And Two Shall Become One

This past weekend we attended a wedding -

a mysterious, beautiful merging of two lives.

A girl from a family of girls

to a boy from a family of boys.

A girl who can light up a room with her smile

to a boy with a nasty, manly scar.

A girl who can make you soar to heaven on her violin

to a boy who soars down mountains on his skis.

A girl who exudes grace and beauty

to a boy with dare devilish courage.

What is this . . . this love . . . that would pledge
for richer or poorer
in sickness, in health
for better or worse
till death do us part?

Her face will light up when she sees he's come home.
He will carve swing seats out of mahogany wood.
She will climb mountains as long as he's with her.
He will surprise her with tickets to the opera.
She will find beauty in his courage
and he will find strength in her grace.

It's a love story, old - yet new

pure, inspiring and true.

The young gaze on with a wistful sigh

while the old remember the reasons why

they made their promises long ago.

And there is love.

From the Patch into the Pot

Seeing local strawberries in the store hit me by surprise this week. I think they are early, but there is one thing I've learned, you get them when you see them. The season is so short and then we are back to California strawberries. I'm glad we can enjoy those year round, but there is nothing like using berries from the local fields for jam. Have you tried it?

I'll give you a small recipe to try:

Prepare ahead:
Wash 8 - 250 ml (1 cup) size jars and put them in the oven at 250 F.
Put the rubber lids in a pot with water and bring to boil. Turn off the heat and let them sit in the hot water. You can also use recycled jars with rubber in the lid, heating those lids.

Ingredients:

6 cups berries, crushed
4 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp Certo Light or 3 Tbsp regular (pectin)
1 tsp butter

Method:

1. Wash and stem about 4 - 5 lbs strawberries.
2. Put them through the blender, just until barely crushed.
3. Measure out 6 very full cups berries and put them in a large stainless steel pot.
4. Measure out 4 1/4 cups sugar and set aside.
5. Mix 1/4 cup sugar with the pectin and stir it into the strawberries.
6. On almost your highest heat setting, bring strawberries to a good boil, stirring the whole time.
7. Once it comes to a rolling boil, add the 4 1/4 cups sugar and continue stirring until it comes to a boil again. Do not turn down the temp, unless it splatters a lot. On even heat it should not splatter. Add 1 tsp butter to keep the foam down.
8. When it come to a rolling boil, a boil that you cannot stir down, set your timer for two minutes and keep stirring.
9. Turn off the heat and move pot (if not using gas element) and continue stirring for two minutes. Pour into hot jars, using a metal funnel, and seal with lids.
10. At this time the jam will be quite runny, but as you allow it to cool and then put in the fridge it will come to a nice spreading consistency.
11. Store in fridge or freezer for optimum freshness.
    
    * for more detailed instructions check here
    
    

Has it Really Been Ten Years?

I am posting a day early, in lieu of the fourteen hour time difference. It’s a day to remember and celebrate.

I look back on this day ten years ago,
the day I looked into your blue eyes and
embraced all your dreams with you . . .
remembering my feelings on my wedding day
and desiring for you to know
that I know how you feel.

We remember this day

when you took a last run around the park with your dad.

He picked a flower for you, which you added to your bouquet.

And then he walked you down the isle

. . . to the man who was waiting for you,

beholding you with tears in his eyes.

It was memorable, this day

you became husband and wife.

You gained a family and we gained a son.

We’ve watched your love grow and blossom,

prayed with you and for you as you’ve made decisions.

We welcomed our first grandchildren,

said our good-byes and hellos . . .

interspersed with care packages and long distance calls.
Today as you celebrate another milestone, we give thanks

for all the blessings of being your mom and dad.

Happy Anniversary, Chris and Julene!

More on Roses

My rose pruning boy has grown up and learned some more tricks along the way. Last summer he told me that you can plan the direction of the next shoot by where you make your cut. I thought this information could prove to be useful.
Now, I really must be desperate for something to write about, when I begin to talk about dead-heading roses, but here it is. I find this an interesting concept, this pruning, not only to get more, but to direct.

So here are my two bits:
1) You will notice that the leaves right under the rose are three-leafed sets. You want to go down to a five-leafed set and make a clean angled cut right above one of those.

2) You can chose the direction of the new growth by where you make that cut. For a regular bush you probably want the new shoots to go outward, so you chose a five-leafed set that goes outward and make your cut just a bit above that. On my bush where I want to keep the new shoots going toward the trellis, I will choose to make my cuts just above the five-leafed set pointing toward the trellis.

That's about all I know. Oh, fertilizing helps and every once in a while we dump soap water on the bushes. Now, if someone can let me know how to avoid growing those extra long shoots, I'm open to more advice.

And might I add, the scent of the first roses of the season just never ceases to amaze me. If possible, stop and smell a rose today.

Risking his Life

Back in the day when he could not afford to buy me roses, he came to the side door asking for scissors. I gave him the (dull) kitchen shears, but my eye followed him. When I saw what great lengths he was going to, just to brighten my day, I had to get the camera. I wonder, would I remember this if I had not done so?

Along the Trail

This past week I've passed these goslings a number of times. I wonder what kind of tricks this mother goose has up her . . . wing, to keep them so well behaved. You never see them bickering or running all over the park. Sometimes several families sit close to each other, but one does not have to guess which ones belong together.

" How good and pleasant it is when bothers/sisters live together in unity." Psalm 133:1