Gardeners in Peace

I discovered hymn 640 recently and have really enjoyed the words. It is a hymn for gardeners - and we were all meant to be gardeners :)

For the Beauty of Meadows

For the beauty of meadows, for grandeur of trees,
For flowers of woodlands, for creatures of seas,
For all You created and gave us to share,
We praise You, Creator, extolling Your care.

As stewards of beauty received at Your hand,
As creatures who hear Your most urgent command,
We turn from our wasteful destruction of life,
Confessing our failures, confessing our strife.

Teach us once again to be gardeners in peace;
All nature around us is ours but on lease;
Your name we would hallow in all that we do,
Fulfilling our calling, creating with You.

I love my brother!

My little brother just graduated - and I am so proud of him!
I love and respect him for many reasons and want to always cheer him on through life's journey.
I love you Nathan!

Delights of Spring

This particular spring has seemed more lovely then I had remembered the season could be... perhaps because I never saw spring last year because I was in Brazil.

Life framed by spring is beautiful thing.

Asparagus, mushroom & wild onion toppings for alfredo noodles :)

A wonderful reason to pull off the road :)

Child-proof

My hands fumbled with the odd plastic encasing on the closet door.
Her tiny impatient hands reached up to help - quickly snapping it off;
"Here! I'll just take it off for you - so you can open the door!"

To Traverse the Tennessee

So there are three dots out in their in the lake...
The dots have names: John, Heather, and Caitlin.
We didn't start out in the lake though.

We started out on a sailboat.

It was a lovely day - not a cloud in the sky!
There also was no wind to be found...

So upon dropping anchor along one side of the Tennessee river we decided
to test our skills at traversing its width.

In one of my natural habitats :)
....somewhere in the middle....

Timothy and Shama enjoying the ride!

Twas a fantastic trip!

Feelin' good!

Dashing top speed around the playground
Yelling nonsense -
"What are you doing?" I ask.
A sliding half halt, an honest voice;
"I'm trying to whistle!"

A Suggly Chicken

My appreciation for birds is growing the longer I live with a parrot (my roommate's bird)
Here are a few snippets of his personality / quirks:

Signs of sleepiness: scent gets sweeter, his beak gets hot, the tucked up foot gets warm, and his balance and coordination are less reliable.
He also sleep talks into his feathers.

Thinks that my shirt is an excellent place to wipe his beak!
Is potty trained 98% of the time :)
An opportunist who likes to test taste everything!
Tries to sit on my hands when I'm typing :)

He loves shower time - and finds the hairdryer an especially beneficial preening tool!
Likes to be snuggled upside down like a baby - for limited amounts of time :)
Specializes in opening cupboards and climbing all household furniture.

Favorite food - anything I'm eating.
Favorite chemical solution - Windex, then mop water.
Prefers to be spoken to in Portuguese.

Flick, flick!
Puff!