For God has not Given us the Spirit of Fear. . .

But of power, and of love, and of wisdom." ~2 Timothy 1:7

Dear friends,

A happy Thursday to you! We had a day without rain, but last night and today we were blessed with a few soaking showers. How wonderful to not have to drag the hoses out and water the garden twice a day, like we normally do! The tomatoes and peas have blossoms on them, and the potatoes we planted, plus a few that sprang up from last year's crop, are leaping up. Everything is green, and the birds have plenty of worms to feed their babies.

The girls helped mulch the tomatoes with rocks to heat the soil.

The yarrow "fairy ring" is much bigger than last year!

Our David Austen rose (whose name we don't know) was the first to bloom.

The cardoon is even bigger than this now~

At times it is hard to be in this world of bug-and-weed sprayers, when we love the organic life so well. The farmers use airplanes to spray their fields, the county sprays the highway in front of our home, and the irrigation district sprays our ditch bank. We were enjoying a visit to Cattail Pond the other day, and they were spraying it for mosquitoes! The children of God seem to be doing all they can to destroy this beautiful planet, very ignorantly. We have to constantly remind ourselves that God is bigger than all the chemical poisons in the world. He sent us here at this time on the earth, knowing that it would be polluted. He wants us to be healthy and happy, and surely He can provide those gifts to us, if we have faith in Him. We know that more harm would be done by despairing of bad things than by the actual things! Yet, we long for the Savior's return, knowing that He only can truly undo all the damage that has been done. May we all try a little harder to tread softly on this earth; it's the only one we have! Let us show we love our Creator, by loving His creations more fully.

Noel wanted to help photograph this beautiful mushroom we found in the yard.

And salads are abundant this time of year~

On another note, I have been finishing a short story I started four years ago (better late than never!) after watching the "Lord of the Rings" movies. It's about how Pippin the hobbit meets his wife. Would you like to read it? I may have to start a new blog, perhaps "The Natural History of Myself?" ;0) I have quite a few little things I've written over the years, that perhaps I'll start sticking somewhere for you to (hopefully) enjoy.

Oh yes, I almost forgot to tell you that we tried cooking and eating burdock leaf and bloom stalks, which we found very good, and bull thistle stalks, which we found tough and tasting like lavender oil! Next time, we'll be sure to cook our wild foods in separate pots, so we can taste before we mix! We did cook some of the thistles a bit longer and the taste improved. I think the thistles were too old. We have come to realize that wild food collecting is a bit like thrift store shopping; sometimes you luck out and sometimes you strike out! It's all an adventure, either way.

Thank you again for coming by, and for being part of our little world.
May the Lord shine His blessings upon you, and may we remember to "accentuate the positive", no matter how dark things may seem!

Love,

Marqueta

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Wisdom from "The Lord of the Rings":

"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour fo those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule." ~J.R.R. Tolkien