One Year Anniversary!

Where Did The Year Go?

Wow!  In looking back at my posts, I see that my first post was July 25, 2010.  I can't believe it's been a year already!  If you want to see the first post, click here.  There have been changes: I finally found a job after three years of looking, my husband finally got a job he likes, business trips, a new online store, a new vehicle, people have come and gone; there has been fun: our Gettysburg and Greenfield Village trips; and there have been constants: we still live in the same place, we still volunteer, I have a garden again, and we still love each other very much.  It's funny that in the first post I was saying it was gloomy and raining, and that I had a program to go to, and today, I again had a program to attend and it rained last evening and night, and then some this afternoon.  What are the odds?  Although, the difference is that it is incredibly hot right now, and that is not going to change.

Our program, an 1847 wedding, was a lot of fun, and we had a good turnout despite the heat.  We were all pretty sweaty after 3 hours in the heat, but it was great to be out there with friends having a good time.  And the wedding cake was pretty tasty, too!

The bride (in blue), the groom (far right), flower girl, and minister.  A fine day for a wedding!

Woes Of The Garden

Green bean flower

My garden is a bit sad this year.  Between the torrential spring rains and attack of the 2" hail, it has had a rough year.  And then there was a bit of a drought for about a month, and watering doesn't seem to have the same effect on a garden as a good, soaking rain.  It's struggled and suffered this year, which is too bad.  I think my flower seeds that I planted washed away...all but one kind, which looks like a carnation and is doing fairly well out there.  I have two celery plants that seem to be doing okay--I planted six, and only those two remain.  I have one good bean patch, but the other one is having a hard time, and my onions, thanks in part to the hail, are small again.  I've pulled up all but one onion.  I pulled up my potatoes yesterday, and have enough for maybe one or two meals of mashed potatoes.  Many of the stems were broken by the hail, and it may have contributed to the low yield.  I had more last year.  My tomato and pepper plants, which were planted late due to the extended cool spring weather, are not doing badly, but I haven't had any yield from them yet.  My only hope remains in the green beans, and I was able to pick a handful yesterday.  They seem to be okay right now, so that's encouraging.  I even planted some more beans where the potatoes were, and hopefully they'll grow.  Maybe next year, I'll just do beans and potatoes, since they are what we like most.  Plus, the asparagus should finally be in full swing next year, so we should start getting a little from those.

I just can't believe I've been doing this for a year now.  I wonder what the post a year from now will look like?  And I wonder what will change between now and then?  Change is constant; nothing can remain the same forever, or it will become stagnant, old.  Without change, we would be complacent and stop noticing what's all around us.  God makes everything for a specific purpose in a specific time.  Ecclesiastes 3:11-12 states, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live."  Amen!