Welcome Garden Guests

Monarchs arrive here at Rainbow's End when zinnias bloom.

Zinnia seeds are planted mid May.

 

All creatures great and small...

the Lord God made them all!

Field of Dreams

FIELD of DREAMS

Swaying in the breeze

just waiting to tease

a field of dreams awaits

pronouncing someone's fate.

Snow white, always innocent

without a flowery fragrance,

every summer a field of dreams

decorates hill's and meadow scenes.

According to tradition

while applying subtraction

one-by-one each plucked petal

seals the fate of earthly mortals.

Have you ever played this game?

A game of innocence, not vain.

He loves me, he loves me not.

Of course he does, how could he not!

Daisy happens to mean innocence.

This game is played by many a lass

while all over the world innocent lads

don't know if they should be mad or quite glad.

* * * * *

Never doubt that the Lord God loves you

for the Bible tells us through and through.

Not because of what you did or didn't do

but because of who God is, yes, it's true.

Unconditional love

from heaven above

always freely given to His children,

though beyond our human comprehension.

For this reason I kneel before the Father,

from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power

through his Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

may have power, together with all the saints,

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:14-19

God has poured out his love into our hearts

by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:5

God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

Neither death nor life,

neither angels nor demons,

neither the present nor the future,

nor any powers,

neither height nor depth,

nor anything else in all creation

will be able to separate us from the love of God

that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:18-19

 

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Morning Stroll at Rainbow's End

Angel Trumpet

Rose of Sharon

Purple Cone Flowers

Butterfly Bush

was being visited by hummingbird.

Bee Balm

Hummingbirds love.

Rudbeckias

 

Ligularia:  Rocket

 

'Tis the season for lilies:

Rains have stopped, birds are rejoicing, bees are returning. 

Let the heavens rejoice,

let the earth be glad;

let the fields be jubilant,

and everything in them.

Psalm 96:10-11

 



Zucchini Recipes

 

 

Vegetable Pizza

4 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 tsp salt

Let stand 10 minutes in calendar, squeeze dry.

Oil 9x13 with olive oil. Heat oven to 400.

2 eggs

garlic

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese of choice

Bake 20 minutes.

Cook 1# ground beef/turkey/sausage

Cook diced onions/peppers/mushrooms

Top with sliced tomatoes or tomato sauce

Sprinkle with garlic/basil/oregano/etc.

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

Bake 20 additional minutes.

-----

Zucchini Bread

1 cup shredded zucchini

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1 egg

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup w/w flour

1 t baking soda

1/4 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

3/4 t cinnamon

1 1/2 t vanilla

2/3 cup walnuts

Grease pan. Bake 350 for 55 minutes.

-----

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

2 cups grated zucchini

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 t vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup w/w flour

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

1/2 t baking powder

3/4 cup oil

or 3/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened) and 2 T oil (olive or coconut)

2/3 cup cocoa powder

Bake 325.

Growth

 GROWTH

Up the fence snow pea and pole bean vines

mingle toward the sky as they twine.

White blossoms on the snow peas

seen today always please.

Cucumbers and squashes run

under the noonday sun.

There's no room between the rows

to carefully fit ones toes.

Baby zucchinis so cute

seen set forth as green fruit.

Their golden blossoms shine

as bright as the sunshine.

Be sure to visit your garden early morning

to hear the symphony of busy bees buzzing

in zucchini's pots of gold

where pollen is stored.

Despite cages, tomatoes need staking

Hopefully tomorrow's undertaking.

Buds on the tomatoes and potatoes.

Pinched a few beetles on the potatoes.

Potato blossoms are a sign

it's time to dig in the side

with your fingers, not the hoe,

for the best new potatoes.

Dill pops up between

maturing leaves of green.

Borage overshadows

vegetables planted in rows.

Blue green cabbage leaves daily spiral

posing like a gigantic rose.

Buds seen on the peppers.

Not the "a-choo"-type pepper.

A freebie tomato plant from last year.

I hope it's a grape tomato that appears.

Perhaps the mellow yellow that was a gift.

Receiving a gift always lifts one's spirit.

Another package of lettuce and spinach to plant

because last week the early crop did bolt.

Wax beans filling up a row.

Pumpkins have a long ways to go.

Both carrots and beets need thinning.

Of ousting weeds, so far I'm winning.

Soon it will be time to harvest

Fresh vegetables taste the best.

* * * * *

How exciting to see

the little round seeds

you've planted

sprouted.

The miracle within

reminds us again

of God's plan of seedtime and harvest.

God's plan for us is always the best!

How quickly they grow

after they were sowed.

Nurtured

then mature.

How quickly little ones

grow into someone

you hardly recognize,

someone grown and wise.

Growth isn't just physical, we all know though.

It's also emotional and spiritual.

This growth never ends

you'll find, my friend.

We mature daily though circumstances invested.

Spiritual maturity comes through faith being tested.

Without testing we wouldn't know Whom to trust.

God really does want the very best for us.

So believe

then you will see

God's salvation (deliverance)

in action.

As long as the earth endures,

seed time and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

will never cease.

Genesis 8:22

Then the land will yield its harvest,

and God, our God, will bless us.

Psalm 67:6

Who gives autumn and spring rains in season,

who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.

Jeremiah 5:24

He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven

and crops in their seasons;

he provides you with plenty of food

and fills your hearts with joy.

Acts 14:17

You are the God who performs miracles;

you display your power among the peoples.

Psalm 77:14

Consider it pure joy, my brothers,

whenever you face trials of many kinds,

because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be

mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

You see that his faith and his actions were working together,

and his faith was made complete.

James 2:22

To order Life Is a Garden Party, Vol II

go to WestBow Press.

To order Life Is a Garden Party, Vol I

go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Follow Life Is a Garden Party on facebook.

July

July

Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer (by Nat King Cole)

when the garden displays a rainbow of colors

when we celebrate July 4^th

our freedom and our nation's birth

when each morning we can't wait to see

what has bloomed, we're filled with glee

when birds serenade with song

early morning and all day long

when bees hum merrily

among the gaiety

when butterflies flutter here and there

sampling the tastiest fare

when cumulus clouds float dreamily overhead

or maybe there's an afternoon shower instead

when the rainbow of flowers

welcome afternoon showers

when berries ripen under the sun

and taste sweet on your tongue

when blossoms of yellow and gold

fill the garden with wealth like gold

when vegetables grow by inches each day

and you harvest almost every day

when a breeze feels refreshing

after non-stop sweating

when grass grows despite the heat

and children run with bare feet

when sprinklers produce laughs

and children forfeit baths

when there's a perfumed scent

that seems to be heavensent

when fireflies flash sos,

when it's bedtime, at last

oh, the joys of summer

when life seems funner.

* * * * *

If your house

is like my house

there's much work to be done

under the summer sun.

But a lesson I'm learning

is to take time for enjoying.

I sit outside to compose.

About what? Who knows?

Today I watched an ant transporting a dead moth.

Though I didn't look closely, I assume via his mouth.

I thought how strong the ant must be

for the moth was much larger than he.

"Mighty men of valor" came to mind.

Let's see what God places on my mind

for I don't know what I'm going to write

when I start a rhyme on paper white.

Valor means courageous, brave, gallant, a hero.

Cancer victims or those terminal come to mind or

those with limitations rather mental or physical

are courageous as each and every day is a struggle.

Those who care for these loved ones are courageous too

for every day brings a challenge that is new.

They all bravely face unlimited burdens with grace

and are often seen with a smile on their face.

Of course, those mighty people of valor in the military.

Each and every one, rather home or abroad, allow us to be free.

And those who protect us in our towns

for we know there's much evil to be found.

These and other courageous, brave, gallant heroes

who quite often are forgotten, unsung heroes

survive each day by God's grace

in every earthly place and in every race.

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him,

and said unto him, The Lord is with thee,

thou mighty man of valor.

Judges 6:12 (KJV)

And they helped David against the band of the rovers;

for they were all mighty men of valor,

and were captains in the host.

I Chronicles 12:21 (KJV)

To read about other mighty men of valor,

check out these chapters and many more:

I Chronicles 7

I Chronicles 12

I Chronicles 26

II Chronicles 17

To order Life Is a Garden Party, Vol II

go to WestBow Press.

To order Life Is a Garden Party, Vol I

go to Amazon or B&N.

Follow Life Is a Garden Party on facebook.

At Rainbow's End 7/8/17

Happy to have hollyhocks in the garden this year.

Two campanulas:  white Korean Bells and pink Cherry Bells.

When given to me, didn't realize they would become a ground cover.

Love my pots of gold!  Zucchini soon.

Love white in the garden.

Mom's dusty miller.

Hydrangea heads are huge this year.

I allow Borage to grow wherever.  A bee magnet.

Overcast this morning.  Bees are sleeping in.

Joe Pye Weed

Stella Dora Daylilies

A review of Life Is a Garden Party from Sue Backus:

"You are the pause that this spinning world needs...

cooling and calming like a slight summer breeze."

Thanks, Sue.  You are a blessing!

Off to harvest swiss chard before the rains come.

Zoom

ZOOM

Yellow blossoms seen

under leaves of green.

There’ll be zucchini soon.

Maybe in time for noon.

A little six-inch zucchini picked for lunch.

Before I know it there’ll be a whole bunch.

Can’t wait to make zucchini cupcakes.

One afternoon I’ll grate than bake.

Can't wait

to bake!

I'll even share with you

for sharing is nice to do.

Rain heard in the middle of the night

grew the zucchini big. What a sight!

More than I can carry.

I’d better not tarry.

I’ll grate and then freeze.

I’ll blanch for when need.

I’ll share with neighbors.

I’ll eat for dinner.

More rain forecasted later in the week

combined with the summer’s afternoon heat

zucchini will again zoom.

There’ll be a zucchini boom!

That’s how it is each year with gardening.

Either boom or bust while everyday tending.

Not just zucchini but lots of tomatoes or cucumbers too,

beans or potatoes or winter squash. What will the gardener do?

Wait! Didn’t the gardener pray when she planted?

Didn’t God hear her prayer and her request was granted?

Sometimes we don’t seem to know what is the best for us –

like a garden full of vegetables from God whom we trust.

* * * * *

Sometimes we don’t know how to pray for what we ought.

So be careful what you pray for, you just might get it.

Sometimes we don’t get what we pray for because we ask amiss.

We have the wrong motives for it. It should be taken off our list.

Prayer is communication with God, the Creator,

who is holy, yet attainable. There is none greater.

Prayer is knowing God hears when we call

and He’s available to one and all.

Prayer is trusting the God of the universe

to take care of us before our problems get worse.

Prayer is knowing God will answer in His perfect time

for God’s timetable is different from human time.

Prayer is putting our faith in God, not our self,

who wants His best for us and has a plan to help.

Prayer is done anywhere at anytime

for any reason to God, who is kind.

Prayer is thanking God for His faithfulness every day,

it’s asking for direction when we don’t know to go or stay.

Prayer is interceding for others with burdens

for praying brings relief from fears, worries, and problems.

Prayer is communicating with the greatest power,

Almighty God, who’s available at any hour.

Prayer is developing friendship with God, our maker,

who is ready and able to be our burden taker.

Prayer is powerful.

Prayer is wonderful.

Prayer is all this and so much more.

Pray to find out what God has in store.

The Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him.

Deuteronomy 4:7

The Spirit helps us in our weakness.

We do not know what we ought to pray for,

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us

with groans that words cannot express.

And he who searches our hearts

knows the mind of the Spirit,

because the Spirit intercedes for the saints

in accordance with God's will.

Romans 8:26-27

When you ask, you do not receive,

because you ask with wrong motives,

that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

James 4:3

Pray for each other so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James 5:16

Be joyful always; pray continually;

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

To order Life Is a Garden Party, Vol II

go to WestBow Press.

To order Life Is a Garden Party, Vol I

go to Amazon or B&N.

Follow Life Is a Garden Party on facebook.