Pollyanna in the Morning Dew

It's been such a rainy Summer so far....

and when it is sunny, the nights have been cool, so lots of moisture forms on the leaves in the dog's yard. Actually, the dogs and i have been enjoying the weather this Summer.

Polly loves to run under the morning glories and thru the lilies and always comes in the house a little muddy and a little damp, but very happy...

What's Bloomin: Roses

One of the first rose bushes i planted here when we moved in


It survived disease, pests and construction

I'm so glad it decided to stay....

Blight...

THESE ARE PICTURES I JUST TOOK OF MY BELOVED TOMATO PLANTS...

Yes....it's late blight.... In a matter of a few days i went from picking fresh ripe, beautiful red tomatoes
to this...... This year had already been racing to the Finish Line for one of the most frustrating, disappointing and stressful of years in my recent history. This just adds another notch to the list.

I still have a few plants left. I am hoping the blight misses them as they are on different parts of my property, separated by my house.

On the bright side, i had already picked over 30 lovely tomatoes from these plants, and i know of some who never got a ripe piece of fruit before they were hit with the blight, so really i have no right to complain.

Hey! I still have some really nice basil! And there is always the Farmer's Market for fresh ripe tomatoes....

And there is always next year!

Homecoming

(Mirror Lake, Upstate New York. One of our favorite places to be.)

Well, a little over three weeks after emergency surgery at Albany Medical Center, Bill is coming home today. He is still pretty weak, and we have a lot of things to figure out health wise, but the doctors there feel that he is medically stable and will recuperate better at home. I think so too. I want to thank all of my friends out there who sent us messages, thoughts and prayers. It meant the "moon and stars" to me. It's funny how i have never really met any of you, and yet you have become so much a part of my every day life. I'm looking forward to staying home and catching up on all the news in my little blog world. Thanks again everybody! Love, mare

Mother Love...

I missed not seeing her so much...And yet Amma says, do not become too attached to the physical, because it is impermanent...

A Window to look out of....

I promised an update on Bill's progress, so here it is. He is still in the hospital. They are not very successful in waking up the beast (his bowels post surgery) as of yet...But the good news is, he has been technically discharged from the Medical/Surgical floor of the hospital and reassigned to the Rehab floor up on E8. This is a good sign for me, no matter what comes. When Bill was first injured (hit by a car while running almost 20 years ago) he was at Albany Medical Center for 7 months and 7 days. And we spent some pretty scary, dark days there in the beginning. But things turned around after he was medically stable and was sent to the E8 Rehab floor. There the nurses worked their magic with him and taught me how to assistant him with his daily care. The Occupational and Physical Therapy folks challenged his body to get working and get strong enough to come home. I have some really good, strong memories from that place. Last night as we rode up to the 8th floor on the elevator and stepped off and into the old stomping grounds, i got a good feeling that everything will be alright. Bill is still not out of the woods yet. IF the doctors and nurses cannot get his system to work, he will need more surgery. But in the meantime, he will be working to strengthen his body and his lungs and will be in better condition to face whatever comes our way. Thanks everybody for your good wishes, thoughts and prayers. I can feel them all around us. Please keep the good vibes coming...

On The Fence

Our fence in the side yard acts as a trellis for some of our favorite flowers

These are our heirloom morning glories.

My Mother tells me that these very same morning glories were growing at her house when her Grandfather owned it!

When we first bought this house, i took some of the seeds and got them started growing on my chain link fence in the dog yard, and they come up every year since then.

The hummingbirds and bees love them and visit them often.

However, these vines are very invasive, and i warn people not to lean on the fence too long or the morning glories will eat you!

These flowers are called Creeping Bellflower, and are related to the Campanula family.

I remember these flowers from my childhood.

We used to live in an apartment when we were small and the landlord was an elderly gardener. In the walkway on the side of the house, these plants grew between our building and the sidewalk. I thought he planted them there but being wildflowers, they may have planted themselves.

I just love them and the bees love them too...

The Tomatoes are here!

I wish Bill could be here to taste this...our first tomatoes from our own garden plants.

We have had so much rain here this Summer, and so little sunshine, it is amazing to me that these plants are doing so well.

As a matter of fact, they are monster plants. Taller and wider than me! And full of unripened tomato goodness

Here is our very first ripe tomato. I took these pictures to bring to Bill so he could see the fruit of our labor. I thought i would share them with you too.

And as soon as he can start eating solid foods, i'm gonna make him some great meals with our own tomatoes and basil.

Until then i will eat some of them, freeze some for sauce and share the wealth. I hope your gardens are doing well also!

Update

I want to thank all of my friends out there who have sent loving messages, left caring supportive comments and are praying for us. You will never know how much i appreciate this. Bill is still at Albany Medical Center. He is in a sort of limbo. The surgery was a success, but they are having no success at getting his bowel to wake up and start working again. Being paralyzed from the chest down, it has never worked very well, but since the surgery...well....nothing. I don't know how long the doctors will try to get things going again. It has been six days since the surgery. He may need more surgery, possibly an ostomy. I trust we are in good hands, and in God's arms. Tomorrow is Bill's birthday. There will be no cake this year as he is not eating yet. But we will find a way to celebrate. Thank you all, and if you can, keep sending prayers and good wishes our way...love, mare

Life's Ups and Downs

Well, we never did make it to see Amma on Wednesday. My husband Bill has not been feeling well lately and by Tuesday night i had a sinking feeling we would not be making that trip. But when we woke up to get ready to go to Boston at 3:30am on Wednesday morn, Bill asked me to call 911 and take him to the hospital. When he was first hurt almost 20 years ago, he spent seven months and seven days at Albany Medical Center, and those were some of the hardest days of our lives. Since that time, he really doesn't even like to go visit friends and family there. It just brings back memories...So when he asked me to take him there i knew we had problems. The ambulance ride was fast, and we got right in to the ER where they did tests. We spent 13 hours in the ER waiting to talk to a doctor and then a surgeon before they could have a room and bed ready for him. To make a long story short, at 3:00am this morning Bill had his appendix removed, along with a section of his large intestine, and a large cyst. He is recuperating tonight at the hospital, and I am finally home, hoping to get some sleep. I haven't even had time to think about missing Amma this year. I actually had a funny feeling she was closer to us at the hospital than we ever got to her for darshan. If any of my blog friends out that have the time and kind inclination to send a few prayers our way i would really appreciate it more than you know... love, mare

On our way to see Amma!

Fruits of our Labor: Blueberries

The little blueberry bush i bought in the early Spring to train into a bonsai has recovered and become a very healthy plant

I decided to let it bare fruit before trimming the branches

And it has...The fruit is delicious!

Bead For Life

I just found this amazing organization called Bead For Life. I ordered a few bags of loose beads from them and they arrived today. i LOVE them. Check out their website and let me know if you've heard of them or have ordered from them. The stories of the women who make these beads are incredible... It's amazing how much beauty can be created with so little...

Pics from the Picnic!

Our 4th of July picnic took place on the 5th this year. It was a beautiful sunny day, and it was so great to get together with our Loved Ones!

Lola went swimming in her baby pool in her diaper, which caused some problems for her. That darn diaper weighed so much she got her butt stuck in the chair! HELP!!!

Soon after that episode, we just did away with the clothes all together! Here she is exploring the cooler and tasting the ice. Yeow! That's cold !

Here i am hugging my grandson Seth. Last year at the very same celebration i could rest my chin on top of his head!

He's grown so much in 1 year! Time passes so quickly now. I see it in the children and how they grow so fast.

What a great time we had....

A Walk thru The Garden

The front garden.

Rosa rugusa, tiger lilies, wild geranium


Geraniums on the front porch

Spirea by the steps

Astilbe in the shade garden

Beauty all Around...

What's Bloomin: Wild Honeysuckle

This is the wild honeysuckle i wrote about here that i collected from the cottage at Cape Cod

It smells like Heaven...a similar scent to jasmine or lilies

I love this vine....

Bees, butterflies and hummers love it too!

Amma

In a few weeks i will be taking some of my Family members to see Amma again. She is in New York on 7/7-7/9, and we will be seeing her in Boston on July 15th(15-18th). I have come to see this as a yearly pilgrimage to be in the presence a Holy woman who helps me reconnect and rejuvenate my tired and worn physical self with my strong and loving spiritual self. This video below is an interview done during Darshan in New York City. You can see how busy and noisy it can be. But once Amma takes you in her arms and rocks you and whispers her prayers in your ears, all the noise and the troubles stop, just for that moment. It may be hard to hear the interview, which is very good. But i thought you might like to see what it is like to be with Amma during darshan.