot.
Wayne didn't know much about plants when we first got together, but through the years he has learned more than just what I know. He has that guy knowledge too, I swear guys were born with tools for bones. So not only does he do his part by keeping all of our tools up and running, he also is learning more about the plants than I can teach him.
It is so fun each day to go out to our garden and see him looking to find what has bloomed or is just about to. Wayne now has the knowledge of what plants are coming up as they break ground, not so much three years ago. Today we noticed two types of tupils, hiacinths and crocus just starting to break the ground, we also noticed that the daffodills are ready to open, a wonderful early surprise. We had a hard frost a few weeks ago and it burnt some of our reblooming Iris', the few buds that made it are now open and showing their beauty. We also have prime rose in blue, red and orange blossoming, along with the white with pink center cyclamen giving us a show. The anemone bed has been giving us an array of color for the past few weeks, way earlier than the past two years.
We tried to plant the yard so we would have something blooming all year long and so far this past year has shown that we did pretty-not-bad at it. We are just wondering why everything is two months early this year.Maybe it all has to do with the new astrology sign...LOL... NAH ! That wouldn't make any sense !
Todays Prompt tease is USE THESE WORDS
Hope to see you joining in too
http://dodgewrites.blogspot.com/
ENJOY
JL&B
Wayne didn't know much about plants when we first got together, but through the years he has learned more than just what I know. He has that guy knowledge too, I swear guys were born with tools for bones. So not only does he do his part by keeping all of our tools up and running, he also is learning more about the plants than I can teach him.
It is so fun each day to go out to our garden and see him looking to find what has bloomed or is just about to. Wayne now has the knowledge of what plants are coming up as they break ground, not so much three years ago. Today we noticed two types of tupils, hiacinths and crocus just starting to break the ground, we also noticed that the daffodills are ready to open, a wonderful early surprise. We had a hard frost a few weeks ago and it burnt some of our reblooming Iris', the few buds that made it are now open and showing their beauty. We also have prime rose in blue, red and orange blossoming, along with the white with pink center cyclamen giving us a show. The anemone bed has been giving us an array of color for the past few weeks, way earlier than the past two years.
We tried to plant the yard so we would have something blooming all year long and so far this past year has shown that we did pretty-not-bad at it. We are just wondering why everything is two months early this year.Maybe it all has to do with the new astrology sign...LOL... NAH ! That wouldn't make any sense !
Todays Prompt tease is USE THESE WORDS
Hope to see you joining in too
http://dodgewrites.blogspot.com/
ENJOY
JL&B
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Orange you glad
Someone following my poetry blog asked me the other day why I chose a line that ended with window, 'how do I rhyme window?' my reply of course was not every kind of poem rhymes. I have learned a lot researching and trying different forms of poetry, now weather I am doing them correctly... well lets just say I still have a lot to learn.
Many forms find it to be poor form, in fact if you rhyme they consider it incorrect. I however have lived with rhyme in my brain, everything for me is a rhyme, in fact it is really hard NOT to rhyme in my poems. So I do my best to go out of my comfort zone and learn.
Now the next time we do a free verse I challenge you all to write it without a rhyme and give it a good feel on your lips, bite it hard, give it a long taste, It's pretty-not-bad !
Just a ponder !
But... aren't ya glad it wasn't orange??
TeeHeeHee
Today's prompt is a TERZA RIMA
Hope to see you joining in too
ENJOY
JL&B
Many forms find it to be poor form, in fact if you rhyme they consider it incorrect. I however have lived with rhyme in my brain, everything for me is a rhyme, in fact it is really hard NOT to rhyme in my poems. So I do my best to go out of my comfort zone and learn.
Now the next time we do a free verse I challenge you all to write it without a rhyme and give it a good feel on your lips, bite it hard, give it a long taste, It's pretty-not-bad !
Just a ponder !
But... aren't ya glad it wasn't orange??
TeeHeeHee
Today's prompt is a TERZA RIMA
Hope to see you joining in too
ENJOY
JL&B
Friday, January 21, 2011
Bravery
There is a huge difference to me between honesty and bravery. Although it might be said that being honest takes a braver person, I feel bravery is a strong word for being honest.
I used to live in a make believe world, one where I was loved and mommies don't hurt their kids, daddies stay with the family, the children go to college, have the Cleaver life. That is not how it was and the truth might be hard to swallow, but it is still the truth and that is what has set me free ...
Free from the hurt so deep that I fell without a hope to return
Free from the harm that still lingers like a deep scar on my face
Free to say I am important and have EVERY reason to live
Free to do what I do best, write it out of me
Free to share who I am, every part that makes the whole
Free to know my honesty will set me FREE
I'm not saying writing the past isn't hard... but it is healing. Things I had no way of understanding then are easier to see, allowing me to finally lay to rest some of the things that haunt my soul... There are many and I mask a lot of it now for the love of my man... his heart shows through his eyes when I cry for no reason known to him, affecting me, making me live in the now and remember less of the bad. Its a great lesson for although the occasional dream wakes me, he brings me back to where I am today, a place I have longed to be all my life.
So think of it as you wish, my life was not perfect, and I write about it to get the healing. I thought of continuing on with writings from last year, but now I think I will share a story I wrote .. Hold onto your hats, this might be a bit harsh... in sight to where I've been...
This is not a poem, its a story, of when I was young, if you are offended by abuse issues please stop reading now. This is a chapter in a series of dark stories about a child and her life, all of these stories are true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, and the guilty.
EASTER SUNDAY
She looked so pretty today. She had on a fancy pink summer dress, a little bit of white lace around the bottom of the dress and the shoulder straps. It was a full dress and when she twirled, it billowed out and made her look like a little pink flower. She had pretty little pink sandals to finish the look, they had a white daisy at the toe. She had picked them out herself.
It was a perfect day, the sun was bright, no clouds in the sky. It was around 78 degrees in the middle of the afternoon. She was playing in the yard with the bunny rabbit she had gotten for Easter Sunday, today.
Her mother and sister were there too, each of them looking just as happy as she was. They were eating a chocolate from the basket of goodies they got at the Easter egg hunt the church put on today. This was by all counts one of the happiest days she could remember in a very long time.
Then he pulls into the drive. Her mom, Susan, goes out to greet him with a hug and a french kiss. This is her newlywed husband, Hank. They have been married a little over 9 months now, and by all rights they look like a happy new family.
Hank is a big fan of Johnny Cash, he plays his records over and over, so everyone in this family knows the words by heart. The two young girls Sasha, about to have her 10th birthday, and Sarah, her older sister 13 next month, were dancing and singing to RING OF FIRE when the phone rang. The girls were laughing and dancing and singing quite loud, so it took several rings for the phone to be heard.
It was Susan's mother on the other end, wanting to speak to her family, wish them a Happy Easter and see if they were still going to join her for the traditional family dinner. They agreed on a time and hung up the phone.
This new family got into the car and started out for the long drive to Susan's Mother's house. It would take them about an hour and a half to drive it and Susan, who was feeling a bit tired from all of today's activities, was nodding off in the front seat. Sarah was already asleep next to her younger sister, who was blissfully singing to the music on the radio. She was quite the reader too, so every overpass they went under she said the words on the big sign aloud, excitement building in her, because she knew these signs almost by heart and knew they were leading them to her Grandma's house.
Sasha loved to go to her Grandmothers house, a place full of wonder for the child. Grandma had a beautiful garden full of pretty flowers that she let Sasha pick and put in vases. She had lots of fruit too, strawberries, black berries, boysenberries ( Sasha 's very favorite), peaches, apricots, and a few citrus trees. It was always a treat to go to her Granny's, the best place in the world.
All of Susan's family were there, her sister and her family, her cousins, which Sasha always called UNCLE and AUNT, and all of their families, in all there were 16 adults and 18 children. Granddad even showed up with his new wife and her kids.The dinner lasted for hours, and more food was added to the feast with each new visitor.
Full from the meal, Sasha went out to the garden to play, she was alone there, talking to her make believe friend, picking strawberries that aren't all the way ripe yet. Red and pink berries fill the basket she is holding, and she doesn't notice Hank watching her. No one does, as they are not aware of his bad intents.
They have no idea of the kind of man he is, the sick things he has already done to this child, but he does, and now he wants more. He doesn't even hide really, he is so good at this he doesn't really need to. He has already instilled fear into this child, so much so that all it takes is a look from him, a glance really, so little that you would miss it if you weren't knowing. No one knew but Sasha, and it scared her so bad that she wet her panties. She knew that she was about to lose the only place left that she felt safe. He wanted her again, and it didn't matter who was there, he WOULD have her.
When Hank finished his torture, he noticed her wet panties and the smell of urine, stronger now that his desires were satisfied, and found an opening to use for the child's tear streaked face... making light of the situation he took the girl up to the house, and in front of every one said...
"Look who I found in the garden, and look everyone, she ruined her new dress, pissing all over herself. Susan don't you have any control over these kids of yours?"
Then he laughs it off, turning to the young girl saying, "I would be crying too if I wet my panties like a BABY, hey anyone have a diaper for the BABY?"
Grandmother's house was never the same in Sasha's heart. She didn't like to pick the strawberries anymore either, no one ever asked her why.
Well , that is it ... let me know what you thought of it ...
ENJOY
JL&B
I used to live in a make believe world, one where I was loved and mommies don't hurt their kids, daddies stay with the family, the children go to college, have the Cleaver life. That is not how it was and the truth might be hard to swallow, but it is still the truth and that is what has set me free ...
Free from the hurt so deep that I fell without a hope to return
Free from the harm that still lingers like a deep scar on my face
Free to say I am important and have EVERY reason to live
Free to do what I do best, write it out of me
Free to share who I am, every part that makes the whole
Free to know my honesty will set me FREE
I'm not saying writing the past isn't hard... but it is healing. Things I had no way of understanding then are easier to see, allowing me to finally lay to rest some of the things that haunt my soul... There are many and I mask a lot of it now for the love of my man... his heart shows through his eyes when I cry for no reason known to him, affecting me, making me live in the now and remember less of the bad. Its a great lesson for although the occasional dream wakes me, he brings me back to where I am today, a place I have longed to be all my life.
So think of it as you wish, my life was not perfect, and I write about it to get the healing. I thought of continuing on with writings from last year, but now I think I will share a story I wrote .. Hold onto your hats, this might be a bit harsh... in sight to where I've been...
This is not a poem, its a story, of when I was young, if you are offended by abuse issues please stop reading now. This is a chapter in a series of dark stories about a child and her life, all of these stories are true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, and the guilty.
EASTER SUNDAY
She looked so pretty today. She had on a fancy pink summer dress, a little bit of white lace around the bottom of the dress and the shoulder straps. It was a full dress and when she twirled, it billowed out and made her look like a little pink flower. She had pretty little pink sandals to finish the look, they had a white daisy at the toe. She had picked them out herself.
It was a perfect day, the sun was bright, no clouds in the sky. It was around 78 degrees in the middle of the afternoon. She was playing in the yard with the bunny rabbit she had gotten for Easter Sunday, today.
Her mother and sister were there too, each of them looking just as happy as she was. They were eating a chocolate from the basket of goodies they got at the Easter egg hunt the church put on today. This was by all counts one of the happiest days she could remember in a very long time.
Then he pulls into the drive. Her mom, Susan, goes out to greet him with a hug and a french kiss. This is her newlywed husband, Hank. They have been married a little over 9 months now, and by all rights they look like a happy new family.
Hank is a big fan of Johnny Cash, he plays his records over and over, so everyone in this family knows the words by heart. The two young girls Sasha, about to have her 10th birthday, and Sarah, her older sister 13 next month, were dancing and singing to RING OF FIRE when the phone rang. The girls were laughing and dancing and singing quite loud, so it took several rings for the phone to be heard.
It was Susan's mother on the other end, wanting to speak to her family, wish them a Happy Easter and see if they were still going to join her for the traditional family dinner. They agreed on a time and hung up the phone.
This new family got into the car and started out for the long drive to Susan's Mother's house. It would take them about an hour and a half to drive it and Susan, who was feeling a bit tired from all of today's activities, was nodding off in the front seat. Sarah was already asleep next to her younger sister, who was blissfully singing to the music on the radio. She was quite the reader too, so every overpass they went under she said the words on the big sign aloud, excitement building in her, because she knew these signs almost by heart and knew they were leading them to her Grandma's house.
Sasha loved to go to her Grandmothers house, a place full of wonder for the child. Grandma had a beautiful garden full of pretty flowers that she let Sasha pick and put in vases. She had lots of fruit too, strawberries, black berries, boysenberries ( Sasha 's very favorite), peaches, apricots, and a few citrus trees. It was always a treat to go to her Granny's, the best place in the world.
All of Susan's family were there, her sister and her family, her cousins, which Sasha always called UNCLE and AUNT, and all of their families, in all there were 16 adults and 18 children. Granddad even showed up with his new wife and her kids.The dinner lasted for hours, and more food was added to the feast with each new visitor.
Full from the meal, Sasha went out to the garden to play, she was alone there, talking to her make believe friend, picking strawberries that aren't all the way ripe yet. Red and pink berries fill the basket she is holding, and she doesn't notice Hank watching her. No one does, as they are not aware of his bad intents.
They have no idea of the kind of man he is, the sick things he has already done to this child, but he does, and now he wants more. He doesn't even hide really, he is so good at this he doesn't really need to. He has already instilled fear into this child, so much so that all it takes is a look from him, a glance really, so little that you would miss it if you weren't knowing. No one knew but Sasha, and it scared her so bad that she wet her panties. She knew that she was about to lose the only place left that she felt safe. He wanted her again, and it didn't matter who was there, he WOULD have her.
When Hank finished his torture, he noticed her wet panties and the smell of urine, stronger now that his desires were satisfied, and found an opening to use for the child's tear streaked face... making light of the situation he took the girl up to the house, and in front of every one said...
"Look who I found in the garden, and look everyone, she ruined her new dress, pissing all over herself. Susan don't you have any control over these kids of yours?"
Then he laughs it off, turning to the young girl saying, "I would be crying too if I wet my panties like a BABY, hey anyone have a diaper for the BABY?"
Grandmother's house was never the same in Sasha's heart. She didn't like to pick the strawberries anymore either, no one ever asked her why.
Well , that is it ... let me know what you thought of it ...
Today's Prompt is Villanelle
Hope to see you joining in too at http://dodgewrites.blogspot.com/ENJOY
JL&B
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Our Garden Freebies two)
I have the thumb of green, passed down from the love of generations. With that I've come to understand the truest gift of the garden is sharing. I have been very blessed to have the sharing bug deep within my being. I love to give babies from my garden to someone that either has just started a garden, or doesn't yet have the newest color of flowers.
Thanks to my family and friends I have many beautiful colors in the garden. I greatly appreciate all the freebies I have gotten through the years from just sharing. I still remember every plant and where we got them.
Our biggest garden is the Iris bed, it runs along a dirt road that circles the very back part of the RV Park we live in. The bed itself is three tiered. Two of the tiers are filled to the brim with our Iris'. These beds are forty feet long and two feet deep. The third tier is the retaining wall that makes up the lower garden.
With the exception of a few new colors over the years, this garden was all free. The great thing about Iris' is that they have babies constantly. All the books I have read about plants throughout the years has said every three years Iris' need to be thinned. Not so in our garden, we have to thin them every year or they push themselves out of the beds.
We keep two of each to replant and give the rest away. That is still way too many to try to find homes for, so sometimes I sell them to the nurseries in the area. Last year I gave away somewhere in the area of five hundred Iris', and still ended up selling another two hundred and that is after replanting the two from each plant. They have always been a great return on the money we put out on them. Every few years I see a color I just have to have and Wayne makes sure we get it ! One year for my birthday he bought one that was twenty dollars for one rhizone, a lot to pay for just one. This year the RED AT NIGHT Iris, gave us so many babies, I was able to give six of them away and still planted several in other beds.
When we give special ones like that away it brings, not only us but the people that receive them , a joy like no other. Iris Alley, again this year, will be filled with so many colors, some from the very first Iris we were given so many years ago. We await each one like it's the first flower ever to bloom, anticipating the sweetness and beauty, marvel in the perfection of the standards and falls.
So, come in the spring, see the beauty of the poor mans orchid, take some photos, leave some memories, we welcome visitors.
I will leave you with some photos of last years Iris blooms...ENJOY
Time for the Prompt tease....FIRST AND LAST
Hope to see you joining in too
http://dodgewrites.blogspot.com/
ENJOY
JL&B
Thanks to my family and friends I have many beautiful colors in the garden. I greatly appreciate all the freebies I have gotten through the years from just sharing. I still remember every plant and where we got them.
Our biggest garden is the Iris bed, it runs along a dirt road that circles the very back part of the RV Park we live in. The bed itself is three tiered. Two of the tiers are filled to the brim with our Iris'. These beds are forty feet long and two feet deep. The third tier is the retaining wall that makes up the lower garden.
With the exception of a few new colors over the years, this garden was all free. The great thing about Iris' is that they have babies constantly. All the books I have read about plants throughout the years has said every three years Iris' need to be thinned. Not so in our garden, we have to thin them every year or they push themselves out of the beds.
We keep two of each to replant and give the rest away. That is still way too many to try to find homes for, so sometimes I sell them to the nurseries in the area. Last year I gave away somewhere in the area of five hundred Iris', and still ended up selling another two hundred and that is after replanting the two from each plant. They have always been a great return on the money we put out on them. Every few years I see a color I just have to have and Wayne makes sure we get it ! One year for my birthday he bought one that was twenty dollars for one rhizone, a lot to pay for just one. This year the RED AT NIGHT Iris, gave us so many babies, I was able to give six of them away and still planted several in other beds.
When we give special ones like that away it brings, not only us but the people that receive them , a joy like no other. Iris Alley, again this year, will be filled with so many colors, some from the very first Iris we were given so many years ago. We await each one like it's the first flower ever to bloom, anticipating the sweetness and beauty, marvel in the perfection of the standards and falls.
So, come in the spring, see the beauty of the poor mans orchid, take some photos, leave some memories, we welcome visitors.
I will leave you with some photos of last years Iris blooms...ENJOY
Time for the Prompt tease....FIRST AND LAST
Hope to see you joining in too
http://dodgewrites.blogspot.com/
ENJOY
JL&B
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
American Idol
The first American Idol aired when I was in prison, Kelly Clarkson won that year and all of us girls were cheering her on like we were at the finale ourselves. It was the start of something I truly enjoy each time it comes back on. Wayne on the other hand, doesn't.
I have to admit that it is over rated, way too commercial, and they sing way too many rifts for my taste, but then a Carrie Underwood comes along and I watch like it was the first one. I'm hoping this year will bring some great singers out of the wood works, We need another hot act out there, right?
So what to expect for the tenth year... all of the same stuff, only not the same stuff....now we once more are drawn in, find a favorite, watch them grow and hope they win.
Well it's time to watch..
TODAY'S PROMPT TEASE is VERS BEAUCOUP
ENJOY
JL&B
I have to admit that it is over rated, way too commercial, and they sing way too many rifts for my taste, but then a Carrie Underwood comes along and I watch like it was the first one. I'm hoping this year will bring some great singers out of the wood works, We need another hot act out there, right?
So what to expect for the tenth year... all of the same stuff, only not the same stuff....now we once more are drawn in, find a favorite, watch them grow and hope they win.
Well it's time to watch..
TODAY'S PROMPT TEASE is VERS BEAUCOUP
ENJOY
JL&B
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
MINE
It's funny that a few days ago I ran a thought by my friend Richie. He liked it so much that he did a rendition of it on his blog too, today is my turn.
Being married is so different than just dating some one when it comes to the word mine. In a boy friend/girl friend relationship, you both know what belongs to each individual, in marriage though it is different.
There are the obvious ones, my/his underwear, clothes, shoes, toothbrush... My/his wallet, makeup, hair supplies. ( No he doesn't wear make up) Then the blurry line ones, keys, car, tools, pen for heavens sake. These are the ones, for some unknown reason, that bother me.
Just because it's a dish, doesn't mean it's mine, just because it's a tool doesn't mean it's his, yet even after five years we still have that MINE thing in our brains. I do my best not to say it, but it still slips out now and then. He slips up a lot too, but why does it bother me so much when it doesn't seem to affect him at all. ( Go figure)
Just a shorty for today, a ponder, if you will.
Time for today's Prompt tease.. RICTAMETER
Hope to see you joining us at
http://dodgewrites.blogspot.com/ our poetry blog
ENJOY
JL&B
Being married is so different than just dating some one when it comes to the word mine. In a boy friend/girl friend relationship, you both know what belongs to each individual, in marriage though it is different.
There are the obvious ones, my/his underwear, clothes, shoes, toothbrush... My/his wallet, makeup, hair supplies. ( No he doesn't wear make up) Then the blurry line ones, keys, car, tools, pen for heavens sake. These are the ones, for some unknown reason, that bother me.
Just because it's a dish, doesn't mean it's mine, just because it's a tool doesn't mean it's his, yet even after five years we still have that MINE thing in our brains. I do my best not to say it, but it still slips out now and then. He slips up a lot too, but why does it bother me so much when it doesn't seem to affect him at all. ( Go figure)
Just a shorty for today, a ponder, if you will.
Time for today's Prompt tease.. RICTAMETER
Hope to see you joining us at
http://dodgewrites.blogspot.com/ our poetry blog
ENJOY
JL&B
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