~~~GRATITUDE~~~

Yeah!  The Sky is finally BLUE!  We have gone through a pretty gray and wet spell and tomorrow promises more rain!  So today it is totally about the sun we have! So this will be short and sweet to I can make hay while the sunshines!  

Blue Sky

Blue Sky, Blue Sky, please don't be obscured
Your saphire beauty makes me assured
That whatever misfortunes fate has procured
I am against glumness and sadness inured

Blue Sky, Blue Sky, I confess I'm enamoured
You release me from those who have crowded and clamoured
You replenish the peace their noise has devoured
And nurture serenity where it once flowered

Blue Sky, Blue Sky, you have my devotion
Blue Sky the widest, deepest, most ephemeral ocean
You set my soul sailing on pacific emotion
Your glad tide sweeps away my most plaintive notion

Blue Sky, Blue Sky, when I gaze into you
I fall under the spell of your azure hue
Until everything old and familiar seems new
And I remember where awe and wonder once grew

Blue Sky. 

Mike Michaels

Was out at dawn dodging the mosquitoes and getting my laundry out...Grateful for a gentle breeze!

 

Grateful for Sunshine opening the Poppies!

 It is my intention, each Sunday, to share something that fills me with Gratitude. 

I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~! 

I hope you will join me and share your gratitude moments. 

~~~Amen, Blessed Be, Namaste'~~~

---Shop News---

Today's Treasury is All Team Upcyclers!

All items are made from materials that were once something else...totally ECO!

---SHOP NEWS---

Ok!  I have all 4 shops up and running...I got an idea for a 5th shop but I am NOT allowing that to happen!  The trouble with IDEAS is they seem to spawn more ideas.  I am working on JUST enjoying some ideas and never letting them happen.  I have ENOUGH ~ U.F.O.s {unfinished objects}.  So to celebrate the GRAND they are OPEN I am offering a coupon code that is good in all 4 of my shops

INJOY25 will save you 25% off you order (NOT shipping) Expires July 31, 2013

Here are a few things from each shop

InJoyEmporium


https://www.etsy.com/listing/114843696/white-wedding-ornament-rumi-wall-hanging?ref=shop_home_active

I seem to have an obsession with small weavings and attaching  quotes!
I have done several special orders for folks with quotes of their choosing...love doing custom orders!


InJoyTreasures

https://www.etsy.com/listing/155027294/green-hens-rooster-wade-figurines-red?ref=shop_home_active

Destashing the Wade Figurines I found cleaning out my attic!

I have a new shop section in the Treasure Shop ~ 5 DOLLARS or less!

With the coupon code some real bargains!


https://www.etsy.com/listing/154283966/vintage-doll-lot-with-pink-crochet?ref=shop_home_active

Ok~~ a bit creepy...but they are out of my attic and different strokes for different folks.
I do admit to having some fun with the photography!


InJoyEcoCutie


http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzUzMzAyMXwyNzIyMDM3MTY5/whimsies-for-play

Goldie was featured in this great treasury full of super nice kids toys!

InJoyGatherings



Finally~~ DIY Sea Glass Pendant Kit!

Use Coupon Code INJOY25 and save 25%  Active Now!

~~~Garden Rounds~~~

Each day I make my rounds to my various Gardens.  Some gardens are near the house, some are a bit of aways.  I usually do this in the morning with my cup of coffee or after dinner, it all depends on how the day is going and the weather (which has been quite damp, lately).  It is sort of a check-in with what is happening but, it is also, a very enjoyable relaxing task.  Often I find a place to sit a bit and not even think about what's - what.  There is always more to do than I can get too.  After 20+ years of vegetable gardening I am at peace with what does and does not get done.  So thought I would bring you along.  This will be in 2 parts.  Today the veggies ~ Saturday the berries. (Friday is shop news!)  So let's begin...but be prepared to see some chaos!

Here are the potatoes.  They got hilled and mulched last weekend.  I grew the mulch! It is winter rye that I planted last fall between my berries which my guy cut down for me.  There is never enough mulch...never!  But the potatoes are looking good...no sign of the Colorado Potato Beetle...yet....

Garlic needs weeding...SCAPES nearly ready! Scapes are the edible garlic flower...more on that later.  Here is a row of "wildflowers" that get lightly tilled in the fall and re-planted with seeds I save and buy.

A new Garden this year on the north side of the house.  Things that like is cooler such as peas that are blooming and a bit of a salad garden...note to self~ plant dill and Fava here next year.

 Ok, not as pretty...tomato experiment.  Growing some in rye mulch others with black plastic.   I would really like to get away from plastic...but as you can see the plastic tomatoes are bigger...the plastic in Maine provides heat...a warmer soil.  Hey, the jury is still out though...early yet!

Now the "Big" Garden~~~weeding and thinning needed...but really too wet to do so...or that is what I tell myself!

But I will get to the beets soon~~~since we can eat the thinnings!!  YUM!

Winter Carrots are germinating nicely...at least someone is enjoying all the wet!

Well, thanks for coming along!  I should make a map of my world for you some day.... 

Time to go let the ducks out and collect the eggs!  Have a Great Day!!!

Sweet Jazz!

My sweet honeysuckle is at it's peak!  It may seem an odd place to plant it against the dog kennel.  

Well there is a fence it can climb but, the real reason is my view...

I can see it out my desk window...right now!  The light is fading and the honeysuckle looks brilliant!  

So sit back and join me with some of the sweet jazz of Louis Armstrong ~~~ Honeysuckle Rose~~~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcUsapcOVpc

Honeysuckle Rose

Ev’ry honeybee.... fills with jealousy
When they see you out with me
I don’t blame them....goodness knows
Honeysuckle rose

When you’re passin’ by....flowers drop and sigh
And I know the reason why
You’re much sweeter....goodness knows
Honeysuckle rose

Don’t buy sugar....you just have to touch my cup
You’re my sugar....it’s so sweet when you stir it up

When I’m taking sips...from your tasty lips
Seems the honey fairly drips
You’re confection.....goodness knows
Honeysuckle rose.

(instrumental break)

Don’t buy sugar....you just have to touch my cup
You’re my sugar....it’s so sweet when you stir it up

When I’m taking sips...from your tasty lips
Seems the honey fairly drips
You’re confection.....goodness knows
Honeysuckle rose.

I said you’re confection.....goodness knows
Honeysuckle rose.

Louis Armstrong

***Tuesday's Tip***

Life can be so busy.  Most of us want to do it "all" but, there is no way that can happen.  My life is very full.  My gardens are very big...with vegetables but not flowers.  Of course, I love flowers.  I have made many attempts at having flower gardens.  They all end the same way....a "weedy" neglected tangle of frustration.  In order to maintain my mental health and happiness I have learned to enjoy the ones that grow wild and free as well as the ones that bloom on my vegetables.  So my Tuesday Tip today is to relax and find another way to have it "all".  Here are a few of the beauties that can be found around here...

Fava Bean Flowers!  Very Pretty!!!

The Wild Flower's Song

As I wandered the forest,
The green leaves among,
I heard a Wild Flower
Singing a song.

'I slept in the earth
In the silent night,
I murmured my fears
And I felt delight.

'In the morning I went
As rosy as morn,
To seek for new joy;
But oh! met with scorn.' 

William Blake

~~~Gratitude~~~

I should be sleeping...I came home today from college freshman orientation exhausted.  Not that good tired that comes from stacking a pile of wood or hoeing a nice long row of weeds.  That tired in the head from a night of very little sleep and a couple days of new experiences.  This afternoon I laid down to take a nap and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.  So here I am unable to quiet my my mind from my experiences...again.  Maybe if I write down my thoughts I can get some rest.

The last two days I was part of a herd of 200+ parents being guided from one talk to another.  As we travelled, 4 or 5 abreast, it felt like we were lemmings or ants on the swarm.  I was struck by the sense of being on the same path with all of these strangers knowing that each one was attached to their own individual story.  A bit overwhelming for my hermit/reiki-ness.  

The talks were useful for the most part.  They were delivered in an efficient manner but fairly detached in my opinion.  What was my saving grace were  young blue-shirted guides of Team Maine.  These students managed to always smile and be more helpful than seemed even necessary.  Or maybe I have been jaded by all the automated help that is a part of our daily lives now.  It was so pleasant to be so genuinely assisted by living, lively, souls.  One in particular I made a wonderful and brief connection with and I am holding him in my healing grid and I a grateful for the bit of kinship. (hope you are writing!)

Speaking of connection I have to say I feel most oriented back to a path of closeness with my young adult son.  We are a patchwork of cloth of similar and different cuts.  Together we often make an odd garment.  But after this little 2 day journey, that marks the beginning of our paths truly diverging was the most connected I have felt with him in a long while.  

At one point, on the way home, during a bit of grouchiness created by my habit of interrupting my Self...which is not endearing to my boy.....I made a comment, "Well that is because you have an engineering mind and I have an artist mind".  To my surprise he said that, yes that is true and artist make the world more beautiful.  If engineers made all the buildings they would be efficient but not beautiful.  That was a first!  A bit later I said, "You know, I like who I have become due this wonderful journey of raising you for the last 18 years. I am better person for knowing you."  He replied, "Thank-you for letting me be myself and not making me into some spiritual, Reiki, vegetable growing, hippy child."  I said, "Your Welcome!"

It is wonderful to see my son so confident with him Self and his future.  I am enjoying this transformation and change for us both.  I am very much filled up with gratitude and I am happy!  Now sleep...ahhhh.

...and English Major...if you are reading this just know I am at peace with all my grammatical errors, run on sentences, and self interruptions.  I let my son edit my blog ONCE...he had good suggestion/corrections but it wasn't worth it...I prefer my imperfections!

 It is my intention, each Sunday, to share something that fills me with Gratitude. 

I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~! 

I hope you will join me and share your gratitude moments. 

~~~Amen, Blessed Be, Namaste'~~~

---Shop News--- Mini!

Just a quickie today folks~  I have been so busy with organizing 4 shops, gardening, Reiki Clients, and TODAY I leave in one hour for COLLEGE freshman Orientation!  I fell asleep last night...so the blog didn't get done then....

Anyways, My latest (and last shop...I think!?) is...tada!

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/InJoyGatherings?ref=si_shop

This shop is really taking the sea glass out of the Treasures shop and the tendrils out of the Emporium and putting them here in order to create more shop relevancy.  Next week I will be announcing a coupon code for the Month of July...so stay tuned!

Gotta Run with Runa and then head north to take the boyo and me on our next adventure!

Have a great Day!!!

This shop will give more excuses to go beachcombing!  

“My life is like a stroll on the beach...as near to the edge as I can go.”

--Thoreau

 http://injoyemporium.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-zen-of-sea-glass-or-how-i-spent.html

Thoughts of Peace

"A Dream: After the 3rd World Was was over there was no more than a handful of people left alive, & the earth was in ruins. The survivors decided to meet to talk over their problems & to make lasting peace. There were 83 countries & each country sent a delegate to the convention. Each delgate brought the flag of his homeland, except the delegate of China. He produced a shoe box, from which he drew a living flower." "That," he said, "is a wild flag (Iris Tectorum). In China we have decided to adopt this flag, since it is a convenient & universal device & a very beautiful and grows everywhere in the moist places of the earth for all to observe & wonder at. I propose all countries adopt it, so that it will be impossible for us to insult each others flag...."    E. B. White, The New Yorker, December 25, 1943

Letterpress Print by A Revolutionary Press, Harborside Maine

The Irises here are at their peak. My friend John of "A Revolutionary Press" introduced me to this work by E.B. White last year.  A wonderful peaceful thought after a busy and tiring day.  All of these irises came from a little clump that was given to me 20 years ago.  I keep dividing them and dividing them....only, wish peace was as easy and prolific in the world.....  Well, just didn't want the irises to go by without sharing.  Peace to YOU! 

P.S. Took my first real swim today...4 laps!

***Tuesday's Tip***

It is such a busy time of year here at Gratitude Gardens (that is what I call my "farm")  I always wish to blog more.  I really do enjoy sharing with my readers!    The best way I get things done is to set up a schedule of sorts.  I have Sunday Gratitudes which I am happy to say, I have not missed a Sunday since I made that commitment with my Self!  I am getting going with Friday Etsy Shops News...which is something else that keeps me off the streets at night...4 Etsy Shops now...but more on that this Friday.  

As a manic maker I have plenty of ideas and projects I would like to share.  So I am starting...

<<<Tuesday's Tips>>>

With this "commitment" I can start getting all my ideas off those little scraps of paper that are floating about and let them start world wide webbing!  So for today something super easy, beautiful, and delicious 

                                    ~~~Chive Flower Vinegar~~~

Step One:

After you are done being distracted by all the beautiful butterflies, collect some chive blossoms.

Chive plants are super easy to grow.  They are perennials that grow nicely from seeds or find someone that has a clump and ask for a shovel full.  They handle division quite well!   My lovely row was started from seeds I saved, then I just divide each year to make the row longer.  Besides being yummy they are loved by pollinators.  That is why I grow so many...Easy, Bees, & Butterflies!  

Oh Yeah, collecting flowers.  I just pop them off in my hand.  But you could use scissors as well.

What you need includes: Clean Glass Bottles or Jars.  I run mine through the sani-cycle on my dishwasher.  White Vinegar is preferred to a brown vinegar.

Loosely fill the jars with Chive Flowers.  I do not wash the flowers.  They are grown organically.  I figure between clean jars and vinegar things are clean enough. (but I will eat a carrot right out of the garden that has only been cleaned by wiping it on my pants...)  If you want to wash the flowers do it gently and dry them thoroughly. 

NEXT:  Fill the jars with vinegar....then wait a week.......

Voila! Beautiful Pink Vinegar!

Some folks strain out the flowers, but I leave them in until they have completely faded.  They make wonderful hostess gifts (I have given away 3 bottles, already!)!  The vinegar has a nice chive-lively flavor

Of course, butterfly distraction = Haiku Thoughts

but if I held it...could I touch

the lightness of this

flutter butterfly?

buson

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/95136957/yellow-green-wedding-favor-wall-hanging?ref=shop_home_active

From My www.injoyemporium.etsy.com Shop