Sights overhead

When I'm outside, I like to look at the sky.  At night I enjoy looking at the stars and planets or looking for meteors.  I'm continually learning. 
Just recently I learned that the constellation that always reminds me of Daddy's bee smoker is actually part of Leo.

 

 

I laugh at myself when I remember seeing a rocket fuel dump and thinking it was a comet.

Last fall, my son and I went to a nearby field and watched the launch of the moon probe LADEE.

 
Day or night, I enjoy seeing the moon.  I've also seen Venus during the day.  That was amazing.
I like the many ways clouds look.  A few months ago, I saw some rare iridescent clouds.  Here is one shot I took of those iridescent clouds.
 

 

 

 

I also like to watch jets, planes, and helicopters as they fly overhead.  When I hear one, I look up to see if I can spot it.  We live, as the crow flies, probably less than 25 miles from a major airport, so I often see the jets fly overhead.  (We're not close enough for it to be a nuisance, just close enough to maybe see the evening sun reflecting on them high overhead and wonder where they're off to.)

I found this website which shows the plane paths quite fascinating.  http://rduflighttrack.rdu.com/rduflightpath/

Yes, we're pretty close to one of those paths.

 

 

 

 

Have you looked up lately?

An heirloom rose

What's more romantic than a rose?  A rose with a story. 
I have a very fragrant old fashioned white rose which I assume is a musk rose.  It's from a rooted cutting Mom gave me, and here's the rose's story.
When my maternal grandfather was a little fellow of about four years old, his mother came home from a neighbor's house with a little sprig of a rose bush.  (Grandpa was born in 1907.)  With care, she planted it in the yard with strict instruction, "Don't y'all bother my little rose, now."  Grandpa said he could remember his mother smiling about that little rose. The rose flourished, and the beauty and fragrance has been appreciated for many years.  Mom successfully made cuttings and shared them.  It's a delight to have a connection with Grandpa and Greatgrandma's memory with this rose.
This year I put a few wood ashes around my rose bush to raise the pH a little since I have been mulching with pine straw.  I add compost once or twice a year as well.  Here is what my rose looked like nine days ago.
(Incidentally, Grandpa was born on May 19; this is a good day for this post.)

 

 

I used a rose from this bush to make a boutonniere for my son Saturday night (prom).  It did not hold up well, but it was pretty while it lasted.

(rose with nandina buds and Leyland cypress sprig)

If I haven't recalled the details exactly, I'd be appreciative of corrections from any family members who may remember the story.  Thanks.

Take time to smell the roses!



Sunday thoughts: Jacob

The text for the sermon at our church this morning was taken from the story of Jacob.  To me, the story of Jacob is interesting from the very beginning.  Isaac entreated God on behalf of Rebekah because she was barren.  Then when the twin boys were conceived and struggled within her womb, Rebekah, herself, inquired of the Lord what was going on.  I like reading that Rebekah inquired directly and God answered her directly!

Genesis 25:23
And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.


Rebekah knew before they were born that the elder would serve the younger.  This is alluded to in Romans 9.  Jacob was chosen before he had done good or evil. This shows that God chooses us; we cannot earn God's favor by works.  I wonder if Isaac had knowledge of God's word to Rebekah.  Did he know that God had chosen Jacob and still try to pronounce the blessing over Esau that his brother would serve him, or was Isaac unaware of God's decree?  (The scripture doesn't say.)  In any case, Jacob lived up to the meaning of his name and supplanted Esau.  According to Strong's Jacob means "heal holder" or "supplanter."  (I'm not sure "deceiver" is a fair rendering of "supplanter," though supplanting is sometimes achieved through deceit as it was in the case of the blessing.)

Genesis 27:36

And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

 

A word here about the birthright and the blessing--Esau had nothing to do with losing out on the blessing Isaac pronounced over his sons, but he was complicit in the earlier incident of giving up his birthright.  In fact, the writer of Hebrews uses this example of giving up a birthright for bread and lentils as the way a profane or sexually immoral person gives up what is eternal for something temporal.

 

Hebrews 12:15-16

Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.


In the incident where Jacob wrestles with the angel, Jacob is given the name Israel.  In one commentary I read, which I cannot find now, the implication is that Jacob will no longer be called only Jacob (since scripture continues to use both Jacob and Israel), but is also given the name Israel.
The incident of Jacob's wrestling has always been a bit of a puzzle to me, to be frank, and the explanations of it have not seemed quite to do the strangeness of it justice. 
I do remember singing the song which has the lines, "As Jacob in the days of old, I wrestled with the Lord, and, instant, with a courage bold, I stood upon His word.  I would not be denied..."  Again, that description of "wrestling with the Lord" doesn't seem to me to do justice to the promises we have under the new covenant (though I very much like the resolve to stand on His word).
Just mulling some things over.

What are your thoughts on Jacob?

 

     

Something new: gardenia hips

Last year, for the first time ever, I noticed red hips on my gardenia.  After one of the hips remained through the winter, I picked it.

 

 

I opened up the capsule and separated the ball of greasy seeds. 

I may plant them for sport to see what happens. 

The gardenia is fairly easy to propagate by cuttings, and I've given successfully rooted cuttings to some of my neighbors.

Have you encountered anything "new to you" lately?

And the rain descended, and the floods came

A couple of weeks ago, we got a lot of rain in just a little time.  Our house is at the bottom of the slope, so all the water runs downhill to our house.

As you can see in the left of the picture, the water is almost to the rim of the stainless steel water bowl.  The bowl is about 3 inches deep.  (I still fill the water bowl for the birds or in case the neighbor's dog happens by.  It has turned out to be a wonderful bath for the brown thrashers that nest in the forsythia each year.)

The gray treefrogs must love all this water.  They set up a chorus around the back deck loud enough to raise the dead.  If they get half a chance, they lay eggs in the rain barrel and buckets.  If I don't get around to dumping the eggs before they hatch, I usually leave the tadpoles alone.  Last night I was going to empty the rain barrel to get rid of the mosquito wigglers.  I scooped off the frog eggs and then used the garden hose to siphon the water.  Lo and behold, there was one full-sized tadpole.  Maybe it had overwintered?  Since I was draining out all his rain barrel water, I chased him with a pitcher, finally caught him, and transferred him to a bucket.
Even when I leave the tadpoles alone, I only see a few mature into frogs.  Here is one little fellow I took a pic of last fall.  You might notice he's no longer in length than the worms that fall off the sycamore tree and drown in the rain bucket.

Speaking of frogs, here is a link to a fun site which lets you listen to various frog sounds.  I like the dreamy trill of the American toad.  (I've heard about enough of those gray treefrogs for a while!)  http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/tracker/

I'm not sure what that says about the excitement level of my life when the major event of a Friday evening is finding a tadpole in the rain barrel.  But I sure rocked that tadpole's world!

 

Friday smiles

Here are some things that made me smile this week.

I won a Mother's Day door prize at church.  First time I had ever won, first time Adam had ever drawn the names.  Way to go Adam!  (He makes me smile, too.)
Pretty bag; the color makes me smile.

 

I put the fancy schmancy luggage tag that my sister made for me on my fiddle case. (Even if my son can play it, and I can't, at least everyone will know it's mine.) Is this a Vera Bradley fabric? It makes me smile.

Tuesday evening, as I sat on the porch swing in the twilight enjoying the luminous white peonies in the fading light, I saw my first lightning bugs of the season.  That made me smile.

Wednesday I had the opportunity to meet a young friend for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Tia is a delightful young lady I've known since she was a little girl.  That made me smile.

I finally got the 3 Wave petunias that my son gave me for Mother's Day planted.  (Lots of bed prep--digging out bermuda grass, pulling out honeysuckle and poison ivy.)  Finally planted.  That made me smile.

The front that pushed through yesterday left us with delightful weather today, and that makes me smile.

Hope you've had some smiles this week.

Color combos in the landscape

Here are some shots of my Japanese maple ("Bloodgood") along with the white spireas and bluish-lavender irises.  Red, white, and blue!  These were taken a couple of weeks ago. 

 

 

Here is what it looks like now that the spirea blooms have dropped.  The pink (Robin Hill?) azaleas and the pink Royal Bonica rose look nice with the maple.

The maple was one of the few landscape plants here when we moved in 20 years ago.  The other plants are ones we (mostly me with the help of a toddler at the time) set out.

 

(Yes, there is poison ivy between the azalea and rose!)

 



 

Do you have favorite color combos in the landscape?