Hello, is it me you're looking for?

If you got here because you stuck my name in a search engine, and I am indeed the person you're looking for, just drop me an email and tell me what you'd like to know.  I am quite approachable like that.   But I don't update this blog much these days, as my crafty life is mostly trumped by my academic life these days.  :)  My email address is just my name with no spaces at gmail.  Have a great day!

a lovely verse...

Sitting With The Shattered Soul -Steele, K. (1987)

So how do you sit with a shattered soul?
Gently, with gracious and deep respect.
Patiently, for time stands still for the shattered, and the momentum of healing will be slow at first.
With the tender strength that comes from an openness
To your own deepest wounding, and to your own deepest healing.
Firmly, never wavering in the utmost conviction that evil is powerful, but there is a good that is more powerful still.
Stay connected to that goodness with all your being, however it manifests itself to you.
Give freely.
Take in abundantly.
Find your safety, your refuge, and go there as you need.
Words won't always come; sometime there are no words in the face of such tragic evil.
But in your own willingness to be with them, they will hear you; from soul to soul they will hear that for which there are no words.
When you can, in your own time, turn and face that deep chasm within.
Let go.
Grieve, rage, shed.

look, I'm a gardener!

These are green beans I just picked out of my garden. They are huge and still lots of little ones on the vine. :)

Last night I made spaghetti using all our ripe tomatoes, along with some oregeno from the garden. I chopped up onions and garlic and did the whole martha stewart deal, rolled turkey meatballs out by hand. Who woulda thought?

We leave for our cruise in 4 days!! Kristofer is at camp until Thursday, wrapping up the end of his hectic summer. I have too many balls to juggle as usual, but all is ok in the world.

xxoo to all of you,
melanie

another giant pine



and an adorable black lab :)


so much puppy energy!!


but so dern cute. :)

49, a fern, i like this one because it looks exactly like the fake stuff they sell at the craft store. ;)


50. this is also sort of magical looking, these tiny clumps of furry flowers....


51.some sort of vine


52. One of the giant pines in my backyard. From what I can gather, there were woody vines climbing up this and the owners were told that the vines would damage the tree, so they hacked them off, but only removed the woody vines from about 8 feet down (didn't want to climb the tree I guess.) so there are all these crazy woody tentacles hanging from the tree.

45. fern below, but this thing above it has soft bushy hairs that look like baby fireworks. What is that?



46. awful picture, but this has hard green balls and little purple flowers with points petals


47. bamboo I assume


28. is this some sort of palm?

41. not sure. this is large bush/tree like (identified by Jenny as Azalea)


42. This is more bush/plant like, with very pretty smallish pink flowers


43. Here's more of the killer spiky vine, in the back yard this time


44. I think these are quite beautiful. I don't know what they are called. They are on tall stiff stalks. (did some internet surfing... maybe thistle?)

37. hedge-y thing. do hedges have names?


38. i don't know what this is


39. this is a bad picture, but there are tiny little pinecone type things on this


40. there are big purple cone shaped flower things on this unknown bush

33. this is an awful vine with very very sharp thorns. I hate it, sometimes it really grows fast. I try to cut it out/kill it. It comes back. What is this evil thing? It does not even reward me with flowers.


34. these are bearded irises I think... (of course, flowers only in spring)


35.not sure what this is.


36. this is the bottom of the plant above. think woody vines.

29. Now this is the most pathetic breed of pines I have ever seen. It has no real form, and when it gets tall enough it grows up on to the roof and just lays there. I don't get it. I told Todd to tear it out but he doesn't want to because it's hiding the even uglier electric box. What is it?


30. Another unknown. This is in a group of medium-sized tallish (5 feet) plants. Not really a tree, more of a bush.


31. another unknown.


32. What are these things called? Stick-like with the feathery things at the end.

25. Someone told me what this was once, and I don't remember. Some sory of oak?


26. This is a crazy vine that grows over the porch near our front door. It rains beautiful tiny white flowers. I hack away at it when it gets too big, sometimes in a way that I am sure it will never come back, but it always does. What is it called?


27. grape vines, i thought I removed these completely last year, but clearly not, as they are everywhere again this summer. No grapes yet.


28. hydrangea? i think

21. another weed of some sort


22. I think this is lovely and interesting. I don't have any idea what it is. Do you?


23. Japanese Maple (this thing is huge and changes lots of colors all year)


24. pretty sure this is a cherry blossom tree

17. cucumber! this is pretty exciting, we've eaten several. Kristofer is a cucumber nut.


18. roma tomatoes, not red yet


19. this is a weed of some sort, I am pretty sure. what is its name? It has big fan-like leaves.


20. Some sort of seagrass colored grassy-bush?