A Message for the Season

The House of Christmas

by G. K. Chesterton

There fared a mother driven forth

Out of an inn to roam;

In the place where she was homeless

All men are at home.

The crazy stable close at hand,

With shaking timber and shifting sand,

Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand

Than the square stones of Rome.

For men are homesick in their homes,

And strangers under the sun,

And they lay on their heads in a foreign land

Whenever the day is done.

Here we have battle and blazing eyes,

And chance and honour and high surprise,

But our homes are under miraculous skies

Where the yule tale was begun.

A Child in a foul stable,

Where the beasts feed and foam;

Only where He was homelessAre you and I at home;

We have hands that fashion and heads that know,

But our hearts we lost – how long ago!

In a place no chart nor ship can showUnder the sky's dome.

This world is wild as an old wives' tale,

And strange the plain things are,

The earth is enough and the air is enough

For our wonder and our war;

But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings

And our peace is put in impossible things

Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings

Round an incredible star.

To an open house in the eveningHome shall men come,

To an older place than Eden

And a taller town than Rome.

To the end of the way of the wandering star,

To the things that cannot be and that are,

To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.

Did You Notice Any Themes?

As I peruse my previous, more recent posts, I was struck by a common thread: I seem to always reference a pile of mulch that needs moving. Funny. I promise it has not been the same pile of mulch all summer and fall. I did have two separate loads delivered over the last few months. I promise.

Frost on the Pumpkin

We've been basking in gorgeous 80+ degree fall afternoons here in the heart of Carolina. Only to be rudely whisked into a more chilly, frost bearing trend. All-in-all we are having a lovely autumn season and enjoying the time spent in the garden as well as the periodic rains. As a result the colors in the yard and around town are stunning.

The clover I planted in the vegetable garden is thriving! Kurt comments frequently on the beauty of the green clover that has covered the vegie patch. It bears a striking, fresh contrast to the colors of the grass and the other plants nearby.

We have fruit on the brocolli plants! Yahoo. My first attempt and apparent success at growing this vegtable. The cabbage is not so much. I lost a few cabbage plants to some disease. And the one that is left seems to have a small fruit but is riddled with holes. I guess I will have to be satisfied with the brocolli...and keep my fingers crossed that the bunnies don't notice the fruits of my labor.

I'm sorry to say that the mulch pile that has been in my driveway for many weeks now still remains untouched. How long do you think my neighbors will let me keep the pile in the driveway...??? Perhaps I'm subconcsiously testing my limits with the homeowner's association in a subtle form of protest. Hmmm. Certainly it doesn't reflect any tendency toward laziness on my part. Certainly not. I think we'll have to settle for the simple - yet real - explanation that my to-do's are too long and my hours are too short.

Ah me, a gardener's work (at least this humble gardener) is never done.


They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here—
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossoms on the trees,
And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees;
But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock—
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock. ~Louis Untermeyer

Words from Emerson

Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Perfect Fall Day

Well...I have to say this has been a lovely day. I don't think you could order a more delightful early fall Saturday.

It begins with perfect weather. A tad on the cool side but plenty of sun to keep you warm in the afternoon.

Next was a fruitful trip to my favorite garden store. I found the most beautiful Sparkleberry Holly for one of my backyard beds. I was so excited to make my purchase along with the necessary male pollinator to ensure we have lots of red berries in the winter. You would have thought I was a child on Christmas morning when I ran across those delicious plants in their inventory.

Then there was the time spent in the garden. Transplanting lilies, small trees and prepping the veggie garden for a cover crop...not to mention planting my new Sparkleberry and Apolo Winterberry hollies. Yum!

Top it all off with the perfect gardening afternoon break to watch NCSU beat ECU for their first win of the season...what a sweet victory to beat this arch rival. I'm hopeful this will give State the jumpstart they need to build momentum for the rest of the football season. Weren't our guys great out there today?! Katie had the pleasure of being in the stadium for the win. (I'm only slightly jealous.)

And finally, I get to go pick up the hubby from the airport tonight after a long week in Denmark. Such a nice, well-rounded late September Saturday. Amen.

Happy Birthday, Mr. "O"

Well...the garden has been a tough one to keep up with this summer. As determined as I start each spring, the weeds always seem to get the best of me by mid-July. I have however, put in a few fall plants...brocolli and cabbage so far. Kurt did a nice job of tilling the garden for me. Now I just need to get a cover crop down before the weeds take hold again.

To my delight the white lace vine that was so hard to come by has started it's blooming season. Beautiful white, lace tendrils are gracing the arbor. (I promise to post pictures soon.) The vine is the same specimen that mom and Don had at their home in Southern Shores. I'm very pleased to have finally found one and see it thrive on my back deck! I'm sure mom is happy.

I did spend some time in the yard today....got the whole lawn mowed, did quite a bit of pruning, weeding (I discovered it's much easier to pull weeds after receiving 5 inches of rain the day before), and spread a little bit of mulch. (Only about 5 more yards to go!) It seems fitting to have spent so much time in the garden today as I remember dad on his birthday. I still miss him as much as ever. My heart still yearns for one more conversation...one more telephone call...one more drive on the parkway...one more trip to the beach...one more hug. At least I felt his presence closer to me while I labored in the dirt.

Happy birthday, Dad! You're the BEST.

The School Bell Rings

It's hard to believe that summer is coming to a close and the children are heading back to school now. Vaughn is already back in class at UNC...and the girls have their first day of the new year tomorrow. Katie, a Junior, made the Varsity Cheerleading squad...and is one of four captains! And little Maggie begins her high school career tomorrow as an incoming Freshman.

And so as the summer fades and the seasons slowly turn, the vegetable garden looks ever so sad and tired. The summer veggies are done. And the weeds won the battle. But I must not have been too badly whipped as I've decided to try a small fall crop this year. I'll post some photos soon of the new crops (it's way too embarrassing to show any photos of the garden in it's current state!)

I am pleased to see that the flower beds have held up nicely this summer. A fresh new load of mulch is gracing our driveway...waiting for inspiration to strike this sluggish gardener! The beauty berry bush is stunning...and I saw a lovely bird perched ever so elegantly on it's branches. (Too bad I didn't have my camera in-hand to capture that stunning moment.) Another sign that fall is just around the corner as the purple berries come into fullness.

So tomorrow the school bell rings again...the buses will begin to roll...lunches to be made...fresh notebooks and brand new pencils. And I'll add a fresh new dressing of mulch to the beds and prepare the garden for a new season.