In Memory

In Memory of my Beloved Father: Edward P. Stewart

July 31, 1925 - April 2, 1985

Aaron's Desert Portrait

I have known Aaron since before he was born.  His Aunt (Jeri) and his Mom (Kathyrn) are sisters and two of my best friends.  Aaron and my son Steve grew up together and we've all remained close throughout the years.  Aaron is more like a nephew than a friend though.  He worked with me for a couple years before moving to beautiful San Diego California. 

Aaron says:  "I am going to send you some pictures I took in the desert this past weekend. We went camping and hiking in the Anza Borrego State Park.  It was
beautiful.  The wild flowers were almost in peak bloom.  Aren't they
gorgeous?"  

Yes, Aaron!  They are gorgeous, and thank you for sharing these with me and allowing me to share them with J-Land!  

Girlfriends..........part 2

After 50+ years of living in this world, here is what I know about girlfriends:

Girlfriends bring you casseroles and scrub your bathroom when you need help. Girlfriends keep your children and keep your secrets.
Girlfriends give advice when you ask for it. Sometimes you take it, sometimes you don't.
Girlfriends don't always tell you that you're right, but they're
usually honest. Girlfriends still love you, even when they don't agree with your choices.
Girlfriends laugh with you, and you don't need canned jokes to start the laughter. Girlfriends pull you out of jams.
Girlfriends help you get out of bad relationships.
Girlfriends help you look for a new apartment, help you pack, and help you move. Girlfriends will give a party for your son or daughter when they get married or have a baby, in whichever order that comes!
Girlfriends are there for you, in an instant and when the hard times come.
Girlfriends will drive through blizzards, rainstorms, hail, heat, and gloom of night to get to you when your hour of need is desperate.
Girlfriends listen when you lose a job or a friend.
Girlfriends listen when your children break your heart.
Girlfriends listen when your parents' minds and bodies fail.
Girlfriends cry with you when someone you loved dies.
Girlfriends support you when the men in your life let you down.
Girlfriends help you pick up the pieces when men pack up and go.
Girlfriends rejoice at what makes you happy, and are ready to go out and kill what makes you unhappy.

Girlfriends...........part 3

Times passes. Life happens. Distance separates. Children grow up. Love waxes and wanes. Hearts break. Careers end. Jobs come and go.  Parents die. Colleagues forget favors. Men don't call when they say they will. But girlfriends are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girlfriend is never farther away than needing her can reach. When you have to walk that lonesome valley, and you have to walk it for yourself, your girlfriends will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's end. Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you.
Or come in and carry you out. My daughter, sister, mother,
sisters-in-law, mother-in-law, nieces, cousins, extended family, and friends bless my life! The world wouldn't be the same without them, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other. Every day, we need each other still.

Grilfriends.......part 1

This is good to read every now and then to remind us just how valuable those "girl friends" are!!!   Here's to all my girl friends!

A young wife sat on a porch in Waycross, Georgia on a summer day, drinking iced tea and visiting with her Mother. As they talked about life, about marriage, about the responsibilities of life and the obligations of adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance on her daughter.

"Don't forget your girlfriends," she advised, swirling the tea leaves at the bottom of her glass. "They'll be more important as you get older. No matter how much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you'll have, you are still going to need girlfriends. Remember to go places with them now and then; do things with them. And remember that "girlfriends" are not only your friends, but your sisters, your daughters, and other relatives too. You'll need other women. Women always do."

'What a funny piece of advice,' the young woman thought. 'Haven't I just gotten married? Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a married woman for goodness sake, a grownup, not a young girl who needs girlfriends! Surely my husband and the family we'll start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile!

But she listened to her Mother; she kept contact with her girlfriends and made more each year... As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came to understand that her Mom really knew what she was talking about. As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, girlfriends are the mainstays of her life.

Daily Affirmations

Play is the beginning of knowledge.--George Dorsey

Play is the exultation of the possible.--Martin Buber

 Play is the only way the highest intelligence
of humankind can unfold.--Joseph Chilton Pearce

We are never more
fully alive, more
completely ourselves,
or more deeply
engrossed in
anything than when
we are playing.-
-Charles Schaefer

April Gardening Schedule

It's April!  Here's the Pacific Northwest Gardening Schedule by Master Gardener, Ed Hume.