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26 April 2010

On blogging, church, gardening, & a visit

I've got the knitting group in about an hour, so i'll see how quickly i can do this!

A dear friend of mine, Jessica, has begun a blog.  You can go encourage her at His Scribe & give her some support as a new blogger.  She has such an interesting story to tell.  When she was a child, her family sailed around the world to protest the bombings in Japan.  They did that as the result of the aftermath they witnessed first hand.   She is also a published author, with her book that is best known carried by Dobson.


She asked a couple questions about blogging & i answered extensively (probably much more than she desired).  Doing so helped me to define a bit better what i want & desire of my own writing.  One thing that came more clear to me is that i really like it when other folks respond to my comments on their blogs.  It makes me feel heard, & that i'm appreciated when i speak.  


Honestly, when i comment i often feel a bit stupid - thus my tendency not to comment much.  If i comment at a blog that doesn't respond to those comments ultimately in time i begin to feel that i'm not being heard or (this comes from my background - & believe me i fight with this feeling, but it seems to be innate & so i have to counter it) that they'd really prefer me to just shut up & go somewhere else.  


I have decided i'm going to make a greater effort to respond to comments in my blog.  Early on, i thought this was just kind of fake 'cause i didn't feel i've words to respond well.  Also i thought it kind of conceited of me to think that anyone would want to know my response (again - my background & yes i'm fighting it).  But i have found that the blogs that really draw me to go back again & again are ones who respond to my comments & create some dialogue.  


So, i'm going to make a greater effort to respond!  (I'll probably feel rather stupid doing it, however, & you'll have to forgive me if i sound banal & trite.)


On a housekeeping thing, i don't have comment moderation set up until a post is 4 or 5 days old.  Then it will require me to "approve" the comment.  I haven't gotten spam on new comments, but i find i get a lot of it on old ones.  The post on "colds & flu" have an average of 4 drugs in Canada/viagra/junk - selling stuff a week.  So, if you do as i do & get behind on reading, your comment may not show up right away. 


We attended a new church yesterday.  It is a Baptist church so (no offense anyone) i didn't expect much from it.  The last Baptist church we attended (there are two up here) really set off the radar for both Duane & i & i found that doctrine makes a huge difference.  I was pretty discouraged last week after visiting a Presbyterian church (there are two up here) & had been looking at the background, history, & philosophy/theology of several of these churches.  I find that man-made doctrines make me sad & discouraged.  


So we were pleasantly surprised by this particular church.  Not that we'll immediately make major changes.  We joined the Lutheran church (there are two up here - we joined the more conservative one) rather quickly & didn't note the problems with which we now struggle until we had been attending 18 months or more.  Based on that history we won't be jumping too quickly to make permanent changes.  But Duane found this new church rather exciting as a possibility (as did i) & it is much more than we expected.  I'll probably write on that more extensively at the other blog.

I'd been planning to transplant my herb garden for a while now.  My sis is a much more accomplished gardener than am i.  I took advantage of her being here this weekend to help me.  If i get real ambitious, i'll do a second post with pics later today.  

We transplanted the lettuce (which is much too straggly & the arugula died), sage, rosemary, thyme (parsley didn't need to be moved), oregano, & mint.  We seeded some tomatoes & lettuce.  We planted garlic, some of which had sprouted, & transplanted some wild onion growing in our "lawn."    She had given me some peppermint a while ago.  It was doing ok but not great.  We put it in a different pot.  She also brought me some spearmint & we potted it.  I'd repotted some sweet basil last week (tho it isn't doing very well - i seem to kill basil easily) & so i sent home with her some other basil i'd bought but not planted yet.  


I left both the onions & garlic outside, but brought the rest of the things inside.  The temps are still in the 20s at night, so my delicate herbs wouldn't survive outside.  The onions were already thriving outdoors.  Also i've heard that garlic likes cool weather.  I know from reading that garlic should have been planted months ago, but i thought i'd give it a try anyway.  I just learned from reading that garlic tends to sprout at temps from 40 - 50 F (which is usually the temp of our kitchen, so most of what i have does tend to sprout).  So some of what i planted had already begun to sprout.  It is worth a try, anyway.


I also, by accident, did something that might be good.  I had so old bay leaves here.  I forgot i had them & bought some more.  So rather than throw them out, i saved them to use in my replanting, just thinking they'd be some extra "compost."  However, my sis said that's probably a good idea as they might help fight off bugs.  I looked it up & bay leaves have anti-viral & anti-bacterial properties as well as being something that some bugs don't like.  I've been having trouble with lots of little nasty gnat-like insects in my aloe vera plant.  Sis had said neem oil was suppose to help, & also a trap with vinegar in it.  The vinegar trap had drowned lots of them (& i need to throw them away & set another) & i finally remembered to buy neem oil this week.  We used some in all the plants we repotted.  I can't say if it helps, yet.  


I may learn how to garden, yet!


We so enjoyed our visit with Sis #2 & her friend, F.  (We didn't take pics of them.)  Duane said this AM when he woke, "That was a fun weekend."  It was.  


I've quite a bit to do today, laundry & clean up that i didn't do, but we had such a good time.  The ravoli that Rebecca made was absolutely delicious!  She also made an apple pie, because that is F's favorite, & it was wonderful.  They brought pumpkin pie (Duane's favorite) & we also did sasprilla floats & coffee floats.  Everyone had their favorite.  :)  For dinner Saturday i made brisket & veggies in the crockpot & they said it tasted good.  


Hope she comes back again soon!


Gotta run for my knitting group & other errands. 




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