A Garden, All Around Us

"Behold, I have given you every herb," on the ear of the child in His garden, fell.

His herb and fruit, our meat, indeed!

I gathered the last of the spruce tips- all that my patience cared to endure. It was easier to pick a bouquet of mint at the top of the driveway, which I also did. Mint tea has long been my favorite but Spruce has now taken its place. Perhaps it is because it is "only for a season", though I did just put a cookie sheet full in the freezer, to zip into a baggie for Winter! MUCH easier than picking berries, I will admit. There are not prickers to grab hold of you, but you also don't get the pleasure of a mouthful of sweet berries every so often...hmm! One thing I do like better about picking spruce tips; you do it in Spring, rather than late summer AND there are no bears picking on the other side of the tree. I wonder, do bears eat these vitamin C packed beauties when they come out of hibernation, hungry? I will have to look it up.

I considered titling this post, A Bear in Our Garden, but it didn't quite capture the essence of that I was trying to say.

Syd said that there was a bear passing through on Saturday night. He (the bear, not Syd) was hooting in the yard below the house, perhaps calling to "Buck buck", our rooster. Sturm was too scared to bark, but Ruger did a lot of growling and got quite upset. Mr. Bear moved along to the other side of the house and then they didn't hear him again. I was talking to a neighbor, though, who had been nurturing her little rosemary plant along all Winter, using fish water. While she was on the phone, in the middle of the day, here comes a bear sauntering across her porch. He grabbed the plant and headed for the woods while she stood in the window watching him. They're hungry right now, for sure. Keep your eyes open.

Last night Syd and I took a walk up to the asparagus patch which we share with Mom. There were several spears and even a few that had already gone to seed. We will enjoy some for our dinner tonight and will take some up to Mom for her lunch tomorrow also.

The bounty of Tuesday night; asparagus and also a handful or two of spruce, for some evening tea

I am thankful that the Lord has put us in the country where there is a garden all around us. My Grammy Vannah was a wildcrafter in the mountains of Virginia. As a child and young adult she dug and gathered roots and herbs to be sold to the man with the truck, who came round periodically. He would weigh the bounty and pay them the going rate. I inherited a book called, Grannie's Remedies, that is full of natural cures. Grammy and Grandpa had a floor to ceiling bookshelf. When I would visit, this was my book of choice. I was so glad when Grammy said that I could have it when she moved to a small apartment. She is with the Lord now, but I am thankful for the times that we sat together and talked about her experiences of younger days. I only wish we had done it more.

Okay, I just took quite a parentheses, and now I KNOW I have bears on the brain!! Over a half hour ago, while typing, I heard a "hoo- hoo" -ing outside which got Sturm to barking and running to the window from the couch. Ruger barked once and growled, outside. I ran to the window of the door, to see Mom standing up on the road with her hands cupped to her mouth. When I opened the door she said, "Did you hear me 'whooo-hooo' ?" It left me laughing so hard as my heart slowed down it's heavy beating! I decided we would walk her back up to the top of the hill. While there, Sturm managed to find a small spot of mud, in the middle of nowhere, which he got down and rolled in. His back, shoulder, head and ear were covered in stinky mud! Needless to say, he got a bath on the stone step outside the door, then had to get his ear flushed out with Oti-wash, and dried. It took me back to the days when Mom would stand me in a pail and wash me off before letting me back into the house after a long, dirty afternoon. I probably do not actually remember these toddler days, except that she had someone take a picture, probably Dad.

The coffee is now made and dinner is planned and I'm back to finish off this rambling post. I hear Syd backing into the driveway, so will finish up quickly.

Last night Syd put our cuckoo clock back together, which we had had in storage for a few years. It was given to us by a dear couple, the Kahlaus, as a housewarming gift. We miss the Kahlaus very much and thank them for this lovely German cuckoo clock. It was a joy to again hear the little bird pop out on the hour and the half hour, even through the entire night.

We hope you have a peaceful night. I guess putting that clock together wore him out (not to mention a hard day at work). This was the scene after supper last evening. Tonight is prayer meeting - a blessed time to get together with some of the church family to read the Bible together and pray for one another.
Now it is time to get supper together and prepare to leave by 6:00. Thanks for stopping by the Hill.