Lady Chattery

Lady Chattery

Someone's not too happy.

In fact, downright yappy.

Lady Chattery has returned

this sunny summer weekday morn.

I didn't know she was here

until her chattering appeared.

Yes, I did distinctively hear

Lady Chattery loud and clear.

There she is chasing my friends

who daily come visit when

the bee balm is in bloom

morning, night, or at noon.

Lady Chattery doesn't want to share

so she chases away on a dare -

chattering,

while chasing.

Now she's left all alone

to dine on red flowers grown

where beneficial bees

sip contentedly.

Does she know buzzing bees might retaliate

if disturbed when she comes to investigate?

She doesn't seem to mind

when bees zoom in to dine.

But, oh, when she sees another hummingbird

much chattering can be heard

as she gives chase

here at my place.

Though there are many flowers with which to share

she's seen chasing, rather one or a pair.

Perhaps Lady Chattery thinks she's the queen.

Perhaps she is. I've labeled her the Queen of Mean.

Did you guess who Lady Chattery is?

She's a female hummingbird. Whiz whiz.

She doesn't sit still for a minute;

neither quiet for a minute.

Not only can you hear that distinct hum,

she pipsqueaks with her fast-moving tongue.

Do take time to be silent and listen.

Here she is now. I hear her wings humming.

* * * * *

How much of our daily chatter

is simply that, noisy chatter?

And quite often what we say probably isn't edifying;

if truth be known, it's usually in the form of murmuring.

What we think

and what we speak

should always be edifying,

building one up, encouraging.

Not tearing down as often is the case,

judging others without a measure of grace.

Looking for the good

as we know we should.

Everyone everywhere

has troubles they bear.

We all need more encouragement.

In turn, peace and joy will be sent!

Be an example in word and deed.

Others will emulate you, indeed.

Encourage one another.

Everyone will be happier.

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it

will become more and more ungodly.

II Timothy 2:16

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace

and to mutual edification.

Romans 14:19

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father,

and with it we curse men,

who have been made in God's likeness.

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.

My brothers, this should not be.

James 3:10

Whatever you do,

whether in word or deed,

do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

Encourage one another

and build each other up.

I Thessalonians 5:11

Life Is a Garden Party

is available via Amazon.

Breakfast

Breakfast

In the newness of the early morning as the sun peeks through

something yummy for breakfast is waiting for the garden crew.

Just who is the garden crew?

Let's take a minute to view.

A morning dew

covers like glue

inviting winged creatures to sip

this early morning refreshment.

Yes, their breakfast awaits

though not served on a plate

being sought after

by garden creatures.

Happy bees hum

in golden blossoms

in everyone's vegetable garden.

Gardeners gratefully welcome.

Do take a minute to listen

to their harmonious drone

as they sip from a cup of yellow pollen,

a breakfast filled with good-for-you nutrition.

A just-hatched butterfly seeks morning nourishment

from purple cone flowers, absent of scent,

then off to the garden phlox, which he seems to like best,

before visiting the butterfly bush for breakfast.

Watch him float and glide

as on the breeze he rides

satisfying his hunger

on his morning garden tour.

A hummingbird dines

on red trumpet vine

where ants share a feast

every day of the week.

If you're wearing a red or pink shirt

beware, those hummingbirds might flirt

thinking you're the prettiest flower

of all that grows in your bower.

Mama and papa wren

busily attend

their brood of hungry beaks

as white grubs they seek.

Hear their "me, me, me"

sounding quite greedy

as mama and papa take turns

feeding their offspring this morn.

While robins seek earthworms

to feed starving newborns

a protein breakfast

so they will grow fast.

Do watch from a distance

for robins have an instinct

to protect their young

from potential harm.

Other birds dine

on seeds they find,

heard singing a happy song of praise

to the Creator of all their days.

These and many more

seek breakfast outdoors

alfresco,

perfecto.

Do take time to watch this muse (celebration)

as a motion picture is produced

every morning as breakfast is found

around the world, in every town.

* * * * *

In this world of uncertainty,

God shows us examples of His faithfulness

so that we will have a guarantee,

an assurance, to not worry – but to trust.

As you know, birds do not worry.

Perhaps that's why they're always happy.

Know that God already has a plan to solve your concern.

He's waiting to hear from you in prayer. Don't carry your load alone.

Get in the habit of thanking God before receiving.

That's living a life of active "faith believing!"

In the meantime, God is maturing your faith

as you trust Him to supply His abundant grace.

Do not worry about tomorrow.

Matthew 6:34

Look at the birds of the air;

they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Matthew 7:26

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him

and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Faith is being sure of what we hope for

and certain of what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

Without faith it is impossible to please God,

because anyone who comes to him

must believe that he exists

and that he rewards those

who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

Life Is a Garden Party

is available via Amazon.

Ms. Fancy Dress

Ms. Fancy Dress

Here comes Ms. Fancy Dress.

She's today's garden guest.

She's invited herself for afternoon tea.

She comes because this tea party is free.

Wearing an eye-catching floating gown

this afternoon she's seen waltzing round and round.

She sips pink lemonade tea first. Delightful!

Does she know its Latin name? Echinacea.

Purple cone flower is its common name.

Ms. Fancy Dress sips from its stamens.

She sips from one, then another

as her gossamer wings flutter.

Then orange juice tea attracts her attention

at this mid-summer day afternoon luncheon.

This tea is really turk's cap lilies.

Soon she's punch drunk and becomes quite silly.

She's seen hanging upside down

covered with orange pollen.

Next lavender garden phlox is quietly sipped

as her long feeding tube unerringly dips

but she seems to like pink lemonade the best

as she shares with other tea-drinking garden guests.

They're her friends the bees,

here for afternoon tea.

Just who is Ms. Fancy Dress?

Who is this welcome garden guest?

Yellow with black dots and stripes and a blue ruffled hem,

to see her waltz always attracts my attention.

No fashion designer or seamstress the world over

could come up with these coordinates of color.

Too soon her belly is filled.

For a few minutes I was thrilled

to visit with my garden guest.

There she goes, Ms. Fancy Dress.

She's a yellow swallowtail

who's talked about in this tale.

* * * * *

Oh the poise of Ms. Fancy Dress as she flounces about.

Even if a gossamer wing is torn, she still gallivants.

Though her God-given mission

is for pollination

she attracts much attention

from gardeners and children.

As if not a care in the world,

she seems to reduce worries that whirl.

Her agility and grace

brings smiles to many a face.

Her buoyancy exhibits

lightness of spirit.

She's not weighed down with the cares of this world,

trusting in her Creator her needs are upheld.

She brightens many a day

with her cheerful, carefree ways.

If life is a dance,

her waltz will enchant.

This lightness of spirit is also available to us

through believing faith as we choose to live a life of trust.

Life has many worries that tend to get us down

forgetting God's faithfulness and leaving behind a frown,

but God has a solution for worry

and a feeling of anxiety.

It's "cast all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you."

Yes, seeking God in prayer is the antidote for what worries you.

If you're at all familiar with the Psalms,

you'll realize that David prayed often -

in thankfulness

and in distress.

When victorious or at wit's end.

When pursued by enemies without end.

Rather these enemies were physical,

emotional, or irrational.

David knew one remedy for anxiety was to offer praise to God at all times.

Praising God focuses on God's loving kindness allowing God's faithfulness to shine.

Through life's various surprise twists and turns,

disappointments, not knowing which way to turn,

let prayer bring you needed peace and comfort

healing emotional and physical hurts.

God hears our heart's cry when we pray,

even when we don't know what to say.

In him we live and move and have our being.

As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

Acts 17:28

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

I Peter 5:7

Do not be anxious about anything,

but in everything, by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

And the peace of God,

which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

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

For everything that was written in the past

was written to teach us,

so that through endurance

and the encouragement of the Scriptures

we might have hope.

Romans 15:4

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the heavens,

praise him in the heights above.

Praise him, all his angels,

praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon,

praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens

and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for he commanded and they were created.

He set them in place for ever and ever...

Praise the Lord from the earth

you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds,

storm winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills,

fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle,

small creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all nations,

you princes and all rulers on earth,

you men and maidens,

old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

Psalm 148

Photo first swallowtail of 2020.

When editing this hot/humid afternoon,

came across this poem which almost went with the photo.

The photo is a boy, as girls have blue on their lower wings.  

Life Is a Garden Party

is available via Amazon.

Hours

HOURS

Swallowtail butterflies quietly flutter

sharing with honey bees sipping nectar

while hidden brown toads seek

and green grasshoppers leap

in the flowers

where they spend hours.

Hummingbirds visit for a minute

as they sip from red flower trumpets

amidst the black ants crawling

and busy bees pollinating

in the flowers

where they spend hours.

Crickets are heard day and night strumming

while bees are at work all day humming.

This gardener enjoys their music

everyday when she goes out to work

in the flowers

where she spends hours.

There's the caw-caw of the blue jays

adding to music made

while other birds sing along

in joyful chorus all day long

in the sunflowers

where they spend hours.

Pulling weeds make its own music

as the clock goes tick, tick, tick.

Weeding is never done, there's always one more

to pull, under the sunshine in the outdoors

in the flowers

where I spend hours.

* * * * *

How fast time goes

when outdoors

under the sun

having fun.

How slow time goes

when indoors

waiting,

praying...

at the hospital

where time seems to stall.

When time almost stands still

but emotions won't sit still.

"Casting down imaginations"

should be printed on a sign

to remind all of us

to have faith, hope, and trust,

to not let our imagination run away from us

but to have believing faith and hope in God whom we trust,

Who works all things together for our best and good,

even though the present circumstance isn't good.

Cast down whatever you are imagining

and put your trust in God with faith believing.

Peace will replace the unrest

and your spirit will be at rest.

Time will tick by

as the minutes fly.

Waiting.

Praying.

Praying for God's peace

to replace the unease.

Waiting for miracles

to help your faith grow.

Casting down imaginations,

and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,

and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

II Corinthians 10:5 (KJV)

We demolish arguments and every pretension

that sets itself up against the knowledge of God

and we take captive every thought to make it obedient o God.

II Corinthians 10:5

We know that in all things

God works for the good of those who love him,

who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine

or nakedness or danger or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors

through him who loved us.

Romans 8:35,37

Life Is a Garden Party

is available via Amazon.

Grow

Grow

A tiny seed planted in a peat pot

to grow under a heat lamp, not too hot,

and sprinkled with water wet

will sprout with two green leaflets.

In a few weeks this seedling

will need careful transplanting,

then will daily mature under the sun

and from a needed rain that weekly comes.

By inches it will creep

and soon blossoms will greet

in a yellow array

imitating the sun's rays.

Bees will unerringly seek

these pretty blossoms which greet

as this plant now matures,

though hardship it endures.

Yes, buffeted about

by wind and/or drought

it grew despite

life's unknown plights.

For its life is filled with hardships, whether

from too much sun or from stormy weather.

These hardships will harden the plant to endure

and most likely a sweeter harvest ensure.

On summer afternoons the plant will wilt

as the sun over the horizon tilts,

but the plant will survive

for its roots keep it alive.

This plant that started life as a seed

now produces enough to feed

ones family through the months of winter

as it soaks in the goodness of summer.

This seed grew

with life anew

for inside each seed is a miracle

waiting to be let out. Grow little plant, grow.

* * * * *

And so it is with us

as we grow in faith and trust.

We mature through hardships

for hardships equip us.

One day our hardships may another encourage

as others see us prevail and take courage

as our roots have grown deep

in God's Word, which we seek.

God's Word assures us that God is with us,

and in us, and will never forsake us.

We are assured that God loves us

and through His Son has forgiven us.

Hardships are meant to refine us,

as we learn about God's faithfulness,

and in the end, we find, teaches us

to give glory to God who blesses us.

His delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

Psalm 1:2-3

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged,

for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

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 3:16-19

God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

So we say with confidence,

The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

Hebrews 13:5-6

Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief

in all kinds of trials,

These have come so that your faith -

of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -

may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor

when Jesus Christ is revealed.

I Peter 1:6-7

Zucchini Blossom

Brandywine Tomato Blossom

Life Is a Garden Party

is available via Amazon.

Sweet Tart

SWEET TART

From the kitchen window

I see Christmas colors

of red and green.

A smile beams.

Little clusters

strung together

there in a row

puts on a show.

Around July 4^th

I’ll venture forth

with a big bowl

to pick red jewels.

Sweet tart they taste,

though some make a face.

Yum yum

on my tongue.

These sweet-tart jewels plucked one by one

fill my bowl on several summer morns.

One day 18 cups measured out will make

ruby jelly and a smiley face.

Then stowed away

for gifts someday.

A memory

from Judy.

What’s sweet tart

or tart sweet

where I went –

it’s currants!

(See recipe in Chapter 7.)

* * * * *

Red jewels are precious

as you are precious

to the Lord and many others too.

Their lives are enriched because of you.

Even if no one has ever told you so,

there is a sure way you can daily know:

the Bible tells you again and again.

Sometimes all of us need reminding.

So if no one tells you,

God's Word will tell you:

you are loved, chosen, precious, honored.

Here’s a few reminders from God’s Word:

How precious are your thoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.

Psalm 139:17-18

…you are precious and honored in my sight,

and because I love you…

Isaiah 43:4

The Lord their God will save them on that day

as the flock of his people.

They will sparkle in his land

like jewels in a crown.

How attractive and beautiful they will be!

Zechariah 9:16-17

CURRANT CRUNCH

Invented by my Gram
but changed by my hand
with less sugar and less topping.
You’ll have a hard time stopping.

Filling:
2 cups red currants (washed and sorted over)
1 cup water
¾ cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch

In a large saucepan combine these four ingredients then bring to a boil.
Pour berry mixture into a 9x13 glass pan.

Topping:
¾ cup whole/wheat flour
¾ cup old fashioned oats
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter

In mixing bowl, crumble topping ingredients using whisk attachment. Sprinkle crumble on top of berries.

Bake at 350 degrees for ½ hour or until boils and crumble is slightly browned.

Serve with whipped cream if desired.

A sweet-
tart treat!

From Vol III, Life Is a Garden Party

available via Amazon.